Winnipeg confident in goalie, power play

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This article was published 20/07/2020 (1879 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s not hard to identify the two most obvious keys to Stanley Cup success — good goaltending, and strong special teams.

The Winnipeg Jets are confident they have first box checked off, thanks to a Vezina Trophy favourite in Connor Hellebuyck. On Monday, they put in some work on the second item with an hour-long that focused heavily on power play and penalty killing work.

Coach Paul Maurice said it’s part of the ongoing planning for the qualifying round series against the Calgary Flames as summer training camp continues at Bell MTS Iceplex.

“Working your power play in practice is one of the most difficult things to do, just on pace. On your power play you want people to shoot pucks, and players are more reluctant to shoot pucks against their own players. The last thing you want to do is rip one off a guy’s ankle in practice,” said Maurice.

“These guys worked at a good power play pace, I was really happy with what they got. I thought they got their puck movement and their touches at a high rate. The penalty killers were aggressive and they forced plays to happen.”

Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Patrik Laine and Neal Pionk worked on the top unit, while Nikolaj Ehlers, Jack Roslovic, Mathieu Perreault, Cody Eakin and Josh Morrissey were on the second group. Andrew Copp also rotated with Eakin in his spot. 

“I guess my role is to be really strong on my stick in terms of around the net, there’s going to be a lot of pucks that get to the net, I think, in terms of how our power play works. The more pucks that get to the net, the more havoc we’re getting to create, the more chances we’re going to have,” said Copp.

The Jets have all the weapons up front for a potent power play. They were 15th in the NHL during the regular season, with a 20.5 per cent efficiency. Calgary’s penalty kill was eighth-best in the league at 82.1 per cent.

Winnipeg’s shorthanded play was one of its biggest improvements as the season went on, going from near the bottom of the league to one of the best over a lengthy stretch before the league was paused in mid-March. Overall, the Jets were 22nd at 77.6 per cent while the Flames PP was 12th-best at 21.2 per cent

“We started our season with four defencemen that had killed penalties for our last year not here. So you’ve got a whole new group of men, and after Bryan (Little) went down there’s two forwards for us that weren’t here. So we had to kind of re-shape it and mold it. And then we’ve got these new guys taking over and killing penalties, and they weren’t even there as the injuries took over,” said Maurice.

“When you look at the long list of combinations of the four man set, it was significantly different personnel that went out in the second half of the year. And we also had three or four months then to improve. Clearly it was a big problem for us early and we struggled with it, but then it became a strength for us in the end.”

The trade deadline additions of Eakin and defenceman Dylan DeMelo were significant factors, along with players such as Copp and Adam Lowry returning from injuries. 

“First and foremost, Helly is up for the Vezina and he’s a huge part of our PK. Secondly, I think we started to anticipate really well and started to dictate power plays and take away their top option and try to make them do something they’re not used to doing. Usually their second or third option that they’re not as comfortable going with,” said Copp.

“I feel really comfortable about where our PK is right now and hopefully we can continue where we left off.”

— Mike McIntyre 

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Jets captain Blake Wheeler said heading to hub cities of Edmonton and Toronto and living under strict guidelines in the so-called bubble is going to be tougher on the families being left behind, rather than the players themselves. 

“I’m not worried about me. I’m going to be around my teammates. I’m going to be in a hotel and playing hockey, really. For me, the hardest part is going to be everything going on back home, with Sam and our kids and how that’s going to work out on a day-to-day (basis). That’s going to be the hardest part, weighing those things and being out of touch with those things,” said Wheeler.

“We’ve had four-plus months of doing that together and now to just up and leave is tough, but it’s all a part of what I do for a living. The bubble is going to be fine. We’re going to take care of each other. In terms of the precautions that have gone into protecting the safety of the players, the guys feel pretty good about it and it should be a good setup for us.”

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You’ll have to turn your dial to Sportsnet to watch all Jets playoff games this summer.

The Rogers-owned network announced Monday they will have the rights to the entire 24-team Stanley Cup playoff tournament. TSN, which has the regional rights to the Jets, will be shut out.

Chris Cuthbert (who just came over from TSN) and Louie DeBrusk will have all the calls for games involving Canadian teams from Edmonton, including Winnipeg’s July 29 exhibition game against Vancouver and the Jets best-of-five qualifying round series against Calgary.

Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson will do the Canadian games out of Toronto.

All other games involving non-Canadian teams will also be carried on Sportsnet, with U.S. broadcasters on the calls.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg