Players get bit of a breather on Day 2

By: Tim Campbell Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Monday, Sep. 19, 2011

THERE'S been precious little of it -- the mundane, the average, the normal -- concerning the reborn Winnipeg Jets.

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THERE'S been precious little of it -- the mundane, the average, the normal -- concerning the reborn Winnipeg Jets.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/09/2011 (5157 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THERE’S been precious little of it — the mundane, the average, the normal — concerning the reborn Winnipeg Jets.

Sunday was just such a ho-hum day for the relocated NHL team, a welcome breather as the team’s 2011-12 training camp continued by moving downtown to the closed-to-the-public confines of the MTS Centre.

The team had its first day of on-ice camp drills Saturday at the MTS Iceplex, where 1,500 cheering fans were in the seats by 9 a.m.

“It was nice to have that reception yesterday at the practice rink on the first day of camp, but it was kind of a sigh of relief today to come out,” said Jets centre Bryan Little. “It was a nice change of pace, everyone relaxing a bit and getting their focus ready.

“When we stepped on the ice (Saturday), we realized this is the real deal. If you didn’t know what kind of reception you were going to get, what the fans were going to be like in Winnipeg, we found out right away.”

There was “Go Jets Go” chanting at the Iceplex Saturday and the usual frenzy that has surrounded everything the team says and does.

The team skated again Sunday in three groups, this time with fewer eyes watching. Two of the groups squared off in a late-morning scrimmage.

In that action, which lasted about 45 minutes, the Blue team bested the Red team 3-1 on the strength of goals from Levko Koper, Spencer Mahacek and first-round draft pick Mark Scheifele.

Blake Wheeler had given the Reds a 1-0 lead.

The game featured very little contact in the first 20 or so minutes, a factor put down to “rookies having too much respect for veterans,” coach Claude Noel said.

Still, it was another day, another step forward, Little said.

“It felt good, a bit faster pace today and I thought everyone was sharper,” Little said. “It’s kind of what you expect — everyone at camp gets a little better every day.

“I saw that today a lot.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca