Winnipeg Jets Preview
Winnipeg will try to have a breakout sophmore season after their first year in Winnipeg. They ended the year with 84 points, 8 behind the Senators needed for an 8th seed playoff berth.
The MTS Centre was great for the Winnipeg club last season, but they struggled on the road. One of the biggest problems for the Jets is the number of goals they give up. Last year, they gave up 246.
The MTS Centre was great for the Winnipeg club last season, but they struggled on the road. One of the biggest problems for the Jets is the number of goals they give up. Last year, they gave up 246.
Top scorer Blake Wheeler is returning to Winnipeg, and the later part of the season in 2012 is when he really started finding his groove. Evander Kane is also back in True North Blue hoping to avoid injury to make it back to the 30 goal mark.
One big addition to the Jets' roster comes from the Calgary Flames - Olli Jokinen. Another change comes behind main netminder, Ondrei Pavelec, and that's backup goalie Al Montoya, an American tender who played in 31 games for the New York Islanders last year.
Andrew Ladd continues to wear the "C" on his sweater with a foursome of alternates backing him up - Dustin Byfuglien, Toby Enstrom, Mark Stuart, and my personal favorite and well deserved in my opinion, Chris Thorburn. His team presense was admirable and desirable during the club's time in Atlanta. He as always the last guy in the locker room during intermissions because he patted everyone on the back as they made their way down the tunnel.
Many Jets are returning, including Nik Antropov, Alexander Burmistrov, Zach Bogosian, Bryan Little, Ron Hainsey and fan-favorite Jim Slater among others. Grant Clitsome joined the team late last season from Columbus and hopes to make a bigger defensive impact.
Winnipeg Jets Schedule
January 19 - January 27. All times are EST.
Ottawa Senators at Winnipeg Jets
Saturday, January 19
8:00
The Senators beat the Jets 3 out of 4 meetings last season and finished second in the Northeast Division and 8th in the Eastern Conference. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to the first place Rangers.
The Senators struggled with defense last season, finishing 24th in the NHL last season with 2.88 goals allowed per game, 29th in the League with 32 shots allowed per game, and 20th on the penalty kill at 81.6 percent. The team acquired Marc Methot from Columbus and free-agent Mike Lundin while retaining Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson and veterans Chris Phillips and Sergei Gonchar. Upcoming star Jared Cowen is expected to miss this season with surgery.
Craig Anderson will continue to be the top netminder while Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek will be the veteran leaders to promising forwards Jakob Silfverberg, Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone.
Coach Paul MacLean expects their good playoff showing after not being predicted to be competive during the season to be a boost into this year.
"It very definitely should give us a bit of a springboard this year. Our finish and our performance in the playoffs last season gave us some confidence that we're going in the right direction
Winnipeg Jets at Boston Bruins
Monday, January 21
1:00
The Bruins and Jets split their regular season meetings at 2 games each. Boston finished the top seed in the Northeast Conference and 2nd overall. They lost in overtime in Game 7 of the first round of the playoffs to the Washington Capitals.
Coach Claude Julien was signed to a multi-year contract and attempted to keep the core of the successful team together, and basically managed to do that. Some free agents added to the roster include Chris Kelly, Rich Peverley, Shawn Thornton, Gregory Campbell, and Johnny Boychuk. Some returning youngers include Tyler Seguin, Milan Lucic, and Brad Marchand. But perhaps the most impactful player on defense in the League will keep the "B" on his chest: Zdeno Chara.
The biggest difference for Boston is the absence of netminder Tim Thomas who will take this season off. Getting the nod to start the season will be workhorse Tuukka Rask, who got a lot of ice time while starting for the often injured Thomas.
Winnipeg Jets at Washington Capitals
Tuesday, January 22
7:00
The Jets did well over the Caps last year, taking 4 victories while dropping two (one of those in OT). Washington finished 7th in the Conference and 2nd in the Southeast. After defeating the Bruins in 7 games during the first round of the playoffs, they fell in 7 at the hands of New York Rangers.
The Capitals have a new head coach, Adam Oates. This is Oates first head coaching job after having been an assistant with Washington for 3 seasons. Mike Ribeiro joins the team after a trade while the Capitals hold on to stars such as Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Oveckin.
In the net will likely be Michal Neuvirth who has been with the team for the last two years, though he did struggle a bit last year with a .903 save percentage and 2.82 goals against average.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Winnipeg Jets
Friday, January 25
8:00
The Jets were just 1 and 3 against the Pens last season. Pittsburgh ended the year just one point shy of the New York Rangers (108) and settled with second in the Atlantic Division and, because of the top 3 spots in the conference going to the Division winners, a 4th place seed. They were knocked off 4 games to 2 in the opening round of the playoffs by the Flyers.
Pittsburgh's tried to wheel and deal for several hot free agents, but fell short. They did acquire goaltender Tomas Vokoun from Washington, who struggled with injuries last year. The Penguins also added heavy hitter Tanner Glass from the Jets while retaining much of their already talented team.
Crosby and Malkin remain a major threat as powerful forwards in Pittsburgh while Kris Letang has grown into a promising defenseman. The Penguins hope to rebound from the humbling exit from the playoffs last year while trying to figure out what to do with their unexpected (and often absent) cap space.
New York Islanders at Winnipeg Jets
Sunday, January 27
8:00
The Islanders won three of the four games against Winnipeg, though it took overtime for one of those victories. New York finished 14th in the conference and 5th in the Atlantic Division, lower than the Jets' 11th place end-of-season standing. This was their fifth season in a row finishing in the bottom five of the NHL.
The Islanders' lottery pick was used on defenseman Griffin Reinhart while a trade with the Ducks brings in blueliner Lubomir Visnovsky, though it is unclear when he will play. He was recently suspended by the organization due to complications with his NHL and KHL contracts. His desire is to stay in Slovakia, but that league is not extending his contract through the remainder of the season.Brad Boyes joins the team as a potential top scorer, likely to be paired with hotshot John Tavares who starts his third NHL season, and is said to be emerging as a leader in the locker room. NHL hit leader Matt Martin rejoins the Islanders as well.
Swiss Winger Nino Niederreiter begins his sophmore season with New York after a disappointing rookie year. His offseason development seems to give him some potential in making a better season for 2013.
The top netminder for this New York club will continue to be Evgeni Nabokov. He will be backed by Rick DiPietro and Kevin Poulin.
