Wanna fight? Bring it

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This article was published 08/11/2014 (3971 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While the emotional, aggressive and glove-dropping storm seems to be raging all around him — in particular in Thursday’s home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins — Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice is happy to let it play out.

And he doesn’t seem to mind some of his best players have been involved in the fisticuffs, — sure to cause some purists to gasp.

The Jets, in 14 games this season, are the most penalized team in the league at 86 minutes, and at seven fighting majors so far, aren’t far off the league lead of 10.

In addition, right-winger Blake Wheeler, their scoring leader in 2013-14, has already been in three fights, one fewer than four tough customers who share the league lead.

“The game doesn’t have that in it anymore,” Maurice said, meaning too much fighting. “You don’t see it. So if I have two players like (Evander) Kane and Wheeler and it happens again, then I start watching a little closer. The energy level’s awesome.

“But there has to be a decision made. The passion’s great but are we making a fair trade here? That’s part of the awareness. You can’t allow players that are going to play eight minutes a night to take five minutes off a player that’s going to play 19-21.

“Sometimes it happens, but we’ll monitor it.”

The Jets got into four effective scraps on Thursday, one each by Wheeler, Kane, Adam Lowry and Jacob Trouba, though Trouba was whistled only for a double-minor for roughing. Plus Dustin Byfuglien was also at the centre of a big skirmish after belting Penguins’ Steve Downie into the boards after he scored.

“I think that was an intense game and sometimes emotions are running high,” Lowry said Friday, before the Jets headed off to Ottawa for tonight’s game against the Sens (6 p.m., Sportsnet, TSN 1290). “I don’t think you necessarily want to see your best players fighting, but when you see that, it makes you feel they’re invested in the game. It makes you want to play that much harder.”

One thing is clear — the Jets under Maurice aim to be better battlers.

“We know if we’re playing our system the right way, we can be aggressive,” said defenceman Mark Stuart, who has been a battler from Day 1. “That means everybody has to be in the right spots. But we do have pretty good size to our team so I think it’s important that we play physical.

“We did that last night and it was good a few guys stepped up for each other in a few different areas. That’s going to happen. Every game is not going to be quite like that as far as fights and physicality, but it’s not about running over people and running out of position. It’s about finishing checks. That’s a big part of our game.”

If some of his younger teammates may be all in on confrontation and throwing down the gloves, Stuart was asked what advice he’d give them.

“There is a fine line,” he said. “You want to play physical within the rules so you’re not putting yourself in the box, but there are times where you’re going have to step in. As long as it’s one-for-one and you’re taking somebody from their team off the ice… sometimes you don’t like the trade-offs, but that’s going to happen, too.

“It’s the heat of the moment. It happens. I think there’s a way you can play, that physical game, even fights and stuff like that, just as long as it’s one-for-one, and you’re not putting the team down one.”

The battle level, not the fights, are the most important thing, Stuart’s regular partner Trouba said.

“That was probably one of the more fun games I’ve played,” he said. “Yeah, that was a good one. There are some emotional ones. I don’t really get too jacked up ever, but that was a pretty fun game.

“I don’t think I’m a fighter by any means but it’s part of the game and when it happens, it happens. I don’t go out there looking for it. But it’s part of a game that intense, and it’s going to happen. We’ve got a fast and physical team. I think that’s probably our biggest strength, especially up front, and that’s getting in and hitting people. I think that’s what we’re good at and that’s the style of game we want to play.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca