Jets Season Preview
Jets Season Preview
The Jets are ready to open the season and look to improve on their 42-38-6-3 record. The 93 points earned last year are going to be difficult to duplicate. The Jets received a major blow when the first summer re-rates came out from head office. Suddenly most decent young NHL players got a good re-rate in the CPHL, which lead to the veterans on the Jets with not much of a trade value. “It was a tough pill to swallow because we made moves based on ratings, any decent young player was moved in order to get vets who clearly made a difference in previous years” Walsh said.
The Jets enter the year probably as another huge underdog to make the playoffs but Walsh said “for some reason we seem to be more a sim friendly team and for that reason chemistry is very important for us”.
The Forwards:
As of right now the starting forward lines will look like this:
1-Smolinski, Mogilny, Cajanek
2-Linden, Mellanby, Kvasha
3-Arkhipov, Barnes, Hrdina
4-McLean, Mogilny, Cajanek
The Jets will also dress Ivan Novoseltsev and Pascal Rheaume but its not expected that they play a big role this season. The Jets clearly lack top end skill but the roster isn’t much different from the forward group that made it all the way to game 7 of the first round. Again, chemistry between trios is a must and hopefully can be found in the preseason line juggling games.
The Blue liners:
As of right now the starting defensive pairs will look like this:
1-Hedican, Suchy
2-Jackman, Hnidy
3-Simpson, Gervais
The Jets also have Mark Streit to fill in when needed. This group is not as solid as the group that finished the year in Winnipeg. “We are definitely looking at upgrading the blue line but right now we get offers that see us only bringing back prospects, picks, or cash. There is no need to throw in towel on the season yet” Walsh said.
The Puck stoppers:
The 2 tenders that will start the year in Winnipeg are:
1A-Weekes
1B-Burke
This duo has lots of experience and will have to be very very good in order for the Jets to be successful this season. Weekes had a poor outing in the summer tournament and there for only got into one game, Sean Burke was much better in the tournament and may have an inside edge on what is probably his last CPHL season before retirement.
Outcome:
The GM figures that the Jets are not that far from a playoff spot and a couple of moves here and there and no one knows how far a Cinderella team can go.
Last edited by Flickered Flame; 09-06-2006 at 09:07 PM.
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