Jets D takes another hit

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This article was published 06/01/2015 (4021 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Defenceman Grant Clitsome increased the population of the Winnipeg Jets sick bay yet again Monday, joining the team’s top four blue-liners on the injury list.

Clitsome was injured during Saturday’s 5-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs and Jets coach Paul Maurice was disclosing next to nothing about it on Monday, saying only that he was out a week to two weeks.

A cryptic Maurice also left open the possibility Clitsome’s previous back trouble — which required surgery and cost him the second half of last season — could be related.

“Yeah, I’m on a need-to-know basis in the medical room,” Maurice said. “He’s got an upper-body injury.”

Clitsome joins Zach Bogosian, Toby Enstrom, Jacob Trouba and Mark Stuart from the back end on the injury list, as well as left-winger Evander Kane.

Bogosian could return as early as this weekend, Maurice said Monday. He skated Monday with the team for the first time since blocking a shot Dec. 3 against the Edmonton Oilers.

Enstrom may return later this month but Trouba, Stuart and Kane won’t be available until February, the coach has said.

Spinning with the news about Clitsome and Bogosian Monday were other moving parts:

— Monday’s game against the San Jose Sharks marked the first Jets appearance for defenceman Julien Brouillette, who was recalled from St. John’s in early December when Bogosian followed Enstrom out of the lineup. Brouillette, 28, had 10 previous games of NHL experience, all of them last season with the Washington Capitals.

— Defenceman Paul Postma moved up to the second defence pairing with Jay Harrison, taking Clitsome’s spot, while Brouillette moved in with Adam Pardy on the third pairing.

— To assist with the worsening injury woes, the Jets finally moved Kane to the injured reserve list so they could recall defenceman Keaton Ellerby from the IceCaps.

Ellerby’s story this season goes well beyond the ordinary.

The 26-year-old, who was claimed off waivers and spent the rest of the 2013-14 season with the Jets and played 51 games, was sent to the IceCaps after training camp.

He was injured after 18 AHL games, developing a blood clot in his hand after blocking a puck with his wrist in a game and had been on blood thinners for six weeks before being cleared to play this week. He was unable to work out during that time.

“I was injecting myself every day and it was tough,” he said Monday. “But it’s one of those things; you can’t control it and it was a freak thing. But it feels good now. Now it’s just a matter of getting my wind back and getting my legs back.

“I watched about 50 new TV shows and movies throughout the time. All I can say is I’m happy to be back.”

It doesn’t sound like Ellerby’s a lineup option — unless there’s an absolute emergency — in the coming few days at least.

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Ellerby skated twice just before Christmas and then four times last week, and was clearly out of breath on Monday.

But still smiling.

“This feels great,” he said. “Obviously the getting-back-into-shape part isn’t much fun, but it’s nice to be back in a team atmosphere. I was home on my couch for seven or eight weeks, not being able to do anything so I was going a little stir crazy not being able to interact with many people.

“It was extremely frustrating. Obviously the organization here was more frustrated than anybody, having their top four D men all go down basically at the same time. But from my end it was frustrating, wishing and hoping I could be there but not being able to do that was trying.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca