PK is A-OK, power play is MIA

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/10/2014 (4358 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The power-play opportunities show a deficit of five through three games — 14 for their opposition, nine for the Jets — but Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice said Wednesday he’s got no beef with officiating after the team’s opening road trip yielded just one win in three games.

“No (complaint). None at all,” Maurice said. “Sure, I’m going to, like everybody, beef the officials once or twice a year. But this game is so hard to referee, it’s just so fast, and they’re asked to make calls and player safety is a bigger concern now than I think ever, and it’s early in the year where you see more calls. That’s just the way this goes.

“No, we own our penalties. Whether you deserve them or not, you’re getting some every night so you might as well just kill them.”

Winnipeg has killed all 14 penalties so far — scoring one short-handed marker — but has no power-play goals.

Maurice had briefly opened himself up to questions about the officiating in his response to questions about the Jets’ power play: “Part of our penalty-killing success is that we run some of our better players on the penalty killing.

“And you’d like to get a power play not after you’ve killed 12 minutes. Just some evenness where you get into a bit of a five-on-five rotation where the guys coming off the bench are fresh and more than one every two and a half periods.”

The Jets had two power plays in each of their games Saturday and Sunday.

— — —

Maurice said Wednesday there’s no need to worry about his faith in back-up goalie Michael Hutchinson, who was pulled Sunday after three goals in 22 minutes.

“We’ve had a good talk about it,” the coach said. “They deal with those things. That’s all part of that role. So not every day is Christmas in the NHL. Sometimes you’ve got to deal with the bumps. That’s part of what he has to deal with, Both goalies and all goalies in the league are going to fight through that at one point and they need to be able to do it.”

— — —

The Jets sent centre Patrice Cormier to the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps on Wednesday.

Cormier played just two pre-season games before suffering an eye injury in the second one, an issue that kept him on the sidelines until this week. He cleared waivers Tuesday and was assigned Wednesday.

Cormier, 24, played nine games for the Jets last season, recording three assists. He has 49 NHL games in his career.

“He did well,” Maurice said of Cormier’s training camp. “I’ve got confidence in him coming up. I wouldn’t have a problem putting him into the lineup at all.”

— — —

Blake Wheeler has taken multiple questions about leading the NHL in penalty minutes through Wednesday, and for having two fights in his first three games.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I consent to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies.

I consent to CASL agreement.

One of the teammates he defended on the weekend, centre Mark Scheifele, said Wheeler’s efforts have not gone unnoticed in the room.

“He’s an unblelievable character guy and I think it just shows his leadership,” Scheifele said. “On and off the ice, he’s a key member of this team and it just shows he’ll step up for any guy on this team. I think every guy would do it for him as well.”

Scheifele mostly dodged the attempted knee check of L.A.’s Robyn Regehr on Sunday, but Wheeler didn’t like it one bit.

“I think every guy would do it for every guy on this team,” Scheifele added. “If any guy thinks a guy got cheap-shotted, I think they would jump in at any moment.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca