Time to go camping

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/01/2021 (1744 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On your marks. Get set. Go!

The sprint to the 2021 Stanley Cup final officially begins Sunday, as NHL teams open abbreviated training camps leading into the start of a truncated new season that will be unlike anything seen before.

It will mark the first time the Winnipeg Jets have hit the ice since they were bounced from the Edmonton bubble Aug. 6, in a four-game qualifying-round series elimination to the Calgary Flames.

Fittingly, the Flames are up first in a 56-game regular-season schedule that kicks off Jan. 14 at Bell MTS Place.

Where Winnipeg ends up in the new all-Canadian division remains to be seen. Pundits have been placing it anywhere from first to sixth, showing just how competitive things should be north of the border. Every empty-arena game will be a proverbial “four-pointer” and should have a playoff-type vibe — absent raucous fans, of course — especially since teams will be playing mini-series to cut down on travel.

“There will be some interesting dynamics there. Playing two and three and sometimes even four games where you are playing just one team in a row… It’s never been seen before like that and it’s going to be interesting to see how all that plays out as well,” Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said this week.

“I’m just excited to look over all the possibilities; I know the coaches are extremely excited about preparing for the games.”

It’s cliché to say a quick start to the season is important, but it’s especially true in a year where there isn’t nearly as much runway to work with.

Added importance is on the 10-day training camp (reduced from the usual three weeks). There are no exhibition games to work off the rust, and expanded rosters in the form of a “taxi squad” should keep the competitive juices flowing from Day 1.

“We get right to it. We’ve got to start with the intensity right from the first day of practice. We’ve got a hockey game in 10 days and we’ve got to get ready. Maybe there is a little bit more jump, more passion, more intensity in practice, just because we know we’ve got to prepare ourselves for that first night,” said Jets forward Andrew Copp,

“At the start of (normal) training camp, you get through testing and you’re like, ‘All right, we’ve got a bunch of time to work up to where we need to be for the first game.’ We don’t have that here,” he said.

“We’ve got to be ready right away and you can’t start out 0-4; (the games) matter right away. It will be good. It will be a fun way to get going.”

To help get you set for the 10th season of Jets 2.0, here are 10 key storylines to follow:

1) COVID-19

It’s going to be an ever-present theme, for camp, as well as the regular season. Players will be under extensive health and safety protocols, which will pretty much restrict them to their residences and rink at home, and hotel and rink on the road (with some exceptions).

Testing will be frequent and fast. Given the high case numbers in most markets, teams will be hoping players come through unscathed, with minimal disruption to scheduled events. As we’ve seen in MLB and the NFL, that is much easier said than done.

2) MOVING, SHAKING

Is Patrik Laine really here to stay, at least for this season? Will Jack Roslovic’s trade wish be granted or will the restricted free agent ultimately be re-signed? Will a couple players being brought in on professional tryout offers make the grade? Is this defensive group the Jets are really prepared to go to battle with?

Burning questions — and why there’s still an air of uncertainty hanging over the team.

“I think we’re past the point of outside things distracting our team. I think whether it was guys in the past who have not had contracts at this time, going into camp, there have been situations left and right, it feels like. So we’re kind of past the point of letting outside distractions worry our team,” said Copp.

“So we’re just trying to get going, get all together on the first day of training camp, get practising and start to build that team feeling, that camaraderie and get ready to go for the regular season.”

3) BLUE-LINE

Easily the No. 1 issue to be settled is who plays where, and with whom.

Assuming no other moves are made, Josh Morrissey and Dylan DeMelo seem like a lock to be on the top defensive pairing, and Neal Pionk with be on the second unit. But who plays with him on the left side?

Free-agent signing Derek Forbort seems like the best bet to start, but he will be challenged by the likes of rookie Dylan Samberg, sophomore Ville Heinola (depending on the severity of the injury the Finnish prospect suffered during Friday’s preliminary-round loss to the Canadians at the World Juniors) and former AHL defenceman of the year Sami Niku.

Nathan Beaulieu and Tucker Poolman may resume the third-role pairing that looked promising towards the end of last season, but there could be plenty of moving parts, as head coach Paul Maurice tries to find combinations that improve Winnipeg’s play in its own end.

4) TOP-SIX MIX

The top two centre slots are set in stone, but how will Maurice use his wingers?

