Jets notebook

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This article was published 24/09/2016 (3350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Stafford, old, wise

The head coach may still be away at the World Cup of Hockey — but there will be no shortage of experienced voices to help guide the young Winnipeg Jets prospects through training camp.

Count forward Drew Stafford among the veteran players ready to lend a helping hand and set an example over the next few weeks.

“Just making sure we’re having a high pace out there, making sure we’re disciplined with our passes and the plays that we’re making. Emphasizing speed. Making sure that competition, it’s got to be every day, guys have to bring their best every day because as a young guy, this is your chance right now,” Stafford said Friday.

“It’s not one of those things where you go through this camp and ‘Ah, I didn’t get my chance.’ This is your chance. I’m excited to see what they got.”

Matthias ready

Free-agent acquisition Shawn Matthias hasn’t been afraid to alter his game some. Playing for Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock can have that kind of an effect.

“Sometimes you have to reinvent yourself…” said Matthias, who credited Babcock’s influence for improving his game even after he was dealt by the Leafs to the Colorado Avalanche at mid-season. “Playing with more grit, for me that’s the biggest thing — try to be more physical this season, play with more of an edge.”

Matthias, a natural centre, expects to play wing for the Jets but he’s prepared for anything.

“I’ve played wing the last three years,” he said. “I’m comfortable there. I prefer the wing but it’s second nature for me to play centre. I don’t think it would be too tough (of a transition).”

Ehlers not cocky

Nikolaj Ehlers emerged as one of the most exciting young players in the NHL last season and seemed to find instant chemistry on the top line with Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele. To hear him talk, he’s not taking anything for granted as he enters his second season.

“It’s going to be a hard battle until Paul (Maurice) says who made the team,” Ehlers predicted. “Physically I feel good, I feel ready to start this year. I also know there’s going to be a lot of guys battling for spots on the team so it’s going to be exciting.”

Ehlers says he reflected over the summer on several important lessons he learned in his rookie campaign.

“A lot of small things. Keep working. You can’t stop working for a minute or else everybody else will be one step ahead of you,” he said.

Big issues

Tyler Myers and Logan Stanley have some obvious things in common.

The 6-8, 229-pound Myers was asked Friday if he will have any advice for the 6-7, 230-pound Stanley, a blue-liner chosen 18th overall in the 2016 draft.

“A big body like that — I would suggest for him to use it and to use his reach and to focus on what the coaches say,” said Myers. “With a guy that size, I might give him some pointers, for sure.”

Let’s go man!

ANDREW Copp didn’t want last season to end. He finished the year on a tear, scoring four goals in the final eight games to give himself a huge confidence boost.

“I felt like I was playing my best hockey of the year. You just try to take that momentum, and the momentum that I feel like I built up in the summer time, here into training camp, preseason and the NHL regular season,” Copp said.

Overall he had seven goals and six assists in 77 games, mostly centering the fourth line. He’s one of the players who will be in a fight for the final few roster spots.

Perreault a go

FORWARD Matthieu Perreault re-signed with the Jets in the off-season after two productive seasons playing all over the lineup. He’s hoping to find a more permanent home at centre.

“We had a talk at the end of last year,” said Perreault, who got a four-year extension worth US$16.5 million. “Me and Mo (head coach Paul Maurice), we’ll see. I like playing centre and I think he likes me playing centre. It makes three good lines… that can score on any given night.”

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Josh Morrissey, a second-year pro, was pleased to put up better numbers in the fitness testing to along with his bigger body. He added some weight and strength due in large part to an extra long off-season without any playoff action.

“It’s exciting to see where you’ve improved since the year before,” said the 21-year-old blue-liner, who played 57 games in the AHL with the Moose and made his NHL debut, suiting up for one game with the Jets in 2015-17. “To actually have time to train, you always hope to have a long season… for me, in my development, having four months to train is probably good for me at this point.”

Morrissey also mentioned GM Kevin Cheveldayoff’s message to the assembled players at Thursday night’s pre-camp dinner.

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“This year it’s going to be real intense,” Morrissey recalled. “There’s a lot of players vying for jobs. And not many jobs.”

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The Jets have announced time changes for a pair of November home games.

The Sunday Nov. 13 game against Los Angeles will now begin at 1 p.m., while the Nov. 27 contest against Nashville will start at noon — rather than the original 6 p.m. time that would have been in direct conflict with the Grey Cup.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.camike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.