Special teams need some work, Chevy says

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This article was published 23/09/2016 (2765 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BEFORE news broke Saturday afternoon restricted free agent defenceman Jacob Trouba had requested a trade, Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff took the stage to address several topics at the NHL team’s annual Fan Fest.

Here’s what he had to say…

On how the Jets can get back into the playoffs:

“There’s lots of different statistics and things that stare you right in the face. Certainly from a special-teams standpoint we have to be better. That’s something we’ve talked about on a regular basis,” said Cheveldayoff. The Jets had the league’s worst power play last season, and the sixth-worst penalty kill.

“Certainly from a defensive standpoint, you need to be better,” he added. He said the addition of veteran NHL assistant coach Jamie Kompon should help improve the teams in these areas.

On the 2016 World Cup:

“I’ve enjoyed immensely watching the young team, the North Americans. That overtime period they had against Sweden, man oh man, my heart stopped several times. It’s great to see there’s that exuberance in the game,” said Cheveldayoff. “Any time you can have a best on best tournament, it’s exciting for the game.”

He admits to holding his breath all his players would make it through the event healthy.

“You never know what you can control. Certainly any time when players are playing, there’s always a risk of injury,” he said. “You sit there and you watch and you hope. Deep down you just want them to come home and be able to compete for us.”

On that front, goalies Ondrej Pavelec and Connor Hellebuyck were on the ice Saturday, while Cheveldayoff said skaters Dustin Byfuglien, Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine are expected to make their training camp debuts Monday.

“These players will have gained a tremendous amount of experience just in the short time they were there,” he said.

On his message to all players before training camp started:

“The message that I had was simply one word. It was opportunity,” said Cheveldayoff. “If you’re a young player, your opportunity is in front of you now to show you belong in the National Hockey League.”

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Cheveldayoff said the same applies whether you are a proven NHL player or a prospect.

“There’s never a ceiling on a player when it comes to how good they can be. Really, it is up to them to take that opportunity that is presented to them and run with it,” he said.

On the Jets Young Stars tournament that saw them lose all three games last week in B.C.:

“Certainly from a score standpoint, you’re never really happy. There’s always a competitive bone in your body that you want to come out on top on the score side of it. But it is truly an evaluation tournament and we had an opportunity to play some kids in different situations and see how they react. Or see where, when we talk about some of the deficiencies they may have, see where we need to help them in the different areas.”

On Patrik Laine:

“He’s a real interesting person. Obviously he’s very driven when it comes to wanting to be the best. But he’s a very humble person in that regard. He knows he has ability, he knows he’s a young player that still has a lot to prove. But he’s very confident that he’s going to get there because he knows he’s going to put the work in,” he said.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Mike McIntyre
Sports reporter

Mike McIntyre grew up wanting to be a professional wrestler. But when that dream fizzled, he put all his brawn into becoming a professional writer.

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