Back to work in the Windy City

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This article was published 26/12/2023 (651 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CHICAGO — The Winnipeg Jets hit the holidays on a high, playing such a solid brand of hockey that several players jokingly wished they could forgo the break and simply keep skating.

Alas, the Scrooge that is the NHL schedule maker mandated a four-day hiatus, which comes to end Wednesday in the Windy City.

Now the challenge for the Jets is to try and pick up where they left off.

Winnipeg (20-9-3) will be looking to build on a 8-1-1 pre-Christmas run for the month which has already included statement wins against hockey heavyweights such as the Colorado Avalanche (twice), Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings and, most recently, the Boston Bruins.

There are three games left before the ball drops in Times Square, all against divisional opponents the Jets are currently looking down on.

Up first is a Chicago Blackhawks club that, save for sensational rookie Connor Bedard, is essentially a 98-pound weakling, sitting 31st-overall with a 10-22-1 record. The Jets began December with a 3-1 victory over the Blackhawks at Canada Life Centre, which snapped a season-high three-game losing streak.

Winnipeg will want to be wary of taking anyone for granted, regardless of how much of a mismatch it might appear to be. Consider the only two games this month which haven’t resulted in wins came against the sad-sack San Jose Sharks (the only team with a worse record than Chicago at 9-22-3) and the very mediocre Montreal Canadiens (15-13-5).

Who had that on the Bingo card?

Historically, the first game after the holidays can be a bit helter-skelter for players. In addition to adding heaping helpings of turkey, stuffing and all the fixings to their usual strictly-regimented diets, the internal clocks of these creatures of habit have been thrown for a loop.

For example, the majority of Jets players had to charter to Chicago bright and early on Wednesday morning because the collective bargaining agreement forbids any team activities through Boxing Day.

That will make for a much longer-than-usual game day experience.

The only exception is players who didn’t remain in Winnipeg for Christmas — or hadn’t made their way back to the city by Tuesday night — who were instead finding their own way to Chicago in time for Wednesday’s morning skate where they’ll try to flush the gravy out of their systems.

Which, it should be noted, will be the first time they’ve hit the ice since that impressive 5-1 victory last Friday night against the Bruins. (Some players may have worked out on their own, provided they could find time between all-too-brief visits with family and friends, but no official team skates are allowed between Dec. 24-26).

Wednesday’s game also has an unusual 8 p.m. local start time. However, as coach Rick Bowness loves to say: “No excuses. Just solutions.”

One storyline to keep a close eye on is the status of a pair of injured players. Forward Rasmus Kupari is believed to be close to a return from a shoulder injury, which would bolster an already deep bottom-six.

Question: Who comes out to the lineup to make room? One of Axel Jonsson-Fjallby or David Gustafsson would be likely, but both have been very effective on a fourth-line role along with Morgan Barron.

Then there’s defenceman Ville Heinola, who is recuperating from the broken ankle he suffered in the final pre-season game in early October.

Heinola was set to to not only make the opening-night roster, but be in the starting lineup.

Question: How do the Jets handle what is already a crowded blue-line, where Logan Stanley and Declan Chisholm are currently on the outside looking in on a team that is already among the best defensive squads in the NHL. Both would require waivers to be sent to the Manitoba Moose, and there is a fear another team would likely make a claim.

One solution, at least of the temporary variety, would be to send Heinola to the Manitoba Moose where he could get up to speed on a smaller stage while also buying the organization some additional time to figure things out, assuming everyone remains healthy.

File these under good problems to have.

The team’s other injured player, top goal scorer Kyle Connor, is still at least a month away from recovering from his knee injury, but the Jets haven’t really missed a beat since he went down six games ago (4-1-1).

For now, the focus is on the Blackhawks to kick off a busy week which also includes the annual skills competition Thursday evening, a practice on Friday and then back-to-back afternoon games against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday (at home) and Sunday (in the Twin Cities).

No doubt the Jets will hope to finish the month with a flourish and make this a December to remember.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg