Winnipeg Free Press http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/lucic-fancies-himself-an-outdoorsman-398134491.html

Lucic fancies himself an outdoorsman By Mike Sawatzky Milan Lucic seems to love the great outdoors, even though pond hockey has never been his thing. Heck, the bruising Edmonton Oilers forward, a Vancouver product, had never played outside before with the exception of an informal skate as an injured player prior to an NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park in 2010. Until Sunday afternoon, that is. "Both teams were a little hesitant to see, to get going, just because both teams weren’t really sure how the conditions were going to be and how the ice was going to be," said a grinning Lucic after his Oilers spanked the Winnipeg Jets 3-0 in the NHL Heritage Classic outdoor game at Investors Group Field. "I mean, the depth perception you lose not having the fans behind the glass, it really makes a difference, so I think once the guys got a few bumps in and the guys were able to make some passes and scoring chances, they were able to get it going... At the end of the day, when you look at it, the conditions were good. It wasn’t too cold, thankfully no rain here today, and I think everything worked out as planned." It almost didn’t turn out that way. The Jets, spurred on by the majority of the 33,240 fans in attendance, took the game to the Oilers in the opening period but had nothing to show for it. "They had some really good chances off the start and some odd-man rushes," said Lucic, who had two hits, two penalty minutes and 17:03 of ice time. "We gave them some Grade A scoring chances that (goaltender) Cam (Talbot) came up and made some huge saves for us to keep it 0-0 after one. "And then us being able to pounce on a few chances in the second. We were able to feel confident about our game going into the third. Again, just getting everyone back on the backcheck and taking time and space away. There’s no magical formula. It’s just working hard and it paid off for us today." After all their pre-game talk about keeping their game simple, the Jets couldn’t stick to basics. "We tried to make plays that weren’t there and from there, we weren’t able to capitalize..." said Winnipeg centre Mark Scheifele. "That’s to be expected. It’s outdoor ice, conditions weren’t amazing but that was exactly it — we were both playing on it. They had the same issues and they kept it more simple than us. They put pucks to the net, they got it behind us and didn’t try to do anything too fancy."

Scheifele agonized over the missed opportunity. The young Jets have struggled early in the regular season, fortunate perhaps to have two wins in their first five games. How to improve? "Sticking to the battle," said Scheifele. "It’s tough to play a 60-minute game sticking to the way you want to play. It’s tough, but we have to find a way to stick to it for a full 60 and that’s the way we’re going to be successful." Edmonton head coach Todd McLellan admitted prepping and playing as the road team was easier. "It’s easier to be the road team," he said. "I’m convinced of that now in these (outdoor) events. (When I coached in) San Jose we were the home team. There’s way more distractions. It feels like it’s a bit of a circus at times when you’re a home team. We were able to just focus. We had a good practice yesterday. Our penalty kill was exceptional. This team lit us up in the exhibition season, and there were some things we had to fix, and we did that. Goaltending was fine, a good team effort." Maurice takes stock Jets head coach Paul Maurice wasn’t happy about the loss but took great pride in the organization’s staging of the Heritage Classic. What would he remember most about the weekend’s events? "I have a picture in my head of (Saturday’s) game and the True North chant during the national anthem," said Maurice. "I happened to be standing behind (Jets co-owner and governor) Mark Chipman, who’s standing down two or three rows taking it all in. "What I will remember the most is wondering in my own head if he understands — I’m sure he does, but he’s such a humble man I don’t know that he does — the impact that he had on a community. I’ve wondered if, in the inaugural game of the Manitoba Moose years ago, if he’d seen all that hard work would come to this in a really short period of time. I’m just really proud to be here." http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/heritage-classic-all-about-our-citys-healing-398133781.html

Heritage Classic all about our city's healing By Melissa Martin Leave it to Winnipeg to be drowned in late October sun on the one day it would have been better to stay grey. There is something so perfectly Winnipeg about that, about weather that refuses to co-operate with human ambitions. So yes, sunlight bore down on the ice at Investors Group Field. Yes, it put the Heritage Classic into an hour-long sunshine delay. That was more than all right, in that balmy 10 C weather. The wait could have lasted another hour and still been OK.

"It’s so nice here in the sun," one woman sighed to no one in particular, 30 minutes after the game should have begun. Manitobans know how perfect fall days become precious. We know not to let them pass without a smile, and a thanks. Besides, it gave us more time. More time to chug beers. More time to shuffle through a concourse choked with orange and white jerseys. More time to lean against the stadium walls, which still seem so gleaming new, and soak in the last of the fall. Most of all, the delay left more time to stand in line. There was a lot of that at the Heritage Classic: lines to get into the party zone in a parking lot; to pose in front of a giant inflatable Jets jersey; to play hockey-puck Plinko beside a new Honda. At one point, because this is Winnipeg and "free sample" seduces us as surely as a siren does a sailor, there were 50 people in line for a free sample of a sponsor’s chocolate cake. It looked to be about two bites. Hopefully, it was worth the wait. 'No, you couldn't picture this. We allfelt something leave our heart'-- Jets legend Dale Hawerchuk, on the Heritage Classic's healing powers for a city that lost -- and then regained -- its team Even if it wasn’t, it’s not like anyone was going anywhere fast anyway. "There’s a lineup to get into the lineup for everywhere you can get into a lineup," one man said while jammed into a lineup. "There’s a lineup for the crosswalk to get to the lineup." So if sunshine was the unannounced star of the Heritage Classic, then waiting was the stage. It was the setting and backdrop to everything that happened outside of the game. The waiting was lubricated by beer and occupied by spurts of big money. It wasn’t just the 50/50 jackpot, which blasted past $400,000. It was also the way that, during TV time outs, fans heard a drumbeat of promos for the official ketchup of the NHL, the official chocolate of the NHL and the NHL’s official battered-fish product. Hey, it’s to be expected. More than 33,000 people crowded the stadium; brands naturally jostle for a share of that attention. Yet the real magic of the Heritage Classic didn’t happen on the ice and couldn’t be bought with advertising dollars. It happened during the second intermission when broadcaster Scott Oake welcomed a few iconic Jets to the field. There they were, fresh off Saturday’s alumni game: Winnipeg legends from the Jets 1.0 years, a few hallowed local names. There was Doug Smail and Dave Ellett. There was Teemu Selanne, whom the crowd showered with love once again. Then there was Dale Hawerchuk, and Oake asked him the question every fan had asked themselves at least once, this week. Did we ever imagine this could happen, after the Jets vanished? Did we ever imagine we’d meet again at a Heritage Classic? "No, you couldn’t picture this," Hawerchuk said. "We all felt something leave our heart" when the team left, he added.

A theory: if Oct. 9, 2011, was the beginning of a healing for this city, then Oct. 23, 2016, was the day the wound fully closed. On Sunday, it was bandaged together by the jerseys lined up in a row: Byfuglien, Wheeler, Ehlers, Selanne. The lineage of those names marks a history that, though not connected on paper, is uninterrupted in the hearts of the fans who lived it. There is something telling about how easily the Heritage Classic glossed over that awkward break. When Hawerchuk and Selanne took the ice for the Jets and basked in fan glow Sunday, what was erased was 15 years of gnawing civic pain. After all, the wound was never just about the Jets, really. It was always about the city and what we believed it could be. Yeah, maybe it is a little Orwellian: the Jets have always been the Jets, the Jets have always been at war with Edmonton. But it is also something deeper. Millionaires may own franchises, but a franchise is only worth the emotion its fans have invested. Five years have passed since we got the Jets "back." This team is building its own lore, its own store of dramatic personae. Consider some of the surgically altered Jets jerseys on display around the Heritage Classic. There was one woman in a Jets No. 9 jersey: she’d plastered over the "Kane" name with tape. "I need a new jersey," she’d written on it in marker. Her friend, in a Jets No. 8, had also taped over the name bar of his sweater: "My other jersey is Kane. #can’twin," it read. There was this moment, though. After the ceremonial puck drop, Hawerchuk leaned in to pat Blake Wheeler on the shoulder, and a torch passed across decades, captain to captain. It was almost as if the Jets-deprived years never happened. The fans here earned that part. It wasn’t just the league or the team. It was the fans who remembered and always believed. Now, the only thing left for the Jets is to win. When the Stanley Cup comes to Winnipeg, Hawerchuk said, he wants to be part of it. It doesn’t seem particularly likely this season, especially not after the anemic home-team performance this weekend. The future is yet to be written. For now, after the mammoth 50/50 draw was over, fans shrugged off the loss and began to spill out of the stadium. By then, the sun was nearer to setting. The blue sky was marred only by the contrails of a few passing jets, a ragged V of lingering Canada geese and the orange glow where the horizon began its transition to night. On the 160 bus downtown, a Jets fan peppered visiting Edmonton fans with suggestions of where to get dinner. ("There’s Hy’s," he offered, with a true Winnipeg caveat: "It’s expensive.") Then he yanked the bus cord, and prepared to make his exit.

"Good luck this year," he said to the Edmonton fans and tapped them on the arm. "See you in the finals." One of the Oilers fans straightened her jersey. It was a McDavid. "I hope so," her partner replied. Then the Jets fan pressed open the doors and skipped out onto the sidewalk along Pembina Highway. As the bus pulled away, the fan walked into the gathering night. He walked into the arms of a city that waited in line for a long, long time. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/jets-build-on-heritage-vs-oilers-398132771.html

Jets build on heritage vs. Oilers By Jason Bell While the heroes from the past delighted local hockey fans Saturday afternoon, the latter day Winnipeg Jets left them completely dismayed just 24 hours later. Sticking with a concerning trend of falling well behind in games, the Jets had no magic tonic to spark a comeback in the Heritage Classic outdoor NHL contest as the club looked disorganized and, at critical times, self-destructive, in a 3-0 defeat to the Edmonton Oilers Sunday before an announced crowd of 33,240 at Investors Group Field. The game started nearly two hours late to allow for the sun to pass by. The NHL was concerned the glare on the ice could be a danger for players. The Jets fell to 2-3 early in the 2016-17 season and share last spot in the Central Division with the Nashville Predators, while the surging Oilers are 5-1 and hold the top position in the Pacific. The defeat came a day after the Jets’ alumni squad, led by Teemu Selanne, knocked off the Wayne Gretzky-led Oilers old-timers 6-5 at IGF. And it left the Jets and their fan base with a bitter taste after what had been a pretty sweet week in Winnipeg. "It didn’t go the way we hoped, game-wise," said Jets centre Mark Scheifele. "Obviously, the experience was awesome, but at the end of the day it’s a hockey game and those two points were big and we lost out on them." A decent start The Jets came out with a spirited first period, firing 10 shots at Oilers goalie Cam Talbot, including blasts from Grade-A spots by defenceman Tyler Myers and forward Nikolaj Ehlers (and a shot by winger Patrik Laine from close range that sailed over the glass). Indeed, the hosts were quick on pucks, won battles deep and managed to create quality chances. But they finished the first frame with nothing to show for the solid start. "We played really well in the first. I liked our game. We played to our identity," offered Winnipeg captain Blake Wheeler. "We’re a fast team and we didn’t take too many chances in the neutral zone and spent a lot of time in their zone."

Laine has been deadly accurate early in the season — scoring four times in five games, including a remarkable hat trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs last week — but couldn’t pull the trigger on a fine chance from the top of the right circle. The 18-year-old Finn is showing he allows himself very little room for error early in his rookie season. "I think it’s a prime spot for every hockey player and you should be able to score from those chances, and I didn’t and that was it," he said. "I just shoot it high. I don’t know what went wrong. I should have scored." Second-period slumps Winnipeg has faltered badly in second periods this season and playing outdoors didn’t alter things one bit. The Oilers grabbed a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals just one minute and 46 seconds apart. With blue-liner Darnell Nurse off for cross-checking, centre Mark Letestu scored his second goal of the season on a short-handed breakaway at 9:24 after defenceman Dustin Byfuglien whiffed on the puck with his stick and his skate just inside the Oilers’ blue line. Nurse stepped out of the penalty box, joined the rush and then beat Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck after a perfect pass from centre Connor McDavid at 11:10. Edmonton increased its lead on Zach Kassian’s second goal of the season at 17:16 of the second on a play that began with a turnover by Laine. That’s 11 second-period goals allowed in five games. "We got into a bit of a lull in that second period, maybe for both teams, the game kind of evened out, and then it’s just the three turnovers and they’re obvious and the result was emphatic," said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. "We wouldn’t like to think that’s part of our game, we’re seeing that a fair amount early on. "Those turnovers, on good ice, bad ice, whatever, they’re going to be in your net." Hellebuyck, now 1-2 on the season, stopped 29 of 32 shots. The Jets are giving up goals in bunches. They surrendered four straight to the Carolina Hurricanes before rallying for a win, yielded four in a row to the Minnesota Wild but couldn’t crawl back all the way, yielded four consecutive goals to the Boston Bruins in another loss and then four straight to the Toronto Maple Leafs before coming back to win a thriller in overtime. Five games might be coincidental, or a treacherous habit forming that needs kicking in a hurry. "We’ll have to take a look at ourselves in the mirror, have a talk and try to figure ourselves. It’s a tough league to win games and you can never lay back because every time we do it seems to bite us in the rear end," said centre Mathieu Perreault, who played in his third career outdoor game. Veterans sit out Two players in their sixth seasons with the Jets were excluded from the Heritage Classic lineup.

Defenceman Mark Stuart and right-winger Chris Thorburn were on the outside looking in as Maurice set aside sentiment and went with the same roster that earned a 5-4 OT win over Toronto. Maurice said the decision was not made lightly. "For these two men, what they bring is beyond play. They’ve come to camp, they’ve had good camps," he said. "At the end of the day I have leaned toward youth from the start of the season. "They’ve handled it exceptionally well, not easily, but exceptionally well. It was a very difficult decision." The Jets head to Dallas to play the Stars Tuesday and then host the Stars Thursday night at the MTS Centre. Winnipeg Sun http://www.winnipegsun.com/2016/10/23/flat-second-period-sinks-jets-at-heritage-classic

Flat second period sinks Jets at Heritage Classic By Ken Wiebe This time, there was no miraculous comeback in the cards for the Winnipeg Jets. As the Jets went outdoors for the 2016 Heritage Classic, they fell 3-0 to the Edmonton Oilers before a crowd of 33,240 at Investors Group Field. The biggest issues that have plagued the Jets in the early stage of the new season were evident once again, as they were sunk by another bad second period, giving up all three goals in the middle frame. For the campaign, the Jets have given up 11 goals and scored just once as they slipped to 2-3 overall. “We're just not doing a good enough job. Teams that we've been playing seem to regroup after the first and figure out a way to put some pressure on us,” said Jets captain Blake Wheeler. “We just stopped moving our feet the way we did in the first.” Once again, the Jets power play let them down, as they went zero-for-four and gave up a shorthanded goal to leave them at two-for-20 (10%) on the season. It was a beautiful sunny day in the Manitoba capital and while that enhanced the experience for the fans, it created a safety issue for the players because of the glare, so the game ended up being delayed by nearly two hours. The Jets didn't seem to be bothered by the delay out of the gate, as they had a strong first period and clearly created the better scoring opportunities. The inability to get on the board proved costly for the Jets, as Oilers goalie Cam Talbot got into a rhythm and made 31 saves to record the shutout.

“We had a bunch of Grade-A chances on, but we got away from it,” said Jets centre Mark Scheifele. “We thought we were going to make plays each and every shift we were out there and that wasn't the way the game was going. “We have to be better at being focused for the entire game, not just spurts. We have to figure out a way to stick to it for the full 60 and that’s the way we’re going to be successful.” Recognizing the issue is important, but finding the solution is the next challenge for the Jets, who are back in action on Tuesday night as they travel to Dallas to face the Stars. All three of the Jets goals were result of turnovers. “They were obvious and the result was emphatic,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. “We wouldn't like to think that's a part of our game. We're seeing that a fair amount early on.” With the Jets on the power play, Blake Wheeler had his pass deflected and Mark Letestu poked it through the legs of Dustin Byfuglien – who whiffed on his backhand with a chance to clear the puck before Letestu walked in alone on a breakaway before beating goalie Connor Hellebuyck to open the scoring at 9:24 of the second period. Shortly after a cross-checking minor to Darnell Nurse expired, the Oilers defenceman scored after Connor McDavid made a perfect pass on a two-on-one rush at 11:10. The play started when Jets rookie Kyle Connor turned the puck over in the slot in the offensive zone after he was unable to get a shot off. Before the period was over, Jets rookie winger Patrik Laine turned the puck over in the defensive zone after over-handling the puck before Zack Kassian made it 3-0. Laine has been brilliant offensively for the Jets this season, but that was the type of play you can't often get away with in the NHL. To the surprise of no one, Laine took full responsibility for the gaffe. “I just tried something stupid and they got the puck and scored. It was my mistake and my man,” said Laine. “I just want to learn from that mistake and move on.” The Jets have scored 14 goals, but have given up 19 goals (including one empty-netter). Keeping the puck out of the net remains the biggest work in progress for the Jets. “You look for themes, where (the goals) are coming from,” said Maurice. “They're not really D-zone coverages. The turnovers, that would be the theme that keeps coming up. We've turned the puck over in some pretty high-risk areas and haven't been able to shut those down.” Hellebuyck made his third start of the season and finished with 29 saves. “It's tough to say what really went wrong, because I don't think we played that bad. I just don't think we got the result we wanted,” said Hellebuyck. “Just a couple bad breaks and, as a goalie,

if I make one of those saves maybe the momentum changes and maybe momentum shifts. That's how hockey is and we're just going to learn from it. “It's still early in the year and we've only played five games now, so we shouldn't hit the panic button too soon here. We're going to come together as a team and when we do, we're going to be dangerous. Three stars Cam Talbot, Oilers – Wasn't overworked, but had to be especially sharp in the first period of what turned out to be a 31-save shutout. Zack Kassian, Oilers – Supplied an insurance goal, chipped in an assist on another, produced three shots on goal and had two hits. Mark Letestu, Oilers – A shorthanded marker from the fourth-line centre proved to be the game-winner. He also ended up winning 67% of his draws. http://www.winnipegsun.com/2016/10/23/unhappy-ending-for-jets-laine

Unhappy ending for Laine By Paul Friesen He misfired on a glorious chance that would have opened the scoring and could have made all the difference in the world to the Winnipeg Jets. But Finnish phenom Patrik Laine wasn't in the mood for woulda's or coulda's after the Jets 3-0 loss to the Oilers in Sunday's Heritage Classic. “I don't want to think those things, if I scored or somebody else would score,” he said. “We lost, and that was it.” As for shoulda, that's another thing. “We had some high-quality chances, including my chance,” the rookie said. “And I should have scored, but I didn't. It's prime spot for every hockey player. You should be able to score from those chances and I didn't. “I just shot it high. I don't know what was wrong.” Coming off a hat trick and the overtime winner against Toronto, Laine put this chance over the net. But his night got worse, as he lost the puck trying to deke a man in his own zone and watched Edmonton get its third goal. “The second two periods were pretty bad, and I can't really say what went wrong,” Laine said. “Including me.”

Laine finished minus-2, but still got nearly 20 minutes of ice time as the Jets hoped for another comeback. “We are putting players back out on the ice after they make a mistake and will continue to do that,” coach Paul Maurice said, speaking generally about his young players. “We've had stretches of real solid, exciting hockey. We've had stretches you can't have in an NHL game. But... we make sure we're teaching and learning from those mistakes.” http://www.winnipegsun.com/2016/10/23/no-fairy-tale-ending-for-jets

No fairy tale ending for Jets By Paul Friesen The Winnipeg Jets got the Heritage part right. The Classic, not so much. I guess somebody forgot to hand out the storybook script to the Edmonton Oilers. A day after hometown hero Teemu Selanne was handed a late penalty shot to win the oldtimers portion of the NHL's Canadian outdoor showcase, the young, up-and-coming Oilers took the young, not-quite-ready-for-prime-time Jets to school in the game that mattered, Sunday. A memorable week ended with a forgettable game, a 3-0 Edmonton win that proved not all fairy tale weeks have happy endings. It also proved your luck will, eventually, run out when you keep falling behind by two or three goals. That the home side didn't even manage one on arguably the biggest stage the organization has been on certainly put a damper on this week's festivities. “I hope not too much,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “We certainly would have liked to give the fans at least one reason to get out of their seats.” The Jets' lack of offence left a bigger hole in the week than Bobby Hull's absence did. To say they came out flat or had stage fright in front of 33,000-plus wouldn't be right, though. The first period was theirs for the taking, actually, but when their young guns misfired on Grade A chances, they sagged. And just when you thought the Jets power play couldn't get worse, it does. This is one night they'd have gladly taken a power play that went oh-fer – as long as it didn't get scored on. Twice. “They picked up their pace a bit – and you can't get scored on twice on your power play,” Blake Wheeler said, hitting the mark, post-game, like nobody did during it. Wheeler had said before the game the thing he remembered most about his other outdoor game, at Fenway Park in Boston while a member of the Bruins, was that his team won it.

Does that mean all he'll remember about this one is the loss? “Everyone's been looking forward to this for a long time,” the captain continued. “We have, too. Too bad we couldn't get a win. But I don't think it tarnishes the celebration of Winnipeg and the Jets.” No, the celebration was a winner, right from the moment Jets greats Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson arrived as the first Jets Hall of Famers, Wednesday. That Hedberg came packing the quote of the week was a bonus. “God, this is the past, the present and the future in a few days in Winnipeg,” he'd said. “How can you beat that if you like hockey?” The Swedish Express had summed up the week as beautifully as he used to orchestrate a tic-tac-toe play with his Hot Line teammates back in the day. The “past” portion of the week was a rousing success, from the inaugural Hall of Fame inductions to Saturday's alumni game, in which the Finnish Flash flashed a bit of the old magic to beat the Great One and his friends, 6-5. The nostalgia has filled every crack and pothole this week, and not even a little rain could dampen it. A little too much sunshine, though, that was another thing. The organizers of Sunday's main event apparently hadn't planned for a clear sky, so when the sun poked its head out of the clouds shortly after noon, they delayed the game for two hours because of the glare. “For the players, the two-hour delay was a bit annoying,” Wheeler said. “But for the fans, it might have helped get hydrated there a little bit.” When shadows took over the hockey rink on the football field, it was time for the “present” and “future” to take over: the Jets and their rookie-stocked lineup against the Oilers with their overflowing stable of blue-chip kids. As Wayne Gretzky had said right after the oldtimers left the ice, the real game was Sunday. The real game was a bust. The Hall of Fame week, worthy of one. http://www.winnipegsun.com/2016/10/23/jets-boss-chipman-has-reason-to-be-proud-of-heritage-classic-weekend

Jets boss Chipman has reason to be proud of Heritage Classic weekend By Ted Wyman

As the stands filled with fans clad in classic and traditional colours and players skated onto an outdoor ice surface that stirred childhood memories, Winnipeg Jets owner Mark Chipman was filled with an overwhelming sense of pride. The Heritage Classic turned out to be far more rewarding than he ever imagined. It was not only a spectacle, in a beautiful venue with a national television audience tuned in, but an entire week of bringing together the past and present of Winnipeg’s hockey history. “I just felt a real enormous sense of pride as a Winnipegger, just how good our city looked,” Chipman said. “That’s what has really stuck with me so far. Just how cool it is and how good our community looks right now.” Chipman’s Jets lost 3-0 to the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday at Investors Group Field, but not even that could put a damper on the festivities put on by the Jets and the NHL all week long. About 75 former members of the WHA Jets and the NHL Jets 1.0 were invited by Chipman to take part in the Hall of Fame luncheon, the gala dinner and other events, and 23 of them put on the Jets uniform to skate in the alumni game on Saturday. There were stories told, jokes cracked, reminiscences shared, wobbly pops consumed and many new memories created. The lasting ones for Chipman might be too plentiful to pick a favourite. “There are so many,” he said. “Obviously, the unexpected thrill of stepping out on the ice with those guys on Friday (at the alumni skate) and getting through that without falling down. That was a highlight. “Just being around and listening to the stories and standing back and listening to the banter between the alumni. There was a lot of really funny stories. “The other thing that really sticks out is the respect I saw between Dale (Hawerchuk) and Wayne (Gretzky). There’s a real reverence between those two guys and it sort of transcends everything. That will be a lasting memory for sure.” Jets coach Paul Maurice said his time capsule moment involved Chipman as well. “I have a picture of my head of Saturday’s game and the True North chant that came during the national anthem,” Maurice said. “I happened to be standing behind Mark Chipman, who was taking it all in and what I will remember the most is wondering in my own head if he understands the impact that he has had on the community. “He’s such a humble man and I don’t know that he does. But I’m just really proud to be here with him.” TOUGH DECISION

Maurice made veterans Chris Thorburn and Mark Stuart the healthy scratches on Sunday, choosing to stick with the youthful lineup that came back to beat Toronto in spectacular fashion on Wednesday. The Jets coach said it was an agonizing decision to sit two of the longest-serving members of the team in such a special game, just as it was when he scratched them in the home opener against the Carolina Hurricanes. “Very, very difficult because for these two men, what they bring is beyond play,” Maurice said. “We came off a game where the result was good, we liked our game. We’re not going to hold the lineup in every time just because it has won, but at the end of the day, I’ve leaned it toward youth from the start of the season.” The Jets youthful lineup is off to 2-3 start to the season, has allowed 19 goals against in five games and has never held a lead in the third period. There certainly could be changes coming soon if they don’t start playing more efficiently. Though he created a lineup that leans toward youth, Maurice said young players can be benched just as easily as veterans. “They’ll get an opportunity to come back in,” Maurice said of Stuart and Thorburn. “They’ve handled it exceptionally well. Not easily, but exceptionally well.” WASCALLY PUCK Mark Letestu said the turnover that Dustin Byfuglien committed at the Edmonton blue-line, leading to Letestu's shorthanded goal that opened the scoring in the second period, reminded him of a scene out of a cartoon. “The puck was just dancing. It was like Bugs Bunny,” Letestu said. “He took a couple swings at it, and it just kept going for me. When you get a breakaway from the far blue in, you've got a lot of time to kind of make up your mind and put the shot on you want.” Letestu, who has points in three straight games, didn't have to think long and hard about what to do against Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck. “I used the same move on him in pre-season,” Letestu said. “I had a shorthanded breakaway, so I just went back to the well. Fortunately enough she went in again.” HONOURING HISTORY It took six years for the Jets to acknowledge the original Winnipeg hockey franchise but the organization sure did it right when it finally came together. Chipman and David Thomson bought the Atlanta Thrashers in 2011 and moved them to Winnipeg, immediately embarking on a plan to establish distinct identity for the franchise.

It seemed to some that the old Jets were being ignored but Chipman always said the history would be honoured in due time and that time was this week. “There was an anticipation that we would do that right away,” Chipman said. “It’s not that we didn’t want to. It was more a matter of just wanting to get our feet on the ground in a very competitive league and come up to speed on how the business operates as quickly as we possibly could. “It wasn’t that this history was going anywhere. It needed to be embraced but we needed the right platform. “When Gary (Bettman) told me that we were going to be able to host a Heritage Classic, it seemed to me it was worth waiting for that, to use the Heritage as a platform to really do the look back and draw attention back to all of that great history and, with our current organization, we can go forward together.” Through their new Hall of Fame, their alumni luncheon, and the raising of banners in the MTS Centre, the Jets made a strong connection with the past and put smiles on the faces of many former players. “Putting banners up is great and that’s one thing, but there’s life in our alumni now,” Chipman said. “Thankfully people like Jordy Douglas and Joe Daley kept that alive and we did our best to support it but now I think it’s really energized and we can bring that history back — not on this grand a scale — every year.” Chipman wanted to make sure all of the alumni were included, so everyone they could find was invited to be in the city this week. “We weren’t sure what we were going to get,” he said. “We did our best to get those invites out and it wasn’t easy to find people to be honest with you. “We were able to find quite a few and we had a really good turnout, not just of players, but we had some widows and family members that came. That was really neat and that’s something we can cultivate and keep alive so I’m very excited about that.” POWER OUTAGE The Jets power play was dead last in the NHL last season and has just two goals in 20 opportunities this season, which leaves them 27th in the league. They have struggled to get possession in the offensive zone, move the puck quickly enough and get shots at the net and the results have been predictable. On Sunday it was worse than usual as they went 0-for-4, allowed a shorthanded goal and allowed another one that came right at the end of the same man-advantage.

:We’ve been giving up more goals on the power play than we’ve scored this year which is outrageous, so we’re going to have to figure this out quick,” Jets centre Mathieu Perreault said. “It’s a big part of the game and tonight we got scored two goals against on the power play.” Technically it was only one and it’s the only one they’ve allowed this season, but you get Perreault’s point. The power play just hasn’t been an advantage for the Jets. ICE CHIPS Here was a great tweet from Postmedia colleague Jim Matheson of Edmonton after the game was delayed for two hours due to glare from the sun on the ice: “Face-off delayed for player safety issues because of sun but every player on ice wearing toque, not helmet, for warmup.” … The Jets have pulled their goaltender at some point in every single game this season and have scored three goals. They had the goalie out for a good five minutes on Sunday but neither team scored … The Jets have trailed by at least two goals in every game … The Jets will practice in Winnipeg Monday and then head for Dallas, where they’ll take on the division-rival Stars on Tuesday. http://www.winnipegsun.com/2016/10/23/fan-tastic-heritage-classic-doesnt-disappoint

Fan-tastic Heritage Classic doesn't disappoint By David Larkins Devout Toronto Maple Leafs fan Jodie Millard donned an Edmonton Oilers toque and a Winnipeg Jets sweater Sunday at Investors Group Field. With no dog in the fight at the Heritage Classic, you gotta find a way to fit in. "I'm a Leafs fan, so I thought I would represent both teams," she said with a laugh, "but underneath is a Toronto jersey." Fans from near and far -- and different allegiances, too -- gave Winnipeg a thumbs up for putting on a solid show (despite the sun delay) on the big stage, Sunday's Heritage Classic outdoor NHL game, the first of its kind in the city's history. "The atmosphere has been incredible, seeing all the old players brings back a lot of memories," Millard said. "Winnipeg's done just a bang-on job." Jodie and Bill Millard came from down the road in Killarney, while others made the trip from points across Canada including, of course, Edmonton. "It's been great. The fans and everything, it's been fun," said Oilers fan Jason Weir, who made the trip from Edmonton with friends James Smitten and Preston Rakowski. "People in Winnipeg are great to be around and the camaraderie has been pretty good."

"The only disappointment's been Wayne Gretzky yesterday," Rakowski joked sarcastically about The Great One's less-than-stellar showing in Saturday's alumni game. "We're not inviting him back to alumni games no more." Brian Cummings, an Ottawa native now living in Winnipeg, took in everything he could this weekend, from the Hall of Fame luncheon on Friday, to the alumni game Saturday and the main event on Sunday. "The energy around this entire city is unbelievable," he said. "I'm really just thankful that I got to participate in it." Bill Millard said you could feel a vibe around town. "For sure there's been an energy," he said. "Everywhere you go, everybody's all about hockey, right? Smitten said much of that can be attributed to the city that played host. "It's hockey and Canada's hockey," Smitten said. "Especially with Winnipeg getting a team back a few years ago, it just adds to that buzz." Rakowski said the Classic felt like "a celebration of hockey." "We're all fans," he said, "and we're all here to celebrate the game." Jets head coach Paul Maurice had high praise for the event and how it rolled out. “There's a bit of a circus atmosphere, and it's been in town for about five days,” Maurice said. “… It was great to have it here … the climate was fantastic out there, the ice was just exceptional for an outdoor rink. "It was great for the city of Winnipeg. We showed ourselves in a very positive light. It's an exciting place to live and work, it's a great place to play hockey. The fans are spectacularly enthusiastic about the game here, so it was a wonderful week for us.” Winnipegjets.com https://www.nhl.com/jets/news/oilers-top-jets-in-2016-heritage-classic/c-282985756

Oilers top Jets in 2016 Heritage Classic By Ryan Dittrick WINNIPEG - The experience, they said, was once-in-a-lifetime. A spectacle - like nothing we'd ever seen before. From the very announcement several months ago, to now, having enjoyed the week's many festivities - including one of, if not the best and mostly highly anticipated alumni games ever played - the 2016 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic made good on those promises, leaving

many with all sorts of wonderful memories and 'we were there'-type moments forever engrained in photo and film. Unfortunately for the home team, just one thing was left out of an otherwise incredible weekend. Mark Letestu, Darnell Nurse and Zack Kassian scored second-period goals, while Cam Talbot made 31 saves to give the Oilers a 3-0 win over the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves in a losing cause. The game started at 3:53pm CT after the weather - 'intermittent sunlight,' to be precise - played a factor for the first time this week. Melting ice and excessive glare were the main concerns, prompting NHL executives to play it safe and delay the game until the sun disappeared over the stadium's southwest corner. "We were told it was going to be about an hour, so obviously you start to (cool down)," Scheifele said. "But once we were told what time (the game would start), we got back into our routine and when we saw the atmosphere out there, we definitely got a bit of a boost." A lively crowd of more than 33,000 sure heated the place up in a hurry. After a two-hour delay, the temperature at puck drop was a balmy 10.1 degrees. "The conditions were great," Wheeler said. "It was great weather, they did a great job with the ice. We really couldn't ask for better conditions. "It took both teams a little bit of time to get their legs under them. It was kind of a whirlwind getting going and getting the heart rate up again. … But I thought we settled in nicely." The Jets were in total control after a strong first period, until a disastrous power play midway through the second turned the tide in a big way. Letestu kicked things off with a shorthanded goal, just 21 seconds into a Nurse penalty, after Dustin Byfuglien gave the puck away at the centre point. Letestu jumped on it and made the 125-foot trek downfield before firing a low shot past Hellebuyck. Then, as the penalty expired, Nurse jumped up in the rush buried a feed from Connor McDavid to put the Oilers up by two at 11:09. "It was our chance to maybe get a lead and all of a sudden, we're down two goals," Mathieu Perreault said. "It's kind of how this game goes sometimes, but we're going to have to bear down in key times of games and be better." Kassian made it a 3-0 game after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Benoit Pouliot hounded the Jets, forcing a turnover just inside the blue line. After taking the no-look, behind-the-back pass from Pouliot, Kassian rifled a shot top shelf to put the Oilers up by a commanding margin. "Those turnovers on good ice, bad ice, whatever, they're going to end up in your net. They were obvious and the result was emphatic," Head Coach Paul Maurice said. "We certainly would have liked to give the fans one reason to get out of their seats today and we couldn't do that…but it was such a spectacular week here in Winnipeg."

Talbot was the difference early on, stopping 10 Winnipeg shots in a heavily tilted opening frame. Patrik Laine was turned aside twice in the period - once on a beautifully crafted 2-on-1 with Mark Scheifele, and the other in tight after putting the moves on Oilers defenceman Andrej Sekera - and Nikolaj Ehlers had a great chance fall by the wayside as well, leaving the game in scoreless draw through 20 minutes of play. In the end, those missed opportunities proved costly. While the loss will end this emotional week on a sour note, Maurice will look back on it with fond memories. He hopes you, the fans will, too. After all, our city was at the centre of the hockey world - and boy, did we look good. Be proud, Winnipeg. Be proud. "There's been a bit of a circus atmosphere that's been in town in the last five days with the kind of hockey that's been played. We don't want to shy away from that; we want to embrace that. We want to become a team that plays in these kind of meaningful, exciting and at some point, pressure-filled games. "It was great for the city of Winnipeg. We showed ourselves in a very positive light this week." NHL.com https://www.nhl.com/news/mark-letestu-has-moment-at-heritage-classic/c-282986392?tid=281290524

Mark Letestu has moment at Heritage Classic By Nicholas J. Cotsonika WINNIPEG -- Mark Letestu grew up in Elk Point, Alberta, a town about 2 1/2 hours northeast of Edmonton. He learned to play hockey in a frozen, flooded garden in his backyard, shooting at a piece of plywood, imagining himself as a member of the Montreal Canadiens, and played shinny under the lights late into the night at an outdoor rink by a Windsor Salt plant in nearby Lindbergh, Alberta, a place so small if you blink, you miss it. "Outdoor hockey," Letestu said, "seems to be a part of every young Canadian kid's learning of the game." Now here he was Sunday in the 2016 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic, an outdoor game designed to celebrate and romanticize those roots, sparking a 3-0 win for the Edmonton Oilers against the Winnipeg Jets before 33,240 at Investors Group Field. These events take regular-season NHL games and turn them into spectacles, creating moments to remember for fans and players alike, moments like this. Letestu was killing a penalty when Jets captain Blake Wheeler tried to pass from the left-wing corner to the point. Letestu got his stick on the puck, and the puck slowed as it approached Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, like a changeup approaching a home-run hitter. Byfuglien swung and missed. He tried to kick the puck. Missed. The puck kept sliding, and with Byfuglien reeling, Letestu slipped past Byfuglien, grabbed the puck and took off.

It was a breakaway from the Winnipeg blue line, so clean it was like a penalty shot. Letestu was so focused in the moment, he didn't consider "The Moment," that this was the second period of a scoreless tie in a football stadium on national television in Canada, that his mom, dad, family and friends were watching back home in Elk Point. He said he was thinking only, "Please score." But he was able to slow down and think of what to do. "When you get a breakaway from the far blue in," Letestu said, "you've got a lot of time to kind of make up your mind to put the shot on that you want." Letestu went to his favorite shootout move. He skated to the left, approached on his forehand, stickhandled head up and beat Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck's glove. Even then, he didn't consider "The Moment." He tried to avoid running over referee Gord Dwyer. He heard a muted road cheer, not a home roar. When he got back to the bench and his teammates congratulated him, he was happy he had broken the scoreless tie more than anything. He has scored bigger goals, overtime goals down the stretch in the regular season, a goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He scored a shorthanded goal on Hellebuyck in the preseason -- using the same move, shooting to the same spot -- and a shorthanded goal Oct. 14 against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome. This goal counted the same as his other 69 regular-season goals. It didn't feel the same, though. "It's different," Letestu said. "I mean …" He laughed. "We're under the sky," he continued. "The jets are flying overhead [at the end of the Canadian national anthem]. There's a lot of people here." Darnell Nurse had a moment soon afterward. He came out of the penalty box, joined the rush and smacked in a feed from Connor McDavid for his fourth NHL goal, giving the Oilers a 2-0 lead. The nephew of former National Football League quarterback Donovan McNabb and son of former Canadian Football League wide receiver Richard Nurse scored in the home of the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers. "I know what it felt like for my uncle and my dad when they were scoring touchdowns," Nurse said with a laugh. "It was a lot of fun." Zack Kassian had a moment later in the second, taking a behind-the-back feed from Benoit Pouliot and giving the Oilers a 3-0 lead. Goaltender Cam Talbot had a moment when the final horn sounded and his 31-save shutout was secure. Letestu scooped up the puck and popped it into Talbot's glove. "That's just something I figured maybe Cam would want," Letestu said. This was something for everyone to cherish, even the Jets, once the disappointment of losing fades.

"Tonight is a night full of memories for both teams," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "Win or lose, you have something you're going to talk to your kids about, your family. You're going to tell stories, success or failure. You'll remember good and bad things about it. These games are important for the fans, for the League, for hockey in general, but they're important for the players too. It's a different night." As he stood in the dressing room after the game, remnants of eye black on his face, an Oilers Heritage Classic toque on his head, Letestu expected his phone to be full of text messages from people back home in Elk Point. It had sunk in that his mom and dad, who flooded that garden in the backyard, and his buddies, perhaps some of whom had played at that outdoor rink by that salt plant, had been watching, had seen that goal, had seen his TV interview between periods. "This one's pretty cool," Letestu said. "It's just a kind of a memorable thing I'll be able to tell my kids." https://www.nhl.com/news/heritage-classic-shined-bright-despite-game-delay/c-282986968?tid=281290524

Heritage Classic shined bright despite game delay By Tim Campbell WINNIPEG -- Sunshine was a big part of hosting the 2016 Tim Hortons Heritage Classic for the Winnipeg Jets. It was too sunny in the early afternoon at Investors Group Field on Sunday and concerns over glare and the possible effect on the ice resulted a two-hour delay in the start of the first of four outdoor games this season. Following their 3-0 defeat by the Edmonton Oilers, the Jets said the memories of the Heritage Classic will remain bright despite the result. "It was a great weekend for Winnipeg," Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. "I think the community had a great time embracing the festivities. For the players, the two-hour delay was kind of annoying, but for the fans, it might have helped [them] get hydrated a little bit. "I know everyone's been looking forward to this for a long time. It's too bad we couldn't get a win tonight, but I don't think it tarnishes Winnipeg or the Jets." Jets coach Paul Maurice said the result didn't tarnish the week. "I certainly would have liked to give the fans at least one reason to get out of their seats, and we couldn't do that for them, unfortunately," he said. "But it was such a spectacular week here, especially for the city of Winnipeg, right from the gala straight through. Overall, it's a spectacular week, but the game was a tough one." Maurice was asked what will stick with him from the events of the week. "I have a picture in my head of [Saturday's alumni] game and the 'True North' chant that came during the national anthem, but I happened to be standing behind [Jets chairman] Mark Chipman, who was standing two or three rows down taking it all in.

"What I will remember the most is wondering in my own head if he understands - and I'm sure he does, but he's such a humble man, I don't know that he does - the impact that he had on the community. I wondered if in the inaugural game of the Manitoba Moose [20] years ago, if that hard work would come to this in a really short period of time. I'm just really proud to be here. Road teams in outdoor games are 14-4-1, and in the Heritage Classic, 3-1. The trend continued, but Maurice said it wasn't about the pressure to win. "No, no pressure," he said. "Certainly if we had the first period, flipped those and the second was our first, I might have thought so, but we played our best hockey in the first 20, all fired up for them, and couldn't get it to go. "It was the best outdoor ice I've ever skated on in my life. It was still not quite NHL normal rinks, and we did some things with the puck that the home team wants to do to make a play. The visiting team got it right. Keep it simple, keep it north and keep it going to the net and just wait for a bobbled puck or a broken play." Jets rookie forward Patrik Laine, who had four goals in the first four games of the season, had a great scoring opportunity from the middle of the ice in the first period, but shot wide. "The first period was pretty good," Laine said. "We created some high-quality chances, including my chance, and I should have scored, but I didn't. "I don't know what went wrong in the second and third. We just weren't playing our game. Sometimes we played OK, but OK's not enough in this league. We have to be way better in the next game if we'd like to win." The Jets trailed in each of their first five games and allowed 19 goals. "We've turned the puck over in some high-risk areas and we haven't been able to shut those down," Maurice said. "Those turnovers, on good ice, bad ice or whatever, they're going to be in your net." Winnipeg (2-3-0) has led for 17:03 this season. "The second period is a problem now," Wheeler said. "We've talked about it a few times now and we need to find a way to come out with the same type of intensity the way we do in the first. "Maybe intensity is the wrong word, but whatever the right word is, we're just not doing a good enough job. Teams that we have been playing seem to regroup after the first and figure out a way to put some pressure on us. We just kind of stopped moving our feet the way we did in the first." https://www.nhl.com/news/heritage-classic-diary-winnipeg-jets-mark-scheifele/c-282983850?tid=281290524

Heritage Classic diary: Mark Scheifele

Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele is keeping a diary of his experiences at the 2016 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg. The Jets lost 3-0 against the Edmonton Oilers Sunday in the 19th outdoor regular-season game, and the first of four this season. In his final installment, Scheifele talks about the game, the celebration of hockey in Winnipeg and the two-hour delay before the start of the Heritage Classic. WINNIPEG -- The delay at the start of the game today, well, obviously was not ideal, that's for sure, but we were aware that it possibly could have happened so we knew there was a chance. For the most part, we were given far enough notice that we were able to get back into our routine and restart. Once we got on the ice, got out there for warmup and saw the atmosphere, I'm sure all the guys' legs perked right up. We had chances to score in the first period and we didn't. We needed to capitalize and get them on their heels but [Oilers goalie Cam] Talbot made some big saves. He kept them in there at the start of the game, but we have to be better knowing that there's going to be that adversity. We're not going to score on every chance we get. We have to continue to play that way if we want to beat teams like that. We've been behind a lot in our first five games but I don't think it's bothering us. We want to get up in games. You saw in that first period [Sunday] that we had three or four Grade A chances down the slot and weren't able to capitalize, and that was something that cost us. If we could have gotten up in that first period it could have changed the game, got them to start to press and then we could have capitalized. At the other end, they were able to score first and we had to try to come from behind again. I've played in a few big-emotion, big-pressure games now in Winnipeg. I think about that very first game here in 2011. [I felt] some of that again [Sunday]. That kind of thing is pretty cool. It's a pretty big honor to be part of big games like that. Obviously there's a lot of pressure, a lot of eyes watching, but we're all professionals here and we all know how to deal with that pressure. I take it more as an honor, being in games like that, and more for motivation. https://www.nhl.com/news/heritage-classic-diary-winnipeg-jets-mark-scheifele/c-282983850?tid=281290524

Oilers shut out Jets in Heritage Classic By Shawn O'Rourke WINNIPEG -- Edmonton Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot proved to be an unruly guest at the Winnipeg Jets outdoor hockey party. Talbot made 31 saves for the shutout, the third in 19 regular-season outdoor games, when the Oilers defeated the Jets 3-0 in the 2016 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic at Investors Group Field on Sunday.

"Certainly would have liked to give fans at least one reason to get out of their seats," Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. "We couldn't do that for them, unfortunately. It was such a spectacular week here, especially for the city of Winnipeg. The game was a tough one." Talbot made it difficult for the Jets by holding the fort in the first period, making 10 saves, with the Oilers (5-1-0) trying to find their footing. He has been a part of three outdoor games in the NHL, but this was his first time he saw action. "I was really excited for this one, obviously, to get a chance to play in my first game," he said. "The atmosphere was great out there. The ice was in pretty good condition. It was just a heck of a weekend getting to have dinner with the alumni the other night and then have some fun in practice yesterday. "It's always a lot of fun for the guys coming out here and getting to play in these games. I was just looking forward to taking it all in and hopefully come out with a big two points, which obviously we were able to get." Talbot, who became a first-time father with the birth of twins Landon Thomas and Sloane Colleen on Wednesday, got his 12th career shutout (119 NHL games). Center Mark Letestu, defenseman Darnell Nurse and right wing Zack Kassian scored in a span of 7:52 in the second period. The Jets (2-3-0) are the 15th home team to lose in the 19 regular-season outdoor games played in NHL history. The road team is 14-4-1 and 9-3-0 since the start of the 2013-14 season. The start of the game was delayed by almost two hours because of the presence of direct sunlight on the ice surface, which presented a potential danger to player safety. The temperature at puck drop was 50.1 degrees. Letestu made it 1-0 on a shorthanded breakaway at 9:24 of the second period. Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien misplayed the puck, allowing Letestu to break in alone on Connor Hellebuyck (29 saves) and beat him with a snap shot for the second shorthanded goal in outdoor game history. "There wasn't any wow moment when I got the puck; it was more please score," said Letestu. Goal of the game Letestu intercepted a pass by Winnipeg right wing Blake Wheeler and capitalized on a mistake by Byfuglien to score shorthanded. Save of the game Hellebuyck made a series of three saves in 11 seconds late in the second period, stopping Leon Draisaitl on back-to-back wrist shots to start the sequence with 2:27 left in the second period.

Unsung moment of the game A poke check by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on rookie Patrik Laine in the Jets defensive zone set up Kassian's goal at 17:16 of the second. Highlight of the game Nurse gave the Oilers a 2-0 lead at 11:10 of the second, scoring on a pass from Connor McDavid on a 2-on-1 break eight seconds after Nurse was released from the penalty box. They said it "It's icing on the cake. Going into it you want to enjoy the experience as much as you can, but most importantly, you want to get the two points. When you're playing well as team and things are going well it's a fun game to be a part of, especially when you walk away with two points." -- Oilers right wing Zack Kassian on his goal "I thought in the first period we were the better team. We had some great chances. Cam came up with some great saves. We get a power play in the second and think we can go get the lead and then a bad bounce, a guy gets a breakaway and they score and then a guy gets out of the penalty box and all of a sudden you're down 2-0 when you're thinking you're playing an alright game." -- Jets center Mathieu Perrault on Edmonton's first two goals "I just tried something stupid and they got the puck and scored. It was my mistake and my man. I just want to learn from that mistake and move on." -- Jets right wing Patrick Laine on his turnover that led to Edmonton's third goal Need to know Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames (2011 Heritage Classic) and Jonas Hiller of the Anaheim Ducks (2014 Stadium Series) have the other shutouts in outdoor game history. … After finishing with the second-fewest points in the League last season (71), Edmonton (5-1-0) is the first team to reach 10 points this season. … Winnipeg has led for 17:03 in its first five games. What's next

Oilers: Host the Washington Capitals on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; SN1, SN360, SNO, SNW, CSN-DC, NHL.TV) Jets: At the Dallas Stars on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, TSN-3, NHL.TV) https://www.nhl.com/news/sum-41-plays-pregame-set-at-heritage-classic-spectator-plaza/c-282978456?tid=281290524

Heritage Classic Spectator Plaza fun outlet for fans By Scott Billeck WINNIPEG -- For Aaron Bird, the 2016 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic was the ultimate 2-for-1 deal. Bird, 24, not only got to see his Winnipeg Jets play the Edmonton Oilers in the outdoor game Sunday, he also got to see his favorite band, Sum 41, play a pregame set at the Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic Spectator Plaza. The hockey-themed, family-friendly plaza served as the official pregame fan festival and was packed with ticket holders awaiting the Heritage Classic. "I bought their "All Killer, No Filler" album when I was 13 or 14 years old," Bird said after Sum 41 finished its hour-long set. "They played all the songs from the first album I bought when I was in junior high." Fellow Jets fan Josh Deserrano, 28, was standing with Bird near the stage. "It was a good set list for the crowd that was here," he said. "The crowd was into it, they were engaging with us and everyone was having fun." During the show, Sum 41 lead singer Deryck Whibley asked the crowd who was going to win the game. The resulting "Go Jets Go" chant provided a quick and overwhelming answer, and Whibley subsequently dedicated the band's breakout song "Fat Lip" to a Jets win. Advertised as an event for all ages, 87-year-old Douglas Cobb said he felt right at home among Jets fans at Spectator Plaza. "Everywhere I go, I'm always the oldest guy," he said laughing. The Molson Canadian Human Bubble Hockey and Upper Deck trading card zone were among the most popular attractions Sunday. Cobb was just beginning his tour of the plaza. His wife Mary was already having her picture taken behind a cutout of a Jets player. "We don't get too many of these things, we're all slow moving," Cobb said. "This has been a lot of fun."

