Chiarot makes return to lineup

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/11/2017 (2852 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NASHVILLE — Ben Chiarot admits a month removed from regular NHL duty was making him more than just a little stir-crazy.

The Winnipeg Jets defenceman, relegated to the role of spectator for all but one of the club’s 19 games to begin the 2017-18 season, was inserted into the lineup against the Nashville Predators on Monday night. He was a plus-1 in 17:31 of ice time.

Chiarot skated alongside Dustin Byfuglien, whose regular defensive partner, Toby Enstrom, is sidelined with a lower-body injury sustained Saturday afternoon at home during a 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

Enstrom could be out for two months.

Rookie blue-liner Tucker Poolman was recalled from the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, but Jets head coach Paul Maurice turned to Chiarot, a left-shooting defenceman and veteran of more than 170 NHL games over four seasons in Winnipeg.

Speaking Monday morning, Chiarot said staying sharp with on- and off-ice workouts while being a perpetual healthy scratch was tough on his psyche.

“It’s been long, it’s been a process. You start to lose your mind a little bit when you’re skating in circles every day like that. But it should all pay off. It’s keeping yourself in shape,” the 26-year-old Hamilton product said. “When you’re not playing, you focus on other things. You focus on your body and how you feel, your diet and working out and all that stuff. You do all the right things and good things should happen.”

Chiarot’s well aware this may not be a one-and-done scenario, with Enstrom out for an extended period.

“Every game you get in this league is an opportunity to showcase yourself. Blake (Wheeler) says it all the time, he still earns it every day, and he’s the hardest-working guy on our team and the captain and our best player. So, when you look at at a guy like that, it’s easy to not take it for granted and take every opportunity that you get,” Chiarot said.

Prior to last night, Chiarot’s last game was Oct. 20 when he played just more than 16 minutes in a 4-3 win at home against the Minnesota Wild.

Winnipeg’s blue-line crew has stayed relatively healthy and the team has been rolling, eliminating the need for the coaching staff to alter things on the back end.

Maurice said the work ethic Chiarot demonstrated as an extra player was expected of him, particularly with Poolman, who impressed during training camp and fortified his worth to the organization when he dressed for three games in October, willing and able to step in.

“It’s a tough job, but it’s still a good job and it pays well. It’s still in the NHL,” Maurice said. “So understand where you’re at. The standard cliché of making your practices your games, you have to do that. Part of the job is being able to come (in) and keep your game very simple, be effective.

“There’s not four or five games where you get to work your way back into being good, because Tucker Poolman has been playing and he wants a shot at it, too.”

● ● ●

The Jets say the length of the suspension levelled at Radko Gudas was entirely appropriate.

The Philadelphia Flyers blue-liner will pay a hefty price for a brutal slash to Winnipeg winger Mathieu Perreault on Thursday night.

Late Sunday, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety handed down a 10-game suspension to Gudas, who brought his stick down like he was swinging an axe to the back of the fallen forward’s neck. Gudas was also fined US$408,536.

Perreault said the punishment doled out to the repeat offender was appropriate and should serve as a deterrent.

“I hope for him (it is). This wasn’t the first time he’s done something like that,” said Perreault, who was fortunate to not be seriously injured on the play. “The point of all this is to get rid of the stupid moves, really. Hopefully, that sends him a message.

“It doesn’t really change anything for me. It’s not like we’re playing those guys any time soon, but I’m glad they took care of it. I’m just happy I didn’t get hurt. It could have been a lot worse.”

With two goals Monday night in the Music City, Perreault now has four goals goals in three games on an effective fourth-line combination with centre Matt Hendricks and right-winger Joel Armia since his return from a leg injury that kept him out of the lineup for a dozen games.

He said while the hard whack stung initially, he’s hasn’t been bothered by it since.

Gudas was given a major penalty as well as a game misconduct on the play.

“Unacceptable. That’s the lesson that they’re trying to send, obviously,” Hendricks said.

“Accidental or not, we as players are responsible for our sticks and our actions with our sticks. It was a tough one to take, for sure. It didn’t look pretty.”

● ● ●

Life is good for high-energy winger and resident heavyweight Cody McLeod.

McLeod, 33, who hails from the town of Binscarth, spent the better part of 10 seasons with the Colorado Avalanche before being dealt to Nashville in mid-January.

A healthy scratch for chunks of the 2016-17 season in Denver, he played 31 regular-season games after the trade to the Predators and was a physical force as the team advanced to the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Indeed, that was an exhilarating time for McLeod — despite the fact the Pens wrapped up the championship series 4-2 to repeat as Cup winners.

“I’ve been playing quite a while in this league and never had that opportunity, so it was pretty special. It was a lot of fun,” McLeod said.

“There’s a little bit of sting, but you have to move on and just keep getting better. We were really close and the guys believe in here we can get back there.”

Predators head coach Peter Laviolette has included the fourth-liner in his lineup for 18 of 21 games. McLeod has one assist and 67 penalty minutes, including five fighting majors, and averages about 11 shifts a game and just less than seven minutes of ice time.

“Still grinding. That’s what it’s about. Just keep givin’ ’er,” said McLeod, with a grin that’s minus a few chiclets. “We’ve got a good group in here and, hopefully, we can keep it going.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell