Well-rested Dillon excited to return

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This article was published 16/02/2024 (599 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — Brenden Dillon always gets pumped up to play in his hometown. The veteran Winnipeg Jets defenceman expects to have even more jump in his step than usual on Saturday night.

Dillon returns from a three-game suspension, just in time to face the NHL’s surprising No. 1 squad, the Vancouver Canucks, in a marquee Hockey Night In Canada matchup.

“I’m extremely excited. Well rested,” Dillon, 33, said following Friday’s practice at Rogers Arena.

The only downside is that ticket prices have gone up given Vancouver’s lofty place in the standings, which Dillon says will make for an “expensive one for me” as he foots the bill for family and friends.

This, after taking a US $60,938 hit as a result of the illegal check to the head of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Noel Acciari that earned him a phone hearing with the league’s department of player safety and the punishment which he and the Jets organization felt was unduly harsh for a hockey play gone wrong.

“It’s obviously unfortunate with how things transpired there in Pittsburgh,” said Dillon. “Obviously you feel terrible for the outcome for Noel and hope that he’s healthy and feeling better. I play the game physical. I try to play as hard as I can but within the confines of what we’re allowed to do.”

As Dillon explained it, he certainly never meant to concuss Acciari on the play.

“I tried to keep my arm down. You never want to have anybody’s head get hit like that,” he said. “Hockey is a physical, super fast game where split-second decisions are happening all over the ice. I think for myself, I never want to see anybody in the game get injured or that happen. I served my three games now and ready to get back going.”

Despite the repercussions, Dillon also doesn’t plan to change his rugged style.

“I’m not going to be the same type of player if I’m not (still physical),” he said.

“I think my teammates know me, from practices to games. I try to play hard, play aggressive. I think that’s what makes me an impactful player. I don’t think any of my teammates have ever described me as dirty or doing anything like that. I try to play the game as honest as I can.”

The Jets, who lost the first game without Dillon and then rattled off two straight wins, will welcome him back with open arms.

“We’ve done a lot of things here in terms of changing our culture and everything, and Dilly is a big part of that. He’s a heart and soul guy. He gives everything he has to give every night,” said coach Rick Bowness.

“He plays a physical brand. You can never take that away from him. That’s his game. You know he’s on the ice and you better keep your head up when he’s out there. We love having him back.”

Another thing the Jets would love is for some goals to start going in. They’ve scored just nine times in the last eight games.

“I’ve been working on the shot here. Get me the puck,” joked Dillon, who has six goals and nine assists in 48 games.

Bowness made a top six switch on Friday, with Gabe Vilardi going back up to top line with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, and Nikolaj Ehlers coming down to the second line with Sean Monahan and Cole Perfetti.

“Just trying to find it, right. We don’t have last line change here, so that’s why I split the top line up. They gave up a few more chances than we’d like to see in our last game,” said Bowness.

“With a team like Vancouver that can score, we have to have good balance in our lines. Sean Monahan has been doing a lot of good things. We’re hoping that line finds some chemistry. Gabe has played with Mark and KC before. He’s a big man, we need him to get to the net, which opens up a bit more room for Mark and KC.”

Vancouver is scorching hot, including a 4-1 victory Thursday night over the Detroit Red Wings to improve to 37-12-6. They are 12 points clear of the Vegas Golden Knights for top spot in the Pacific Division, and six points ahead of the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars for first overall in the league.

“They’re playing great hockey right now and they can score in multiple ways,” Bowness said of the challenge. “We’re going to have to rely big time on our team structure and our puck management is going to be huge for us.”

Logan Stanley will come out of the lineup to make room for Dillon.

“He did an outstanding job for us for a guy that hadn’t played in over a month. He came in and played three solid games for us,” said Bowness. “We’re not going to let him sit out like we have in the past. He’ll get back in there soon. But we’re certainly very happy to have Dilly back.”

Connor Hellebuyck starts in net for the Jets, while Thatcher Demko is expect to be in the other crease. It’s a potential preview of how the U.S. Olympic team might look in net come 2026.

“Two of the best in the game. That’s another part. You don’t win in this league without great goaltending,” said Bowness.

“Vancouver has been getting it all year from their goaltenders and we’ve been getting it all year. Sometimes the goals against don’t reflect the type of game it was because the goaltending has been outstanding. They have one of the best, and we love our guy.

This is the first of three head-to-head meetings between the Jets and Canucks. After Saturday, the only two teams Winnipeg has yet to face this season are the Seattle Kraken and the Washington Capitals.

“We always go back to we measure up to our own standards, that’s more important to us — that we play up to our standards,” said Bowness.

“The rest will take care of itself. We have a lot of admiration for the Canucks and what (Rick Tocchet) and his staff have done. They’ve done a great job here. But the most important thing is us and we play to our standards, we’ll be fine.”

Dillon trains with several Canucks players during the summer and isn’t surprised to see them flying high.

“They’ve always had so much skill here with the Canucks,” he said. “I think the culture here that Tocchet and (assistant coach) Adam Foote and these guys have really instilled has obviously played a big part of it. It’s nice to see, as a hometown guy, the team having success. It’s a good thing when hockey is buzzing in a Canadian city like this. It’s great to see.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg