August was not a great month for the Winnipeg Jets, along with Rick Rypien’s passing came Byfuglien’s boating arrest and reported weight issues as well as the uncertain future of young defenseman Zach Bogosian. September is looking much better, with the pieces slowly falling into place for Winnipeg’s first season back in the NHL.
BOGOSIAN SIGNING
The big news came out of Winnipeg on Wednesday that star defenseman Zach Bogosian had finally signed a 2 year, $2.5 million per year deal. Not a bad price for a top 4, 21-year future franchise blue-liner, when compared to Luke Schenn and Tyler Myers’ new contracts. Bogosian, a native of Massena, New York, was the youngest player ever to wear a Thrashers uniform at 18 years (87 days) old and has played in 199 NHL games. The re-signing of Bogosian was an important step for the Jets and having a young future-star player learning from experienced defenseman such as Dustin Byfuglien, Ron Hainsey, Tobias Enstrom and Johnny Oduya ensures a bright future for both Bogosian and the Jets defensive core.
DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN
A rocky ride for Byfuglien in the past few weeks, first arrested for boating under the influence on August 31, then heckled by both the media and hockey fans regarding his reported 280 pound weight. The truth came out this week with Byfuglien actually weighing less than last year during Thrashers training camp at 265 pounds. Byfuglien, alongside Andrew Ladd, is set to become a leader for the Jets, having the skill set with his 6’5 frame to play at both ends of the ice. Byfuglien was positive in his first interview with the Winnipeg media at the training camp, saying he was ready to play some hockey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkAR-Fu_QRg
ROOKIE CAMP
The Jets rookies participated in the annual Young Stars Tournament, hosted in Penticton BC. The results of the tournament were:
Winnipeg def San Jose – 4-0 Best Players: Mark Scheifele, Edward Pasquale, Levko Koper.
Edmonton def Winnipeg – 2-0 Best Players: Jason Gregoire, Zach Redmond, Ivan Telegin.
Winnipeg def Vancouver – 2-0 Best Players: Mark Scheifele, Shayne Wiebe, Zach Yuen.
The Winnipeg Jets young players showed great confidence, securing two shutout victories. Goaltender Edward Pasquale and first-round draft pick Mark Scheifele were standout performers for the Jets, with Jason Gregoire, Shayne Wiebe, Carl Klingberg and Zach Redmond all proving their abilities on the big stage. The final stats for the Jets Rookie Camp:
|
# |
PLAYERS |
P |
GP |
G |
A |
PTS |
+/- |
|
45 |
Scheifele, Mark |
F |
3 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
+4 |
|
73 |
Koper, Levko |
F |
3 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
+2 |
|
57 |
Gregoire, Jason |
F |
3 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
+3 |
|
76 |
Wiebe, Shayne |
F |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
+3 |
|
48 |
Klingberg, Carl |
F |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
+1 |
|
52 |
Telegin, Ivan |
F |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
-1 |
|
55 |
Brassard, Austen |
F |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
56 |
Lowry, Adam |
F |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
58 |
O’Dell, Eric |
F |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
-1 |
|
59 |
Redmond, Zach |
D |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
+3 |
|
60 |
Yuen, Zach |
D |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
-1 |
|
64 |
Sol, Cody |
D |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
+3 |
|
68 |
Kirkpatrick, Michael |
F |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
+1 |
|
70 |
Albert, John |
F |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
71 |
Melchiori, Julian |
D |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
63 |
Chiarot, Ben |
D |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
+1 |
|
65 |
Owuya, Sebastian |
D |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
+1 |
|
74 |
Wilson, Klarc |
F |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
+1 |
|
78 |
McFaull, Kendall |
D |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
+3 |
|
72 |
Depape, Jordan |
F |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
# |
GOALIES |
GP |
MIN |
W |
L |
|
32 |
Pasquale, Edward |
2 |
91:28 |
2 |
0 |
|
35 |
Carrozzi, Chris |
2 |
86:42 |
0 |
1 |
TRAINING CAMP
With training camp currently underway, the Jets have a number of talented players fighting for spots. The players have been sorted into 3 groups and the squad list for the camp is shown below (courtesy of illegalcurve.com):
| Group A 4 – Zach Bogosian 12 – Randy Jones 16 – Andrew Ladd 18 – Bryan Little 20 – Troy Bodie 22 – Chris Thorburn 28 – Patrice Cormier 31 – Ondrej Pavelec 34 – Peter Mannino 39 – Tobias Enstrom 40 – Kenndal McArdle 43 – Riley Holzapfel 47 – Derek Meech 54 – Shawn Weller 60 – Zach Yuen 64 – Cody Sol 65 – Sebastian Owuya 67 – Akim Aliu 77 – Kevin Clark |
Group B 6 – Ron Hainsey 9 – Evander Kane 27 – David Koci 33 – Dustin Byfuglien 35 – Chris Carozzi 38 – Paul Postma 44 – Arturs Kulda 45 – Mark Scheifele 46 – Spencer Machacek 49 – Ben Maxwell 50 – Chris Mason 52 – Ivan Telegin 57 – Jason Gregoire 58 – Eric O’Dell 61 – Mike Forney 63 – Ben Chiarot 71 – Julian Melchiori 78 – Kendall McFaull 80 – Nikolai Antropov |
Group C 1 – David Aebischer 5 – Mark Stuart 8 – Alex Burmistrov 14 – Tim Stapleton 15 – Tanner Glass 19 – Jim Slater 24 – Janne Pesonen 26 – Blake Wheeler 29 – Johnny Oduya 32 – Eddie Pasquale 36 – Mark Flood 41 – Jason Jaffray 48 – Carl Klingberg 53 – Brett Festerling 55 – Austen Brassard 56 – Adam Lowry 59 – Zach Redmond 62 – Travis Ramsey |
This list does not include Kyle Wellwood and Aaron Gagnon, who will also be involved.
Particularly interesting participants in the training camp are former Colorado and Montreal goaltender David Aebischer, who is likely to compete with Chris Mason for the backup goaltender position, Tyler Bodie who played 50 games with the Hurricanes last season and David Koci, a former Colorado Avalanche player. Invited after his rookie camp performance, Mark Scheifele will be expected to have a strong showing in a tough group B, despite his young age.
Around 2000 people were present for training camp day 1 in Winnipeg, great support from Jets fans who finally get to see the new boys on home ice. Another announcement by True North Entertainment this week was that around 600 individual game tickets will be made available for the Jets home games this season, with the allotment of 13,000 season tickets selling almost instantly. The individual game tickets will be sold on a staggered basis, through a random draw. With so many tickets sold and such fan support, the NHL looks to have made the right decision in moving the Thrashers to Manitoba and a long and prosperous future in Winnipeg can be expected.