WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Jets would tell you that the experience gained from going three rounds last season makes them a better playoff team 12 months later. On the other hand…
“That was last year. Completely different season, completely different circumstances. Different opponent, different locker room,” said Jets captain Blake Wheeler. “You (media) guys talk about that. We don’t talk about that. That was last year — we have a lot of guys in this room who weren’t here las year. So why talk about it?”
We’ve reached that time of year, folks, where the narrative gets bent like a Marcus Stroman curve ball depending on what suits the occasion. If the Jets lose a couple, they’ll no doubt draw back on the resiliency they showed a year ago. But right now, talking about playoff experience is a moot point with Wheeler.
“How much experience did we have before last year? And we made it to the Western Final,” said Wheeler, ever the contrarian. “That theory (that experience is important) would suggest that we should have been out in the first round, and we beat two really good teams. Those things don’t creep into our locker room.”
Josh Morrissey takes the pragmatic approach:
“In referencing or looking back, we can’t expect any (increased) performance based on last season,” he said. “We’re playing a different team, we’re a different team… But for me, last year was my first time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I was trying to draw on experiences I’d had — how to manage a game; one goal game, up or down — and I looked back at my time on the junior playoffs. Memorial Cup, World Juniors, or World Championships.
“Now, I’ll draw on last season and some of those ups and downs.”
Troublesome Tweets
Some old tweets caught up to Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, from when he was a 21-year-old playing in the AHL for the Chicago Wolves.
“It was a while ago when I was a teenager,” Binnington, now 25, told reporters on Wednesday morning. “It was a little sarcasm and joking around. That’s what life’s about, you live and learn and you grow as a human. I’m just here to play a couple hockey games.”
Finding Mojo
As the Jets attempt to find their mojo after being a .500 team since the All-Star break, getting injured defenceman Morrissey back will help them as much mentally as it will on the ice.
He’s their most steady, trustworthy defenceman, and Morrissey missed the last 20 games with a shoulder injury. And when paired with Jacob Trouba, the rise in Trouba’s game is evident.
“We know he’s a critical piece to our game,” said head coach Paul Maurice. “If he’s out flying on his first shift, we figure that’s the way he always plays. If it takes him a little while to warm to it because he’s been out for six weeks, we’ll wait on that. He’s a great player for us. He’s going to go out and play the normal game that we ask of him. The advantage of it is his legs are strong and he was able to skate. He’s probably feeling better and stronger now than he did at this point last year.”
Hockey teams want normalcy when they begin a playoff run. They want the roster to be where it is supposed to be.
Morrissey’s presence in the dressing room will be a comfort, even before the puck drops.
“He’s a minute muncher,” Wheeler said. “He plays against the other team’s best players, typically. Had a career year offensively. He pays with a ton of confidence, and we gain a ton of confidence with him back.”
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