Papers (Oct 18th): More attitude needed. Dictating pace. Jets Gala & more

[ICdave]

Note: After the game, be sure to check us out for all the post-game reaction. As soon as the site is updated we notify you via twitter @illegalcurve and Facebook.

Note II: Make sure to @ tweet @illegalcurve with your guess in our #ICGWG and #IC5050 contests. Remember that for your vote to qualify you must send in your guess by hashtaging (#) your guess. (i.e. #ICGWG Scheifele #IC5050 $38,450.00).

Jets news:

CBC: 5 Things to watch. Today Jeff looks at an unfamiliar foe, roster question marks, Frolik on the rise, getting Wheeler back on track and local content on Blues roster.

Winnipeg Free Press: Jets agree more attitude needed. Evander said it best “We’ve just got to come out with a lot more energy, a lot more emotion, a bit of an FU attitude towards every team we play, not just St. Louis,” and hopefully the entire team comes out with this mind set.

Winnipeg Sun: Kane says Jets need 'F-U attitude'. I suspect fans would agree. Further, he mentions making this place a daunting place for the opposition, which at present, it most certainly is not.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets vs. Blues game day. Ken brings you up to speed with his mid day video reporting in advance of tonight’s contest.

Jets official Site: Gala dinner (video). Listen to captain Ladd and some of the players talk about the foundation.

Illegal Curve: Coach Noel pre-game audio. He touched on - Evander ready to go? Starting with more of an edge? Blues talk. Hybrid icing changing defensive posture? Earning confidence. What would be a good 1st period? Has he noticed the start difference between the East and West? Reason why he is playing Clitsome with Byfuglien.

Illegal Curve: Player pre-game audio. Hear from Bryan Little, Evander Kane, Jim Slater and Zach Bogosian. (Kane's is very good stuff).

Illegal Curve: Jets vs. Blues preview. Ezra breaks down tonight’s game action and is a must read in advance of the game.

Illegal Curve: Morning Papers. If you missed any of the news this AM we have you covered.

For the latest Jets news, click here.

Click to read more...

 

[HannuJ]

Wright on the 4th line??? unpossible.

 

[pegjets]

I think Wright would make a good skate sharpener or towel boy

 

[Gnova]

I think Wright would make a good skate sharpener or towel boy

Are you saying he can use his stone hands to sharpen skates?

 

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October 4th

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Hometown Blues. Perhaps Jets fans need to turn into Raiders fans, scary and aggressive. Is the barn too much fun? Other teams have often said they can sometimes feed off the energy in the building. So how can fans aid their team by making it a more hostile environment? Maybe it is time for a uniform arena colour like the orange crush in Philly or the sea of red in Washington.

Winnipeg Free Press: Too Friendly Manitoba. Some facts about the Jets home record. Will tonight be the first home opening win since a 7-5 victory over the Dallas Stars in the Jets 1.0 final season in Winnipeg? The article also gives you five juicy home numbers, including the stat that says it is always better for a Jets victory if they are leading the game after the 1st period.

Winnipeg Free Press: Right now, it's how they play the game. The Jets sometimes run and gun style isn't going to fly in the tighter checking Western Conference. You can occasionally pull off the unexpected but the fact of the matter is coach Noel wants a team that commits to playing team defence. That goes from the centre all the way back to the goalie. This is what it is going to take to be a successful team in this league.

Winnipeg Sun: Tangradi gets promotion. We saw some flashes during the pre-season and he certainly had a good game against the Oilers. You could tell that Noel wants both Wright and Tangradi to rise to the occasion and it certainly sounds like he will get his chance tonight against the Kings.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets face whole different animal in L.A. Kings. This isn't a soft team and part of the resilience was experienced by the Minnesota Wild who blew a 2-1 lead late in the 3rd and ended up losing in a SO last night in St. Paul.

ESPN: Player poll. 30 random NHLers were polled and turns out they don't like the Jets Big Buff who was voted 2nd dirtiest player in the league behind Matt Cooke of Minnesota. Of course, Cooke received 30% whereas Byfuglien garnered 7% of the votes, so while numbers suggest that he was second on list, that simply means that 2.1 NHLers out of 30 thought he merited this mention. Also of note some of the players felt realignment would help the Jets although more thought it would hurt Winnipeg's chance to make playoffs.

Illegal Curve: Josh Morrissey signed to a three-year, two-way, entry level contract. This kid is going to be a very solid addition to a strong defensive core when he finally cracks the squad. Similar to Trouba, he has a confidence about his game that was impressive during the pre-season.

Illegal Curve: Coach Noel from MTS Centre. Style of play needs to change. Challenges presented by the Kings. Playing 8 of 9 at home. Benefit of spending that much time at home. Countering enthusiasm with patience. Role of Eric Tangradi. Tangradi playing to his potential. Surprised by Tangradi’s no-look pass?

Illegal Curve: Player scrums from MTS Centre. Hear from Dustin Byfuglien, Mark Stuart, Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd.

IceCaps news:

The Telegram: Change will do you good. Such is life in the AHL. One moment your franchise can be at the top and then a few key players get the call and suddenly your team looks very, very different. Key is ensuring sufficient depth to minimize this problem as best you can.

For the latest Jets news, click here.

 

[Zhamnov10]

I really think Peluso should be in the line up to help control some of the big bodies la has running around taking liberties

 

[alchemyindex]

CBC: 5 things to watch as Jets host home opener. Jeff looks at five thing being home sweet home, forward spot up for grabs, Kane shooting more,

Kane shooting more? How about Kane hitting the net more?

 

[ICdave]

October 4th

Note: Tonight we kick off the Winnipeg Jets home opener as they host the L.A. Kings at the MTS Centre.

Note II: We will continue to provide comprehensive game day coverage. Following your Jets Papers, you can ensure you are up to speed with our game preview written by Ezra Ginsburg. Following Ezra's preview we will have pre-game audio from the players and coach Noel. After the game, be sure to check us out for all the post-game reaction. As soon as the site is updated we post the news on twitter @illegalcurve and Facebook.

Note III: With the return of hockey comes the return of IC Contests. For home games we have both our #ICGWG and #IC5050 contests. Make sure to @ tweet @illegalcurve with your guess. Remember that for your vote to qualify you must send in your guess using a hashtag (#). (i.e. #ICGWG Frolik & #IC5050 $40,305.00).

Note IV: Tomorrow, on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on TSN 1290 Winnipeg, we will have coverage from noon to 3 pm. Show topics include breaking down the Jets/Kings game and previewing one of the most anticipated games of the year as Teemu Selanne makes his final appearance at the MTS Centre.

Jets news:

ESPN: Don't forget the names Trouba and Scheifele. Looks like the 2012 and 2011 first round selections for the Jets are garnering attention past the perimeter.

Winnipeg Free Press: Tangradi says game against tough Kings ‘going to be a war’. Good thing then that the Jets are ranked as one of the heavier teams in the NHL in tonight’s expected battle of attrition.

Winnipeg Sun: Evander Kane pops the question. Congrats to the young sniper and I’m sure Jets fans everywhere are now ready to see him pop in some goals.

TSN: Jets ready for home opener against Kings. Brian looks at the Jets lines and game story.

NHL.com: Jets hoping to come out firing against Kings. Time to take the bull by the horns and show that you are prepared to dance in the rodeo with the big boys.

CBC: 5 things to watch as Jets host home opener. Jeff looks at five thing being home sweet home, forward spot up for grabs, Kane shooting more, a physical affair and Kings court.

Hockey's Futures: Recent draftees well-represented in Jets top 20. Chevy and company have done a nice job stocking the cupboards in the past three drafts.

Illegal Curve: Coach Claude Noel pre-game press conference. Keys to the game. What would he like to see improved? Does he still get excited for home opener? Is a team like LA a good measuring stick? Is he worried about Trouba being able to control the ups and downs? What is he looking for Paul Postma?

Illegal Curve: Player pre-game audio from MTS Centre. Hear from Blake Wheeler, Ondrej Pavelec, Andrew Ladd and Jacob Trouba.

Illegal Curve: Jets vs. Kings preview. Ezra breaks down tonight’s game action and is a must read in advance of the game.

Illegal Curve: Morning Papers. If you missed any of the news this AM we have you covered.

For the latest Jets news, click here.

 

[ICdave]

October 5th

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Jets off to a flying start. How many people expected the Jets to start the season with two regulation wins? While both victories will give coach Noel nightmares, the fact is that the four clean points in the bank are huge. Especially when this team might not have been in this position previously.

Winnipeg Free Press: Afterburner. The numbers indicate the Jets shouldn’t be winning these games, yet they continue to do so. Will this luck hold?

TSN: Jets win another after giving up first goal. Dennis breaks down some of the action from last night.

Winnipeg Sun: Snapshots - Pass the glow sticks. At the end of the game someone in the visitor’s room asked coach Sutter what did he take away from the past two games and his reply was “two pointsâ€. If coach Noel is asked the same thing, he gets to say four points. That is big. Sure we are only two games into the season but you cannot discount points in October. Good intros to the home opener with the players walking in through a video screen.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets play ‘the right way’ to advance past Kings. They matched the heavy team and seemed to confound them with their speed in the 2nd and 3rd period. The 1st seemed to be all L.A. as they heavily outshot Winnipeg.

Winnipeg Sun: Trouba ‘headhunter’ in attempted Hall hit. Neither he nor coach Noel seemed to put much stock in the report.

ESPN: Don’t forget the names Trouba and Scheifele. Looks like the 2012 and 2011 first round selections for the Jets are garnering attention past the perimeter.

IceCaps news:

The Telegram: Gordon ready to earn his reward. You can really learn a lot about the players in the Jets system, as The Telegram is killing it with their IceCaps coverage during training camp.

For the latest Jets news, click here.

Jets on a Deadline – Jets 5 Kings 3:

Winnipeg Jets: Andrew Ladd, Evander Kane, Ondrej Pavelec and Olli Jokinen.

LA Kings: Ben Scrivens, Justin Williams and Coach Sutter.

Illegal Curve: Coach Noel post-game.

Illegal Curve: Post-game podcast from the Press box. Host Drew Mindell and Analyst Richard Pollock break down the Jets play against the Kings.

 

[ICdave]

October 6th

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: With glowing hearts. Who knew that she teaches at my old Alma mater when she isn’t performing in front of 15,004 rowdy fans. We did a feature a few years back on what the players thought of the ‘True North’ chant during the anthem and they had some interesting comments.

Winnipeg Free Press: Finnish Flash finished? Jokinen not convinced. It is hard to believe that Selanne is now 43 years old. It literally seems like yesterday that he was throwing his glove in the air after scoring his 53rd goal and shattering Mike Bossy’s record. Should be quite an emotional night. Will it be a similar boo, cheer, boo for whenever the puck was touched by a Duck then Teemu then a Duck?

Winnipeg Sun: Avoiding overconfidence while Scheifele gets more comfortable. You get the sense that the more veteran players are trying to be measured in their comments so as to shelter the young centre from the expectations of a rabid fan base. To his credit Scheifele hasn’t looked out of place in his role as the team’s 2nd line centre.

