Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Lady Luck to the rescue.  At the end of the day the Jets can put a W in the column instead of an L and most will not remember how this was achieved at the end of the season.  Some of the IC crew was watching the game at The Cheer and the look of shock on the Jets fans faces when Big Buff took that shot from center and scored was one of disbelief.  While most left The Cheer with a smile on their face, Lauren who entered the Budweiser contest, walked out with a Jets jersey.  (No word if Randy Jones has changed his name to The Cheer).

Winnipeg Free Press:  Chipman takes umbrage with author.  Chipman has a right to be aggravated.  These reports/studies get the flashy headline “Canada could support 9 teams” but at the end of the day they are based on theory and are purely the hypothesis of the authors.  

Winnipeg Free Press:  Iffy call sparks action.  The refs were certainly having some fun last night.  Luckily for Jets fans they evened it up late and the Jets were able to capitalize.

Winnipeg Sun:  Flu bug plays havoc with Jets.  When the game moved to the shootout, there was concern that missing Wellwood would hurt the Jets chances to win since he has the highest % of shootout success on the team.

Winnipeg Sun:  Snapshots.  Digging themselves out of mess.  Three points from first.  Different headlines with 4 minutes to go.  Jets AAA line.  Awful 1st periods.  Pavelec drives the bus.  What to do about Ladd.  Lack of penalty shot on Wheeler’s play.  Antropov needs to be more involved.  Pavelec so much better than stats suggest.  Ovechkin pass was sick.  Good shootout performance.

Winnipeg Sun:  Pavelec has no love for shootouts.  He might not love them but last night’s victory was monumental in keeping the Jets in the race for the Southeast division crown.  A number of the other teams in the Jets division got points (Wsh shootout loss, Fla won, TB lost in OT) so a loss last night, considering most teams have games in hand on Winnipeg would have been disheartening.

Illegal Curve:  Jets on a Deadline – Jets 3 Capitals 2 in shootout.  Game recaps, video highlights and the NHL.com 3 Stars of the night.

Next opponent news – Pittsburgh Penguins:

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:  High-ankle sprain sends Kennedy back to bench.  Never an easy injury, looks like the Pens will lose his services for at least a month.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:  Despres hopes to return soon, but where?  Looks like the Penguins will have to wait a bit longer to see if this young prospect will be ready to show his worth at the NHL level.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:  Empty netter assists.  If it is Penguins related, Seth Rorabaugh has it covered in this informative column.

Game Stories:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets comeback win against Caps timely.

Winnipeg Sun:  Jets beat Caps in shootout.

TSN:  Jets gain ground on Capitals with comeback SO win.

NHL.com:  Jets comeback to beat the Caps 3-2 in SO.

Washington Post:  Washington blows 2 goal lead, loses to Jets.

Washington Times:  12 second spurt undoes Capitals surefire win in shootout.

CSN Washington:  Capitals fall in shootout.

Video Highlights:

NHL.com 3 Stars

1.  Alex Ovechkin

2.  Alexander Semin

3.  Ondrej Pavelec

Jets news:

Winnipeg Sun:  Jets need to knock off Capitals.  While the Jets are just 5 points back of the 8th and final playoff spot, they might want to set their sights a little higher, like 3rd in the East (winning the Southeast) and tonight’s game against the Caps will be important if they are to achieve that goal.

CBC:  Trade history – Jets/Thrashers.  A rather stark trade history for this franchise which might have some cautious about wanting the Jets to make a deadline deal.  We took a  look at some of the possible trade candidates on this team.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets in tough against hot Ovechkin, Caps.  The flu bug seems to be working its way through the Jets room but hopefully captain Andrew Ladd and Big Buff are able to battle it and play tonight.  Holding back a streaking Alexander Ovechkin is never an easy thing and while he might be quiet all game against you, he can burn you quickly as he did to the Jets back in December scoring the lone goal in the game with just over a minute to go in regulation.
 

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets present jersey to Canadian embassy in U.S.  Having been the the Canadian embassy before I can attest to the fact that it is quite a spectacular building with a great view of D.C.  Nice to see that the Jets are finally represented with an official jersey completing the collection.

TSN:  Jets hit the road with first stop in Washington.  A breakdown of the lines and some insight into tonight’s game.

Jets official Site:  Jets try to gain on Southeast leading Capitals.  A breakdown of tonight’s action.

New York Times:  NHL eyes Winnipeg for Heritage Classic.  If we thought Grey Cups in November were cold, just wait till we watch the Heritage Classic in January or February.  As John Davidson (President of  hockey operations for the St. Louis Blues) would say “oh baby”.

Jets official site – Top 5 Goals of the Season:

Next opponent news – Washington Capitals:

Washington Times:  Knuble to be healthy scratch.  It isn’t easy being a veteran struggling scoring goals, something his former teammate Eric Fehr could sympathize with.

Washington Post:  Backstrom says he doesn’t know when he will be ready to play again.  Part of the fall of the Capitals can be attributed to not having the Swedish star in the lineup.

So early that it won’t yet be bright, The Illegal Curve Hockey Show will take to the airwaves of TSN 1290 Saturday morning, beginning at 7:00 AM.

Our first guest, at 8:30 AM, is Mike Colligan of Forbes.com and Hockeywriters.com. Mike is based in Pittsburgh, covers the Penguins, and with the Jets playing the Penguins Saturday afternoon, Mike will provide us with insight into one of the best squads, when healthy, in the NHL.

At 9:30 AM, we will be joined by former NHL General Manager Craig Button of TSN and the NHL Network. With the trade deadline rapidly approaching (Monday, February 27) we will talk with Craig about the discussions and decisions being made by General Managers around the league. Furthermore we will discuss the current landscape surrounding the best prospects for the upcoming 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Additional guests may be added, so stay tuned to this post and our @illegalcurve page for news on that front.

All that, plus your tweets, emails and (maybe, but not likely) phone calls (204-780-1290). Best tweets and emails will receive exciting Illegal Curve merchandise!

Join us Saturday from 7 AM – 1200 Noon on TSN 1290 in Winnipeg and online at tsn.ca/Winnipeg

When: Thursday, February 9, 2012

Time: 6:00 p.m. CST

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

Records: Winnipeg (25-24-6), Washington Capitals (28-21-4)

Television/Radio: TSN-JETS,CSN-MA/ TSN 1290 Radio

The Story:  The Winnipeg Jets face the Washington Capitals tonight in a crucial Southeast Division battle and make no mistake about it, there is a lot at stake.

The Jets are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference with 56 points and are five points behind the Ottawa Senators for the 8th and final playoff spot with 27 games remaining. However, the Jets are only four points behind the Capitals and thus 3rd place.

Tonight’s game is truly a must-win for the Jets because they have played two more games than Washington. Should the Jets fail to register a point tonight, they will fall back six points, which will negate the ground they made up with Tuesday night’s 2-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Tonight’s meeting will be the fourth of six meetings between the Capitals and Jets this season. The Jets defeated the Capitals back in October but the Caps have defeated the Jets twice this season, once in overtime and once in regulation. The last time the two teams played was back on December 15th when Alexander Ovechkin got the only goal in 1-0 Capitals win.

Considering that they play the Capitals two more times this season (Friday, March 16th at home and Friday, March 23rd on the road), it will be imperative for the Jets to gain some forward momentum. Simply put, if the Jets cannot defeat the Capitals tomorrow night, they do not deserve to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season. Sure, the Jets can still make the playoffs if they lose tonight but it will simply be another opportunity wasted. Furthermore, the Jets have lost three times to the Florida Panthers, another team in their division, who are three points ahead of them in ninth place, so the importance of winning an inter-divisional game tonight is that much more heightened.

Jets forward Kyle Wellwood will not play for the Jets tonight against the Capitals and will miss his second straight game.

Ondrej Pavelec will start in net for the Jets tonight.

Projected Jets line combinations:

Goalie:

Ondrej Pavelec

Forwards:

1st: Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little- Blake Wheeler

2nd:  Evander Kane- Nikolai Antropov- Eric Fehr

3rd:  Tanner Glass- Jim Slater- Chris Thorburn

4th:  Antti Miettinen-Aaron Gagnon-Alexander Burmistrov

Defence:

Dustin Byfuglien- Tobias Enstrom

Zach Bogosian-Mark Stuart

Johnny Oduya-Ron Hainsey

Projected Caps line combinations (via Katie Carrera of the Washington Post):

Goalie:

Tomas Vokun

Forwards:

1st: Alex Ovechkin-Marcus Johansson-Troy Brouwer

2nd: Jason Chimera-Mathieu Perreault-Alexander Semin

3rd: Matt Hendriks-Jeff Halpern-Joel Ward

4th:  Keith Aucoin-Brooks Laich-Jay Beagle

Defence:

Karl Alzner- John Carlson

Jeff Schultz-Dennis Wideman

Roman Hamrlik-Dmitry Orlov

Offensive Leaders:

Washington Capitals: Nicklas Backstrom (13 goals, 29 assists, 42 points), Alexander Ovechkin (22 goals, 19 assists, 41 points), Dennis Wideman (10 goals, 26 assists, 36 points)

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler (10 goals, 26 assists, 36 points), Evander Kane (18 goals, 13 assists, 31 points), Kyle Wellwood (10 goals, 21 assists, 31 points)

Injury Report:

Washington Capitals: Mike Green (hip) Tom Poti (groin) Nicklas Backstrom (concussion)

Winnipeg Jets:  Stapleton (lower body) Wellwood (flu)

Who’s Next: The Jets next game is on Saturday, February 11th, against the Pittsburgh Penguins (1:00 p.m. CST).

QUICKIES…… The Jets have not scored a power play goal in seven straight games…..The Jets are 20-2-1 when leading after the second period…..Aaron Gagnon was six for nine in the face-off circle on Tuesday against the Maple Leafs…..Join Illegal Curve at The Cheer Bar & Grill for tonight’s Jets/Capitals game (Osborne and Stradbrook)…..Pick up your official Illegal Curve New Era 5950 Fitted Hat, available online or at City Haul on 823 Corydon Avenue…..

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Veteran Thorburn says closely knit club well worth keeping together.  If you want to hear the players thoughts on being traded we have the audio from practice the other day in which they discussed same.  (Thorburn and Glass were asked about it).  Ed also talks Caps watch, Jets defence, a quotable coach Noel moment, and pizza day.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets target Capitals in crucial matchup.  Look at how tight the Southeast is.  The margin for error remains slim, so the Jets need to play well over the next four games (3 on the road, 1 at home).  If they can, they then face a favourable 8 games in a row at the MTS Centre.

Winnipeg Sun:  NHL’s elephant in the room.  It is the thing nobody in the room wants to talk about.  Most of the players won’t really react when asked about trades or the possibility of trades and the truth is what answer can they really give.  The decision is made by GM Cheveldayoff and his team.

Winnipeg Sun:  Flu bug keeps Jets away.  Most of the Jets (the healthy ones) were hosted by former Manitoba Premier and current Ambassador to the United States Gary Doer at the Canadian Embassy.  

Courtesy Winnipeg Jets

Winnipeg Sun:  Overtime (video).  Ted Wyman discusses how the Jets need to find ways to win.

Winnipeg Sun:  Kane brings smiles with visit.  Good move by Kane and the Jets to get the focus on the positive impact the Jets can have in the community.

Affiliate news -  St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  IceCaps clip Bruins in overtime.  While the Caps have not played particularly well at home before this 6 game homestand began, they have gone 3 and 1 since it started and moved into 1st overall in the AHL.  Unfortunately they too are suffering from the flu bug as well as injuries and might need some reinforcements for this weekends contest against the baby Senators.

Next opponent news – Washington Capitals:

Washington Post:  Alex Ovechkin has made ice hockey cool for Washington’s area youth.  Much like the Gretzky factor in California, over on the East coast, the ‘Ovi’ factor has had quite the positive impact on youth hockey in and around the Washington, D.C. area.

Washington Examiner:  Ward’s first year with the Capitals has been a little uneven.  Which just goes to show you that throwing money at a player will not always solve your problems  Three million per season and he has only 1 goal since November 5th.

Washington Times:  Orlov is taking on look of veteran defenceman.  Sometimes throwing players directly into the NHL fire can have disastrous consequences on their development, and other times, as appears to be the case with young Dmitry Orlov, it was just what he needed.

Jets News:

CBC:  Jets look to build with big road games.  With only 4 points separating the 3rd place Jets and 1st place Capitals in the Southeast, tomorrow night’s game in Washington is quite important.  The Jets are looking to avenge the 1-0 loss to Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals back on December 15th.

Toronto Star:  Evander Kane tries to improve his image.  Is this a Winnipeg thing?  Would speculation happen in other Canadian cities?  Couple that with this being a new team and you have a recipe for the type of hype/rumours that have spread like wildfire.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Little’s luck all Jets need.  Lucky #13 for Bryan Little turned out to be the game winner after some hard skating by his linemate Blake Wheeler.  The Jets have to focus on winning the Southleast™(Neil Greenberg, Washington Post) if they want to talk playoffs.  Huge game on Thursday in Washington.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Kane needs to avoid smoke, start creating fire on ice.  Can the Jets sniper turn his season around?  There is still plenty of time and opportunity for Kane to prove his worth to this franchise.

Winnipeg Free Press:  NHL considering Winnipeg as future site of Heritage Classic.  With the building of the new Investors Group Stadium, it is a perfect storm of circumstances for the newest Canadian franchise to host the Heritage Classic.  My only question, for the Old timers game, supposing the Jets play the Oilers, do we have Dale Hawerchuk facing off against Wayne Gretzky or Patrik Stefan?

Winnipeg Sun:  Snapshots.  Don’t need many goals for victory.  Jets still low scoring.  Pavelec’s timely saves, Wheeler’s strong skating, sniper Chris Thorburn.  Catching the Capitals.  Rare early tally.  Jets controlled 3rd period.  Kane played physical.  Wheeler is a threat.  Jets D continues to plays well.  GST line strong play.  Finally finishing game off.  4th line chemistry.  Seven games without a PP goal for Winnipeg.  Missed call by the refs.

Game Recap – Jets 2 Leafs 1

Winnipeg Jets:  Ondrej Pavelec, Bryan Little, Chris Thorburn and Zach Bogosian.

Toronto Maple Leafs:  Coach Ron Wilson, Joey Crabb and Jonas Gustavsson.

Illegal Curve: Post-game podcast. Host Drew Mindell and Analyst Richard Pollock break down the game.

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

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

TSN:  Pasquale’s shutout leads IceCaps to victory over Bruins.  Impressive win for the Caps who only dressed 11 forwards due to injury.

Next opponent news – Washington Capitals:

Washington Post:  Caps strike and take over first.  While the Jets would not want to see Ovi heating up, it is good that the Caps got a clean win against the Panthers.  Huge game on Thursday.

Washington Post:  Brooks Laich ‘felt good’ in limited role against Panthers.  The guy is a warrior.  Love the Monty Python reference.

Relocation news:

Sportsnet:  Quebec ready for Nordiques return.  If you are in Quebec City and are interested in Making it Eight, then here is a pretty, pretty, pretty good read for you.

Game Stories:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets defeat Leafs 2-1.

Winnipeg Sun:  Jets rake Leafs at home.

The Globe & Mail:  Jets stifle Leafs offence in return to MTS Centre.

TSN:  Jets hold off streaking Leafs to stay in playoff hunt.

NHL.com:  Jets end Maple Leafs streak at three.

Toronto Star:  Winnipeg Jets shoot down Leafs 2-1.

National Post:  Leafs’ hot streak ends with loss to Jets.

ChrisD.ca:  Jets defeat Leafs 2-1 on home ice.

Post-game audio:

Winnipeg Jets:  Ondrej Pavelec, Bryan Little, Chris Thorburn and Zach Bogosian.

Toronto Maple Leafs:  Coach Ron Wilson, Joey Crabb and Jonas Gustavsson.

Illegal Curve: Post-game podcast. Host Drew Mindell and Analyst Richard Pollock break down the game.

Video Highlights:

NHL.com 3 Stars

1.  Blake Wheeler

2.  Bryan Little

3.  Phil Kessel

Illegal Curve Hockey Show – Jets vs. Leafs Postgame Podcast – February 7, 2012

Host Drew Mindell and Analyst Richard Pollock break down the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Ondrej Pavelec

Bryan Little

Chris Thorburn

Zach Bogosian

Coach Ron Wilson

Joey Crabb

Jonas Gustavsson

Coach Noel – Wide ranging presser covering Kane/Stapleton injuries, discussed Kane’s linemates and expected playing time.  The manner in which he motivates players.  Talks about Wellwood’s maturity.  Expectations of the Leafs and much more.

Please Note: The audio is not working to play on site in Google Chrome, in order to listen click “download” or use another browser (Firefox is our recommended option but all other browsers work as well to play the embedded audio) We are working on getting this issue resolved.

Jets news:

Toronto Star:  Maple Leafs gave Winnipeg permission to use leaf in logo.  A good move by the Leafs as sales of NHL team merchandise helps fill the league coffers.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Kane likely played with concussion for 14 games.  Perhaps this helps to explain his drought.

Winnipeg Sun:  Kane rested, ready to score.  With the lack of scoring the Jets have seen, perhaps a return to the friendly confines of the MTS Centre is what this team needs to regain their mojo.

TSN:  Kane returns as Jets host Leafs.  Munz with a breakdown of tonight’s action.

Globe and Mail:  Questions surrounding Evander Kane injury.  The problem with concussions is you sometimes do not know when the occur.  Hopefully he is back to 100% health moving forward.

Illegal Curve:  Jets post-practice audio.  We spoke with Zach Bogosian, Bryan Little, Evander Kane, Tanner Glass, Andrew Ladd and Tim Stapleton.

Illegal Curve:  Coach Noel press conference.  Wide ranging presser covering Kane/Stapleton injuries, discussed Kane’s linemates and expected playing time.  The manner in which he motivates players.  Talks about Wellwood’s maturity.  Expectations of the Leafs and much more. (will be up soon)

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets logo seems to be everywhere.  You go the gas station you see Jets lighters or now the Free Press Jets medallions.  Every store in the city seems to carry some sort of Jets merchandise.  While I haven not eaten a Jets waffle just yet, they do look quite tasty as did the donuts.

Next opponent news – Toronto Maple Leafs:

Toronto Star:  Jonas Gustavsson expected to start against Winnipeg Jets.  The fans of James Reimer making the trek from Morweena, Manitoba can’t be happy with that news.

Toronto Star:  Five questions for tonight’s Leafs/Jets game.  All things to be aware of before the tilt tonight between the 7th place Leafs and 10th place Jets.

Zach Bogosian

Bryan Little

Evander Kane

Tanner Glass

Andrew Ladd

Tim Stapleton

When: Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Time: 7:30 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg (24-24-6), Toronto Maple Leafs (28-19-6)

Television/Radio: SNET-O,TSN-JETS/ TSN 1290 Radio

The Story:  If it feels like it has been a long time since the Winnipeg Jets last played at home, well it has been. In fact, It’s been 17 days since the Jets last played a home game (January 21st against the Florida Panthers) so when the Jets meet the red-hot Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at the MTS Centre we should expect a loud welcoming from the 15,000+ fans in the MTS Centre and hundreds of thousands more who will be watching at home.

Winnipeg enters tonight’s game in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and still in the hunt for a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With 28 games to go in the season, the Jets are seven points behind the Ottawa Senators for the last playoff spot and eight points behind the Maple Leafs, who are in 7th place with one game in hand.

The Jets lost the last two games of their recent post-All-Star Break/four-game road trip, earning four of a possible eight points on the trip to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff race for now.  The Leafs, on the other hand, have won three games in a row and are unbeaten in their last six games, comfortably in the middle of the playoff pack.

There is reason for optimism in Jets land however.

Even though the Jets have only won four of their last 10 games, they are only five points behind the Florida Panthers for the Southeast Division lead and 3rd place in the East. The caveat here is obviously that Florida has only played 51 games, three less than the Jets, who have played the second most games in the East, second only to the Ottawa Senators, who have played 55 games. In addition, 16 of the Jets remaining 28 games are at home, where they have a stellar record of 15-8-2.

Perhaps the best news for the Jets is that forward Evander Kane will return to the line-up tonight versus the Maple Leafs. Kane has missed the last seven games with a concussion.

Ondrej Pavelec will start in net for the Jets.

Tonight’s meeting will be the fourth and final one of the season between the Leafs and Jets. The Leafs have won two of the three meetings, including the last one back on January 5th, a 4-0 win at Air Canada Centre.

Projected line combinations:

Goalie:

Ondrej Pavelec

Forwards:

1st: Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little- Blake Wheeler

2nd:  Evander Kane- Nikolai Antropov- Kyle Wellwood

3rd:  Tanner Glass- Jim Slater- Chris Thorburn

4th:  Antti Miettinen-Aaron Gagnon-Alexander Burmistrov

Defence:

Dustin Byfuglien- Tobias Enstrom

Zach Bogosian-Mark Stuart

Johnny Oduya-Ron Hainsey

Offensive Leaders:

Toronto Maple Leafs: Phil Kessel (29 goals, 28 assists, 57 points), Joffrey Lupul (21 goals, 34 assists, 55 points), Mikhail Grabovski (18 goals, 21 assists, 39 points)

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler (10 goals, 25 assists, 35 points), Evander Kane (18 goals, 13 assists, 31 points), Kyle Wellwood (10 goals, 21 assists, 31 points)

Injury Report:

Toronto Maple Leafs: David Steckel (foot), Darryl Boyce (back)

Winnipeg Jets:  Stapleton (lower body)

Who’s Next: The Jets next game is on Thursday night on the road against the Washington Capitals (6:00 p.m. CST). The Jets next game after that is on Saturday, February 11th, against the Pittsburgh Penguins (1:00 p.m. CST).

QUICKIES…… The Jets re-assigned forward Spencer Machacek to the St.John’s IceCaps on Tuesday…..The Jets were 0-for-13 on the power play on the six-game road trip….The Jets have been shutout seven times this season…..Chris Thorburn has four fighting majors in his last five games…..Tanner Glass leads the Jets with 156 hits, which is 11th most in the National Hockey League…..Pick up your official Illegal Curve New Era 5950 Fitted Hat, available online or at City Haul on 823 Corydon Avenue…..

Note:  As always we will have all the latest audio from both the Leafs and Jets rooms throughout the day and following the game.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets forwards among cellar dwellers in payroll, goals scored.  It was pretty well established at the beginning of the season that this team wasn’t blessed with a ton of natural scoring.  The hope was young guns like Kane and Burmistrov would develop but injury has sidelined them both during the course of the season.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Can Kane raise the offence?  If he returns tonight, it will be an opportunity for the Jets young star to put the team on his back and carry them.  If you want to get paid the big bucks, you need to demonstrate that you have the ability to dominate games.

Winnipeg Sun:  Time is running out for Jets.  The Jets are closer to last in the Eastern Conference (5 points) than they are to the 8th and final playoff spot (7 points).  Is it time to hit the panic button?

Toronto Star:  Relaunched Jets have Winnipeg flying high.  The energy in this city was and is completely different since that fateful day in May 2011 when the birth of the Jets 2.0 was announced.  While the team might struggle on the ice, the fans in the stands continue to treat each and every game like a festival.

Globe and Mail:  Punch-less Jets desperate for scoring touch.  There is no denying the Jets lack of scoring (3rd last in the East and having played more games than both the Sabres and Islanders) but hopefully the return of Evander Kane will be just what this team needs to start scoring again.

Relocation news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Hey Quebec, build it and NHL might come.  The buzz seems to have switched from Quebec City to Seattle with word that the Starbucks capital might be trying to lure both the NHL and NBA back in one fell swoop.  Gary hits it on the head when he says:

Make no mistake, it’s a competition. It’s not about emotion and privilege. It’s about money, business and the cleanest deal.

Affiliate news – Colorado Eagles:

Northern Colorado:  Eagles add All-Star goalie.  Always good to add more talent to the mix.

Next opponent news – Toronto Maple Leafs:

Toronto Sun:  Leafs blast Oilers, Jets next.  The Leafs are hot, having gone 6-1-1 in their last 8 games, but can the Jets take advantage of a Toronto team who is playing the 2nd game of a back-to-back?

Toronto Sun:  Reimer socks it to superstitions.  I like that attitude.  Like he said, if you could simply chalk it up to lucky socks then why bother working your butt off all summer to get in shape.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  With no new players, Winnipeg Jets coach has to work with what he has.  The Jets coach knows there is no point lamenting his lot in life.  He will win or lose with the players he has on his roster.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Kane could be in for Leafs game.  Well ‘game time decision’ is a lot better than ‘he won’t be a player this week’.  The Jets need offence wherever it can be found so hopefully his time away has healed his body and he will be prepared to break both his own and the Jets goal scoring drought.

Winnipeg Sun:  Kane, Stapleton game-time decisions for Jets.  Stapleton can play point on the PP and adds some speed to whichever line he is playing on.  The most important thing is his presence will hopefully get the players currently on the roster looking over their shoulders at a guy who wants back into the lineup.

Illegal Curve:  Coach Claude Noel press conference.  Coach Noel held a 10 minute press conference to catch-up with ‘his beauties’ as he references the media.  Covered a range of topics including injury updates, current player struggles and much more.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

Northern Colorado:  Forney recalled by IceCaps.  Will be making his first call up by the Caps this season.

Next opponent news – Toronto Maple Leafs:

Toronto Star:  Five questions for the Leafs before the game with the Oilers.  We will know the answers following the game of course.  Will be interesting to see if Morweena, Manitoba’s James Reimer gets the start and a 2nd chance to win in Winnipeg.

Globe and Mail:  Which rebuild is better – Leafs or Oilers?   An 8th place team with 60 points vs. a 13th place team with 47 points.  It would seem that this question is best answered next season.

Coach Noel held a 10 minute press conference to catch-up with ‘his beauties’ as he references the media.  Covered a range of topics including injury updates, current player struggles and much more.

Coach Noel

(Please Note:  The audio is not working  to play on site in Google Chrome, in order to listen click “download” or use another browser (Firefox is our recommended option but all other browsers work as well to play the embedded audio) We are working on getting this issue resolved.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets are what they are — Thrashers north.  As we showed during the 1/2 way point of the season, these two teams had remarkably similar numbers, with Atlanta actually having a 17 more goals for.  Of course this Jets team has had more than its fair share of injuries.  This team wasn’t going to have any 50 goals scorers, but any line chemistry has been killed by the inordinate number of injuries this team has suffered.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Noel reckons troops are tired.  The travel schedule hasn’t been kind to the Jets.  Many saw the post All-Star game road trip, where Winnipeg plays 6 of 7 away from the MTS Centre, as critically important for the team’s post-season chances.

Winnipeg Sun:  Snapshots.  Playoff dreams fading fast.  Big Buff beaten down by CBC analysts.  Time for Buff in front?  Jets cannot be Habs.  Other teams can win the 2nd game of a back-to-back, why not Winnipeg?  Safeway promotion safe.  Miettinen’s chances.  Carey Price flopping.  Poor line change costs Jets a goal.  Machacek gets some time.  Wheeler steps up.  PP stinks.

Winnipeg Sun:  Wheeler hits the boiling point.  His frustration is easy to understand.  This team just can’t seem to get those lucky breaks and it boiled over during the loss to the worst team in the Eastern conference.  The Jets have to re-group for Tuesday’s game at home to the Leafs.  Good news (or so we thought when the Jets were playing a supposedly tired Habs team playing the 2nd game of a back-to-back) is that Toronto plays at home to Edmonton tonight before playing in Winnipeg Tuesday night.

Winnipeg Sun:  Jets bench struggling Fehr.  To be fair he has simply not gotten back to his per-surgery form.  Sitting managed to help Chris Thorburn so perhaps some time off will give Fehr some time for get re-focused, although the belief is his problems are more physical than mental.

Globe & Mail: Will Southeast Division NHL teams be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline?  The Jets are looking more and more like sellers.  Without stringing a few wins together over the next two weeks, Kevin Cheveldayoff will be expected to sell a number of the team’s pending UFAs, at minimum.

USA Today: NHL Eastern Conference trade deadline outlook.  Kevin Allen speculates that both Johnny Oduya and Ron Hainsey could be on the way out.

TSN:  Offence continues to struggle on the road.  Dennis brings up a key point.  The Jets miss way too many shots on net.  How many times do the Jets get in deep only to completely miss getting the puck at the oppositions tender.  Then, of course, the puck inevitably gets out of the offensive zone and the Jets forwards are pinned deep.

Illegal Curve:  Jets on a Deadline – Canadiens 3 Jets 0.  Game recaps, video highlights and the NHL.com 3 Stars of the night.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  IceCaps go down fighting.  While fans probably appreciate goals and wins more than fights and losses, the occasional fisticuffs from the home team can bring the crowd to its feet.

Next opponent news – Toronto Maple Leafs:

National Post:  Leafs should stand pat at trade deadline.  Mortgaging the future for the chance at present success seems to be a GM’s kryptonite.

Toronto Sun:  Leafs’ D deadly at both ends of rink.  Most coaches would kill to have contributions from their D in both ends of the rink.

Game Stories:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Habs beat Jets off 3-0.

Winnipeg Sun:  Jets shooting blanks, lose 3-0.

TSN:  Price and Plekanec lead Canadiens over Jets.

NHL.com:  Habs end skid with win over Jets.

Montreal Gazette:  Price is super as Habs down Jets.

Video Highlights:

NHL.com 3 Stars:

1.  Carey Price

2.  Tomas Plekanec

3.  Alexei Emelin

When: Sunday, February 5, 2012

Time: 1:00 p.m. CST

Where: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec

Records: Winnipeg (24-23-6), Montreal Canadiens (19-24-9)

Television/Radio: CBC, RDS / TSN 1290 Radio

The Story: The Winnipeg Jets are coming off a disappointing loss to Southeast division leader Florida Panthers, while the Montreal Canadiens lost less than 24 hours ago to the Washington Capitals.  Both teams are desperate for a win.

This will be the fourth and final game between these two teams this season, with Montreal currently holding a 2 wins and 1 loss advantage over Winnipeg.

The Jets scoring, or lack thereof, has been this team’s major downfall over the past 5 game, as they haven’t potted more than 2 goals since their 4-3 shootout loss to Florida back on January 21st.  Despite this drought, they could end the road trip 3 and 1 with a win in La Belle Province this afternoon.

The Habs are pulling out all the stops.  They had a sports psychologist stop by the other day to get the team more focused.  However, as Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette told the guys yesterday on the IC Hockey Show, he doesn’t expect interim head coach Randy Cunneyworth to be back next season and one has to wonder what impact that is having on the team.  Today is the one year anniversary of Scott Gomez ‘s last goal, the game-winner in a 2-0 Habs win over the New York Rangers.  Things are not good in Montreal and it doesn’t appear to be getting any better any time soon.

No major changes expected to either lineup.

Projected line combinations:

Goalie:

Ondrej Pavelec

Forwards:

1st: Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little- Blake Wheeler

2nd: Kyle Wellwood- Nikolai Antropov-Spencer Machacek

3rd: Tanner Glass- Jim Slater- Chris Thorburn

4th: Alexander Burmistrov-Aaron Gagnon-Antti Miettinen

Defence:

Tobias Enstrom-Dustin Byfuglien

Ron Hainsey-Zach Bogosian

Mark Stuart-Johnny Oduya

Offensive Leaders:

Montreal Canadiens: Erik Cole (19 goals, 20 assists, 39 points), Max Pacioretty (18 goals, 19 assists, 37 points), David Desharnais (10 goals, 26 assists, 36 points)

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler (10 goals, 25 assists, 35 points), Evander Kane (18 goals, 13 assists, 31 points), Kyle Wellwood (10 goals, 21 assists, 31 points)

Injury Report:

Montreal Canadiens: Travis Moen (upper body), Petteri Nokelainen (upper body), Ryan White (groin), Andrei Markov (ACL surgery), Brian Gionta (right bicep tear) and Michael Blunden (lower body) are all on injured reserve.

Winnipeg Jets: Kane (concussion), Stapleton (lower body).

Who’s Next: The Jets return home for a date with the Leafs on Tuesday, February 7th before heading back on the road to face the Capitals and Penguins.  After that it will be extended home visit as the Jets play 9 of the next 10 (and the one road game is to St. Paul, Minnesota) at the friendly confines of the MTS Centre.

QUICKIES…… Last 10 games: Winnipeg 4-5-1; Montreal 3-5-2…….Pick up your official Illegal Curve New Era 5950 Fitted Hat, available online or at City Haul on 823 Corydon Avenue…..

Note:  Tune into a special edition of the Illegal Curve Hockey Show with host Drew Mindell and voice of the Winnipeg Goldeyes Paul Edmonds as they fill in for Hustler & Lawless from 10 until noon on TSN Radio 1290.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Just thinking out loud…..Handling the 2nd game of back-to-back’s.  Curious case of Alexander Burmistrov.  Overpaying for talent.  Sunshine state thoughts.  Which position can the Jets afford to trade away (we here at IC also believe GST is untouchable).  Cerebral Bolts coach Guy Boucher.  Nasty in Monty.  Taxi cab confessions (or a sort).

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets have to get their hands dirty, score the greasy goals.  I have been advocating this for quite some time.  The Jets are not blessed with a ton of natural talent, but they do have a lot of big bodies that can cause distraction in front of opposition netminders.  Problem is far too often the Jets are anywhere but in front of the net and this is leading to easy saves.

Winnipeg Sun:  Jets face  ‘big test’ against Habs.  The big advantage for the Jets is they have had a day off unlike the Habs who lost a tough game to the Capitals 3-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Winnipeg Sun:  Centre hopes to fly high with Jets.  The young gun is hungry to take advantage of this opportunity with the Jets and with the recent injuries the time is now for him to take this shot.

CBC:  Jets hoping for offensive surge in Montreal.  The importance of playing a complete 60 minutes cannot be understated.  The Jets absolutely need this win to keep pace in the East.

Illegal Curve:  IC Hockey Show part 1.  Jets at Panthers recap.  Interview with Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post & ESPN.  Winnipeg Jets schedule prognostication.

Illegal Curve:  IC Hockey Show part 2.  Interview with Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette.  Trade deadline preview.  Los Angeles clock incident.  Rapid Fire (joined on phone with Ezra from Montreal).  Interview with Jonas Siegel of TSN 1050.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Sharks get rough in win over Caps.  A tough loss following yesterday’s big win.  Consistency at the Mile One Centre remains an issue for the Jets farm team.

Next opponent news – Montreal Canadiens:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Good news Jets, Habs worst in East after shutout loss.  The Habs didn’t do Winnipeg any favours losing to the Jets Southeast division rivals yesterday.

Montreal Gazette:  Peter Budaj frustrated by ‘unlucky’ break.  When you are losing, you just can’t seem to get any breaks.

Illegal Curve Hockey Show – February 4, 2011 – Part 1

0:00 – Winnipeg Jets at Florida Panthers recap

14:11 – Winnipeg Jets at Florida Panthers recap

26:54 – Interview with Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post & ESPN

37:41 – Winnipeg Jets schedule prognostication

48:11 – Winnipeg Jets schedule prognostication

57:15 – Winnipeg Jets continued

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays on TSN 1290 from 12pm-3pm.

Illegal Curve Hockey Show – February 4, 2012 – Part 2

0:00 – Interview with Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette

15:29 – Trade deadline preview

28:22 – Trade deadline preview

42:31 – Los Angeles clock incident

51:59 – Rapid Fire (joined on phone with Ezra from Montreal)

1:02:06 – Interview with Jonas Siegel of TSN 1050

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays on TSN 1290 from 12pm-3pm.

Note: Tune into the Illegal Curve Hockey Show which starts at noon until 3 pm today on TSN Radio 1290. Guests include Neil Greenberg (Washington Post), Pat Hickey (Montreal Gazette) and IC’s Ezra Ginsburg who is live and on location in Montreal. In addition to the interviews the guys will talk about last night’s Jets/Panthers game, discuss the Jets schedule, preview tomorrow’s Jets/Habs game as well as a discussion of a wide ranging number of topics from across the NHL. We welcome your questions/comments. Send us tweets to @illegalcurve.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Ministry of Trade.  As will 750,000 Peggers’ who all would like to add their 2 cents as to what moves this Jets team needs to make.  We have to ask ourselves,  do we want short term reward or do we have long term vision?  With the former we could see the Jets make some moves to sneak into the playoffs.  With the latter the Jets likely finish outside, but acquire assets that could ensure future success.

Winnipeg Free Press:  One and done.  Unfortunately this team isn’t exactly blessed with 30 goal scorers, in fact they have yet to have any player crack 20, 53 games into the season.  But as coach Noel accurately states, this team is too often looking to make the pass when they can take a shot on net.

Winnipeg Sun:  Spirited tilt turns tide temporarily.  Fans may ask why we have a guy like Chris Thorburn on the team, but his teammates never do.  He isn’t afraid to stand up for one of the guys or as the case was last night, give the team a boost by engaging in some fisticuffs.  While he only has 1 goal this season, he has averaged 6 goals a season over the past 4 seasons, so he can also help out in that area.

Winnipeg Sun:  Snapshots.  Back-to-back blues.  Lack of scoring.  Jets could use a Little streak.  Good and bad Little yesterday (As an aside:  Kudos to Ken for accurately predicting that Little would break his slump yesterday).  4th line brings life.  Too many passes.  Mason was sharp.  Killer 1st period.  Poor penalty calls.

Winnipeg Sun:  No wish list for Noel.  Can’t exactly suggest I’m surprised that the coach is unwilling to go public with his wants and needs.  It is pretty clear that this team needs scoring and has an excess of defence.  It is pretty clear that this team needs scoring and has an excess of defence. It seems clear that the brass will pull the trigger before the 27th, but as was suggested above, whether it will it be for the short term or a long term build has yet to be determined.

Globe and Mail:  Jets still looking to crack back-to-back riddle.  O wins and 9 losses pretty much says it all.  If you watched that 3rd period you saw a very tired Jets team.  You also saw a team playing its 3rd game in 4 nights  so that is not unexpected.  During the final 3 or 4 minutes of the 3rd down a goal, the Jets just couldn’t get anything going.  The team is off to Montreal to try and cap off this road trip with a much needed victory.

Illegal Curve:  Jets on a Deadline – Panthers 2 Jets 1.  Game recaps, video highlights and the NHL.com 3 Stars of the night.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

TSN:  Clark scores in second period to life IceCaps over Sharks.  The Winnipegger got the game winning goal in the 2nd and helped the Caps get off to a good start to their home stand.

Next opponent news – Montreal Canadiens:

Washington Post:  Alex Ovechkin set to return to Capitals lineup in Montreal.  There will be a lot of Jets fans cheering for the Habs today as they do not want to see their Southleast (as guest on today’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show Neil Greenberg calls it) foes get any more points.

Montreal Gazette:  Struggling Canadiens get a visit from a psychologist.  Tied with Carolina for last in the East it hasn’t exactly been a banner season in Montreal.  This team needs to do whatever it can to try and get itself out of their current funk.

Montreal Gazette:  Joel Rechlicz won’t play today.  Appears that Rene Bourque is safe as the Caps won’t be playing their tough guy in today’s matinee with the Habs to exact some revenge for the hit that knocked out Backstrom.  You can hear more from Gazette reporter today on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show as he joins the guys to talk about tomorrow’s Jets/Habs game.

Game Stories:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Panthers down Jets 2-1.

Winnipeg Sun:  Panthers beat Jets 2-1.

Globe and Mail:  Panthers sweep away woeful Jets.

CBC:  Bergenheim helps Panthers past Jets.

TSN:  Clawing back.

NHL.com:  Panthers edge Jets 2-1.

Miami Herald:  Panthers take care of division business.

Sun-Sentinel:  Versteeg’s medicine is the Jets in 2-1 win Friday.

Litter Box Cats:  Stingy defense shines through as Panthers out-compete Jets 2-1.

Video Highlights:

NHL.com 3 Stars:

1.  Kris Versteeg

2.  Scott Clemmensen

3.  Sean Bergenheim

The NHL is back and running after the all star break, and The Illegal Curve Hockey Show will attempt to match the pace of the league, Saturday, beginning at 12 Noon on TSN 1290.

With the Jets playing the second half of back to back games Friday night versus the Panthers, IC will start the show by breaking down the aftermath of tonight’s contest, and analyze the impact on the standings, to see if the Jets move to within a point of the Southeast Division lead.

Our first guest, at 12:30 PM, is Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post & ESPN. Neil covers the Washington Capitals, one of the squads the Jets are in a dog fight with to capture first overall in the Southeast. Furthermore, the Jets play the Capitals next Thursday, so what better of a time to catch up on the goings on in the U.S. nation’s capital.

At 1:00 PM, we will be joined by Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette. The Jets play in Montreal on Sunday, as the opponents for the Habs during the traditional pre-Super Bowl matinee. With the Habs continuing to struggle, and the expectation that significant changes are to come at season’s end, we catch up with Pat about the roller coaster of a year it has been in La Belle Province.

Additionally, everyone’s favourite Illegal Curve cast member, Ezra Ginsburg, is in Montreal for the Jets-Habs game, so he will, sobriety providing, be joining us for the last segment of the program.

Ezra is ready and excited for Saturday's Illegal Curve Hockey Show.

Additional guests may be added, so stay tuned to this post and our Twitter page for news on that front.

All that, plus your tweets, emails and (maybe, but not likely) phone calls (204-780-1290). Best tweets and emails will receive exciting Illegal Curve merchandise!

Join us Saturday from 12 Noon – 300 PM on TSN 1290 in Winnipeg and online at tsn.ca/Winnipeg

Jets news:

Note:  The Jets announced that there are just 2000 specialty license plates remaining.

Globe and Mail:  Coach Noel talks trade deadline.  Nothing yet to talk about but fans will be on the edge of their computers for all of February.

Winnipeg Free Press:  ‘We just have to find a way to win’ says coach Noel.  While game number 53 in the schedule won’t end the season if the Jets don’t pull off the victory, it would be nice if the Jets can show some toughness and pull off their first victory in the 2nd game of a back-to-back.

TSN:  Mason to start against Panthers.  Brian gives you both the Jets and Panthers projected lines for tonight.

Winnipeg Sun:  Mason gets call for Jets.  Facing a rested Panthers team would be a big test ignoring the fact that the Jets have played 2 games in the previous 3 days.

Jets Official Site:  Jets vs. Panthers preview.  Some facts and figures to be aware of before puck drop tonight.  If you are looking for a place to watch the game, why not join IC at the Cheer tonight.

Next opponent news – Florida Panthers:

NHL.com:  Versteeg back from flu in time to face Jets.  He has been a Jets killer and one of the Panthers most dangerous players all season long.

NHL.com:  Season-saving path nothing new for Clemmensen.  Having witnessed exhibit A I can tell you that the play of Clemmensen was spectacular and won the game for his team.

When: Friday, February 3, 2012

Time: 6:30 p.m. CST

Where: BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, Florida

Records: Winnipeg (24-22-6), Florida Panthers (23-15-11)

Television/Radio: TSN-JETS,FS-F / TSN 1290 Radio

The Story:  The suddenly hot Winnipeg Jets, fresh off an overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, play the Southeast Division-leading Florida Panthers tonight, looking to close the points gap even more in the Eastern Conference Playoff race.

The Jets defeated the Lightning 2-1 in overtime last night thanks to Kyle Wellwood’s 10th goal of the season and now have 54 points in 52 games, three less points than the Panthers, who have played three less games. Winnipeg is in 10th place in  the East, two points behind the 9th place Washington Capitals (who have two games in hand) and four points behind the 8th place Toronto Maple Leafs (who have one game in hand).

The last two games have been quite revealing for the Jets who have struggled all year with consistency, especially on the road. The consecutive wins over Philadelphia and Tampa mean the Jets record on the road has improved to 9-14-4, still poor, but better than it was at the beginning of the week.

Perhaps more important than the fact that both wins have been on the road is the fashion in which the Jets have won the last two games.  The Jets came from behind to defeat Philadelphia on Tuesday night then the Jets were able to defeat the Lightning in overtime on Thursday despite giving up a late third period goal in a close, low-scoring game.  The Jets have shown tremendous character and resiliency in the first two games of this current four game road trip and the payoff has been two well-deserved wins.

The Jets and Panthers have met three times this year, with Florida taking two games and the Jets taking one. The Panthers defeated the Jets 4-3 in a shootout 13 days ago, back on January 21st, which was a particularly difficult loss for the Jets, who erased two Florida leads in the game.

The Jets line-up is expected to remain unchanged from last night.

Projected line combinations:

Goalie:

Chris Mason

Forwards:

1st: Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little- Blake Wheeler

2nd:  Eric Fehr- Nikolai Antropov- Kyle Wellwood

3rd:  Tanner Glass- Jim Slater- Chris Thorburn

4th:  Antti Miettinen-Aaron Gagnon-Alexander Burmistrov

Defence:

Dustin Byfuglien- Tobias Enstrom

Zach Bogosian-Mark Stuart

Johnny Oduya-Ron Hainsey

Offensive Leaders:

Florida Panthers: Kris Versteeg (19 goals, 24 assists, 43 points), Stephen Weiss (13 goals, 25 assists, 38 points), Tomas Fleischmann (16 goals, 21 assists, 37 points)

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler (10 goals, 25 assists, 35 points), Evander Kane (18 goals, 13 assists, 31 points), Kyle Wellwood (10 goals, 21 assists, 31 points)

Injury Report:

Florida Panthers: Scottie Upshall (hernia), Jose Theodore (knee), Jack Skille (shoulder), Kris Versteeg (illness), Dmitry Kulikov (knee), Ed Jovanovski ( hand)

Winnipeg Jets:  Kane (concussion), Stapleton (lower body)

Who’s Next: The Jets end their current road trip on Sunday, February 5th with a game against the Montreal Canadiens (1 p.m. CST).

QUICKIES…… Join Illegal Curve at The Cheer Bar & Grill (Osborne & Stradbrook) for tonight’s Jets/Panthers game…..Pick up your official Illegal Curve New Era 5950 Fitted Hat, available online or at City Haul on 823 Corydon Avenue…..

Jets news:

CBC:  Dedicated to closing gap on Panthers.  The Panthers are sitting in 1st place in the Southeast, 3 points up on the Jets with 3 games in hand.  The Jets can ill afford to lose games like these, especially given the fact that they have already lost 2 to Florida this season.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Byfuglien has huge impact on return.  Even though coach Noel says he wants to ease his returning players back into the games, the same thing happened with Enstrom/Bogosian/Hainsey when they returned from injury.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Byfuglien’s case sets course for courtroom.  Not surprised a defense attorney is confident that he will win.  I’d be worried if he said anything other than that quite frankly.

Winnipeg Sun:  Buff makes big impact.  It isn’t just fans who are excited to see the big man back on the blueline (or redline, or behind the opposition goaltender) as his teammates are equally excited to have him back on the ice.

Winnipeg Sun:  Snapshots.  A well earned win.  Excelling in 4 on 4.  Great Jets fans in Tampa.  Big goal by Wheeler.  PK comes up big.  Defensive breakdown gives up tying goal.  Checking well.  Will Shanny examine cross-check to Ladd’s face?  1st bench minor of the season.  8th time all season Jets have all top 6 d-men.

TSN:  Jets finally get back-t0-back wins on the road.  Now if they could only do it on consecutive nights!!!  We will see tonight if the Jets can do so for the first time this season.

Illegal Curve:  Jets on a Deadline – Jets 2 Lightning 1 in OT.  Game recaps, video highlights and the NHL.com 3 Stars of the night.

Metro News:  Weather won’t hamper snow sculptor’s work.  He is paying homage to the Jets and Bombers.  Expected to be completed by today.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Sharks’ Sommer got Bialowas his first job in pro hockey.  While they may be appreciative of what he did for hockey on the East coast, I’m sure they are hoping he gets his 500th win somewhere else.

The Telegram:  IceCaps not alone in trying to be better at home.  The Caps start a 6 game homestand tonight so they will have plenty of opportunity to improve on their poor home record at Mile One Centre.

Next opponent news – Florida Panthers:

Miami Herald:  Mikael Samulesson healthy and helpful.  It was pretty obvious that he was healthy when he scored the shootout winner against the Jets last week.

Miami Herald:  Panthers get load from Broward County.  Sometimes you have to forget about appearance in the quest to make money for your business.  If this will generate revenue for the team you cannot be too concerned as to how it might appear on television.

Game Stories:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets score in OT to beat Lightning 2-1.

Winnipeg Sun:  Jets defeat Lighting in OT.

Globe and Mail:  Byfuglien sparks Jets to victory.

TSN:  Extra effort.

NHL.com:  Jets top Lighting 2-1 in Overtime.

ESPN Florida:  Jets win in OT.

Tampa Bay Times:  Lightning five-game win streak ends with 2-1 loss.

Video Highlights:

NHL.com 3 Stars

1.  Kyle Wellwood

2.  Victor Hedman

3.  Dustin Byfuglien

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets, Lightning both need winning streaks.  The Bolts are trying to overcome some abysmal early/mid season play and are riding a 5 game winning streak.  The Jets cannot afford to give up any points to either of their Sunshine State rivals.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Byfuglien likely headed to trial.  Buff’s lawyer sounds confident that his client will beat the most serious of the charges he faces.

Globe and Mail:  Jets star Byfuglien likely to go on trial.  Hopefully both sides can come to a resolution that they can both live with.

TSN: Jets get Byfuglien back for game versus Lightning.  Should be interesting to see the Jets big man back on the point after 16 games away from ice.

United Way:  Sweet seats.  Your chances to win seats and support a great Manitoba charity are coming to an end soon so buy your tickets while there is still time.  The draw is on February 14th.  You could win exclusive use of an executive suite for you & 19 friends when the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins come to town February 17, 2012 (valued at over $5600, including a $2000 food & beverage tab)!

Next opponent news – Tampa Bay Lightning:

Tampa Bay Tribune:  Return brings no ill effects for Hedman.  Never easy coming back from a head injury but it appears that the young Swede is showing no signs of lingering pain.

ESPN Florida:  Lightning face Jets in must win game (audio).  A look at things from the Florida point of view.

When: Thursday, February 2, 2012

Time: 6:30 p.m. CST

Where: St.Pete Times Forum, Tampa Bay, Florida

Records: Winnipeg (23-22-6), Tampa Bay Lightning (22-23-4)

Television/Radio:  TSN-JETS,SUN (HD)/ TSN 1290 Radio

The Story:  The Winnipeg Jets will look to play the role of streak busters tonight when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning, winners of five games in a row.

The Jets are coming off a huge 2-1 shootout victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night and spirits are high so it only makes sense that they will want to spoil the Lightning’s good mood tonight in the Sunshine State.

The Jets and Lightning have met twice already this year, with each team earning a clean (no shootout/overtime) victory. The two teams are currently separated by four points in the ultra-close Southeast Division standings (Jets have 52 points, Lightning have 48 points) and will play each other four more times this season, including tonight’s game.

The stark reality is the Jets and Lightning will have to go through each other if they want to be participants in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year. Considering that it is quite possible that only one team from the Southeast Division will make the playoffs, (The Florida Panthers are the only team currently in a playoff position with 57 points), it won’t be easy for either the Jets or the Lightning down the stretch.

Tonight is the first game of back-to-back games for the Jets, who play the Panthers tomorrow night.

The Jets will get a big boost tonight in the form of Dustin Byfuglien and Alexander Burmistrov, who will both return to the line-up tonight. Byfuglien has missed the last 16 games with a knee injury and will be a welcome addition to the Jets power play, which has struggled without “Big Buff” and his big shot on the point.

The starting goaltender for tonight’s game has not been confirmed but Ondrej Pavelec and Chris Mason may split the two back-to-back games against the Lightning and Panthers.

Projected line combinations:

Goalie:

Ondrej Pavelec/Chris Mason

Forwards:

1st: Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little- Blake Wheeler

2nd:  Eric Fehr- Nikolai Antropov- Kyle Wellwood

3rd:  Tanner Glass- Jim Slater- Chris Thorburn

4th:  Antti Miettinen-Aaron Gagnon-Alexander Burmistrov

Defence:

Dustin Byfuglien- Tobias Enstrom

Zach Bogosian-Mark Stuart

Johnny Oduya-Ron Hainsey

Offensive Leaders:

Tampa Bay Lightning: Steven Stamkos (33 goals, 21 assists, 54 points), Martin St.Louis (13 goals, 32 assists, 45 points) and Vincent Lecavalier (19 goals, 21 assists, 40 points)

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler (nine goals, 24 assists, 33 points), Evander Kane (18 goals, 13 assists, 31 points), Kyle Wellwood (nine goals, 21 assists, 30 points)

Injury Report:

Tampa Bay Lightning: Marc-Andre Bergeron (back), Dana Tyrell (knee), Ryan Malone (upper body), Adam Hall (arm), Matthias Ohlund (knee)

Winnipeg Jets:  Kane (concussion), Stapleton (lower body)

Who’s Next: The Jets next game is on Friday, February 3rd against the Florida Panthers (6:30 p.m. CST). The Jets end their current road trip on Sunday, February 5th with a game against the Montreal Canadiens (1 p.m. CST).

QUICKIES…..Chris Thorburn’s game-tying goal on Tuesday night against Philadelphia was his first goal of the season (predicted by @icdave on twitter moments before he scored) and first goal since March 29,2011 when he was a member of the Atlanta Thrashers….. Join Illegal Curve at The Cheer Bar & Grill (Osborne & Stradbrook) for tonight’s Jets/Lightning game…..Pick up your official Illegal Curve New Era 5950 Fitted Hat, available online or at City Haul on 823 Corydon Avenue…..

Note:  A Happy Birthday from Richard and me to our baba (grandmother) who turns 90 years young today.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets need spark from Burmistrov’s return.  Hopefully he can get some big minutes from his coach playing with complimentary linemates, which should afford him the opportunity to show off his skills.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Byfuglien’s back after 16 games.  Let us hope that his return will see a higher output of scoring than the Jets have accomplished during his absence.  The Jets only scored 4 goals once in January and are going to need Big Buff’s big cannon from the point to help increase those goal totals.

Winnipeg Sun:  Tkachuk feels Kane’s pain.   At this point Kane can only learn from what has happened and more forward.  As Tkachuk advises, Kane needs to focus on his on-ice production and to be conscious of what he does off the ice.

Winnipeg Sun:  Philly win a springboard?  The team is going to need to run through South Florida and come out with 2 victories, perhaps for the first time all season winning back-to-back games.

Globe and Mail:  Byfuglien verging on return to boost Jets.  His return would be just in the nick of time for the Jets playoff hopes.  

Winnipeg Free Press:  Social media the new way of marketing.  There is no question that both Twitter (speaking of, why not follow @illegalcurve) or Facebook (‘Like’ us on there as well) are both excellent vehicles to spread a message.  It is how we at Illegal Curve communicate with many of our readers and many Winnipeg based retailers do as well.   Perhaps in an effort to sell the IC New Era 5950 hat (available online and at City Haul), we need to start tweeting about it more.

ChrisD.ca:  The Forks throwing ‘Hockey Day in Canada’ Party.  With the weather we have been having lately it is going to be quite the party next Saturday.

Affiliate news – Colorado Eagles:

Reporter-Herald:  Defenceman Chiarot keeping NHL dreams alive and well.  Playing in the ECHL doesn’t mean that you can’t have a career in the NHL.  It is an opportunity for a young guy like Chiarot to play big time minutes.  Minutes he wouldn’t see with the IceCaps due to the glut of defencemen they have on the roster.

Reporter-Herald:  Sides joins Eagles.  Sides was a CHL All-Star last season when playing for the Arizona Sundogs.  He began this year in Europe before returning to North America.

Next opponent news – Tampa Bay Lightning:

Globe and Mail:  The man behind the Lightning bolt.  While people love to point out Southern failures, the Bolts under Vinik are showing that they can be a success.

Tampa Bay Times:  For now, at least, Mathieu Garon is Bolts #1 goaltender.  Despite Roloson getting Tampa to game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last season it appears that coach Boucher is gonna ride the more consistent goalie.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Sun:  Big Buff’s boating charges resurface.  We should know more tomorrow after the settlement conference.  He will be in Florida with the team while his lawyer takes cares of business in Minnesota.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Cheveldayoff to speak at U of M fundraiser.  Jets GM to speak at the fundraiser for the men’s and women’s hockey team at U of M.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Reborn Jets a success off the ice.  I can hardly say I’m surprised by these reports that the Jets have been a financial success.  Merchandise flies off the shelves the moment you slap a Jets symbol on it and the MTS Centre is at capacity every night.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Finally find the twine.  I don’t want to say I told you so, but literally 30 seconds before Thorburn scored his 1st as a Jet, I predicted on twitter that he would score.  Of course as the rest of the IC team was quick to point out, I’ve been saying that pretty much every game for the last 15 or so.  He did score 3 of his 8 goals last season in consecutive games so perhaps last night was the start of a new streak.

Winnipeg Sun:  Pavelec rested and ready.  It is crunch time and perhaps we will be looking back at that 3rd save in the shootout against that guy who was also born in Kladno, Czechoslovakia (Jaromir Jagr) as one of the biggest saves of the year.  He was solid all night long for the Jets.

Winnipeg Sun:  Thorburn finally snaps drought with first goal.  Even nicer for him was the fact that it was a hard snap shot and not a garbage goal, although at that point in the drought any goal would likely have sufficed.

Winnipeg Sun:  Snapshots.  Maybe there is hope after all.  Where is the beef?  No shots thru 10.  Jets poor opening 20.  Lack of coincidental on Thorburn minor.  Stuart’s smart decision.  Sean Courturier vs. Mark Scheiefle.  Antropov makes pass of the night.  Wheeler shows off his wheels.  Pavelec in shootout.  Groundhog dag on Thursday – Jets get repeat performance?

Winnipeg Sun:  The Kane mutiny.  There is a reason they are called the vocal minority.  Even though the Jets young star says 95% of his twitter fans have been positive, it is that 5% who generally speak (or in this case tweet) loudest/most aggressively.  Some social media downtime and a more intense focus on hockey is probably just what the sniper needs.  We had complied a list of Jets players you can follow on twitter.

Illegal Curve:  Jets on a Deadline – Jets 2 Flyers 1 in shootout.  Game recaps, video highlights and the NHL.com 3 Stars of the night.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  When Ramsay first hit the ice, he really did.  Another player who developed his love of the game as a result of the Gretzky influenced rinks of Southern California.

Next opponent news – Tampa Bay Lightning:

TBO.com:  Bolts top Capitals in OT for fifth straight.  The Jets streak of stopping streaks will need to continue as they take on the Lightning on Thursday.  The Bolts are trying to make the Southeast Division even more muddled as they narrowed the gap between themselves and 1st place Washington to 8 points on Tuesday.

The Jets faced a tough Philly team tonight but pulled off a huge 2-1 shootout victory.  The 1st goal of the season for Chris Thorburn couldn’t have come at a better time as it drew the Jets even.  While I have been predicting a goal by Thorburn for quite a number of games, I did tweet out that he was going to score literally seconds before he scored the goal  (#yourwelcomechris).  Bryan Little finished the game off as he scored the only goal of the shootout.

Important road win.  Now the Jets are off to Florida to battle their division rivals in back-to-back’s on Thursday and Friday.

Game Stories:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets down Flyers 2-1 in shootout.

Winnipeg Sun:  Little lifts Jets over Flyers in shootout.

Globe and Mail:  Jets edge Flyers in shootout, but scoring woes persist.

TSN:  Little leads Jets to latest win over Flyers.

NHL.com:  Jets edge Flyers in shootout.

Philadelphia Inquirer:  Flyers fall in shootout.

Philly Burbs:  Flyers emerge from break with SO loss to Jets.

Video Highlights:

NHL.com 3 Stars

1.  Bryan Little

2.  Ondrej Pavelec

3.  Brayden Schenn

Jets news:

Note: Don’t forget to tune in to Illegalcurve.com following the game to catch Jets on a Deadline, which features all the recaps, video highlights and the 3 stars of the game.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets head into crunch without Byfuglien, Burmistrov and Kane.  What a different lineup the Jets have when these 3 are suited up.  Doesn’t pay to have them in the press box or even worse as is the case with Kane, back in Winnipeg.

TSN:  Jets seek third straight victory over Flyers.  You would think the Jets and Flyers are division, not conference rivals with the 27 combined goals through 2 games played.  Will this trend continue tonight?

Jets TV:  Pre-game video.  Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Ondrej Pavelec and coach Noel.

Next opponent news – Philadelphia Flyers:

Philadelphia Inquirer:  Jagr returns, Bryz gets start.  This will be the 1st game Bryz gets to start against the Jets.  Most Jets fans won’t forget the parks comment he made about the Peg’.  Should be interesting to see how they treat the quirky goalie if the Flyers start him February 21st when Philly comes to town.

Globe and Mail:  Jaromir Jagr finally feeling his age.  How many teams would kill to get his 12 goals and 22 assists?

When: Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Time: 6:00 p.m. CST

Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Records: Winnipeg (22-22-6), Philadelphia Flyers (29-14-5)

Television/Radio:  TSN-JETS, CSN-PH/ TSN 1290 Radio

The Story:  We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

After a six day hiatus that included the 2012 NHL-All Star Break in Ottawa, the Winnipeg Jets return to action tonight on the road against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Jets have 32 games remaining on the 2011’12 NHL Regular Season schedule including the next four games on the road, a critical stretch that will have a significant impact on the team’s quest for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Jets are in 10th place in the East with 50 points, five points behind the 8th place New Jersey Devils, who have two games in hand on the Jets.

The Jets are in a sensitive spot right now. The team lost two road games in a row before the All-Star break, including a demoralizing 3-0 defeat to the New York Rangers exactly a week ago. The Jets must now win at least two games this week on the road or they risk falling out of the playoff picture entirely.

Making the playoffs is going to be a gargantuan task for the Jets as they have struggled big-time on the road. The Jets have the 8th worst road record in the National Hockey League at 7-14-4 and play six of their next seven games on the road. To make things worse, the Jets are still without two of their best players, Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien, who are still recovering from lingering injuries.

On Monday, the Jets re-called Aaron Gagnon and Spencer Machacek from the St. John’s IceCaps of the American Hockey League. They are both expected to play tonight versus the Philadelphia Flyers. Alexander Burmistrov and Tim Stapleton are both day-to-day with injuries and will not play tonight.

Ondrej Pavelec is expected to be the starter in goal for the Jets tonight.

Projected line combinations:

Goalie:

Ondrej Pavelec

Forwards:

1st: Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little- Blake Wheeler

2nd:  Eric Fehr- Nikolai Antropov- Kyle Wellwood

3rd:  Tanner Glass- Jim Slater- Chris Thorburn

4th:  Antti Miettinen-Aaron Gagnon-Spencer Machacek

Defence:

Ron Hainsey- Tobias Enstrom

Zach Bogosian-Johnny Oduya

Mark Stuart-Randy Jones

Flyers lines courtesy of Brian Munz of TSN Radio 1290:

Goalie:

Ilya Bryzgalov

Forwards:

1st: Scott Hartnell-Claude Giroux- Jaromir Jagr

2nd:  Matt Read- Sean Couturier- Wayne Simmonds

3rd:  Tom Sestito-Max Talbot-Jakub Voracek

4th:  Jody Shelley-Brayden Schenn-Ben Holmstrom

Defence:

Timmo Timonen- Braydon Coburn

Matt Carle-Marc-Andre Bourdon

Erik Gustafsson-Andrej Meszaros

Offensive Leaders:

Philadelphia Flyers: Claude Giroux (18 goals, 37 assists, 55 points), Scott Hartnell (25 goals, 19 assists, 44 points) and Jaromir Jagr (12 goals and 22 assists, 34 points)

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler (nine goals, 24 assists, 33 points), Evander Kane (18 goals, 13 assists, 31 points), Kyle Wellwood (nine goals, 21 assists, 30 points)

Injury Report:

Philadelphia Flyers: Danny Briere (concussion), James van Riemsdyk (concussion), Blair Betts (knee), Chris Pronger (concussion), Ian Laperriere (concussion)

Winnipeg Jets:  Burmistrov (lower-body), Kane (concussion), Stapleton (lower body), Byfuglien (knee) is day-to-day

Who’s Next: The Jets next game is on Thursday, February 2nd against the Tampa Bay Lightning (6:30 p.m. CST).

QUICKIES…..On Monday, the Jets traded 22-year-old forward Akim Aliu to the Calgary Flames for 22-year-old defenseman John Negrin…..Join Illegal Curve at The Cheer Bar & Grill (Osborne & Stradbrook) for tonight’s Jets/Flyers game…..Pick up your official Illegal Curve New Era 5950 Fitted Hat, available online (www.illegalcurve.com ) or at City Haul on 823 Corydon Avenue…..

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Verdict is in – Jets fans love Buff.  Big Buff has been pretty good while in his current state, so one can only imagine what Buff would be like in optimum physical condition.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Buff edging closer to return…maybe Thursday.  This is huge news, as when it comes to injuries the question most people have been asking is “when is Buff returning?”.   Looks like he could be ready for the game against the Lightning or the Panthers.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Declaration of resurgence.  The Jets talking about their need for scoring is a bit of a broken record (or bell as the case may be in Philly) and captain Ladd is right that the time for flowery statements is long past.  While the injuries are tough, the guys need to step up and start producing.

Winnipeg Sun:  Time to step up for Jets.  Fans still believe this team can make a serious post-season run.  The players haven’t given up either.  While they have dug themselves one gigantic hole, there is still time to get out, if they can play like they were in December.

Globe and Mail:  ‘Make or break’ time for Jets.  It has been a January to forget but the Jets have an opportunity to end it with a bang and get an all important road victory.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Ring commemorating AVCO Cup for sale.  If you are into Jets WHA history here is a chance to own a genuine AVCO Cup ring from the 1977/78 season.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Jets owners like St. John’s but have no plans to sell AHL franchise to Williams.  Removing the fact of this team’s success both on and off the ice, I couldn’t see Mark Chipman giving up on the AHL.  The relationship he forged with that league is a long term one and I just don’t see him selling, especially before he wins the Calder Cup.

Next opponent news – Philadelphia Flyers:

CSN Philly:  Jagr says he’ll play tonight.  Looks like Mr. Salute will be facing off against the Jets according to reports.

Delaware County Times:  Injured Jagr isn’t frustrated…really he isn’t.  Much like the Jets the Flyers have a number of injured players on the shelf.  While we enjoy seeing the Jagr salute, the Jets won’t miss seeing it tonight.

Courier Post:  Bryzgalov hopes to see gains in net.  While his play hasn’t been lights out, the Flyers are sitting in 4th place in the East and are just 3 points back of the 1st place Rangers.  If Bryz and the rest of the team get hot to start the 2nd half, they could easily find themselves in 1st place overall to end the season.

CSN Philly:  Recharged Flyers’ tough month begins with Jets.  The Flyers have lost twice already this season to Winnipeg and are looking to avoid being swept at home by the Jets.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets add two IceCaps as prepare for Flyers.  Lots of information out there right now as to who will and will not be in the linup against the Flyers.  Should know more following practice today.

Jets official site:  Nik Antropov talks hometown.  A Q & A from the Jets centre on growing up in Oskemen, Kazakhstan.

TSN:  Jets arrive in Philadelphia.  The Jets won’t be expecting any brotherly love in Philly.

TSN:  How many Canadian teams will make the playoffs?  With just two above the line currently, how many more can vault themselves into a playoff position by end of the season?  Will we be seeing a white out in April at the MTS Centre?  Don’t forget to vote in the IC.com poll.

Calgary Herald:  Flames acquire winger Akim Aliu from Jets.  To see what the Jets gave up here is a Prospect Pulse that Kyle did on Aliu back on August 2nd, 2011.

Next opponent news – Philadelphia Flyers:

Philadelphia Inquirer:  NHL All-Star game a pond-hockey goalfest.  Nice work by Timmonen to put in a word with Nashville’s Ryan Suter who is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, and who Timmonen thinks would look good in Flyers orange.