Does he start with Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor flanking Mark Scheifele on the top line, and reunite Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers with Paul Stastny on the other? Does he grant the disgruntled Laine his wish of playing with Scheifele and move Wheeler down?

It’s a good problem to have, with plenty of options available.

5) BOTTOM-SIX MIX

You can pencil Adam Lowry and Copp in on the third line. But who plays with them? Roslovic would have been the favourite, but he remains at home in Columbus, Ohio, hoping Cheveldayoff finds a trade partner. Does the aging, declining Mathieu Perreault get another look? How about the rising Jansen Harkins or Mason Appleton?

Nate Thompson is likely the fourth-line centre to start, at least until David Gustafsson (undisclosed injury) is ready for full-time work. Then you have prospects such as Kristian Vesalainen, C.J. Suess, Joona Luoto, Kristian Reichel and the injured Marko Dano vying for playing time.

6) WILD CARD

Cole Perfetti will be a late arrival at camp, as the centre is currently vying for a World Juniors gold medal with Team Canada in Edmonton.

After landing in Winnipeg, Perfetti, along with Heinola (Team Finland), will be subjected to a mandatory seven-day quarantine. That could put one, or both of them, very close to opening night of the season, and could hinder their chances of being in the lineup off the hop.

Perfetti will certainly get into some games this season. Whether it’s more than six, which would wipe out the first year of his entry-level contract, will likely be dictated by his play. The future is bright for the 10th-overall pick in 2020, who turned 19 on Friday.

7) TAXI SQUAD

The Jets can carry a maximum of 23 skaters, including two goaltenders, and they may wish to go one or two less to give them some breathing room under the salary cap. That’s where the four-to-six-player taxi squad comes into play.

With the AHL not starting until Feb. 5, at the earliest, this group will practise with the NHL team to be ready when called upon. One spot will go to a goaltender (likely Eric Comrie); the rest are up for grabs.

It’s possible the Jets may want to use these spots on more veteran players, such as depth defenceman Luca Sbisa and forward Dominic Toninato.

8) MASKED MEN

There’s no question who the undisputed No. 1 in net is.

“Having the Vezina winner in net is always a good place to start,” Copp said of being able to lean on goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

No kidding. However, managing his workload in a shortened season, which includes nine sets of back-to-back games, will put added pressure on NHL understudies. In this case: Laurent Brossoit, who can hopefully bounce back from a difficult campaign last season.

It will start in camp, where replicating game-like situations will be challenging.

9) SPECIAL TEAMS

Winnipeg’s power play and penalty kill units were letdowns last season. Improvement in both areas would go a long way to helping the overall product.

The Jets have brought in a new assistant coach, Dave Lowry, to perhaps add some new wrinkles. Stastny should resume his old spot on the top power-play unit, while Forbort is a shot-blocking and penalty-killing pro on the back end.

This area is often overlooked in practices, especially training camp. Maurice and company will want to spend plenty of time trying to get it sharp before game time.

10) BUILDING, BONDING, BATTLING

One of the intangibles in team sports is the ability to quickly bring a new group together in the name of a common goal. According to Cheveldayoff, teams that find a way to do that best, under less-than-ideal circumstances, will likely be among the front-runners.

“Hockey is such a team sport, and you have to rely on that person sitting next to you so much. That person’s going to be sitting six-feet away, so to speak. Away from the rink, players are very close. Will you have that ability to develop that kind of chemistry, that kind of bond? I think those are the kinds of things that teams are going to have to work extremely hard a, to try to find those nontraditional ways to bond and to get together during these unprecedented times,” he said.

“This is starting something new. There’s lots of changes on virtually every team. There’s young players… you have to find ways to integrate them into the lineup and into the fabric of the team.”

There will no doubt be plenty of obstacles to overcome along the way, including having no traditional home-ice advantage in the form of a packed arena cheering every move.

“I think the things that obviously stick out to you are when you go into a city and you play a three-game set. What’s that going to be like? You don’t experience that until you get into playoffs and even in playoffs, it’s a different situation, so those are going to be interesting dynamics,” said Cheveldayoff.

“It’s going to be the team that can adapt, and it’s the team that doesn’t get flustered when something happens or there’s a delay or your tests don’t show up on time and you have to delay practice for three hours… Those are the kind of things that we might have to face,” he said.

“The teams that can adapt to that and roll with those kind of punches are the ones that are going to be successful.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg