FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: You’d never know Hellebuyck missed nearly a month of action this season after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. Tonight will be his 51st NHL start of the year — and 56th overall if you include the Olympics.
With eight games remaining and all of them potentially meaningful, is it possible we see him essentially run the table here? I wouldn’t bet against it at this point. Incredibly, that could get him to 64 combined games in goal — which would be one MORE than he played all of last season.
I suspect, at one point, Eric Comrie was pencilled in for tonight’s game, with Hellebuyck getting a breather after the back-to-back Colorado contests and prior to facing Dallas on Thursday night. But plans can change, and the Jets are obviously going to try to ice their No. 1 lineup as long as they still have a playoff pulse at this point.
Captain Adam Lowry now has points in three of his last five games, and he sure looks like a guy starting to round into form after offseason hip surgery delayed the start of his season and then clearly impacted his abilities once he got back in the lineup.
I know there’s some concern out there about how Lowry and his four-year contract extension are going to age, but this is a positive development.
It’s also noteworthy that his minutes are starting to trend up as well: an average of 16:27 in March, compared to 15:00, 14:49, 14:14 and 13:57 in February, January, December and November respectively.
No, Lowry is not the solution to this club’s ongoing search for a second-line centre. But he’s doing a solid job of essentially filling that role on a temporary basis beside Gabe Vilardi and Cole Perfetti.
Despite missing five games after the Olympics and not always looking 100 per cent physically, Josh Morrissey has hit the 50-point mark for the fourth straight season. That’s pretty remarkable for a guy whose career high was 37 points through his first six seasons with the Jets. Former coach Rick Bowness and current bench boss Scott Arniel certainly unlocked something in Morrissey, who continues to impress.
Winnipeg Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey (Fred Greenslade / The Canadian Press files)
It was interesting chatting with him last week about the 2028 World Cup of Hockey that will be held, in part, in his hometown of Calgary. Naturally, I expected Morrissey to be excited about the potential of playing in that, and he was. But my biggest takeaway was the fact he then brought up the 2030 Olympics as a personal goal, believing he can still very much be on the radar for that event.
KEN SAYS: It’s hard to envision a scenario where it’s “normal” for Toews to suit up at United Center in the uniform of the visiting team after spending nearly two decades of his NHL career with the Original Six franchise.
But after all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding his first game back in Chicago back in late January, things weren’t quite as amped up on Tuesday morning.
Winnipeg Jets centre Jonathan Toews (Nam Y. Huh / The Associated Press files)
Make no mistake, the crowd around Toews following the morning skate still included more than a dozen reporters or analysts and his scrum lasted nearly seven minutes as he worked his way through a variety of topics.
But this game isn’t about strolling down memory lane or reminiscing about those three Stanley Cups he won with the franchise he joined as a teenager as the third overall pick in the 2006 NHL Draft.
“A little bit more relaxed,” said Toews. “Definitely nervous, excited, all the things, a lot of memories coming back and definitely strange to be in this locker room and taking the bus to the rink. When you’re living here every day you don’t really reminisce that much but coming back. I’ve got a lot of great memories here, so cool to live that last time and now we can just play hockey. It’s a big game for us, so just not thinking about it too much.”
There likely won’t be a video tribute and roaring ovation that follows, though if Toews finds the back of the net, there just might be a thunderous roar from the hometown faithful.
Toews and his teammates spent Sunday’s off-day at Wrigley Field, where the former Blackhawks captain threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game between the Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals.
The bonding time was welcome, but the Jets are back to business in this one as they look to improve their position in the Western Conference standings.
“Today, it’s all hockey,” said Toews. “That was a super special moment (last time). Had no expectation whatsoever and that blew it out of the water. Pretty cool, obviously I want to come back and try to get a win.”
Blackhawks star Connor Bedard is worth the price of admission, but also keep an eye on centre Anton Fronell, the third overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. The Swedish forward has notched four assists in his first four NHL games and is turning heads with his well-rounded game.
“He’s got great pro habits,” said Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill. “He’s got a really, really strong stick. He’s strong on his skates. He’s intelligent. He’s got good skill. He’s a good player. We moved him to centre last game. I just think long term when you have that ability to kind of defend the ice 200 feet and produce offence.
“Winnipeg has got one of the best ever to play in Chicago to do that (in Toews). I just think those guys are so, so valuable.”
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS
Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
Perfetti-Lowry-Vilardi
Koepke-Toews-Lambert
Rosen-Zhilkin-Ford
DEFENCE
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Bryson-Salomonsson
GOALIE
Hellebuyck
Comrie
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Heinola, D Fleury
INJURED: D Miller (lower-body), LW Niederreiter (lower body), F Namestnikov (lower body), Nyquist (undisclosed), Barron (concussion protocol)
BLACKHAWKS
FORWARDS
Greene-Bedard-Lardis
Bertuzzi-Frondell-Mikheyev
Burakovsky-Nazar-Donato
Teravainen-Lafferty-Slaggert
DEFENCE
Vlasic-Crevier
Kaiser-Rinzel
Del Mastro-Korchinski
GOALIE
Knight
Soderblom
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: F Boisvert, F Toninato
INJURED: D D Levshunov (hand), D Grzelczyk (upper body), F Mangiapane (upper body), F Moore (lower body)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets left-winger Kyle Connor on what he’s seeing lately from a power play that has slipped to 28th among 32 teams in the NHL:
“There are glimpses of it and there are parts of it (lacking). We were struggling with breakouts for a time. Then, that part is on but once we get in (the offensive zone), it seems like we kind of relax and then teams are pressuring really hard now. So, you’ve got to be able to adapt. You can’t let off and think you’re just going to be able to sit and make plays all around. We’ve got to look for an attack mindset. That’s been our focus. When there is an opportunity, be direct.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Ken met the Jets in Chicago for the final three games of the road trip. You can find his pre-game notebook and game analysis in Wednesday’s paper and online at winnipegfreepress.com.
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