Byfuglien leading Jets by example

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This article was published 15/04/2019 (1831 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. LOUIS — Dustin Byfuglien doesn’t gather his teammates around in a circle and regale them with stories of winning a Stanley Cup back in 2010 with the Chicago Blackhawks. That’s just not his style.

But as the only member of the Winnipeg Jets who has hoisted hockey’s holy grail, the veteran defenceman inspires a certain confidence in those around him this time of year. Especially when he’s having the kind of impact on the ice that we’ve seen so far in these playoffs.

“I don’t know if there’s ever been a guy in the league, or if there ever will be in the future, like Buff,” fellow Jets blue-liner Tyler Myers told the Free Press Tuesday, prior to hitting the ice for Game 4 against the St. Louis Blues.

“He’s such a unique type of player. When he’s feeling it and when he’s being physical like he is, you can tell guys are aware when he’s on the ice. When he’s playing like that, our team looks a lot better.”

Byfuglien’s fingerprints have been all over this series. Through three games, he led all skaters with five points (one goal, four assists) and has been a physical force with punishing hits and being a frequent participant in after-the-whistle activity as the mutual dislike between the two teams ramps up. That included a bit of a donnybrook with Brayden Schenn during Game 3, mere seconds after Byfuglien appeared to try and pull the mask off Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington.

Then there was the bizarre bank-shot goal in which Byfuglien fired one off Binnington’s mask, on purpose, and into the back of the net. The consensus in the room is that was a goal only Byfuglien would even attempt, let alone pull off.

“You seem to see Buff taking a lot of shots from that area. A lot of the time they go in. You see him score a lot of goals like that. It was a great awareness by him,” said Myers.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice said there were obvious concerns when two separate ankle injuries kept Byfuglien out of the lineup for nearly half the regular season. The now 34-year-old returned for the final five games but didn’t quite look himself, posting just one assist as he tried to get back up to speed.

However, Byfuglien seems to have flipped a switch for the post-season. Maurice said it’s not just his powerful play on the ice, but also his demeanour on the bench and in the dressing room when the going gets tough.

“Cup winner or not, his personality is important in our room. We’ve got three captains and they’re all completely different personalities. You’ve seen it: eight minutes to go in a very tight hockey game and the camera will be on his face and he’s laughing,” Maurice said Tuesday.

“I don’t know if joy is the right word. He just likes playing hockey games. And that you can feel. He’s not walking out on the ice tight. He’s not nervous. He’s excited. So that’s an important part of his personality that he brings to our room.”

There’s also plenty of mentoring Byfuglien has done for young players, such as blue-line partner Ben Chiarot, who is playing some of the best hockey of his career. As Maurice revealed Tuesday, that partnership was Byfuglien’s idea.

“(Byfuglien) liked playing with him. Dustin is going to play a certain number of big minutes and he’s got to have a comfort level with his partner. He thought he could read Ben well, so that went together,” said Maurice.

“What Ben has done well in this series — and it’s the development in him as a defenceman — is that he’s defined his game. He’s doing one or two things as hard as he can. He gets back to get pucks quick, he’s a strong net-front (presence) and he’s simplified his game with the puck. He doesn’t try to play like Dustin in some areas and he’s kept his game well defined.”

After his two-point outing in Game 3 helped get the Jets back into this series against the Blues, Byfuglien was his usual even-keeled self, where you honestly wouldn’t know if they had won or lost based on his comments.

“We did all right tonight, we can take some positives out of it,” he said following the 6-3 win on Sunday. Considering the victory left the Jets still 15 short of the ultimate Stanley Cup goal, it’s no surprise Byfuglien played it cool.

More than anyone on the team, he knows just how long the road ahead still is.

“Obviously having a guy like that who’s gone through it, who went through the rigours of getting all the way to the Cup final, he’s a guy we definitely rely on heavily. We’re going to rely on him again (Tuesday)night and going forward. He’s definitely a big part of this team,” said No. 1 centre and fellow assistant captain, Mark Scheifele.

Just before the playoffs began last week, Byfuglien told reporters you simply can’t get caught up thinking beyond one game, or even one period, at a time during the playoffs.

“All you can do is just go out there and take it shift by shift and get into the flow of the game. And just work. All you’ve got to do is work and be willing to win your battles,” he said.

Myers said Tuesday there haven’t been any “rah-rah” type speeches from the big man, although his playoff history has been discussed.

“Certainly having that experience for him, he knows that feeling of what it’s like playing four tough series. It’s come up a few times in the room, of how you have to kind of approach the playoffs, and each game not get too high, or not get too low. For having a guy that’s been through it, the full experience of it, it’s nice for us other guys to hear what he has to say,” said Myers.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg