All’s well that ends Wellwood’s season

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This article was published 03/04/2012 (5277 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SUNRISE, Fla. — Kyle Wellwood couldn’t resist the opportunity to have some fun with a teammate after learning his season was over due to a broken ankle.

“I was just in front of the net, trying to create a screen, and (Grant) Clitsome’s shot just caught me in the foot,” said Wellwood. “He’s responsible for the injury, but he’s been kind about it. He’s apologized many times. He feels bad.”

The Jets have sent Wellwood back to Winnipeg and recalled Patrice Cormier to replace him in the lineup for tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers.

“I’d call it a very good year. The career points is something I wanted to get, which is nice, but you want to be in the playoffs to make it more of a career year,” said Wellwood, who was at Jets practice here on Monday before heading back home.

Wellwood will finish with 18 goals and 29 assists for a career-high 47 points. He was signed just prior to training camp as a free agent, and at $700,000 was a bargain.

Patient Patrice

Cormier is excited to join the Jets, if only for a few games.

“It’s nice. It’s not good that they have injuries, but it’s good to have a chance,” said Cormier, who has 17 goals and 14 assists in 54 games with the St. John’s IceCaps this season. “I want to show that I can play. I’m not going to say I belong here and I should have played here. I mean, I want to show that I can play and I can do whatever they ask me to do.”

Cormier and the IceCaps have had a fine season and are heading to the AHL playoffs.

“Real good. We’ve been battling with a lot of injuries down there, so I’ve been getting all the opportunity in the world to play,” said the 21-year-old after skating with the Jets on Monday. “They have confidence in me, so it feels good.”

Cormier has enjoyed good health this season and put together his best season as a pro.

“It’s the first season in three years that I’ve been healthy, knock on wood. I feel good. I’ve been playing my game: hitting, fighting, getting a couple of lucky goals; doing whatever I can to help the team, and I want to do the same thing up here,” he said. “This year I wanted to be up more, but I think it was good for me to play down there and play a lot of minutes. My goal is just to help the team win, first of all. My personal goal is to show that I can play and that I belong here.”

Crown for King

Former Manitoba Moose and IceCaps winger Jason King has been named the team’s Man of the Year.

King, who sits fourth on Manitoba’s all-time goal-scoring list with 77 goals, has had a good season with the IceCaps, scoring 20 goals and 19 assists in 63 games. King was also very involved in off-ice programs, in particular taking extra time to work with a young boy burned badly in an accident.

King is now one of 30 finalists for the AHL’s 2011-12 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award, honouring the overall AHL Man of the Year.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @garylawless