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Winnipeg Jets Training Camp Report - Laine's First Day

Day one for Laine, Wheeler and the World Cup players.

By Andy Rolfe

I attended the Winnipeg Jets training camp today, and although it's technically the fourth day of training camp, it was the first day for the players who played in the World Cup of Hockey, including the 2nd pick in this past season's draft in Patrik Laine.  First, here's the list of the training camp groups from today;

Today's camp started with Group 3 taking the ice first with Associate Coach Jamie Kompon running the show, making it Laine's first practice with the Winnipeg Jets. Laine's body language was suggesting that he was a bit on the nervous side, and used his new found friendship in Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele for support as practice moved along. But, holy cow, Laine can skate like the wind, hitting top speed within 3 strides during drills. And to top that off, Jack Roslovic centered a line with Laine and Blake Wheeler, and didn't look out of place. In fact, Roslovic looked very comfortable.

Andrew Rolfe

Andrew Rolfe

Some things to note;

*With using full ice, the team went thru 3 on 2 line rushes, 3 on 3 line rushes, 2 on 3 on 2 transition drills, and 2 on goalie transition drills.

* In attending camp, I always look for possible upcoming line mates as drills take place, so some of the combinations that stood out for me included Scheifele centered Ehlers & Kosmachuk, Roslovic centered Laine & Wheeler, Stuart was paired with Kitchon, and Byfuglien was paired with Chariot. Nothing is set in stone though.

Once the drills were completed, Ehlers, Scheifele, Roslovic, Wheeler and Laine took part in some one-timers...

Andrew Rolfe

After about an hour, Groups 1 & 2 hit the ice, using two different rinks to run about 30 minutes worth of drills...

Andrew Rolfe

Some things to note;

*Goalie Coach Wade Flaherty ran a small goalie clinic at the beginning of the second group, working one on one with both Comrie and Philips.  Hellebuyck and Hutchinson eventually joined up,  and used some screening props to work on positioning and deflections.

*Group 1 forwards were matched against Group 2 defenders, while the opposite (Group 2 forwards were matched with Group 1 defenders) ran drills on a separate sheet of ice. Kompon ran one sheet, while Moose Head Coach Pascal Vincent ran the other.

*Burmistrov centered Perreault & Connor, Spacek centered Stafford & Little, Petan centered Mattias & Armia, Copp centered Howden & Thorburn, and Lowry centered Tanev & Lipon.

* Enstrom & Nogier were a defensive pair, along with Myers & Morrissey, with Postma interchanging during the scrimmage. Nothing set as of yet, as it's still early.

*Myers' newly surgically repaired hip is renewed as he is much faster during camp this year, as last year he was struggling during the first few days.

*Don't worry all you Stanley pundits...he can skate!

*No Lemieux, as he's nursing a foot injury.

*No Trouba (obviously!)

*Speaking of scrimmage, Group 1 wearing white and Group 2 wearing blue played a 30 minute scrimmage. Hutchinson was the goaltender for Group 2, while Group 1 countered with Comrie. The scrimmage was a high tempo, heavy hitting affair, with the refs needing to step in a time between Petan and Lipon, as things got chippy.

*In the end, both squads changed to another sheet of ice and began 2 on two and 3 on 3 full ice drills.

As for tomorrow night's line up, I think the team will dress Group 3 as the Jets start the preseason play against the Calgary Flames. That's a complete guess on my part, but we'll find out tomorrow morning. In all, it was a great day at the Jets training camp, and I'll be attending camp again on Wednesday, with a report to follow.

Let us know what you think below in the comments section. Cheers!