Bowness wants more jump from Jets as camp continues

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This article was published 30/09/2023 (736 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sensing his group might be out for a sloppy Saturday skate, Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness wasted no time making his displeasure quite apparent.

A raised voice here, a stick smash there and the message was extremely loud and explicitly clear.

“Execution. That’s all it was. Throwing pucks away,” Bowness said of what triggered his emotional outburst at the Hockey For All Centre.

“We’ve been talking about it since the first day of training camp. If we want to play fast, we’ve got to get the puck out of our zone. We’re trying to get ready for the start of the season. You come to practice, it’s all about paying attention to details and getting that stuff out of our game.”

Time is starting to run out, not only when it comes to fine-tuning systems and style of play but also in making final roster decisions. Winnipeg still has 40 players in camp after making 10 cuts on Saturday. They must get down to a maximum of 23 prior to their season-opening game in Calgary on Oct. 11 against the Flames.

Saturday’s two on-ice groupings provided a bit more clarity on that front. The morning session included all of the expected regulars for the coming season, along with those in the hunt for depth positions such as defencemen Ville Heinola, Logan Stanley and Declan Chisholm and forwards David Gustafsson, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Jeffrey Viel and Parker Ford.

Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi didn’t participate, as both woke up feeling under the weather and were kept home as a precaution. They are expected to be the wingers on Winnipeg’s top line beside Mark Scheifele. Alex Iafallo and Vladislav Namestnikov moved up to take their spot in drills.

Chisholm left early as a nagging lower-body injury flared up, while defenceman Nate Schmidt wore a non-contact jersey as he manages a minor injury.

The afternoon grouping, which Bowness wasn’t on the ice for, included players likely headed to the waiver wire and/or Manitoba Moose in the coming days. Among the participants was forward Jansen Harkins, who has scored in two straight preseason games but also made a critical defensive error on Friday night in Ottawa that led to the game-winning goal.

Defenceman Elias Salomonsson, who suffered a neck injury against the Senators, was held out, while forward Danny Zhilkin and blue-liner Kyle Capobianco also didn’t skate as they deal with ailments. Forwards Colby Barlow, Wyatt Bongiovanni and Henri Nikkanen were part of a small third session as they deal with nagging injuries/illness.

Winnipeg then cut 10 players early Saturday afternoon. Goaltenders Thomas Milic and Oskari Salminen; forwards Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov and Daniel Torgersson; and defencemen Tyrel Bauer, Artemi Kniazev, Dmitri Kuzmin, Simon Lundmark and Dean Stewart. They will all report directly to the Moose, who open their camp on Monday.

The Jets have two pre-season games remaining — Monday in Calgary, and Thursday at home against Ottawa — and Bowness plans to dress as many regulars as possible, while also sorting out the final job battles.

“(Connor and Vilardi) are fighting some kind of a bug, I’m not even sure they’re going to be able to skate (Sunday) and if they’re not going to skate (Sunday), then they’re probably not going to play Monday,” Bowness said.

“We were hoping to see that line together in Calgary. But whatever it is, we’ll deal with it and put the best lineup we can on Monday night in Calgary.”

Listening to the bench boss speak on Saturday, it sure sounds like Heinola has worked himself into consideration for not only starting the year with the Jets, but perhaps even being in the top six.

“The next couple of games are going to decide that,” said Bowness. “It’s there for him. We said going into camp we’re going to give him every chance. Logan and Chisholm, we’ll give them every chance. Show us they can play, that they can help us. We’re going to continue to give them that opportunity and the rest is up to him.”

Heinola, the 20th-overall pick in 2019 who has appeared in just 35 games with the Jets so far, isn’t taking anything for granted.

“For me, I’ve been here for a couple of years now and I know what it is,” he said. “I just want to be better every year than I was last year. I feel better this year but of course, not making the team the last two years in a row, it keeps you on my toes.”

Heinola, 22, had a strong showing in Ottawa Friday, playing 25 minutes and looking extremely comfortable against a much stronger Senators lineup than what the Jets dressed.

“I felt pretty comfortable with the puck, I think I made some good plays, there was some plays I could have made a little different but I’m pretty happy with my game in camp so far,” said Heinola.

“You know I’m a little older now than I was a couple years ago. I feel like I’m a little stronger, bigger, so yeah, I’m definitely confident.”

Monday should provide the first chance to get a look at what is Winnipeg’s projected second line, with Cole Perfetti between Nikolaj Ehlers and Nino Niederreiter. Ehlers has been sidelined with neck spasms for much of camp so far but is now 100 per cent, while Perfetti escaped injury after taking an elbow to the head from Calgary’s Martin Pospisil last Wednesday.

“It’s exciting. Obviously a little delayed,” said Perfetti. “There’s two games left, but there’s not much time to get your feet wet. Everyone should be getting close to game-ready or season-ready now. I definitely think playing these last couple of games are going to be huge. It’s really important.”

Winnipeg will skate again on Sunday as they inch closer to the starting line.

“Everyone’s excited for the season to start,” said Perfetti. “Everyone’s excited for camp to start, and now we’re in the middle of camp and everyone can see the light at the end of the tunnel for the season to start, and everyone’s amped up for that. We’re just trying to get as ready as possible.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg