Fightin’ spirit not hurt

Fresh rash of injuries not about to deter Jets from playoff goal

By: Tim Campbell Posted: 3:00 AM CST Saturday, Mar. 7, 2015

There's no telling what's beneath the surface for the once again injury-plagued Winnipeg Jets.

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There's no telling what's beneath the surface for the once again injury-plagued Winnipeg Jets.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/03/2015 (3846 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s no telling what’s beneath the surface for the once again injury-plagued Winnipeg Jets.

Though unlikely, it could be panic.

But what was offered Friday, on the news Dustin Byfuglien is out of the lineup two to four weeks with an upper-body problem and possibly worse and that Bryan Little will miss at least the next two games with an undisclosed injury, was mostly confidence with a touch of defiance.

Trevor Hagan / the canadian press files
Jets centre Bryan Little (18) will be lost for at least the next two games with an injury suffered in Wednesday's game against Ottawa. — Trevor Hagan / the canadian press files Jets centre Bryan Little (18) will be lost for at least the next two games with an injury suffered in Wednesday's game against Ottawa.

“It’s truly nothing new this time of year in this game,” said Jets defenceman Jay Harrison, whose minutes, like most others’ are likely to increase. “It comes, no different than the flu bug comes. Everyone has to deal with it. You hope it’s a 24-hour bug and gone.”

The team begins a four-game road trip today in Nashville (6 p.m. Sportsnet, TSN 1290) and provides no soft landing spots.

“We’ve been doing it a lot this year so it’s really nothing new for us,” chimed in right-winger Blake Wheeler. “We’ve been dealing with adversity all year. Just another good challenge for our team. It’s never easy losing guys, especially as important as they are.

“Everyone’s got to pick up the slack. In the past, we’ve shown that some of our best hockey follows when we have these tough games in front of us.”

The Jets more than survived a November-to-January injury crisis that saw five defencemen out for long stretches, including at the time, the top four on their original depth chart. During that time, in fact, their record improved significantly.

“It’s a perspective thing,” Harrison said Friday “We’ve dealt with injuries in this room before. My first introduction to the club was because of it. The team handled that adversity really well and having handled that, to rely on and have that confidence in each other, to pick up and fulfill roles for guys when they’re not in the lineup, that’s a huge part of what makes us the tight group that we are. We know we can do this together.

“The group is always more than the sum of its parts. When we play well, we play a team game top to bottom, start to finish.”

Wheeler even looked at it from a healthy vantage point, and with humour.

“It’s almost weird when we’re all healthy, like an adjustment to deal with a full lineup,” he smiled. “It never gets easier, losing guys from your lineup, but we’re accustomed to it and it seems we rise up to the challenge when we’re forced to.”

The playoff line has crept closer to the Jets, with rivals winning more often plus making up games in hand. At 76 points today, the Jets haven’t been below the line since the first few days of November.

‘It’s truly nothing new this time of year in this game. It comes, no different than the flu bug comes. Everyone has to deal with it. You hope it’s a 24-hour bug and gone’

— Jets defenceman Jay Harrison

All of which makes the trip ahead — to St. Louis on Tuesday, Florida on Thursday and Tampa next Saturday — imposing.

“I wouldn’t necessarily call it a concern, it’s definitely a challenge,” Harrison said. “We’re playing really good hockey clubs and a couple that we’re chasing that have proven to be top-tier teams. That’s three of them and then Florida is fighting for their playoff lives, not unlike us, and we expect four really hard games.

“We need our best hockey. It doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup. This is how careers are made. Guys step in and play big roles unexpectedly. A lot of the best players in this league, that’s how they got their start. You have to look at it as opportunity.”

Wheeler said the identity of the coming opponents is secondary.

“It doesn’t really matter so much who we play this time of year. The games are huge…” he said.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca