Appleton most motivated Jet

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This article was published 20/07/2020 (1877 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Look up “motivated” in the dictionary and you might just find a picture of Mason Appleton.

The Winnipeg Jets forward needs no reminding that he has yet to face the Calgary Flames this season. He was supposed to, of course, back at the Heritage Classic in Regina last October. But a freak injury — he broke his foot while tossing a football around with teammates prior to hitting the outdoor ice at Mosaic Stadium — took him out of what would have been the biggest game of his young career.

The bone has long since healed, but the subject remains a touchy one. Appleton wasn’t interested in talking about it during a post-practice interview Monday.

“The second I came back from the injury, I put it behind me. It was six, seven weeks and obviously it takes a while to come back from something like that, I broke a bone. It’s definitely in the rear view mirror as it’s six, eight months in the past,” said Appleton.

Fair enough. You don’t have to be an expert in human behaviour to see the fire that’s burning within, one the 24-year-old Wisconsin product will get a chance to stoke when the Jets take on the Flames in a best-of-five qualifying series starting Aug. 1 in the hub city of Edmonton.

Appleton is expected to be in the Game 1 lineup, skating on the fourth line with Nick Shore and Mathieu Perreault. The trio were playing some fine hockey on a Jets team that had won a season-high four straight games just before the COVID-19 pause in mid-March.

“I think personally and as a team, we’ve got better as the season went on. Our last 20-game stretch I think we were playing some of our best hockey,” said Appleton, who had five goals and three assists in in 46 games this year.

This was supposed to be a breakthrough season for Appleton. The 2017-18 AHL rookie of the year made his NHL debut in 2018-19, opening eyes with three goals and seven assists in 36 games. He earned a full-time spot out of camp last fall, but some growing pains followed by injury pains quickly made for a miserable few months.

After returning to the lineup just before Christmas, Appleton picked up his play. He appeared to find another gear by early February, when he had the bulk of his offensive production and was brimming with confidence.

“That injury, because of the significant amount of time that he lost, set him back but he made up for it. He came out of that injury strong and well-conditioned. That’s an advantage that Mason has, he’s a very fit man. His fitness numbers are very, very good, so he came out of it fit. I thought he came out of it looking better than he almost went into the injury,” said Maurice.

Then it all came to a halt.

“We kind of had that discussion during the pause and during the break, that we wanted him to make sure that when this thing came back to play, it wasn’t a standard training camp for him. Where he kind of came back with the style of hockey that he had gone out on,” said Maurice.

“Again, we’re practicing here, I don’t have a lot of game situations to rely on, but it looks like he does. He came back right off the pause. He’s fit, he’s really quick in practice. He’s driving, so he looks like he…sometimes a major injury in a guy’s career can help him value just being on the ice. He looks excited out there, he looks good, he looks confident, so maybe it was good for him.”

Appleton is looking forward to competing in his first NHL playoff game, even if he has no idea what this unique experience is going to be like.

“We’re all rookies in that sense and it’s going to be a first for everyone. It’s going to be different, there’s going to be a little adjustment period, but we’re all doing this for the first time so it’s going to be something new,” he said. “Everybody’s excited about getting back to playing. We’re gonna see what this bubble is all about and go to win hockey games there.”

One thing is unlikely to change from a typical Stanley Cup pursuit — this is the time of year when depth players step up for teams that ultimately taste success, and Appleton hopes he can be one of those so-called unsung heroes.

“I think we definitely have the ability to be difference makers. At the end of the season, we were playing well, we were making things happen, and I think we’ll continue to do that in the playoffs. Be an energy, a spark, and be everything the team needs down the stretch,” he said.

“I think that’s my role no matter where I am in the lineup. Just play a simple, efficient, fast game, and make plays when they’re there. Whether I’m playing on the 2nd line or the 4th line, I’m going to be the player I am and play to my strengths. I’m going to try to carry that into the playoffs and be the best version of myself.”

Appleton isn’t taking anything for granted, something he learned the hard way earlier this year. He has to play well to stay in the lineup, especially with other depth players such as Jansen Harkins, Gabriel Bourque, Logan Shaw, Mark Letestu, David Gustafsson and C.J. Suess all on Winnipeg’s expanded playoff roster and battling to get in the lineup.

And that’s where a little extra motivation, a little more fuel to the fire, could go a long way.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg