Chisholm, Samberg reflect on their NHL debuts

WINNIPEG - A couple days have passed since Dylan Samberg and Declan Chisholm made their NHL debuts in a 3-0 Winnipeg Jets win over the Detroit Red Wings, but while the team's Michigan products were the headliners after the final buzzer - it doesn't take away from the strong performances both rookie defencemen had.
Both were able to soak in the moment, and one thing really stood out to Chisholm.
"I haven't seen a jumbotron that big I don't think," Chisholm said with a smile.
Once the puck dropped, Chisholm and Samberg were able to focus on the job at hand - and excelled at it.
"You only get one chance to make that first impression," said interim head coach Dave Lowry, who also preached the importance of keeping things in perspective.
"We're excited about the play of these guys, but we don't want to get too far ahead. They all had great first games," he said. "Now the big thing is taking the momentum and the energy from your first game, how does it translate into your next game? Are you able to bring it, and raise your level to the same bar? That's the big thing with young guys."

They certainly set the bar high for themselves.
Samberg played 17:52, recorded his first NHL point on Andrew Copp's first goal of the game - which ended up being the game-winner - and was paired with fellow Hermantown, MN product Neal Pionk.
"It was an awesome experience. Neal is a great D partner," said Samberg.
"I've known Neal and his family for a long time. We both went to the same high school in Hermantown. I've ran into a lot of his younger brothers and known Neal through them. It was good to get that experience and get that first one under my belt."
Pionk is four years older than Samberg, but his familiarity with Samberg's resilience made playing alongside him in his debut even better.

He recalled a season back in Hermantown when a leg injury forced Samberg to miss nearly an entire season. Then, in 2020-21, Samberg spent the majority of the campaign on the taxi squad.
"Not only is that physically challenging, it's mentally challenging. You go back to summer training after a year on the taxi squad, it's hard to get motivated," said Pionk. "He did. He got motivated and worked his tail off all summer. Then you get to training camp and you're excited for him, and he gets hurt on the first day of camp.
"To see him get rewarded after going through all that adversity is really special."
Perhaps the most impressive chunk of Samberg's 17:52 of ice time was the 3:51 he spent on the penalty kill, the second most among Jets defencemen that night.
"When you bring a player in and it's his first National Hockey League game and he's killing penalties, it shows you the belief we have in the player and his ability," said Lowry. "I thought he played solid. He played to his identity."
Samberg heard from supporters back home after the big win, and so did Chisholm, who finished the night with 13:44 of ice time and four shots on goal - the most among Jets defencemen.
"I went into it open minded. I just wanted to have fun with it. I wanted to stick to my game," said Chisholm.
"It was a pleasure to play with(Nate Schmidt). He made it easier, he talks a lot out there. I think that's one of the biggest differences. Everyone is talking and it makes it a lot easier to make plays."
Both Samberg and Chisholm were back on the ice for practice on Saturday.
They kept their spots on the defensive pairs even with the return of Logan Stanley, Ville Heinola, and Nathan Beaulieu from COVID-19 protocol.

Nikolaj Ehlers and Kristian Reichel were also on the ice for the 45-minute skate. The line rushes looked like this:
Copp-Scheifele-Ehlers
Connor-Dubois-Perfetti
Vesalainen-Lowry-Reichel
Stanley-Toninato-Beaulieu
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Chisholm-Schmidt
Heinola
As good as it was to see those faces again, the Jets were still missing some players on Saturday.
Evgeny Svechnikov, Jansen Harkins, and C.J. Suess didn't practice.
"Harks is in transit. He didn't meet border requirements to come across. He's travelling. He'll be with us tomorrow," said Lowry. "Suess has an upper-body injury, Svech as well. Svech will be day-to-day. We're just finding out a timeline right now. Suess might be a little longer than day-to-day."
Paul Stastny, Brenden Dillon, and Eric Comrie remain in protocol, with the hope being that they can join the team soon.
No matter how the roster shakes out, Samberg and Chisholm have proven that the Jets organization has players who can step up at a moment's notice.
"Everyone has to be ready throughout the entire organization," said Pionk.
"It's a good opportunity for those guys and it's a good opportunity to show the depth in our organization."