All aboard the Gus Bus

A cursory look at his Hockey DB page suggests that the development of the Gus Bus might have stalled this season.

After all, it was the first time in six seasons that David Gustafsson didn’t get into a single game for the Winnipeg Jets, the team that chose him in the second round (60th overall) of the 2018 draft.

After the shock of being sent down unexpectedly, Gustafsson found himself at a fork in the road as it pertains to his professional hockey career.

The Swedish centre could either spend his time lamenting what could have been or adopting a woe-is-me attitude about his lot in life — or he could embrace the role that helped him get to the NHL in the first place with the Manitoba Moose.

Only this time, he would also be a mentor and a first-line centre that saw a sharp uptick in ice time and was being used in all of the important situations.

Gustafsson leaned into the latter option and his most recent contribution included setting up Sam Fagemo for the game-winning and series clinching goal against the Milwaukee Admirals on Sunday, allowing the Moose to advance to a best-of-five series with the Grand Rapids Griffins that begins on Saturday afternoon at Canada Life Centre.

“For myself, getting sent down is not the thing I wanted. But I felt like I managed it well and have been playing good down here,” said Gustafsson, who averaged just under nine minutes per game of ice time during his six NHL seasons with the Jets.

“That’s probably been the best thing about this season. Getting those big minutes and playing in tough situations in a game. That’s what you want to do. It’s been really fun doing that again.”

With nearly a week between games, the Moose took Wednesday off and will return to the ice on Thursday to amp up preparations for the meeting with the primary affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings.

That’s when fans should have a better idea on the severity of the injury suffered by Winnipeg Jets top defence prospect Elias Salomonsson, who crashed awkwardly into the boards in the neutral zone in Game 3.

“He is one of those players that just does everything on the ice (well).”

Although Salomonsson remained on the bench and didn’t go to the room for repairs, he wasn’t used to help protect the lead late in the game — and that’s a situation he would normally find himself in.

Salomonsson wasn’t on the ice as the Moose skated on Tuesday, so the next clue should come from what the line rushes and defence pairings look like on Thursday.

Gustafsson scored the game-winner with a nifty redirection in the final minute of Game 2 to help the Moose keep their season alive, then set up both goals in the 2-1 victory over the series finale, giving him three points in three games in the opening round.

As someone with 149 NHL games and another 11 Stanley Cup playoff games on his resumé, Gustafsson realizes that a strong finish to the campaign is something that can help him moving forward, even if his focus is on the present more than what the future looks like as a pending restricted free agent on July 1.

Gustafsson suffered an injury late in the season, then survived a scare when he was involved in a collision in a game against the Iowa Wild.

“I felt some pain, but mostly I was just scared that something bad was going to happen” said Gustafsson. “Fortunately, everything was good.”

Gustafsson’s value to the Moose has been evident throughout the entire season, but he’s also the type of player that is showing he can rise to the challenge when the stakes are higher.

“For myself, getting sent down is not the thing I wanted. But I felt like I managed it well.”

“He is one of those players that just does everything on the ice (well), whether it is the D-zone or the O-zone, faceoffs,” said Moose captain Mason Shaw. “He has a big body, he distributes (the puck) well and he can shoot it really good.”

Gustafsson is also happy to pay it forward and share his experiences with many of the players adapting to the professional game.

“I know how hard I thought it was the first year, not understanding a bunch of stuff, especially off the ice (not knowing) what to do,” he said. “I feel like I want to make that transition a little easier for those guys.”

The Moose enter this series as a clear underdog, as the Griffins had the best record in the Central Division and Western Conference at 51-16-4-1 and finished second overall behind the Providence Bruins.

The Griffins have a nice blend of high-end prospects, like goalie Sebastian Cossa (first round, 15th overall in 2021), former Brandon Wheat Kings centre Nate Danielson (first round, ninth overall in 2023), veteran blue-liners Erik Gustafsson (517 NHL games) and William Lagesson (107 NHL games) and experienced and productive forwards Dominik Shine, John Leonard and Sheldon Dries, to name a few.

“These are going to be tough games, they have a great record,” Fagemo told reporters on Tuesday. “They have four skilled lines. They can track (well) and they can make some good plays in the offensive zone. It’s going to be tough, but we’re excited for the battle. Our group is ready for it.”

The Moose and Griffins have already met eight times during the regular season, with the Moose going 2-6, with one of those wins coming in overtime.

Grand Rapids outscored Manitoba 32-17 overall, including 13-5 during a weekend sweep at Canada Life Centre in early April.

This is the fifth time the two organizations will meet in the Calder Cup playoffs, with the Moose advancing three of the previous four times — the lone exception coming in 2006, when the Griffins won an entertaining seven-game series at Van Andel Arena.

winnipegfreepress.com/kenwiebe