Winnipeg Sun: Teemu Selanne’s Top 5 moments. While many of his memories were made outside of the city of Winnipeg, hockey fans in this city cheered each and every time he accomplished a new goal. Ted outlines five of the top achievements in Selanne’s career.

Winnipeg Sun: Selanne’s latest farewell tour stops in Winnipeg. After the send off the city thought they were giving him back in 2011, I am quite curious to experience this ‘final’ interaction the fans at the MTS Centre will have with the man they fell for back in 1992-93.

Illegal Curve: Coach Noel presser from MTS Centre. Teemu Selanne talk. What has he liked through two games? No Enstrom on ice (day to day, maintenance. expected to be on ice tomm). Clitsome status (might be player in game). Jets power play. Power play philosophy. Scheifele’s defensive play sparks offence on 2nd line. Talk about Scheifele’s role. Scheifele’s increasing comfort level.

Illegal Curve: Player audio from MTS Centre. Hear from Bryan Little, Devin Setoguchi and Mark Scheifele.

IceCaps news:

The Telegram: IceCaps down Bruins 5-1 at Mile One. Eric O’Dell doing his best to gain the attention of the big club as he popped off three goals in the win.

Jets opposition (Anaheim Ducks) news:

ESPN: Ducks score with 5 seconds left in OT, top Wild. The game looked like it was going to a shootout but the Wild defence lapsed and allowed Mathieu Perreault to get in behind them and slip it five hole on Niklas Backstrom.

For the latest Jets news, click here.

Illegal Curve Hockey Show Replay:

Part 1: Jets defeat Kings 5-3 (Forwards). Jets defeat Kings 5-3 (Defense). Jets defeat Kings 5-3 (Goaltending and Special Teams). Jets next game (Sunday vs. Anaheim). Interview with Philadelphia Flyers Director of Player Personnel John Paddock. Teemu Selanne’s final game in Winnipeg.

Part 2: The week in contract signings. Who would you rather have? Phil Kessel edition. Patrick Roy vs. Bruce Boudreau. Fighting in Hockey. NHL News & Notes. Ezcapades, Rapid Fire, Cheers & Jeers.

 

[ICdave]

October 6th

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: ‘It’s fun to be here’ says Selanne. He was swarmed today and stood in and spoke for over twelve minutes with local media.

Winnipeg Free Press: Clitsome to play against Ducks tonight. Still some questions as to what is going to happen with the rest of the Jets D since Enstrom is a game-time decision.

Winnipeg Sun: Selanne back for one more visit. Ken with a lot of insight in his column.

NHL.com: Jets welcome Selanne, shoot for first-ever 3-0 start. While fans are pumped for the game with Teemu, it would be nice to see their team start 3-0 for first time.

The Hockey News: Winnipeg loves Selanne the person as much as Selanne the player. Good read about the connection the city has to the team.

CBC: 5 things to watch for heading in to Sunday’s date with Ducks. Jeff looks at five things including Teemu’s return, push for three wins in a row, scheduling success, leading by example and a battle of the benches.

Illegal Curve: Teemu Selanne pre-game. Will he soak it up longer this time? Can anything top the reception he received in 2011? Can he play another 5 or 6 years? His thoughts on Don Baizley. Connection to fans (i.e. signing autographs). How does he feel sitting out back-to-backs? How does he feel at 43? Has the scare of an early end to his career ensured he enjoys every day? Fuelled by the fans back in 2011? How did he know this was going to be his last year? Golf promo. Finishing his career where it started. Did Olympics impact his decision to return? One memory that sticks out (breaking Mike Bossy record not surprisingly). Relief to finally announce it was his final year. Who negotiated his last contract? Message to the Winnipeg fans. Will this game be easier, emotionally? What would be perfect night tonight? Where did golf idea come from? Is family gonna be here this time? (said no, it’s too warm). His documentary. Now that he knows its his final tour, does it feel different?

Illegal Curve: Coach Noel pre-game. Status of Clitsome. Enstrom game time decision. What is happening with Pardy? Looking at the D-pairings. Thoughts on Ducks. Thoughts on Teemu. Unique relationship he has with city (and crowd). How does he feel being at top of the Western Conference? “brings joy to my lifeâ€.

Illegal Curve: Jets players pre-game audio. Listen to Wheeler, Clitsome, Stuart and Pavelec.

Illegal Curve: Morning Papers. If you missed any of the news this AM we have you covered.

For the latest Jets news, click here.

 

[ICdave]

October 7th

Jets news

Winnipeg Free Press: Not enough support for Pavelec. Not by a long shot. It was like a shooting gallery and he did everything he could to keep his team in the game.

Winnipeg Free Press: Flash will never outstay welcome. You could see during the pre-game skate that he was really soaking up the atmosphere, looking into the crowd for people he might know, smiling whenever he skated a long the boards and got a cheer from the crowd.

Winnipeg Free Press: Past is Finn-ito for Jets fans. No question that there was an entirely different feel to this game than there was back in 2011. Maybe that game was better since the Jets were in better control, but you could sense the crowd last night was torn between cheering for Teemu and cheering for home squad. There was no hesitation back in 2011 but now fans know that this Jets 2.0 team is the one they have and the one they have to cheer for.

Winnipeg Free Press: Ducks shell Jets with shots for 3-2 win. These Ducks had some bite as they maintained pressure on Winnipeg for most of the evening, and despite being down 2-1, never gave up. They were rewarded as they tied the game in the 2nd period, as it came to a close (4.6 seconds).

TSN: Jets outplayed by Ducks on Teemu’s big night. If not for Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec standing tall, the score could easily have been three or four goals higher. The Jets did not look very good last night and it was discussed that the team would have been lucky to pull a point out of last night’s contest.

Winnipeg Sun: Winnipeg is still Teemu Selanne’s town. There is no doubt that he is and always be a legend in this city. While some question the relationship, you cannot dismiss the connection that fans in Manitoba have with the Finnish Flash. There may be a new, younger number 8 but many will always fondly remember the guy who wore that number for the Jets 1.0.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets lose faceoff battle. The numbers don’t lie and they tell a sad story as the Jets proved fairly ineffective within the faceoff dot.

Winnipeg Sun: Ducks deliver wake-up call for Jets. The team cannot play like they did last night and expect to compete in the West. They were out-everything in last night’s contest against a team that was supposed to be tired having played the night before in Minnesota.

NHL.com: Selanne greeted warmly by Winnipeg crowd. While the game didn’t have the same cache as the one back in 2011, there was still a lot of good moments for the Finnish Flash and the crowd.

Globe and Mail: Jets towering defenceman is all Buff, no fluff. Nice little article about the Jets blueliner.

For the latest Jets news, click here.

Jets on a Deadline - Ducks 3 Jets 2:

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler, Andrew Ladd, Ondrej Pavelec and Zach Bogosian.

Anaheim Ducks: Coach and Teemu Selanne.

Illegal Curve: Coach Noel post-game. Opening thoughts on the game. Does he know why? How did they lose the game? What does he do to change things? Clitsome’s rough night. Is the loss worse because the Ducks played last night? How does the team get better at face offs? Roster depth an issue?

Illegal Curve: Post-game podcast from the Press box. Host Drew Mindell and Analyst Richard Pollock break down the Jets play against the Ducks.

Illegal Curve: Jets on a Deadline – Ducks 3 Jets 2. Game recaps, post-game audio, video highlights and the NHL.com 3 Stars of the night.

Teemu Selanne content:

Illegal Curve: Selanne pre-game. Will he soak it up longer this time? Can anything top the reception he received in 2011? Can he play another 5 or 6 years? His thoughts on Don Baizley. Connection to fans (i.e. signing autographs). How does he feel sitting out back-to-backs? How does he feel at 43? Has the scare of an early end to his career ensured he enjoys every day? Fuelled by the fans back in 2011? How did he know this was going to be his last year? Golf promo. Finishing his career where it started. Did Olympics impact his decision to return? One memory that sticks out (breaking Mike Bossy record not surprisingly). Relief to finally announce it was his final year. Who negotiated his last contract? Message to the Winnipeg fans. Will this game be easier, emotionally? What would be perfect night tonight? Where did golf idea come from? Is family gonna be here this time? (said no, it’s too warm). His documentary. Now that he knows its his final tour, does it feel different?

Illegal Curve: Selanne tribute during 1st period. During a TV timeout the Jets gave Teemu Selanne a little shout out and gave the crowd a chance to applaud the Finnish Flash.

Illegal Curve: Selanne 1st star and final skate at MTS Centre (video). Somewhat unsurprisingly, Teemu Selanne was given the 1st star (although he himself questioned the decision post-game) but this allowed fans to give him a nice Winnipeg send off.

Illegal Curve: Selanne post-game. His thoughts on the crowd and how did it compare to 2011? Nice to get the win tonight? What was going through his mind during pre-game warm up? What has the city meant to his career? Is this last time we see him as a player? What’s his message to the fans? Did he feel his line mates were trying to feed him tonight? Surprised by reception? How did he like getting 1st star? Thoughts on playing with Perry and Getzlaf? (“Bruce likes to change his lines like underwearâ€). His take on the Jets. Thoughts on Lindholm. Does he keep mementos from the places he visits? Where will the moment rank for him?

As a bonus, for Finnish speakers we have post-game audio of Teemu answering questions in his native language.

 

[ICdave]

October 8th

Jets news

Winnipeg Free Press: Assistant coach focusing on boosting Jets’ man advantage — with early results. It is a bit early in the season to start really making any solid determinations as to whether the Jets are making significant gains, however if they can maintain this pace, it will be a big step forward for this club.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets have bigger things to worry about than Bogo’s gaffe. The team has a number of bigger issues than a mistake by the dependable Bogosian and thankfully for coach Noel and company he has a few days to try and right the ship before his team plays in St. Paul on Thursday.

IceCaps news:

The Telegram: Kichton adapting quickly. There is a lot of excitement as fans learn more and more about the depth of the prospect pool in the organization. To know what the Jets have coming up the ladder, it is important to stay on top of things in St. John’s.

NHL news:

Illegal Curve: Selanne visit recap. From his 1 am autograph/photo session to his final post-game presser, we have it all covered with pictures, audio (in English and Finnish) and video.

Globe and Mail: Three ways a spin-o-rama shootout goal could be disallowed. Some helpful illustrations. Wonder if the refs have crib notes in their pockets that they could use during the shootout!

Philadelphia Flyer site: Why the coaching change makes sense right now. Anthony will be joining the guys on NHL Mid-Week tomorrow on TSN 1290 Winnipeg to discuss the firing of coach Laviolette as well as all things Flyers.

For the latest Jets, IceCaps and NHL news, click here.

 

[ICdave]

October 9th

Note: Tune into NHL Mid-Week from 6-8 PM tonight on TSN 1290 Winnipeg as the guys break down all the latest news from around the NHL. Guest: Anthony SanFilippo (Reporter for PhiladelphiaFlyers.com).

Jets news:

- Via twitter: As per Russian reporter Igor Eronka: #CSKA of #KHL just acquired rights for #Caps pending RFA D Dmitry Orlov and #Jets F Ivan Telegin who refused to report to St.John's IceCaps.

Winnipeg Free Press: Centres find faceoffs challenging. While the team is bottom of the league in terms of ranking the good news after three games is they have two wins to their one loss and they can really only go up from here.

Winnipeg Free Press: Bogo’s blunder ancient history? No point tarring and feathering him. What’s done is done and you can expect this will probably light a fire under the young defenceman.

Winnipeg Free Press: Expect the Jets and Wild to put defence first when rivals collide. The Jets have spoken about being more defensively responsible so we shall see how they do in St. Paul.

Winnipeg Sun: Stop the big shots. Luckily for the Jets they have a few days to work on the areas they most need to improve on if they want to be serious contenders in the West. They cannot keep allowing as many shots against Ondrej Pavelec and the thought of the day is collective responsibility. A lot of 5 man unit talk.

Winnipeg Sun: Trying to draw up new plan for winning faceoffs. The Jets spent a lot of time working on faceoffs as they are sitting just ahead of Calgary in 29th spot in the league. While it is still early this is one area in which the Jets need to vastly improve from Bryan Little to Jim Slater.

Winnipeg Sun: Sports book likes coach Claude Noel’s odds of being fired. There is a segment of the Jets fan base that would be only too happy to see the Jets bench boss get the hook. However, I suspect that things would really have to really go awry for that to happen anytime soon.

Illegal Curve: Coach Claude Noel practice scrum. Focus of practice. Shot differential. Might we see Al Montoya this week? Thorburn update (day to day, lower body to mid body). Importance of division games. Slow starts. Work on faceoffs. Would he like to get Matt Halischuk in lineup? How much is goaltending responsible for where they are?

Illegal Curve: Players audio from the MTS IcePlex. Hear from Ondrej Pavelec, Bryan Little, Jim Slater, Eric Tangradi and Grant Clitsome.

IceCaps news:

The Telegram: IceCaps expect Pardy to be himself. He brings experience to a young defensive core in St. John’s.

NHL news:

Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Backstrom hurt as Wild lose in Nashville. It was an unfortunate play as the Minnesota netminder had his former teammate Eric Nystrom hauled down and into him by his defenceman. Result of the play was the injury and a penalty shot, which Josh Harding had to face coming in cold off the bench in relief. Will keep an eye on things to see how this impacts their next opponent, which are your Winnipeg Jets.

San Jose Mercury News: Rookie Hertl scores four in Sharks 9-2 win over Rangers. It was an insane game in California last night. The Sharks tossed everything they could at Lundqvist (26 shots, four goals against) and Biron (21 shots, five goals against). The night belonged to 19 year old rookie Tomas Hertl who scored four goals, including this beauty. Enjoy.

For the latest Jets, IceCaps and NHL news, click here.

 

[ICdave]

October 10th

Note: Following Jets Papers, you can ensure you are up to speed with our game preview written by Ezra Ginsburg. After the game, be sure to check us out for all the post-game reaction. As soon as the site is updated we post the news on twitter @illegalcurve and Facebook.

Note II: For away games we only have an #ICGWG contest. Make sure to @ tweet @illegalcurve with your guess. Remember that for your vote to qualify you must send in your guess by hashtaging (#) our Game Winning Goal (GWG) contest. (i.e. #ICGWG Wheeler).

Jets news:

In former Jets news, Kyle Wellwood has apparently retired from hockey. He was playing in the Swiss league with EVZ and team beat writer Nicola Berger tweeted “Wellwood claimed, his heart wasn’t in it anymore. Will fly home as early as tomorrowâ€.

Winnipeg Free Press: Jets faithful give rivalry extra oomph. Manitobans from across the province will be heading South to St. Paul for the chance to support their team as we pit Friendly Manitoba vs. Minnesota Nice.

Winnipeg Sun: Setoguchi fitting right in with Jets. He seems like a perfect fit for the Jets 2nd line as they continue to develop a chemistry, which as Setoguchi himself has said, can sometimes take months. Fans will have to hope that what has been seen early on this season will simply continue to progress.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets are Wild about potential new rivalry. While coach Noel thinks it may be a creation of the media, I quite simply think that the rivalry is born from trips by Jets fans hungry to be able to watch and support their team in another team’s rink “relatively†close to home.

Winnipeg Sun: Halischuk stays ready for Jets’ debut. Halischuk seems like a perfect fit on the 4th line when the other team isn’t dressing any bruisers.

USA Today: Buff’s stock is rising. Each week Kevin Allen, who recently won the Lester Patrick Trophy (outstanding service to hockey in the United States) is analyzing how players are helping or hurting their Olympic changes. Seems this week that the Jets Dustin Byfuglien has increased his value although the big question remains, how would he handle that bigger ice surface?

NHL.com: On the ‘D’-fence – Jets defenceman taking off. Jets defenceman ranking are moving on up!

Illegal Curve: Coach Noel presser. Thoughts on the potential rivalry with Minnesota? What has he seen from the Wild that he wants to focus on? Does he sense an eagerness to learn from this squad? Thoughts on Halischuk. Any update on Thorburn (remains day to day, won’t make trip). Numbers game to get Halischuk into lineup?

Illegal Curve: Player audio from IcePlex. Hear from Montoya, Wheeler, Bogosian and Setoguchi.

IceCaps news:

The Telegram: Pardy looking forward to chance to work close to home. He has a good perspective and it sounds like he is going to be making the most of his opportunity to play a regular shift for the Caps.

For the latest Jets, IceCaps and NHL news, click here.

 

[ICdave]

October 10th (afternoon links)

Note: After the game, be sure to check us out for all the post-game reaction. As soon as the site is updated we post the news on twitter @illegalcurve and Facebook.

Note II: For away games we only have an #ICGWG contest. Make sure to @ tweet @illegalcurve with your guess. Remember that for your vote to qualify you must send in your guess by hashtaging (#) our Game Winning Goal (GWG) contest. (i.e. #ICGWG Wheeler).

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Noel mum on strategy ahead of Jets facing Wild. Coach Noel is playing coy before the game tonight? Does he have something up his sleeve?

Winnipeg Sun: Jets game day. Ken has video from pre-game as well as his assessment of the contest this evening.

CBC: 5 things to watch ahead of Jets-Wild matchup. Jeff looks at the Wild, Wild West, Setoguchi’s return, battle of the border, fan etiquette and Halischuk maybe to suit up?

Illegal Curve: Coach Noel pre-game. Any lineup changes that he wants to share. Optional practice on a game day, something up with that? Is 3 in 4 harder than back to back? Keys to facing a winless team. Up against one of the best faceoff teams. Faceoff tendencies in the West. Does watching video help the centres?

Illegal Curve: Jets vs. Wild preview. Ezra breaks down tonight’s game action and is a must read in advance of the game.

Illegal Curve: Morning Papers. If you missed any of the news this AM we have you covered.

NHL.com Video - Jacob Trouba gets some EJ5 love.

For the latest Jets news, click here.

 

[ICdave]

October 11th

Jets news:

TSN: Jets outshot by Wild, fall in divisional matchup. In four games Ondrej Pavelec has faced 138 shots against and he has been the only reason the Jets have been in many of these games. Not surprisingly he has faced the most shots against in the NHL. He continues to make save after save to keep the games close but his team is providing very little in the way of support both offensively and defensively.

Winnipeg Free Press: A Wild night for Jets. It was the lowest shot total since the Jets returned to Winnipeg and it was a less than exemplary night. They were facing a winless Wild team who was playing without their number one netminder, yet the Jets just couldn’t generate anything.

Winnipeg Free Press: Success in circle work in progress. The Jets are now worst in the league and they faced off against the best club in the Wild and the disparity was rather apparent, winning 16 of 61 draws yesterday.

Winnipeg Sun: Can’t win when losing draws. Remember yesterday when I said the Jets were 29th in the league in face off percentage and could really just go up as it was simply the Flames who stood behind them? After last night’s disastrous night in the circle, the Jets now stand alone in 30th. One positive was Mark Scheifele finished 6/10. On the other hand, Bryan Little went 1/20.

Winnipeg Sun: Halischuk gives Winnipeg Jets grit in debut. Hustle-chuk, as he was referenced during the game, brought a nice dynamic to the Jets 4th line, which unfortunately didn’t spread to the rest of the lineup.

Illegal Curve: Jets on a Deadline. Game recaps, post-game audio, video highlights and the NHL.com 3 Stars of the night.

Coach Noel Post-game audio:

Coach Noel – Opening thoughts. Trouble generating offence. What did Halischuk bring to the lineup? How is Frolik? Can he take any positives from keeping game close?

For the latest Jets news, click here.

 

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October 12th

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Time for talking is over. Let us hope so. There is only so many times you can blow smoke before people figure out what you are doing.

Winnipeg Free Press: A fast start, just not for Jets. Not sure it qualifies as ‘fast’ when it begins in the 3rd period and only because the other team doesn’t have foot on acceleration pedal.

Winnipeg Free Press: Skate ‘em till they puke. Coach Noel mentioned how they had divided the season into segments of five and had they won last night they would have indeed finished the first segment victorious. Instead it was a third loss in a row for this talented yet frustrating team. If you were coach, what would you do?

Winnipeg Sun: Streaky Jets at it again. After two straight wins, which made this team feel invincible, they quickly came back down to earth and have since lost three straight.

Winnipeg Sun: Noel saw progress — Pavelec saw barrage of beautiful shots. Pavelec put last night’s loss on his shoulders although it would help if his team could prevent some of the rubber being directed his way.

TSN: Jets dig a hole to Stars and lose third straight. There was no coming back. Stars just seemed to know the formula for keeping the Jets off the board.

CBC: Jets drop third straight game to Dallas, Winnipeg Stars shine. Jeff looks at pressure on Pav, homegrown talent impresses, Southern bromance and his final thoughts.

IceCaps news:

The Telegram: Against all odds. A good read about J.C. Lipon.

Jets next opposition (New Jersey Devils) news:

Star-Ledger: Next stop on Devils goalie Cory Schneider's reunion tour. Having not played here since his last game with the Moose, I suspect that Schneider will receive quite the Winnipeg welcome for his past years of service with the Manitoba Moose.

For the latest Jets, IceCaps and Devils news, click here.

Jets on a Deadline – Stars 4 Jets 1:

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler, Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian, Ondrej Pavelec and Jacob Trouba.

Dallas Stars: Coach Ruff, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin.

Illegal Curve: Coach Noel post-game. Coach Noel met with the media following his team’s 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.

Illegal Curve: Post-game podcast from the Press box. Host Drew Mindell and Analyst Richard Pollock break down the Jets play against the Stars.

 

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October 13th

Note: Today is a bit unusual as the entire Illegal Curve team will be attending various weddings, so we will likely have some post-game content but not our usual Pressbox Podcast.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Jets must start engines much sooner. Slow starts need to quickly become a thing of the past. You cannot spot a team a four score lead and hope to storm back in this league.

Winnipeg Free Press: Talk not cheap: it’s free. Fans want to hear players saying the right things but end of day, when that final buzzer sounds, what you’ve done on the ice is what actually counts.

