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Winnipeg Jets Training Camp Report – The Pace Picks Up

Posted on by AndrewRolfe

The Winnipeg Jets continued their training camp today after a 3-0 loss against the upstart crew provided by the Calgary Flames last night. Here's the group listings from today's practices;

Here's a few notes;

*Group 1 were the first on the ice this morning, as Hutchinson and Hellebuyck worked with Goalie Coach Wade Flaherty on positioning and screens while Tyler Myers took shots.

*Today's drills were more intense and complicated as the coaching staff really put the hot sauce to the workouts. 1 on 1 with defense coming from left, then switch to right.

*Other high tempo drills included 1 on 1's with defense starting in the middle of the ice and backskating with puck, then passing to outgoing forward, then transition to defend against forward on the other side of the ice surface.

* Back on the offensive drills as 2 on 1 plus goalie, then defense passes to forwards going the other way, using full ice. Then 2 on 2's using the same format, then 3 on 2's using same format. Intense!

*Some of the line combos of note were Little centering Ehlers & Stafford, Perreault centering Connor & Burmistrov, Copp centering Dano & Kosmachuk, and De Leo centering Thorburn & Tanev.

*Defense pairing of note were Strait & Czuczman, Myers & Morrissey, and Chariot & Stuart.

*The drills then reverted back to 2 on 2's with a trailing forward. Thorburn was shaken up as he hit the boards pretty heavily.

*Then it got really interesting as simulated game play started as the puck was pinned in the corner by a player, and was essentially a 5 on 5 keep away, cycling the puck session. Sides and goalies were switched as this continued for 15 minutes. Whew!

*Following about an hour, it was time for Groups 2 and 3 as Goalies Comrie, Phillips and Berdin hit the ice with Flaherty to work on positioning and puck handling. Pavelec, Scheifele and Wheeler joined about 10 minutes in for shooting and screened shot drills.

*Group 3 Defense joined Group 2 Forwards on one sheet and Group 3 Forwards joined Group 2 Defense on another sheet. From here, simulated game play on both sheets of ice started as the puck was pinned in the corner by a player, and was essentially a 5 on 5 keep away, cycling the puck session. Sides and goalies were switched as this continued for 20 minutes.

*Scrimmage time, as both groups moved to a fresh sheet of ice. The game was played 30 minutes straight time (meaning the clock doesn't stop during whistled down play) and if you were a spectator for this, you were in for a real treat. 8 whistles or stoppages the entire 30 minutes! The back and forth pace was nothing short of exhausting! Hell, I was gassed and I was just watching!

Some of the line combinations of note during the drills and scrimmage were Roslovic centering Laine & Armia, Lowry centering Peluso & Howden, Scheifele centering Petan & Wheeler, and Spacek centering Lipon & Connor. Defense pairings of note were Postma & Enstrom, and Byfuglien & Melchiori. Pavelec and Phillips played the entire scrimmage, while Berdin and Comrie worked with Flaherty on another sheet of ice.

*The crowd collectively gasped as Laine went down awkwardly with Nogier close to the boards, after Nogier's stick got stuck in a seam. No worse for wear as they both got up and skated back into the play.

*Laine's first scrimmage, a nifty give and go by Wheeler and Byfuglien, and Petan being pyloned by Armia were highlights, besides the pace.

*No rest for the wicked as the groups were then split back up again for 2 on 1's and 2 on 2's defensive and offensive drills, using the same format as mentioned above.

*No Olsen, Lemieux, Cormier or Mattias (injured in last night's game).

*Trouba who?

*New Coach Todd Woodcroft joined Kompon, Vincent, Huddy and Flaherty in running the practices. Paul Maurice is still in Toronto coaching the European squad as they battle the Canadian club for Hockey Supremacy.

*As mentioned before, cuts are looming as junior clubs are wanting to get up to steam with their players, so expect things to begin to trim down in the next day or two.

*And finally, the Jets will take on the Minnesota Wild tomorrow night, and the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night. The rosters won't be set until the morning skate. The non-playing groups will practice after morning skates. No practice or games on Saturday.

Let us know what you think in the comments section below, and keep your sticks on the ice! Cheers!

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