Roslovic up against friendly fire

By: Jason Bell Posted: 11:24 PM CST Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019

Some of Jack Roslovic’s idols have become his close friends and heated on-ice foes.

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Some of Jack Roslovic’s idols have become his close friends and heated on-ice foes.

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This article was published 31/01/2019 (2410 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some of Jack Roslovic’s idols have become his close friends and heated on-ice foes.

Indeed, the Winnipeg Jets forward has a unique kinship with several members of the Columbus Blue Jackets. He was born and raised in Columbus, and his family had season tickets a few rows up from the NHL team’s bench at Nationwide Arena.

Roslovic, 22, used to follow the every move of longtime Blue Jackets such as Brandon Dubinsky, Nick Foligno and Cam Atkinson. Now, he works out with them during the off-season.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
Winnipeg Jets Jack Roslovic grew up watching Blue Jackets games in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. — MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg Jets Jack Roslovic grew up watching Blue Jackets games in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

Roslovic made his NHL debut against the Blue Jackets on April 6, 2017 at the rink just a 15-minute drive from his home. He battled them again Thursday night for just the second time in his NHL career, scoring the game-tying goal.

“There’s a lot of familiar faces over there. You always get excited playing the team you grew up watching,” said Roslovic, the first born-and-raised Columbus kid to play in the NHL. The Jets selected him 25th overall at the 2015 NHL draft.

“It’s not like (Jets centre Mark Scheifele) when we play in Toronto and it’s the (hype of) the Jets-Leafs. It’s Winnipeg-Columbus, but it’s still something special for me. I grew up watching them play every night, so I know a lot of the guys on the team. It’s for a little bragging rights.”

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Defenceman Dustin Byfuglien (lower body) and winger Nikolaj Ehlers (upper body) skated before the rest of their teammates did Thursday morning, and their recoveries are on schedule.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice said Byfuglien is day-to-day, yet he’s a long shot to play Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks. He has missed 13 games.

Ehlers likely won’t return to the lineup for another week to 10 days. He has missed 11 games.

Forward Nic Petan and defenceman Sami Niku were healthy scratches against the Blue Jackets.

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Columbus coach John Tortorella shredded his team during Thursday morning’s media conference for its performance at home two days earlier. The Buffalo Sabres built a 3-1 first-period lead Tuesday before the Blue Jackets tied it 4-4 on Atkinson’s 28th goal of the year late in the middle frame. Conor Sheary notched the winner early in the third for the visitors.

The always-entertaining bench boss was still seeing red 40 hours later.

“It’s a good team we’re playing, and it was a gawd-awful team that I coached the other night, so hopefully we’ll answer the proper way… they better or they’ll get their ass kicked,” said Tortorella. “It was a team that threw their uniforms out to play… played with absolutely no balls at all. The team needs to be reset pretty quickly.”

Blue Jackets centre Boone Jenner is being treated for an infected cut on an ankle and could be out for up to three weeks. He was cut after blocking a shot Jan. 12 in a game against the Washington Capitals.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell