Illegal Curve Hockey

Winnipeg Free Press: Jets won’t take Lightning lightly. They say to always keep your eyes on the prize but the Jets better not forget that just behind them are the Bolts, who have been creeping back into Southeast contention. As Lightning coach Boucher said, they only have 2 regulation losses in their last 15 or 16 games so this is not a team you want to discount.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets look to rebound against Lightning. After the disheartening loss to the Flyers on Tuesday the Jets have to turn their focus onto the ever challenging Tampa Bay Lightning. While the Bolts have lost their captain for the near future, they still have Steven Stamkos (42 goals) and Martin St. Louis (54 points), guys the Jets will need to shut down if they expect to win the game.

TSN: Miettinen, Flood to be game-time decisions. A look at both expected lineups tonight.

CBC: Arrests made in stolen Jets tickets investigation. A lesson to those eager to find Jets tickets. If the deal is “too good to be true” be wary of what you are purchasing.

Game-day Audio:

Winnipeg Jets: Tim Stapleton and Blake Wheeler.

Coach Noel press conference.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Coach Boucher, Victor Hedman, Ryan Malone and Steven Stamkos.

Next opponent news – Tampa Bay Lightning:

Tampa Bay Tribune: Bolts notes. For once in the past few days coach Boucher’s phone rang and he wasn’t losing a player as the Bolts added Tim Wallace to their roster. Mattias Ohlund had surgery on his knees.

Tampa Bay Times: In a twist, Lightning add a player on gameday. Despite all the uncertainty with this lineup, the Bolts are rolling along.

Coach Claude Noel Game Day Press Conference

David Minuk — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:23:54 +0000

Coach Noel

Jets game day post-practice audio

David Minuk — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:15:04 +0000

Tim Stapleton

Blake Wheeler

Lightning game day post-practice audio

David Minuk — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:50:40 +0000

Game Day Preview: Lightning @ Jets

Ezra Ginsburg — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:46:13 +0000

When: Thursday, February 23, 2012

Time: 7:30 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (29-26-7), Tampa Bay Lightning (27-26-6)

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

The Story: The Winnipeg Jets’ eight-game, 18-day home stand continues tonight as the Jets will look to rebound from Tuesday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers with a win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the MTS Centre.

The Jets were 9.7 seconds away from sweeping the four-game season series against the Flyers on Thursday night when Wayne Simmonds scored with less than 10 seconds to go in the third period and then Jaromir Jagr scored in overtime as the Jets could only muster one point despite a 50-save performance from Ondrej Pavelec.

Heading into tonight’s game, the Jets remain in 9th place in the Eastern Conference, tied in points with the Toronto Maple Leafs (65) but with less regulations wins (26 to 25). The Jets are 2-0-1 in the first three games of an eight-game homestand, the team’s longest of the season. The Jets picked up wins last week against the Boston Bruins (4-2) and Colorado Avalanche (5-1) and will try to make it three wins in four games against the Lightning tonight.

The Jets and Lightning have met three times already this season, with the Jets holding a two games to one season series advantage. The last time the Lightning and Jets met was back on February 2nd, when Kyle Wellwood scored the overtime winner in a 2-1 road victory for the Jets.

The Jets have matched up well against the Lightning this season and tonight the Jets will have an opportunity to exploit a team that has been partially dismantled days leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline.

In the last seven days, Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman has shipped forward Dominic Moore to the San Jose Sharks, defenseman Pavel Kubina to the Philadelphia Flyers and forward Steve Downie to the Colorado Avalanche (part of a three-way trade also involving the Detroit Red Wings).

In exchange for trading the three veteran players, the Lightning received two minor league prospects (Sebastien Piche and Jon Kalinski) and a plethora of draft picks; a 2012 1st round draft pick from Detroit, a 2012 2nd round draft pick from San Jose, a 2012 or 2013 2nd round draft pick from Philadelphia and a 2012 4th round pick from Philadelphia.

The Lightning will be without the services of Vincent Lecavalier tonight. Lecavalier is out indefinitely with a broken hand after he injured it on Saturday night against the Washington Capitals. Dave (@icdave) confirmed that Bolts coach Boucher is going with Mathieu Garon in net tonight. Listen to the coach’s audio here.

Projected Jets line combinations:

Goalie:

Ondrej Pavelec

Forwards:

1st: Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little- Blake Wheeler

2nd: Evander Kane- Alexander Burmistrov- Kyle Wellwood

3rd: Tanner Glass- Jim Slater- Chris Thorburn

4th: Tim Stapleton- Nikolai Antropov -Eric Fehr

Defence:

Dustin Byfuglien- Tobias Enstrom

Randy Jones-Mark Stuart

Johnny Oduya-Ron Hainsey

Offensive Leaders:

Tampa Bay Lightning: Steven Stamkos (42 goals, 28 assists, 70 points), Martin St. Louis (18 goals, 34 assists, 52 points), Vincent Lecavalier (21 goals, 25 assists, 46 points)

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler (11 goals, 36 assists, 47 points), Evander Kane (23 goals, 16 assists, 39 points), Kyle Wellwood (12 goals, 24 assists, 36 points), Dustin Byfuglien (nine goals, 27 assists, 36 points)

Injury Report:

Tampa Bay Lightning: Vincent Lecavalier (broken hand, indefinitely), Dana Tyrell (knee, out for season), Marc-Andre Bergeron (back), Mattias Ohlund (knee)

Winnipeg Jets: Zach Bogosian (day-to-day, upper-body)

Who’s Next: The Jets next game is on Saturday, February 25th, at home, against the St.Louis Blues (1:00 p.m. CST).

QUICKIES…..Jets captain Andrew Ladd has three goals and an assist (four points) in his last two games…..Dustin Byfuglien has seven points (one goal, six assists) in his last four games…..Bryan Little leads the Jets with six game-winning goals…..In the past three games, the Jets have scored thirteen goals, good for an average of 4.33 goals/game……

Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers (Thursday, Feb 23rd)

David Minuk — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:29:22 +0000

Note: As per usual we will be at the MTS Centre covering the morning skate for both the Jets and Lightning and will have post-practice audio from both teams as well as coach Noel. For all the latest, be sure to follow us on twitter @illegalcurve.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Jets looking for redemption after Tuesday’s collapse. While there is nothing that can be done about the loss, and the point the Jets gave away, it is important to be aware of what happened and try to prevent same from happening in the future.

Winnipeg Free Press: Burmistrov learned on fly; now on cusp of NHL stardom. Many forget how difficult it is to come to a completely foreign land, where the only common bond is a love for the game of hockey. The language barrier many of these foreign players must overcome is massive and it can take years for these guys to develop a certain level of comfort, both within the actual game and out in the real world.

Winnipeg Free Press: Pavelec’s actual worth far outstrips his numbers. While most who have watched him night in and out would agree with the article’s headline, the question many Jets fans are wondering is what might an actual contact might look like for the 24 year old netminder? We will be examining that question as IC’s hockey analyst Richard Pollock breaks down the numbers, similar to his article establishing Evander Kane’s market value.

Winnipeg Sun: Wheeler,Stuart prove their worth. The two Minnesotans have become an absolutely pivotal part of this Jets team. While some of the contracts Dudley signed were not the best, this was one trade that should be celebrated.

Winnipeg Sun: Preparing for the Lightning. Fair to say this will be one of (if not) the biggest game of the year for both teams. This could be the game that determines if the Jets are buyers, sellers or stand pat for Monday’s trade deadline! Both teams are going to be pumped up and it should be quite the battle for the W.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets get middling grades. Looks like Ken is giving the Jets a C grade overall for their play to this point in the season. What do you think? Does the team deserve better? Worse. Sound off and let us know how you rate the Jets season so far.

Metro: Jets should get Buff in blue paint. Coach Noel discussed this possibility and while he said it is something he has considered, it probably is not a luxury he can afford while Bogosian remains sidelined. Good news for the Jets is their PP has picked up of late with Buff still back on the point, having gone 5/5 (last 2/2 chances in Colorado and 3/3 against Philadelphia).

Winnipeg Free Press: Brewing some Jets pride. Nice move by Budweiser to slap a Jets label on some Manitoba water and turn it into beer. Will it even take a few weeks to sell?

Next opponent news – Tampa Bay Lightning:

Tampa Bay Times: Bolts owners say they believe in GM Yzerman’s long term vision. This should sound familiar to Winnipeg fans. A GM who has to worry about having long term vision, which goes against the ‘win now’ mentality of pretty much everyone else.

Tampa Bay Times: Lecavalier could be back in as little as three weeks. Good news for TBay but is it too little too late? While the team is riding a wave of success, will this be sustainable while they are missing their captain for the next month?

Winnipeg Jets Afternoon News

David Minuk — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:26:10 +0000

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Jets try to put loss behind them. No point in dwelling in what could have been. The Jets do not have the luxury of time to reflect anyways as they need to switch their focus onto the next opponent, the Tampa Bay Lighting. The Bolts are riding a 3 game winning streak, despite all the recent roster moves.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets prepare for Lightning. Wasn’t much doing today at the MTS Centre. Coach Noel said yesterday part of key to success is managing his players energy so it was not much of a surprise that today’s skate was an optional.

CBC: Jets resurgence. We will see in the next couple of games if this is a true resurgence or a blip on the radar.

Illegal Curve: Jets post-practice audio. Spoke with Andrew Ladd, Ondrej Pavelec, Mark Stuart and Chris Thorburn.

The Illegal Curve “Will Ezzy Wake Up Early?” Charity Challenge

Ezra Ginsburg — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:00:24 +0000

Everyone loves Ezzy. Everyone loves charity. Hence, the Illegal Curve “Will Ezzy Wake Up Early” Charity Challenge.

First, some background.

Back on February 11th, due to an afternoon Jets-Penguins game, The Illegal Curve Hockey Show went on air at 7 a.m. on TSN 1290, five hours earlier than the normal start time.

Due to an unintentional cell phone alarm clock malfunction, Ezzy pulled a Tyler Seguin, slept in and missed the first 25-30 minutes of the show.

Admittedly, this was not the first time Ezzy missed an early morning Illegal Curve Hockey Show, as back on November 19th, he missed the first hour and a half of a show that also started in the early hours of the morning (8 a.m. CST).

On this past Saturday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show, IC Host Drew Mindell was previewing our next show (February 25th), and stated that there was no way that Ezzy was going to be able to wake up on time, as the show is once again scheduled for 7:00 a.m. CST.

Drew put his money where his mouth is, by stating that he would donate $50 to a local charity if Ezra arrives on time. Conversely, Ezra matched that challenge, by agreeing to donate $50 to a local charity if he sleeps in and arrives late. Richard Pollock then joined the fun, saying that he didn’t believe Ezra would show up on time either, thus joining Team Drew, and formally establishing the battle lines.

Illegal Curve has selected Pass It Forward as our charitable organization and we will donate $50 to them, either from Team Ezzy or Team Drew/Richy, depending on who is proven to be correct.

Pass It Forward was created in 2009, to help youth in Winnipeg who wish to play hockey but require help getting the necessary equipment. Each September they undertake a hockey equipment drive to help in this cause, in addition to accepting donations throughout the entire calendar year.

If you would like to throw your support behind a specific Illegal Curve team, join in on our charitable endeavour, and help support a worthwhile Winnipeg charity, e-mail Ezra or Drew and we will provide you with all of the relevant information.

Even if you aren’t able to donate, we encourage you to participate in this fun competition and pick a side. Volunteers are needed to be Ezzy’s personal alarm clock for Saturday morning (for team Ezzy members) or by lavishing him with copious amounts of alcohol on Friday night (for team Drew/Richy members.)

Who will prove victorious? You will have to tune to The Illegal Curve Hockey Show on TSN Radio Winnipeg, Saturday at 7:00 AM to find out.

Winnipeg Jets post practice audio

David Minuk — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:11:11 +0000

The Jets held an optional practice today. We spoke with:

Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers (Wednesday, Feb 22nd)

David Minuk — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:50:50 +0000

Jets news:

Note: We will have audio from Jets practice today. Stay tuned to IC.com for that. Should be up by 12:30pm.

Winnipeg Free Press: Jets were 10 seconds away from first place. Tim Stapleton said it best when he said the Jets played to preserve the 1 goal lead in the 3rd period, rather than continuing to try and pressure the Flyers. A heartbreaking loss for Ondrej Pavelec who certainly deserved a better fate.

Winnipeg Free Press: Players to Chevy – keep us along for the ride. Trading the G and the S in the GST line might break the hearts of fans across the city and province. These are heart and soul guys who give everything they can to this team. But at same time GM Cheveldayoff has to think about the long term future of the Jets. Wins in Thursday’s game against the Bolts and Saturday against the Blues will likely determine if this same makeup will be playing against the Oilers on Monday.

Winnipeg Free Press: Goalie steers away taunts. Perhaps the Philly goalie is having a private laugh on everyone. His comments are actually quite hilarious. (We have all his audio from last night below).

Winnipeg Sun: Snapshots. Pavelec deserved better. Run and gun game. Jets have scored 13.4% of goals against Flyers this season. Poor plays allow Philly to tie game. Pavelec’s many highlight reel saves. Ladd busting out. Jets are 5/5 on powerplay. Buff’s offensive side from blueline. Missed slashing stick penalty. Kane and Wheeler use speed for defence. Fehr’s soft pass. Wheeler a bargain. Panthers have games in hand but will catch up by March 15th.

Winnipeg Sun: Firewagon follies. The Jets learned what it was like when you try and play run and gun against a team that has some serious firepower.

Winnipeg Sun: Scheifele’s confidence sky high. While he might be going through a bit of a funk, the Jets first round pick continues to develop under the tutelage of the Jets 1.0 former first round draft pick.

Metro: The Queen’s portrait should hang in the arena. Much like the portrait of the Queen, the fake Queen and his regiment of Queen’s Guards were out in the cold yesterday and I cannot imagine it was too warm running around the city in that outfit.

Game Recap – Flyers 5 Jets 4 in OT:

Winnipeg Jets: Evander Kane, Andrew Ladd, and Tim Stapleton.

Coach Noel: Post-game Press Conference.

Philadelphia Flyers: Wayne Simmonds, Jaromir Jagr, Ilya Bryzgalov and coach Laviolette.

Illegal Curve: Post-game podcast. Host Drew Mindell and guest Analyst Michael Remis break down the game.

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

Next opponent news – Tampa Bay Lightning:

Tampa Tribune: Stamkos leads streaking Bolts past Anaheim. While everyone is discounting the Bolts and leaving them for dead they have put together a 3 game winning streak and are just 5 points back of Florida for 1st in the Southeast.

Tampa Tribune: Lighting captain Lecavalier lost indefinitely. A broken hand has sidelined the Bolts star.

Jets on a Deadline – Flyers 5 Jets 4 in OT (Feb 21, 2012)

David Minuk — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:26:26 +0000

Game Stories:

Winnipeg Free Press: Flyers down Jets in overtime.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets give up last-minute goal, fall to Flyers in OT.

The Globe & Mail: Jagr lifts Flyers over Jets in overtime.

CSN Philly: Flyers rally late for thrilling OT win over Jets.

Philadelphia Daily News: Jagr lifts Flyers over Jets in overtime.

CBC: Jagr nets OT winner.

TSN: Jagr scores in overtime as Flyers rally past Jets in OT.

NHL.com: Flyers rally to beat Jets 5-4 in OT.

ChrisD.ca: Flyers halt Jets’ 3-game win streak in OT.

Post-game audio:

Winnipeg Jets: Evander Kane, Andrew Ladd and Tim Stapleton.

Coach Noel post-game press conference.

Philadelphia Flyers: Wayne Simmonds, Jaromir Jagr, Ilya Bryzgalov and coach Laviolette.

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

Video Highlights:

NHL.com 3 Stars

1. Ondrej Pavelec

2. Andrew Ladd

3. Scott Hartnell

Jets vs. Flyers Postgame Podcast

Michael Remis — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:44:01 +0000

Illegal Curve Hockey Show – Winnipeg Jets vs. Philadelphia Flyers Postgame Podcast – February 21, 2012

The Winnipeg Jets lose in dramatic fashion to the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime, Host Drew Mindell and Analyst Richard Pollock break down all the action in the postgame podcast.

Coach Claude Noel Post-game Press Conference

David Minuk — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:39:54 +0000

Coach Noel

Philadelphia Flyers post-game audio

Ezra Ginsburg — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:33:46 +0000

Winnipeg Jets post-game audio

David Minuk — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:15:04 +0000

Evander Kane

Bryan Little

Tim Stapleton

Winnipeg Jets Afternoon News (Tuesday, Feb 21st)

David Minuk — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:52:41 +0000

Jets news:

Globe and Mail: Jets take aim on division lead. Tonight can be a statement game for the Jets, especially if they can come out quickly against the Flyers.

Winnipeg Free Press: Noel focusing on the game tonight, not standings. Expect more of the same “tonight is about 2 points” and you cannot really blame the Jets coach for maintaining this approach. No need to provide your division opponents with chalkboard material.

Winnipeg Sun: Shooting for top spot in the Southeast. The problem for the Jets and the reason that coach Noel is loath to discuss the standings is that the teams they are trying to catch (i.e. Florida) still has 3 games in hand on Winnipeg.

TSN: Jets aim to sweep season series with Flyers. The games these two teams have played have been all over the place. When asked what he might expect in the fourth and final game between the two, Jaromir Jagr said with a laugh, “who knows, a blowout maybe”.

Globe and Mail: Jim Slater in outer space. Before he heads off to space, the Jets need him on the ice winning faceoffs and helping his GST linemates tax the opposition.

Winnipeg Free Press: A game in the life of off-ice officials. An interesting look at guys who are never given the spotlight.

Illegal Curve: “Will Ezzy wake up early?” charity challenge. Stay tuned to find out but in the mean time, donate money to a good cause.

Audio:

Jets practice: Wheeler, Little, Glass, Stuart, Wellwood and Mason.

Flyers practice: Hartnell, Giroux, Jagr and coach Laviolette.

Coach Noel.

Next opponent news – Philadelphia Flyers:

CSN Philly: Flyers-Jets game a playoff preview? As Jaromir Jagr told media today, who knows what is going to happen when these two teams meet. If the Jets finish in 3rd and the Flyers in 6th, wouldn’t that make for an interesting 1st round matchup.

Philadelphia Daily News: Jets have Flyers number. While the games have been close the Jets are going for the sweep tonight over the orange and black.

NHL.com: Bryzgalov injures hand in practice. While Flyers coach Peter Laviolette did not reveal if the injury was serious or who his starting goalie would be tonight, you have to wonder about the Karma. While many have moved past the goalie’s remarks from last season, there remain some Winnipeggers who still feel slighted by the comments.

Coach Claude Noel Game Day Press Conference

David Minuk — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:03:58 +0000

Coach Noel

Jets game day post-practice audio

David Minuk — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:59:24 +0000

Flyers game day post-practice audio

David Minuk — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:47:48 +0000

Game Day Preview: Flyers @ Jets

Ezra Ginsburg — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:30:18 +0000

When: Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Time: 6:00 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (29-26-6), Philadelphia Flyers (32-19-7)

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

The Story: Get your brooms ready Winnipeg because we might see a sweep tonight.

The only number that matters for the Winnipeg Jets tonight is four, as in the Jets will look to push their current winning streak to four games against the Philadelphia Flyers while also looking to defeat the Flyers for the fourth and final time this regular season.

The Jets have absolutely owned the Flyers so far this year, winning by scores of 9-8 OT (December 27th), 6-4 (November 19th), and 2-1 SO (January 31st). Even though the Jets have struggled to score goals all season (The Jets are ranked 22nd in the National Hockey League in goals scored; 149 goals, 2.44 goals/game average), the Jets have scored 16 goals in three games against the Flyers, good for an average of 5.33 goals/game.

Going into tonight’s game, the Jets have 64 points and are tied for 8th place in the Eastern Conference with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but are technically in 9th place as they would lose the tie-breaker with less regulation wins (Toronto has 26 regulation wins while Winnipeg has 25 regulation wins).

More importantly, The Jets are only one point behind the Florida Panthers for top spot in the Southeast Division and could move into 1st place temporarily with a win tonight against Philadelphia. It should again be noted that Florida has three games in hand on the Jets (Florida does not play again until Thursday night at home to the Minnesota Wild, 6:30 p.m. CST).

The Jets starting line-up should be unchanged from Sunday as defenseman Zach Bogosian is still on the injured list and will miss his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury. Randy Jones will remain in the Jets line-up in Bogosian’s place.

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

Projected Jets line combinations:

Goalie:

Ondrej Pavelec

Forwards:

1st: Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little- Blake Wheeler

2nd: Evander Kane- Alexander Burmistrov- Kyle Wellwood

3rd: Tanner Glass- Jim Slater- Chris Thorburn

4th: Tim Stapleton- Nikolai Antropov -Eric Fehr

Defence:

Dustin Byfuglien- Tobias Enstrom

Randy Jones-Mark Stuart

Johnny Oduya-Ron Hainsey

Offensive Leaders:

Philadelphia Flyers: Claude Giroux (22 goals, 44 assists, 68 points), Scott Hartnell (27 goals, 27 assists, 54 points), Jaromir Jagr (15 goals, 26 assists, 41 points)

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler (11 goals, 35 assists, 46 points), Evander Kane (22 goals, 16 assists, 38 points), Kyle Wellwood (12 goals, 24 assists, 36 points)

Injury Report:

Philadelphia Flyers: Tom Sestito (groin), Andrej Meszaros (upper-body), Chris Pronger (concussion), Ian Laperriere (concussion), Blair Betts (knee), Jakub Voracek (upper-body)

Winnipeg Jets: Zach Bogosian (day-to-day, upper-body)

Who’s Next: The Jets next game is on Thursday, February 21st, at home, against the Tampa Bay Lightning (7:30 p.m. CST).

QUICKIES…..Following notes courtesy of Kalen Qually, Communications Coordinator, True North Sports & Entertainment Limited…….Ondrej Pavelec reached a new career-high for wins in a season with his 22nd win on Feb.19 vs. COL (5-1 W)…..In his past three starts, Pavelec has gone 2-1-0 stopping 84 of 89 shots against for a .944 SV% and 1.76 GAA…..Pavelec currently ranks sixth in the NHL with 1,477 shots against this season…..Evander Kane is one of six players in the NHL with over 20 goals and 120 hits this season.. The list is Kane (22, 125), Ryan Callahan (23,203), Alex Ovechkin (24, 146), Erik Cole (22, 146), Milan Lucic (20, 131) & David Clarkson (22, 129)…..Dustin Byfuglien has nine points (two goals, seven assists) over the past six games…..Tanner Glass leads the team and ranks 12th in the NHL with 178 hits…..The Jets don’t have a single defenseman with a minus-rating on home ice this season…..Antti Miettinen is one game away from 500 in his NHL career…..

Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers (Tuesday, Feb 21st)

David Minuk — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:39:28 +0000

Note: We will be at the Jets and Flyers practice this morning and will have post-practice audio from both teams.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: ‘This city might BURN DOWN…’ Playoffs? Jets fans would go wild (in a good way). Part of the problem for coach Noel is keeping the focus on the here and now and not on what could be down the road. As much as he wants to let the players loose, he needs to reign them in and keep them focused on the present. As tired as the cliche is, the Jets have to take this one game at a time.

Winnipeg Free Press: Big winger’s rollin’ like an 18-Wheeler with other news and notes. Wheeler is not one for individual recognition. Coach Noel’s concern. Sick bay update. Goaltender alert. Juicy numbers. Quotable.

Winnipeg Sun: Biggest bang for Jets buck. The Sun takes a look at which players on Winnipeg have provided GM Kevin Cheveldayoff with the most value and which Jets have not. Did they get it right?

Winnipeg Sun: Cranky Claude problems. The Jets coach is just trying to caution against over enthusiasm. Tonight is going to be quite the statement game against the big, bad Flyers.

CSN Philly: Eighth-place Jets making playoff push. Part of the reason for the success is being 3 and 0 against the Flyers. A win tonight will give the Jets the clean sweep and big momentum as they continue their quest for the playoffs.

Minnesota Daily: Wheeler continues winning ways at Xcel, in the NHL. Really in-depth article on Blake Wheeler’s development growing up as well as playing college hockey in Minnesota.

Illegal Curve: Trade deadline show part 1. Recap: Winnipeg Jets defeat Boston Bruins. Jets week in review. Preview: Winnipeg Jets vs. Colorado Avalanche. Jets week preview.Recap of recent trades (Gill, Grossman, Moore). Trade deadline preview: Southeast Division.

Illegal Curve: Trade deadline show part 2. Interview with Craig Custance of ESPN. Trade deadline preview: Northeast Division. Trade deadline preview: Atlantic Division. Trade deadline preview: Northwest / Central Division. Trade deadline preview: Pacific Division. Cheers & Jeers.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram: Getting to know Jason Gregoire. The Winnipeg native and current member of the IceCaps gives some insight into his tweeting world.

Next opponent news – Philadelphia Flyers:

Philadelphia Inquirer: Now it’s Flyers touching third rail of fan relations. They are amongst the toughest fans in the game and it remains to be seen how Brzygalov handles this relationship as the Flyers try to prevent the ship from sinking.

Philadelphia Daily News: Kubina wants to stay with Flyers. Not many players are happy to give up the taste of free agency. Will be interesting to see if Kubina is singing the same tune after the season ends.

Press of Atlantic City: Bryzgalov’s words more disturbing than his play. The Jets are partly responsible for this Russian tenders bizarre behaviour after that crazy 9-8 win in Philadelphia, in which he gave up 4 goals on 10 shots. After the game he dropped this line:

“I have zero confidence in myself right now,” he told reporters. “I am terrible. I will now apologize in front of the fans, in front of my teammates. I don’t know what’s going on. I have no answer for you guys. I thought in the last game against Montreal (when he allowed five goals on 28 shots), that nothing worse was going to happen. Today was worse.

CSN Philly: Kubina ‘honoured’ to play alongside Jagr. Jagr is strong like a bull so I can understand Kubina preferring to play behind him, rather than having to face off against the big Czech winger.

2/18 Trade Deadline Preview Part 1

Michael Remis — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:40:15 +0000

Illegal Curve Hockey Show – February 18, 2012 – Trade Deadline Preview Part 1

0:00 – Recap: Winnipeg Jets defeat Boston Bruins

13:43 – Jets week in review

26:34 – Preview: Winnipeg Jets vs. Colorado Avalanche

39:24 – Jets week preview

50:55 – Recap of recent trades (Gill, Grossman, Moore)

1:03:45 – Trade deadline preview: Southeast Division

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show will air at a special time from 7am-10am next Saturday, February 25, 2012 on TSN 1290.

2/18 Trade Deadline Preview Part 2

Michael Remis — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:39:52 +0000

Illegal Curve Hockey Show – February 18, 2012 – Trade Deadline Preview Part 2

0:00 – Interview with Craig Custance of ESPN

13:14 – Trade deadline preview: Northeast Division

25:19 – Trade deadline preview: Atlantic Division

36:00 – Trade deadline preview: Northwest / Central Division

52:22 – Trade deadline preview: Pacific Division

1:03:52 – Cheers & Jeers

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show will air at a special time from 7am-10am next Saturday, February 25, 2012 on TSN 1290.

Winnipeg Jets Afternoon News (Monday, Feb 20th)

David Minuk — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:09:57 +0000

Winnipeg Free Press: Wheeler named an NHL star of the week. While the individual honour might not mean much to Wheeler, it is recognition of the fact that his individual contribution has helped get the Jets back into the playoff picture.

Winnipeg Sun: Wheeler named NHL 2nd star and Bogosian not a player Tuesday. Despite all the good news for Wheeler, we learned today that Zach Bogosian is still not a player. Coach Noel said he could play Thursday.

Hockey’s Future: Home cooking fuels recipe for Winnipeg Jets playoff run. The Jets appears to be feasting in the friendly confines of the MTS Centre when the opportunity presents itself. The team recognizes the importance of these games and are taking advantage of the MTS Centre crowd.

USA Today: 10 most intriguing names in NHL trade market. The Jets land #4 on this list with one of their players but with the playoff push, GM Cheveldayoff has to decide if this run is the real thing or not. If it isn’t, then perhaps acquiring some assets might be the more important move.

NBC Sports: Could the Jets actually make the playoffs? Gotta love how Winnipeg is described as having ” the most raucous crowd in the league”.

Illegal Curve: Coach Noel press conference. Play of Blake Wheeler. Status of Bogosian. Managing time (practice vs. down time). Maturing line (steeper than previously thought? Importance of Winnipeg on development). Tight checking games vs. scoring a lot of goals. Fear of overconfidence. Talking about the Flyers team. Managing small picture (winning next game) vs. big picture (playoff hunt). Bouncing back. Leadership on this team. Play of Eric Fehr.

Illegal Curve: Jets players post-practice audio. We spoke with Kyle Wellwood, Chris Thorburn, Mark Stuart and Alexander Burmistrov.

Winnipeg Jets post practice audio

David Minuk — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:45:38 +0000

The Jets held a light practice today following their 5-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche. We spoke with:

Coach Claude Noel Press Conference

David Minuk — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:28:00 +0000

The Jets held an optional practice today after last night’s 5-1 win over the Avalanche.

Coach Noel – Play of Blake Wheeler. Status of Bogosian. Managing time (practice vs. down time). Maturing line (steeper than previously thought? Importance of Winnipeg on development). Tight checking games vs. scoring a lot of goals. Fear of overconfidence. Talking about the Flyers team. Managing small picture (winning next game) vs. big picture (playoff hunt). Bouncing back. Leadership on this team. Play of Eric Fehr.

Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers (Monday, Feb 20th)

David Minuk — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:38:54 +0000

Jets news:

Note: We will have audio from Jets practice today. Stay tuned to IC.com for that. Should be up by 12:30pm.

TSN: Jets continue playoff push. Amazingly the teams ahead of the Jets refuse to turn on their jets (poor pun I know) and pull away from Winnipeg. The Jets have a fighting chance at both the 7th and 8th spots in the East as well as 1st in the Southleast.

Winnipeg Sun: Snapshots. Top players finally delivering. Kane undisciplined. Wheeler points machine, could be first Jets to be named NHL star of the week. Little’s hot streak. Burmistrov has stepped up his game. Jets are 4-0 against Northwest. Wellwood’s surprise screen. Jets better when Kane on game. Lucky bounces go Jets way. Buff’s mistake. Morons can’t keep quiet during moment of silence. Antropov’s more aggressive game. Lots of scouts in the MTS Centre last night.

Winnipeg Sun: Pavelec sets career high for wins. He was able to break his previous record in 8 less games. There is no question that without his consistent level of play all season, the Jets aren’t even close to the post-season.

NBC Sports: Southeast Division is as wide open as it is pathetic. Not exactly a stellar group that will instill fear in potential playoff opponents. While we might be biased the Jets as the 3 seed with this intense MTS Centre crowd could be quite the dark horse.

Globe and Mail: A wild year for Wheeler. As his 4 points showed last night, his early season drought is a thing of the past, although he jokingly told the media that his role is to score so he was upset with his level of play last night. He is fulfilling those expectations that Wayne Gretzky saw in him as a young 17 year old.

Game Recap – Jets 5 Avalanche 1:

Winnipeg Jets: Ondrej Pavelec, Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler and coach Noel.

Colorado Avalanche: Matt Duchene, Seymon Varlamov and coach Sacco.

Illegal Curve: Post-game podcast. Host Drew Mindell and guest Analyst Michael Remis break down the game.

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

Next opponent news – Philadelphia Flyers:

Delaware County Times: Holmgren keeps digging up defensive help for Flyers. Never an easy task to replace someone of Pronger’s skill or size. Will Kubina be the answer for Philly?

Philadelphia Daily News: Flyers forced to get defensive. Looks like these guys were brought in to stop the pucks from getting close to the goalies, who lately cannot seem to stop anything.

Jets on a Deadline – Jets 5 Avalanche 1 (Feb 19, 2012)

David Minuk — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 05:05:33 +0000

Game Stories:

Winnipeg Free Press: Jets down Avs 5-1.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets defeat Avalanche 5-1.

The Globe & Mail: Jets beat Avs to pull level with Leafs.

Denver Post: Avalanche routed at Winnipeg, 5-1.

TSN: Gaining altitude.

NHL.com: Little scores twice in Jets 5-1 win over Avs.

ChrisD.ca: Accelerated scoring lifts Jets over Avalanche.

Post-game audio:

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler, Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little and Ondrej Pavelec.

Colorado Avalanche: Matt Duchene, Semyon Varlamov and coach Joe Sacco.

Illegal Curve: Post-game podcast. Host Drew Mindell and guest Analyst Michael Remis break down the game.

Video Highlights:

NHL.com 3 Stars

1. Blake Wheeler

2. Ondrej Pavelec

3. Andrew Ladd

Jets vs. Avalanche Postgame Podcast

Michael Remis — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 04:46:32 +0000

Illegal Curve Hockey Show – Jets vs. Avalanche Postgame Podcast – February 19, 2012

Drew Mindell returns to Host with special guest analyst Michael Remis offering his analysis as they break down tonight’s game.

Colorado Avalanche post-game audio

Ezra Ginsburg — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 04:44:44 +0000

Semyon Varlamov

Matt Duchene

Coach Sacco

Thanks to Trevor Rinn for the Avs (Duchene & Varlamov) audio.

Winnipeg Jets post-game audio

David Minuk — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 04:27:18 +0000

Game Day Preview: Avalanche @ Jets

Ezra Ginsburg — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:49:59 +0000

When: Sunday, February 19, 2012

Time: 7:30 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (28-26-6), Colorado Avalanche (29-26-4)

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

The Story: The Winnipeg Jets will try to make it three wins in a row tonight versus the Colorado Avalanche in the second game of their current eight game homestand.

The Jets are coming off an emotional 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night that gave the Jets their first pair of wins playing on back-to-back nights all regular season. With a win tonight, the Jets could move into 9th place and inch closer to the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Jets are currently two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs but the Leafs would keep the 8th spot because of their edge in regulation wins (26).

The Avalanche defeated the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 Thursday night and have remained in the tight Western Conference Playoff race, just three points back of the Los Angeles Kings for the coveted 8th seed. Even though making the playoffs is a long shot for the young Avalanche, they have surprised many by keeping pace with the rest of the West pack this late in the season. Having said that, the Avalanche have only won three of their last ten games and may be a seller at the NHL Trade Deadline coming up in just over a week.

The Avalanche and Jets have already met once this season with the Jets defeating the Avalanche 4-1 back on December 27th.

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

Projected Jets line combinations:

Goalie:

Ondrej Pavelec

Forwards:

1st: Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little- Blake Wheeler

2nd: Evander Kane- Alexander Burmistrov- Kyle Wellwood

3rd: Tanner Glass- Jim Slater- Chris Thorburn

4th: Tim Stapleton- Nikolai Antropov -Eric Fehr

Defence:

Dustin Byfuglien- Tobias Enstrom

Randy Jones-Mark Stuart

Johnny Oduya-Ron Hainsey

Offensive Leaders:

Colorado Avalanche: Ryan O’Reilly (15 goals, 29 assists, 44 points), Paul Stastny (14 goals, 23 assists, 37 points), Milan Hejduk (13 goals, 20 assists, 33 points)

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler (11 goals, 31 assists, 42 points), Evander Kane (21 goals, 14 assists, 35 points), Kyle Wellwood (11 goals, 23 assists, 34 points)

Injury Report:

Colorado Avalanche: T.J. Galiardi (upper body), Jean-Sebastien Giguere (upper-body), Peter Mueller (upper body)

Winnipeg Jets: Zach Bogosian (day-to-day)

Who’s Next: The Jets next game is on Tuesday, February 19th, at home, against the Philadelphia Flyers (6:00 p.m. CST).

QUICKIES…..Matt Duchene returns to the Avalanche line-up tonight. He has been out since December 29th with a knee injury……

Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers (Sunday, Feb 19th)

David Minuk — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:05:36 +0000

Jets news:

Globe and Mail: Jets back in the race. Nice to read that Duchene marked this game on his calendar as one he was excited to play in.

Winnipeg Free Press: Noel looks for more from Jets. We can talk statement games, or must-wins, but the time to prove to themselves that they can be a playoff team is to not have a “letdown” against a similarly desperate team.

Winnipeg Sun: Fehr back in lineup. Has the time off done the Winkler product some good? We will find out tonight as he draws back in.

Winnipeg Free Press: Still in fight entering home stretch. The best news for the Jets is that all the team’s ahead of them refuse to seize the opportunity. Both the Capitals and Leafs lost in regulation last night which is critically important for the Jets chances at making the post season dance.

Winnipeg Free Press: God Save the Queen with other news and notes. Reaching out to Jets UFA agents. Chevy’s trades. Pavelec’s contract status. More on Jets in 2014 Heritage Classic. God Save the Queen. Jets challenge to make playoffs. Coach Noel’s gems. Stanley Cup odds.

Winnipeg Sun: Demotion doing Antropov good. The big forward played with some fire the last few games and the coach needs to see that if he is ever to get moved back up.

Winnipeg Sun: Back to basics for Byfuglien. As Buff goes so go these Jets. When the big man is manning the point, while he might wander and get caught occasionally, he certainly brings a big presence to the lineup. One especially needed when Zach Bogosian is on the mend.

Winnipeg Sun: Only Chevy knows if Jets ready to make a deal. The IC crew would not be happy to lose either the G or the S in the GST line.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets prepare for date with Avalanche. Both teams are desperate for the points as they both look to get above that line.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

TSN: Klingberg scores winner as IceCaps down Marlies. The best road team in the AHL knocked off the top home team, as the Caps rebounded from their loss to the Bulldogs with a win over the Marlies.

Next opponent news – Colorado Avalanche:

Denver Post: Duchene returns to Stasny-Hejduk line after seven weeks. Looks like the young Avs star will be making his return against the Jets. This kid can fly out there so he should be quite the challenge for the Jets D.

The Province: If Avalanche continue slide, trades possible. The vultures are already circling and the corpse hasn’t even realized its dead.

Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers (Saturday, Feb 18th)

David Minuk — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 15:02:32 +0000

Note: As always, tune in to the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on TSN Radio 1290 starting at noon and going until 3 pm. We have a ton of Jets talk as well as discussing all the latest trades and trade rumours.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Jets pleased with win, focusing on the future. Time for all the sports cliches as the Jets are going to need to go on quite the run.

Winnipeg Free Press: It is the winter of our content. Win or lose the fan are pumped about the return of NHL hockey. Having said that most Jets fans will still take more of the former and less of the latter down the stretch in the quest for the post season. Regardless of outcome it has been one amazing inaugural season.

Winnipeg Free Press: Hawks eye Jets D-men. There were a number of NHL teams in the building last night checking out the Jets but this team still doesn’t know if they will be buyers or sellers at the deadline.

Winnipeg Free Press: Wheeler comes up big against Bruins. Wheeler has been big but it is not just against the Bruins as night in and night out, he has consistently been the Jets best forward. However it is almost always the case that a player wants to comport himself well against a former team.

Winnipeg Sun: Win over Boston something to build on. Ken asks if this is a statement game and you’d like to think so but the Jets have been down this road before. The key is putting together a streak during this home stand that can launch this team into the post season. They are close to 8th but all the other teams ahead of them have games in hand, so the Jets can ill afford any more losses.

Winnipeg Sun: Snapshots. Back-to-back relief. Early energy. Pavelec’s almost ill timed stroll. Line matching. Little’s boundless energy. The Queen makes an appearance. Missed hip checks. Burmistrov’s strong game. Lack of penalties to mid way point of game. Slater night on the jumbotron (our favourite time is when he mentions his favourite line, the GST). Best crowd energy in awhile. Pavelectricity was brought on his massive save.

Winnipeg Sun: Seguin’s secret to waking up? How about cool Manitoba air. Seguin sure looked awake on the ice last night. He is going to continue to develop with the B’s.

Game Recap – Jets 4 Bruins 2:

Winnipeg Jets: Ondrej Pavelec, Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler and coach Noel.

Boston Bruins: Tuuka Rask, Josh Hennessy, Patrice Bergeron and coach Julien.

Illegal Curve: Post-game podcast. Guest host Michael Remis 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:

The Telegram: Coming out of the dark. A concussion is such a brutal injury and the hard working Caps forward will hopefully soon be fully recovered.

Hamilton Spectator: Dogs beat the league’s top team. The IceCaps gave up 4 in the 1st (did they switch roles with the Jets) and just didn’t have enough in the tank to complete the comeback.

Next opponent news – Colorado Avalanche:

Globe and Mail: Avs snap losing skid at Oilers’ expense. The old Jets 1.0 only faced the Colorado Avalanche for one season back in 1995-96. The last time was on March 24th, a 5-2 loss to the team that went on the become Stanley Cup champs. This team does not boast the likes of Joe Sakic or Patrick Roy but they have some nice young talent that has them just 3 points out of a playoff spot.

Denver Post: Duchene status now day to day. While you always like to see star players healthy, I’m sure Jets fans would pass on having the Avs leading scorer return from injury tomorrow night.