Jets assistants glad they’re back north

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This article was published 16/07/2011 (4266 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WADE FLAHERTY wishes he could fast-forward to training camp. And Charlie Huddy is thrilled to be back in a Canadian market.

And so the first official day on the job for the two new Winnipeg Jets assistants drew nothing but two thumbs up from a pair of hockey men happy to be employed and thrilled to be back north of the 49th parallel.

“When the Atlanta Thrashers went back to Winnipeg, as a Canadian, to see that happen was thrilling,” Flaherty, the Jets’ new goaltending coach, said Friday. “And then to have the opportunity to be a part of this is absolutely something special.”

Huddy expressed the same thoughts after spending the past two years with the Dallas Stars.

“It’s exciting to be back in a Canadian city,” he said. “I know the fans here and the buzz in the city right now is going to make it exciting.

BYE-BYE BOULTON: Former Atlanta Thrashers tough guy Eric Boulton, now 34, signed a two-year, one-way deal with the New Jersey Devils on Friday. He said he had a few nibbles from other NHL teams, but not from Winnipeg.

“It’s all about a hockey decision.” Boulton told The Bergen Record. “It’s all about winning, and I think this team is very close.” Boulton had six goals, four assists and 87 penalty minutes in 69 games last season with Atlanta.

PUCK ENVY: The club president of Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate in St. John’s, former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Danny Williams, said this week the team has already sold 4,700 season-ticket packages for Mile One Centre — far surpassing their initial goal of 3,000.

“(With) 4,700 tickets (sold), I’ll tell you right now (this) is the No. 1 team in the league,” AHL chief operating officer Glenn Stanford told CBC.ca.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca