WINNIPEG – When a two-time Vezina Trophy winner isn’t on the ice when practice gets underway, people tend to notice.
The Winnipeg Jets had a long skate at hockey for all centre on Monday and Connor Hellebuyck was not anywhere to be seen. After practice, head coach Scott Arniel calmed the nerves of a lot of Jets fans.
"He's away with family, personal reasons. He might not be back for tomorrow's practice but we're expecting him to be on that plane when we head to Edmonton,” said Arniel.
“So, he’s got some family stuff that he’s just looking after and has to take care of. We’ll just give him his privacy and move forward."
Because of Hellebuyck’s situation, the Jets decided that they will carry three goaltenders to start the season. Kaapo Kahkonen, Eric Comrie and Hellebuyck are part of the roster right now and Arniel added carrying three goaltenders to start the season was not part of the plan.
The Jets got their roster down to three goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards. Defenceman Elias Salomonsson, forwards Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov and Jaret Anderson-Dolan were all assigned to the Manitoba Moose. The younger players in the organization having good camps can only impact the roster in a positive way.
“Well, I think that any player recognizes that unless you’ve been in the league a while, any time there’s good young talent coming it forces guys to be on their toes and be sharp. The thing for me is when we talk about roles and guys taking on responsibility and guys stepping up,” said Arniel.
“We’ve still got Dylan Samberg jumping into the No. 4 spot, we’ve got Cole Perfetti that we’re expecting a lot from. We’ve had Ville Heinola, when he gets back here. Stan (Logan Stanley), who hasn’t played obviously a whole lot the last couple of years. Barron. There’s guys that’s I’m hoping and expecting them to play bigger roles and also take on more responsibility and also mature one more year.”
HEADING IN RIGHT DIRECTION
Friday was the Jets final game of the preseason which turned out to be a 3-2 win in Calgary. The game had a little bit of everything. Winnipeg was solid defensively jumping out to a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. Then a push from the Flames as they outshot the Jets 21-4 in the third tying the game at two before Kyle Connor won it late. For the most part, Jets veteran defenceman Colin Miller liked what he saw.
“Yeah, I think so. I think we would all admit a little blip there to start the third period. But pretty solid game for us,” said Miller.
“We definitely got some time to practice our penalty kill and our power play and stuff like that. But all those things will come in time. I thought that we did a good job that night, so look to continue to build.”
As the countdown to Wednesday continues, season predictions will start to trickle in from all around North America. As for the expectations in the room, Mason Appleton says the team will keep pushing for bigger things.
“When times get tough, you find yourself down in a series, that we can kind of be unflappable and push back with our team game,” said Appleton.
“It's that mindset to have that compete and stick to our structure and just wheel our way out of tough spots and be that consistent team for 82 games."
