Winnipeg Jets

[CascadeFilly]

Makes no sense to me, either. I think his ice-time will pick up. He had a couple weak shifts early, but after that he started to fight hard and create room and opportunity for himself.

I think the team needs to send Scheifele back to the OHL and bring Cormier back. Scheifele and Kane aren't a good fit, and Scheif just doesn't have enough speed or fight in him yet. I suspect once the lines settle in Kane will get more time. For the record I think his goal should have counted last night. I hate the 'I meant to blow the whistle a second earlier' bit.

[dyzfunctioned]

Won't hurt them to keep him around for the full nine as he looked alright during the first game. Definitely shouldn't keep him past that though.

I'm still of the opinion that they should run Kane - Burmy - Antro as the 2nd line..

[AtlantaSportsFan]

Won't hurt them to keep him around for the full nine as he looked alright during the first game. Definitely shouldn't keep him past that though.

I'm still of the opinion that they should run Kane - Burmy - Antro as the 2nd line..

That's what I was thinking. Just switch Kane with MacLean. Maybe MacLean and Scheifele could do something together.

I'm not sure about Cormier just yet. I mean I'd like to see him play on the big club, but I believe Maxwell is next in line. So if Scheifele did get sent back, I could see Maxwell filling in for him.

[AtlantaSportsFan]

Mason, Jones, and Stapleton in tonight for Pavelec, Oduya, and MacLean.

Good to see Mason get a look. He sucked last year when the season started, maybe he will be a surprise this year.

I can guarantee one thing; there is not a single player on this roster that is worse off than Tim Stapleton. He is a terrible hockey player, and if he didn't do anything to change his game in the offseason, then he will continue to be a terrible hockey player.

Go Jets Go!

[AtlantaSportsFan]

GAME #3: Phoenix 4 Winnipeg 1

Another lackluster performance with effort shown only by a few players. The Jets started off bad allowing a goal in the first minute, and they didn't rebound at all. Some points I'd like to make:

- Claude Noel needs to get his head out of his ass and start being an NHL coach. These line combinations are horrendous, yet he fails to change them. Byfuglien has still yet to be paired with Enstrom, a pairing that must happen. Did he not follow the Thrashers last year? Not only do they benefit offensively together, but Enstrom covers nicely for Byfuglien. Secondly, the powerplay units are laughable and no one should question why they are 0-for the season. There's no reason why Slater, Thorburn, Wellwood, and GLASS should be seeing powerplay time. And it isn't garbage powerplay time where they get on with 20 seconds left. They are seeing legit powerplay time. This is a complete joke if you ask me. The powerplay unit is ment for skilled players, but I guess Noel can't distinguish between a powerplay and a penalty kill since Byfuglien and Kane are on the PK. I'm afraid for Noel because now the team is located in Canada. This franchise has a bad history with coaches, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him take some heat in the near weeks if he doesn't change up his gameplan.

- Now to talk about the team as a whole. There's a stage that this team just cannot get by, and it is a complete downfall. This trend is ongoing from last year, two years ago, three years ago, and I thought they'd be past it by now. It's not being able to control the puck, and turning the puck over. This haunted the Thrashers. The breakouts concern me the most. Instead of passing the puck back to the defense so they could reset the play, they throw the puck up ice only for it to be a turnover, basically giving possession away. Whether it be forced or unforced, it seems that this is the only strategy for breakouts. The long passes that constantly get picked off or bounce off the recipient's stick only result in giving possession away. Offensive and defensive zone turnovers have been a plague as well. All three games thus far have been a turnover fest.

- Something else that I noticed is the players seem to play lazy at times. They fail to make successful passes, and when they enter the zone it seems that they look slow when trying to make a move. It must be easy for the opposition to take away the puck. It's obvious to predict what they will do when they enter the zone. The puck movement just isn't there.

- I'm not happy with the pk strategy, or the undisciplined penalties.

All in all, a lot of work needs to be done. I'm worried most about Noel. Other things should change as he changes. Kane only got 13 minutes in that game, leaving him the 8th forward in most time on ice. Yes, seven forwards saw more ice time than him.

ASF's Three Stars of the Games:
1- Alex Burmistrov - young Datsyuk in the making?
2- Nik Antropov
3- Tobias Enstrom

Winnipeg falls to 0-3 on the season and sees action Monday night back home against the Penguins.

[Big Ev]

Wow c'mon Byfuglien. I drafted you after being very skeptical of your season last year. Let's go!

[AtlantaSportsFan]

Sooner or later Byfuglien may get a look at forward. I hope it doesn't have to be that way, and I also hope Noel pairs him with Toby sooner rather than later.

[DonKarnage]

Everyone together now


NI-AL YAK-U-POV! NI-AL YAK-U-POV!

Here is what happens. Sheifele gets sent down to the OHL, then traded to Sarnia. Might as well get used to playing with his future linemate

[VincentVega]

MacLean was a healthy scratch against Phoenix. I guess he's not impressing the Jets coach either. You think he'll get back there? He can't be worse than Stapleton, can he?

[dyzfunctioned]

What's going on with the Jets? It seems either a ton of players are in Noel's doghouse or they're purposely tanking...

[TK12555]

Jets need their best players to step up. Kane, Byfuglien need to do more on the stat sheet.

Buff and Enstrom need to play together again.

[dyzfunctioned]

Jets need their best players to step up. Kane, Byfuglien need to do more on the stat sheet.

Buff and Enstrom need to play together again.

Hard for Kane to step up when he's being given no ice time. Hell, I think tonight was his high for the year and he got 13 minutes. He should be playing 17+.

[TK12555]

Hard for Kane to step up when he's being given no ice time. Hell, I think tonight was his high for the year and he got 13 minutes. He should be playing 17+.

very true, he should be playing much more than 13.

[AtlantaSportsFan]

MacLean will probably be back, he is not worse than Stapleton. However, Maxwell is going to be in the mix so he might get some looks.

Oduya will be back too. Randy Jones was horrendous tonight.

[dyzfunctioned]

As much as I liked the Ladd-Little-Wheeler line last year, it really hasn't looked that great IMO.

And as stated before, Noel really needs to rework his pairings/lines.