Winnipeg Free Press: Little joy in Jetland after losses. Three losses in a row will do that to a group. Of course wins tonight and Tuesday could help subside the collective gasping.

Winnipeg Sun: Byfuglien adapting to added responsibilities for Jets. He is the most dynamic player on defence and that means added responsibility for the Jets big man.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets need to just do it . As Nike famously said, this team needs to show up for a full 60 minutes.

Jets opposition (New Jersey Devils) news:

Winnipeg Sun: Former Moose Schneider ready for Winnipeg Jets crowd. Expect a nice reception from the fans before they turn on him and start to cheer the home crowd.

Star-Ledger: Ryan Carter still sidelined as winless team practices in Winnipeg. The Devils Western Canada road trip has’t been too good and they are hoping that changes now that they’ve hit the centre.

For the latest Jets and Devils news, click here.

 

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October 14th

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Jets snap losing skid with win over Devils. Now they just need to keep things rolling against a fast Habs team who will be here tomorrow night.

Winnipeg Free Press: Montoya earns second career shutout. Pretty impressive to get a shutout in your first bit of game action in months.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets come to life in win. The fans were into it as was the team.

Winnipeg Sun: Noel makes all the right moves. Reconfigured lines seemed to be exactly what this team needed to breath some life back into the squad.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets blank Devils 3-0. A nice victory to help right the ship.

TSN: Jets use hard work, goaltending to beat Devils. Dennis with a good recap of the action.

For the latest Jets news, click here.

 

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October 15th (Morning Papers)

Note: Following today's Jets Papers, you can ensure you are up to speed with our game preview written by Ezra Ginsburg. After the game, be sure to check us out for all the post-game reaction including audio from both dressing rooms and our post-game podcast from the press box. As soon as the site is updated we notify you via twitter @illegalcurve and Facebook.

Note II: For home games we have both our #ICGWG and #IC5050 contests. Make sure to @ tweet @illegalcurve with your guess. Remember that for your vote to qualify you must send in your guess using a hashtag (#). (i.e. #ICGWG Frolik & #IC5050 $35,800.00).

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Getting hang of Pearn's penalty-killing system. Buying into a new system is never easy although having someone like Frolik who brings a lot of PK knowledge to this team helps quite a bit.

Winnipeg Free Press: In the NHL, there's a Monet on every mask. It is always interesting to speak to goalies about the thought behind their NHL masks.

Winnipeg Sun: Rookie Trouba doesn't look out of place on Jets blueline. He is playing heavy minutes and being used in all situations by his coach. He certainly doesn't look like a player who never played an NHL game previous to this season.

Winnipeg Sun: Call Montoya Mr. Zero. Interesting stat that he achieves his shutouts in the first game of the season.

CBC: 5 things to watch as Jets take on Montreal. Jeff looks at the Jets bad luck against Habs, testing the PK, the other P.K. Olympic hopeful and Pavs return.

IceCaps news:

The Telegram: ‘Caps lose two on the road. No time to panic in St. John's as the season is still very early for team with so many new faces.

Jets next opponent (Montreal Canadiens) news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Yackety yak! Subban's back. I found Subban to be a pretty engaging player whenever Montreal has come to town.

Montreal Gazette: Daniel Brière dropped to Canadiens’ fourth line. One moment you are on the fourth line, the next it can be the second.

For the latest Jets news, click here.

 

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October 15th (Afternoon links)

Note: After the game, be sure to check us out for all the post-game reaction. As soon as the site is updated we post the news on twitter @illegalcurve and Facebook.

Note II: Make sure to @ tweet @illegalcurve with your guess in our #ICGWG and #IC5050 contests. Remember that for your vote to qualify you must send in your guess by hashtaging (#) your guess. (i.e. #ICGWG Wheeler #IC5050 $42,450.00).

Jets news:

CBC: Jets vs. Canadiens preview. Seems like the talk today is focused on Evander Kane.

Winnipeg Free Press: Jets eager to replicate success when facing Canadiens. Seems the new buzz phrase is “playing with more jam†and if so, looks like there is gonna be plenty to spread.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets vs. Habs game day. Ken brings you up to speed with his mid day report in advance of tonight’s contest.

TSN: Pavelec returns to net. He is eager to return to the crease after taking in Sunday’s game from the bench.

Illegal Curve: Coach Noel pre-game audio. He touched on - Coming out with energy and playing a 60 minute game. Raising team compete level. Getting team to compete hard. Finding ways to lose against Montreal. Should team be over confident? Evander Kane’s leadership. What he brings to the table. Pavelec talk.

Illegal Curve: Player pre-game audio. Hear from Andrew Ladd, Evander Kane and Ondrej Pavelec.

Illegal Curve: Jets vs. Canadiens preview. Ezra breaks down tonight’s game action and is a must read in advance of the game.

Illegal Curve: Morning Papers. If you missed any of the news this AM we have you covered.

For the latest Jets news, click here.

 

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October 16th

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Team belongs to Bogo, Kane. Quite simply these guys are the faces of the franchise and if this team has any chance at the playoffs, it will be because these two have stepped up their game.

Winnipeg Free Press: Jets can’t match that Price. The BC product was simply sensational when his team needed him and unfortunately for Jets fans, there weren’t too many of those. Despite being out shot, the quality of those opportunities were limited. Firing shots from the blue line as you gain the zone isn’t going to beat a goalie like Price.

Winnipeg Free Press: Rookies a bright spot for struggling Jets. Both Trouba and Scheifele looked very good in the loss last night. While there were some mistakes, there were quite a number of very positive things that allowed coach Noel to praise the rookies.

