Jets Starting to Soar
There is plenty to cheer about on the ice as well for Winnipeg.
Just over two seasons ago, the Winnipeg Jets came back to town. While fan jubilation could not ever capture how great that was for the city of Winnipeg, the on ice product was hardly something worth cheering for.
The Jets were the discarded roster from the Vancouver Canucks, who finished dead last in the season standings only to see the Atlanta Thrashers line up -full of talent such as the Sedin brothers- move in, and the old Canucks head to Winnipeg.
Though it's just a few seasons later, the Jets are now no longer a WCHL doormat. Several new faces have brought a lot of positive change and the Jets are eager to try and reach the playoffs for the first time in the most recent edition of the teams history.
Even an off-season which was very quiet didn't stop the Jets from improving themsleves, oddly enough via the waiver draft. The Jets bolstered a suspect defense by claiming the likes of Paul Mara and Robyn Regehr, while also adding two-way centre Matt Cullen. Blassed with a hefty chunk of salary cap space in a time when few teams hve much wiggle room, the Jets were also able to acquire puckmoving blueliner Mike Green from the Montreal Canaidens for a draft pick and minor league blueliner Paul Postma.
Former WCHL Cup champion Matt Cullen, and defenseman Mike Green are key cogs to a new Jets line up.
All in all, the Jets look to be stronger, and deeper, than in seasons past.
"We needed to upgrade the blueline and we did just that by adding three solid, veteran defensemen," noted General Manager Darren Mathieu.
Regehr is expected to be a key cog on the penalty kill for Winnipeg, while Green is likely to help kick-start the powerplay, giving immediate boosts to both of the special teams units.
Mathieu noted the club is still eager to upgrade the top lines for the Jets to give them a better offensive punch, and the club has been linked in rumours to Carolina Hurricanes centre Joe Thornton, though his $11 million salary is likely to scare away many buyers.
What seems more likely is the Jets will work the phones to land another scoring winger, unless a hopeful like Bobby Butler can crack through at the NHL level with the offense he's shown in college and the minor league levels.
The lack of offense has reared its ugly head early, with the club managing just one goal -a powerplay tally at that- in their first two games. Despite the brilliant efforts of netminder Craig Anderson, the Jets have lost both games, being outscored 6-1.
The Jets will need Craig Anderson to be tall in net this season.
"We can't have that, we need to do more at putting the puck in the net," said forward Travis Zajac, a Winnipeg native and one of two forwards on the team with five shots so far this season. "We can't allow this to get ahead of us."
In total, Winnipeg has just 39 shots in two games. Expect Green to help with that, as the blueliner has a proven track record of piling up th points and can log 23 minutes per game.
In the meantime, the improvement will have to come from within for the Jets.
"We have the right group here to get the job done, we just have to get the job done," noted forward Jordin Tootoo.
Travis Zajac leads the Jets in shots with five, but like most Jets forwards he still has yet to find the back of the net.
There is plenty to cheer about on the ice as well for Winnipeg.
Just over two seasons ago, the Winnipeg Jets came back to town. While fan jubilation could not ever capture how great that was for the city of Winnipeg, the on ice product was hardly something worth cheering for.
The Jets were the discarded roster from the Vancouver Canucks, who finished dead last in the season standings only to see the Atlanta Thrashers line up -full of talent such as the Sedin brothers- move in, and the old Canucks head to Winnipeg.
Though it's just a few seasons later, the Jets are now no longer a WCHL doormat. Several new faces have brought a lot of positive change and the Jets are eager to try and reach the playoffs for the first time in the most recent edition of the teams history.
Even an off-season which was very quiet didn't stop the Jets from improving themsleves, oddly enough via the waiver draft. The Jets bolstered a suspect defense by claiming the likes of Paul Mara and Robyn Regehr, while also adding two-way centre Matt Cullen. Blassed with a hefty chunk of salary cap space in a time when few teams hve much wiggle room, the Jets were also able to acquire puckmoving blueliner Mike Green from the Montreal Canaidens for a draft pick and minor league blueliner Paul Postma.
Former WCHL Cup champion Matt Cullen, and defenseman Mike Green are key cogs to a new Jets line up.
All in all, the Jets look to be stronger, and deeper, than in seasons past.
"We needed to upgrade the blueline and we did just that by adding three solid, veteran defensemen," noted General Manager Darren Mathieu.
Regehr is expected to be a key cog on the penalty kill for Winnipeg, while Green is likely to help kick-start the powerplay, giving immediate boosts to both of the special teams units.
Mathieu noted the club is still eager to upgrade the top lines for the Jets to give them a better offensive punch, and the club has been linked in rumours to Carolina Hurricanes centre Joe Thornton, though his $11 million salary is likely to scare away many buyers.
What seems more likely is the Jets will work the phones to land another scoring winger, unless a hopeful like Bobby Butler can crack through at the NHL level with the offense he's shown in college and the minor league levels.
The lack of offense has reared its ugly head early, with the club managing just one goal -a powerplay tally at that- in their first two games. Despite the brilliant efforts of netminder Craig Anderson, the Jets have lost both games, being outscored 6-1.
The Jets will need Craig Anderson to be tall in net this season.
"We can't have that, we need to do more at putting the puck in the net," said forward Travis Zajac, a Winnipeg native and one of two forwards on the team with five shots so far this season. "We can't allow this to get ahead of us."
In total, Winnipeg has just 39 shots in two games. Expect Green to help with that, as the blueliner has a proven track record of piling up th points and can log 23 minutes per game.
In the meantime, the improvement will have to come from within for the Jets.
"We have the right group here to get the job done, we just have to get the job done," noted forward Jordin Tootoo.
Travis Zajac leads the Jets in shots with five, but like most Jets forwards he still has yet to find the back of the net.
