Concussion still a concern for Copp

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This article was published 05/12/2018 (2467 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Andrew Copp is back on the shelf and there’s a concern he hasn’t fully recovered from a concussion suffered last month.

The Winnipeg Jets forward missed three games and then returned to the lineup Saturday in New Jersey and Sunday against the New York Rangers, but was held out Tuesday night against the New York Islanders in Brooklyn.

Copp took a huge check along the boards from Minnesota’s J.T. Brown and smashed his head on the divider by the Winnipeg bench Nov. 23 in a 4-2 defeat to the Wild.

“He’s not feeling great, so we’ll hold him out,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said after the team’s morning skate Tuesday. “He’ll get looked at when he gets back. He felt fine, played great, just didn’t feel good (Monday), so we’ll hold him out.”

The 24-year-old from Ann Arbor, Mich., has had three concussions in his career.

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Winnipeg blue-liner Dmitry Kulikov (upper body) skated for the first time in a regular red jersey at the morning skate and his medical clearance to play could come Friday.

He’s been out since Nov. 9 when he was hit into the boards by Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Bourque.

Blue-liners Dustin Byfuglien and Joe Morrow did not make the trip. Josh Morrissey (lower body) was a surprise late scratch, so Sami Niku was partnered with Jacob Trouba, Ben Chiarot played with Nelson Nogier — playing his first NHL game since the 2016-17 season — while Moose regular, Cam Schilling, played with Tyler Myers.

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Jets owner Mark Chipman was in Sea Island, Ga., Tuesday morning as the league announced unanimous board of governors approval for the addition of the NHL’s 32nd franchise.

The Seattle squad will play in the Pacific Division, while the Arizona Coyotes join the Jets in the Central.

“It’s not really surprising. When we applied back in 2007, (Seattle was) also at that meeting, along with Vegas and a couple other cities. It’s not as though the market hadn’t been considered by the league for a long time. Honestly, having now looked at it through the process with the executive committee and then again (Tuesday), it just reminded me of how remarkable a market it is,” said Chipman said.

“It’s a big-league, world-class sports market that has a strong hockey pedigree. It’s an exciting, vibrant, growing city, the ownership group is remarkable and the management team they’ve assembled is as good as it gets.”

Jets centre Bryan Little said adding another big-league market to the mix is a good sign, and the added jobs for quality players is the obvious bonus.

“People talk about it watering down the league or something like that, but I don’t think it’s the case,” Little said. “I think there’s a lot of good players in this league and a lot of guys that can play for that team. It’s another city, another exciting place for teams to come in and play.”

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