Winnipeg Sun: Scheifele has best game as Jet . The talk in the press box last night was the impressive game that Scheifele played yesterday. He was one of the few Jets that was noticeable.

Winnipeg Sun: Slow starts a recurring nightmare for slumbering Winnipeg Jets. That first two minutes of the game must have felt like a lifetime for the Jets and inevitably it ended with the Habs scoring the only goal they would need to win the contest.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets deserved this goose egg. Paul breaks down a number of aspects of the game including the play of Jacob Trouba, decision to go with Pavelec over Montoya, Scheifele’s play, Kane’s grumbling and finally the discussion ends with the play of Blake Wheeler.

TSN: Jets fall behind early, fall to Price and Habs. Dennis breaks down the Jets play against the Habs last night.

For the latest Jets news, click here.

Jets on a Deadline – Habs3 Jets 0:

Winnipeg Jets: Zach Bogosian, Mark Scheifele and Andrew Ladd.

Montreal Canadiens: Coach Therrien (French & English), Brian Gionta and Daniel Briere.

Illegal Curve: Coach Noel post-game. Coach Noel met with the media following the game against Montreal.

Illegal Curve: Post-game podcast from the Press box. Host Michael Remis and Analyst Richard Pollock break down the Jets play against the Canadiens.

Illegal Curve: Jets on a Deadline. Game recaps, post-game audio, video highlights and the NHL.com 3 Stars of the night.

 

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October 17th

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Penalties become a problem. Penalties aren’t a problem when you aren’t being lazy and unfortunately many examples of laziness were seen on Tuesday night.

Winnipeg Free Press: Wheels a little flat. It was refreshing hearing Wheeler make no excuses for his slow start. He is quite self aware which was evident during his post-practice scrum.

Winnipeg Sun: Scheifele gaining confidence as play improves. Numerous people came up to me after the loss to the Habs to say that while the Jets didn’t play that well, it was clearly Scheifele’s best game. I too thought he was looking like he had way more confidence in his game. If the injury to Kane is bad, this team is going to need him to expedite that development.

Winnipeg Sun: Frolik gets Stanley Cup ring from Blackhawks. Vice-president of hockey operations Al MacIsaac was sitting near us in the press box on Tuesday and he showed off the ring Frolik was set to receive. It was spectacular.

Winnipeg Sun: Blake Wheeler feeling heat after another slow start. Well worth it to listen to his audio which can be found linked below.

CBC: Evander Kane injured during practice. They were shooting video of the drill and caught the injury as it happened.

Jets Nation: Interview with Justin Goldman on Ondrej Pavelec. We've had Justin on the show before to talk goalies and he knows his stuff. The guys over at Jets Nation have this comprehensive Q & A with him to discuss the Jets #1 netminder.

Illegal Curve: Coach Noel post practice audio. Kane injury update. Update about status of Slater, Little and Thorburn. Fine line between hard practice and injury to players? Wheeler’s honest assessment of himself. Importance of intensity in practice battles. Dealing with penalty troubles. What he has liked about Scheifele’s game this season and what he need to do to continue to grow. Pavelec’s play. Trying to find a role for Frolik.

Illegal Curve: Jets player audio from IcePlex. Blake Wheeler, Andrew Ladd and Mark Scheifele spoke following practice yesterday. The Wheeler audio is particularly interesting and quite candid.

Illegal Curve: Evander Kane injured in practice. Jets fans were dealing with the reality of a bad loss the night previous to the Habs and then terrible news as it was reported that Anthony Peluso had fallen on Evander Kane and the young sniper had to be helped off the ice.

For the latest Jets news, click here.

NHL Mid-Week with Illegal Curve:

Replay: Jets vs. Canadiens Recap. Winnipeg Jets discussion. The Week in Suspensions (Kaleta, Lapierre). Problems in Edmonton. Six Things We Learned This Week. Interview with Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. NHL News & Notes. Rapid Fire.

 

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October 18th

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Coach like you mean it, Claude. Similar to his players playing tentatively, have you noticed coach Noel coaching without an edge?

Winnipeg Free Press: Cruisin’ for a Blues-in’. Another ‘heavy’ team will be rolling into the MTS Centre and it will be quite the test for your Winnipeg Jets.

Winnipeg Free Press: ‘… Hopefully, this will be the break’. Personally I don’t see this happening. It seems like the Jets know what they have in Cormier. Perhaps he can show another level of play.

Winnipeg Sun: Kane concerns not the most pressing for Jets. The key tonight, aside from playing a full 60 minutes of hockey, is the way in which this team starts the game. They’ve had a few days off to lick their wounds and prepare to face a skilled team. Time to show fans what this team is made of.

Winnipeg Sun: Wright’s stuff is what Jets ask for. Is the critique or Wright fair or foul? Does he provide what this team needs or is coach Noel irrationally giving him more time than his ability justifies?

Winnipeg Sun: Whirlwind lands Patrice Cormier back in Winnipeg. Doesn’t sound like he will be getting into the game tonight but stay tuned to @illegalcurve as we will have a better idea following the pre-game skate.

Winnipeg Sun: Evander Kane injury not serious. Day-to-day and tweak are open to interpretation as coach Noel doesn’t like to reveal his cards unless necessary.

IceCaps news:

Penn Live: Bears poised to take on Andrew Gordon, St. John's IceCaps. Both teams have players with some added incentive to play well against the other side. Should make for some good hockey this weekend in St. John's.

Jets opposition (Blues) news:

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Blues win in shootout at Chicago. While the Hawks didn’t get the win, Jets fans have to hope a tough central division game softened up St. Louis who arrived in Winnipeg late last night.

For the latest Jets news, click here.