TSN http://www.tsn.ca/radio/winnipeg-1290/hustler-and-lawless-at-the-heritage-classic-october-23-1.590623

Hustler and Lawless at the Heritage Classic - October 23 http://www.tsn.ca/radio/winnipeg-1290/edmonds-city-of-winnipeg-shone-bright-1.591108 Edmonds: City of Winnipeg shone bright (Audio) http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/video/jets-learning-as-they-go-this-season~978572 Jets learning as they go this season (Video) http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/video/winnipeg-hosts-a-five-star-heritage-classic~978209 Winnipeg hosts a ''five-star'' Heritage Classic (Video) http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/video/heritage-classic-oilers-3-jets-0~978425 Heritage Classic: Oilers 3, Jets 0 (video) Sportsnet http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/heritage-classic-marks-winnipegs-stable-bright-nhl-future/

Heritage Classic marks Winnipeg’s stable, bright NHL future By Chris Johnston WINNIPEG – My, how the emotions can rise and fall in the span of a couple days. There stood Patrik Laine with a long face while discussing a golden opportunity lost at the Heritage Classic. Coming off a hat trick, the electrifying Winnipeg Jets rookie found himself wide open in the slot early in Sunday’s game and somehow fired the puck right over the glass. “I don’t know what went wrong,” said Laine. “I should have scored.” There will always be a little tinge of “coulda, woulda, shoulda” associated with this afternoon for the Jets. For a couple days the NHL’s smallest town became the centre of the hockey universe. You had Wayne Gretzky and Teemu Selanne and Dale Hawerchuk posing for selfies with seemingly half the people who live here. And then there was the massive civic celebration that occurred at Investors Group Field, where 30,000-plus packed the place on back-to-back days. The situation seemed perfect for a young Jets team to make a statement of intent. But they were just a little bit off.

A solid start against the Edmonton Oilers didn’t produce a goal, in large part because of that chance Laine would normally score on 9-out-of-10 times. "I should bury those 10 out of 10," he said. Then a second period power play ended up leading to two against – with Mark Letestu scoring on a breakaway before Darnell Nurse jumped out of the penalty box and finished off a 2-on-1 with Connor McDavid. Even though Winnipeg already has a couple big comebacks under its belt early this season, it wouldn’t find another on a temporary ice sheet where the puck bounced around a fair bit. Zack Kassian gave Edmonton a 3-0 lead before the second intermission and that was more than enough for goalie Cam Talbot. “Sometimes we played OK, but OK is not enough in this league,” said Laine. “We have to be way better in the next game if we’d like to win.” “It’s just the three turnovers, and they’re obvious, and the result was emphatic,” lamented Jets coach Paul Maurice. As we come to learn more about these outdoor games it’s clear that the visiting team has an edge. Only five of 19 hosts have come away with a victory and it’s no surprise given all the extra hype that arrives when the circus is in town. On Sunday, the start was delayed two hours by brilliant sunshine and Oilers coach Todd McLellan felt that gave his team an added edge. Down the hallway, the Jets would be anxious to get on with it after talking about this event for months. Edmonton, meanwhile, slipped into town 48 hours before puck drop and was able to play a simple game designed to get two points. “It’s easier to be the road team,” said McLellan. “I’m convinced of that now. In San Jose, we were the home team and there’s way more distractions. It feels like it’s a bit of a circus sometimes when you’re the home team. “So we were able to just focus.” It punctuated a solid first couple weeks for these Oilers, who are 5-1-0 for the first time since 1985-86. That put them atop the NHL standings on Sunday night – a distinction worth noting given that the organization has spent more than a decade wandering around the desert. Edmonton used the Heritage Classic as an opportunity to connect its present with the past. Players dined with members of the alumni on Friday night, and wanted to perform well with so many in attendance for Sunday’s game. “These guys kind of set the bar for what it means to be an Oiler, and we’re looking to try and continue that and kind of remake that Oiler name,” said McDavid. “I think playing for the Oilers, I certainly feel that it’s such a family. “With the alumni, we kind of came together, and get to know each other a little bit.”

The Jets also believe that better days lie ahead. Laine is going to be a bonafide star and he's surrounded by four other first-round picks made by GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. This weekend was a celebration of how far Winnipeg has come. The loss of the original Jets in 1996 left a scar that has since been healed over with the return of the NHL in 2011. Now? This is fantastic place to come for a game. Memories were made here despite the result. “I have a picture in my head of yesterday's (alumni) game and the ‘True North’ chant that came during the national anthem," said Maurice. "I happened to be standing behind (Jets chairman) Mark Chipman, and what I will remember the most is wondering in my own head if he understands ... the impact that he had on the community. "I wondered if in the inaugural game of the (AHL's) Manitoba Moose years ago if (he knew) that hard work would come to this in a really short period of time. I'm just really proud to be here." He's far from alone. The Jets had a chance to put a storybook ending on a special weekend, but they didn't spoil it by failing to deliver. The future here has never looked brighter. http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/goes-brown-weekend-wrap-lets-take-outside/

Down Goes Brown Weekend Wrap: Let’s take it outside Opening faceoff: Let’s take it outside There’s no question that outdoor games have lost some of their luster over the years. Once the league realized they had a hit on their hands, they started packing the schedule with

outdoor games – in hindsight, probably too many. Yesterday was the 22nd time the league had

gone outdoors, and the 18th since the first Winter Classic just eight years ago. The novelty factor is all but gone, and more than a few fans were scratching their heads when they realized the league was headed outdoors again before the season was even two weeks old. But as often seems to happen with these games, a big chunk of that cynicism fades away once the event arrives. The weekend in Winnipeg was undeniably fun, starting with a star-studded alumni game on Saturday that featured nearly all of the biggest names from the Smythe Division rivalry days, an appearance by Wayne Gretzky that may well have been his last, and a dramatic last-second winner by Teemu Selanne that was right out of a storybook. That set a high bar for Sunday's real game. Once things got going after a delay caused by bright sun, we were treated to a decent (if not especially exciting) 3-0 Oilers win — one that saw Cam Talbot make 31 saves on the way to his first shutout of the season.

It probably wasn't quite the sort of show the NHL was hoping for, especially given all the young talent involved in the game. But the overall spectacle of the game still worked, with a strong crowd of nearly 33,000 present and some nice shots of the stadium setup. We even got the return of the Ref Cam.

It may not have been a classic, but it all added up to an afternoon well spent. The game will move back inside for the next two months or so, at which point we'll be treated to two outdoor games in two days (just in case anyone has gone into withdrawal). Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/oilers-leave-the-jets-depleted-in-heritage-classic-matchup/article32487329/

Oilers leave the Jets depleted in Heritage Classic matchup By Marty Klinkenberg There was barely a nip in the air Sunday as the sun shimmered off the beautiful ice surface fashioned inside Investors Group Field. It was hardly colder than any indoors rink, and hospitable for Winnipeg in the last week of October. It wasn’t the 10 C temperature but bright sunshine that caused a delay at the Heritage Classic. NHL officials believed glare posed a risk to the goalies, so the midafternoon start at one of the league’s most high-profile games was pushed back nearly two hours. Shadows crisscrossed the stadium by the time the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers finally appeared, walking down a narrow corridor as they were enveloped in smoke and fireworks cascaded around them. The gathering of more than 30,000 cheered the hometown Jets and jeered the Oilers, but it was all in fun. The house was full, copious amounts of poutine and perogies were consumed, and hockey was played beneath a turquoise sky on the prairies. What could possibly be better? This was the 19th regular-season NHL game played outdoors and the first of four during the 2016-17 season. It was the first time the Jets participated in the Heritage Classic and only the second for Edmonton, which held the NHL’s inaugural outdoors adventure at Commonwealth Stadium in -27 C temperatures in November, 2003. The Oilers built a lead around three second-period goals and silenced the partisan crowd en route to a 3-0 victory. It was Edmonton’s fifth triumph in six games, uncharted territory for a team whose playoff drought stands at 10 years. The Jets are 2-3. The anticipated matchup between both franchises’ great young players never materialized. Connor McDavid, the Oilers’ 19-year-old captain, registered an assist on their second goal by feeding a perfect pass to Darnell Nurse. Patrik Laine, Winnipeg’s 18-year-old first-round pick, failed to add to the four goals he scored in his first four NHL games. Result notwithstanding, spectators basked in the atmosphere of a weekend-long celebration. Former stars from both teams hooked up for fun and bragging rights before a crowd of more

than 30,000 on Saturday; for the record, Teemu Selanne scored the game-winner on a penalty shot in the final seconds to secure the Jets’ 6-5 conquest. Mark Messier scored twice for the Oilers but his Hall-of-Fame teammate, Wayne Gretzky, saw only limited action. Gretzky, 55, put the team together as Edmonton’s captain, but skates only rarely now and may never again. “I stink,” the self-Deprecating One said afterward. “I didn’t have any expectations and didn’t tell anybody I’d be the Wayne Gretzky of the Eighties. I am terrible. “I’m not doing a road show. That might be my last game.” Dave Lumley, a winger who won two Stanley Cups in Edmonton in the 1980s, collected an assist, despite playing with two torn rotator cuffs and on the same skates he used in 1984, 1985 and 1986. Craig MacTavish, the Oilers’ current vice-president of hockey operations, chipped in a goal and an assist. “It was good fun,” MacTavish, 58, said. “The game had a little bit of everything but speed.” The Jets invited the Oilers to share in the celebration because of their enduring history. Both were original members of the World Hockey Association and entered the NHL in 1979 as part of a four-team expansion. The teams faced off in the Stanley Cup playoffs six times between 1983 and 1990, with the Oilers winning every series. As such, fans began grumbling Saturday as the Oilers chipped away at the Jets’ 4-1 lead. “It’s like every Oilers-Jets game in 86,” one wag from Winnipeg said, watching from the press box. “And 85, 84, 83, …” The last time Edmonton won the Stanley Cup was 1990. Faced with mounting financial challenges, Winnipeg lost the Jets in 1996, but heartbreak turned euphoria when True North Sports and Entertainment purchased the Atlanta Thrashers and moved them to Manitoba in 2011. The Jets’ fans rank among the most resilient in the NHL and whooped it up both days. The crowd roared on Saturday when a portrait of the Queen was shown on the jumbo screen. The five-metre by seven-metre painting was unveiled during the Jets’ first season in the NHL and remained hanging in the old Winnipeg arena throughout their tenure. Across generations, players for the Jets used the portrait, hung near the blueline at one end, for target practice. The pace was light-speed faster on Sunday. Like major-league outfielders, players on both benches painted black strips beneath their eyes as a means to reduce the glare. Oilers goalie Cam Talbot was a member of the Rangers when they had an outdoor game delayed at Yankee Stadium a few years ago, so he said it came as no surprise.

“I knew it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, so we were prepared for that,” said Talbot, who had 31 saves and has now allowed only three goals in the past three games. “We waited longer than expected, but knew we had to be ready once the puck dropped.” The teams played a goalless first period before the wheels fell off for Winnipeg in the second. Mark Letestu put Edmonton ahead with a short-handed goal with 10 minutes 36 seconds left, pulling away for a breakaway after Dustin Byfuglien swung and missed at the blueline. “The ice played a factor, with the puck bouncing a little bit,” Letestu said. “It was bouncing like Bugs Bunny as I headed for the net but thankfully it settled down enough for me to put it in.” Less than two minutes later, Nurse buried a shot past Connor Hellebuyck after a nifty pass from McDavid. Zack Kassian finished the scoring with less than three minutes remaining, hitting the net after receiving a backhanded no-look pass from Benoît Pouliot. The result was a downer for the Jets’ rabid followers, but came at the end of an exciting week in Winnipeg. Gretzky and Dale Hawerchuk participated in the ceremonial pregame puck drop moments after fighter jets flew overhead, and fans cheered their lungs out no matter what. They did the wave, poured more than $400,000 into the 50-50 raffle and booed as stadium staff retrieved pucks and refused to hand them over after they flew high over the glass. This weekend was a chance for Winnipeg to show itself off to the hockey world, and that was accomplished quite well. “We would have liked to give fans reason to get out of their seats today, but it was still a spectacular week for us,” said Paul Maurice, the Jets’ coach. “It was great to have this here, and it was great for the city. “We showed ourselves in a positive light.” CBC http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-jets-edmonton-oilers-heritage-classic-1.3818124

Best, brightest moments from Heritage Classic weekend in Winnipeg Winnipeg was treated to a weekend jam-packed with memorable moments on and off the ice during the Heritage Classic. Losing never looked so happy The Jets may not have come away with the win against the Edmonton Oilers, but that didn't stop Winnipeg fans from walking away from Investors Group Field with big happy grins on their faces. Jets fans still all smiles after Heritage Classic loss to Oilers The Oilers downed the Jets 3-0 Sunday in front of 33,240 spectators at the outdoor game.

After entering the second period scoreless on both sides, Edmonton fired two past Jets' goaltender Connor Hellebuyck in the span of less than two minutes. Then Oilers' winger Zack Kassian scored near the end of the second in what would be the third and final goal of the game. The outcome of that game was a tough pill to swallow for Winnipeg fans, but many who were in the stands couldn't help but feel lucky just to take in the big outdoor game. "Heartbreaking.... It was awesome," Kevin Chartrand said. "The atmosphere was still there, even though we didn't go home with it." Beer makes for 'trip of a lifetime' ...Well, it wasn't the beer per se as much as the can that housed it that made for an amazing weekend for a pair of hockey fans from B.C. Clay Palmantier found a sharp looking Heritage-Classic-themed beer can in a parking lot last week out west, and he was so taken by the design that he went to the vendor and picked up a 24-pack of his own. The only problem was that none of those cans matched the one from the parking lot. The curious difference sent him out to the garage. Jets fans still all smiles after Heritage Classic loss to Oilers0:42 That's where he fished out the old can from his recycling to find that it was just like the one shown on the beer can box — one that won he and his friend, Jake Hilton, tickets to the big game in Winnipeg. "It is a Willy Wonka story. Like finding the golden ticket," Palmantier said. Late start The game on Sunday was scheduled to get underway at 2 p.m. CT, but mother nature had other plans. Big reflective sheets had to be stretched out across the outdoor rink to keep the ice from melting, as the bright rays from the sun shone down and made for poor ice conditions. The game finally got underway about two hours later, just before 4 p.m. CT. Gretzky 'stinks' On Saturday, Oiler and Jet legends dusted off the skates and played in the Heritage Classic Alumni game. Former Oiler captain, and overall hockey God, Wayne Gretzky suited up for his old club alongside superstars such as Mark Messier.

While many in the stands said it was amazing to see their old hockey heroes back at it again, the game certainly wasn't very fast compared to the young guns on Sunday — and boy, did The Great One know it (and feel it). "I'm really bad," Gretzky said with a laugh, adding he had warned his teammates before the game. Finnish Flash flies again Gretzky retired in 1999 and has spent much of his time since hitting the links rather than pucks. On the other hand, Teemu Selanne just retired in 2014. The 46-year-old former Jet had a much longer career than your average NHLer, and based on his play in the legends game Saturday, he's still got it. Selanne scored twice Saturday and helped propel the Jets to a 6-5 win over the Oilers of old. His second goal was the game-winner on a penalty shot with 3.6 seconds left in the game. The Finnish Flash put the puck low glove-side against the Oilers' keeper, bringing Jets fans in the stands to their feet. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/oilers-jets-heritage-classic-1.3818319

Oilers coach convinced grand setting, attention on Winnipeg made for less pressure on away team By Min Dhariwal There was an unusual, two-hour delay before the Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets hit the ice for Sunday's annual NHL Heritage Classic. Unlike the day before, when both alumni teams took to the ice as scheduled, the regular season match up was delayed due to sunny weather — that has to be a first for Winnipeg. The sun was causing too much glare on the ice, so in light of player safety, the NHL pushed the start time to 4 p.m. CDT. The game started off well for the Jets, who were playing in front of 33,240 fans. They peppered Oilers goalie Cam Talbot with 10 shots but Talbot, who's had a big week with some strong wins — and his wife delivering twin babies — was solid in net. Oilers struck first In the second period, it took a shorthanded breakaway goal by penalty killer Mark Letestu to put the Oilers on the scoreboard first. "The puck was bouncing a little bit, I was just fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of a good bounce, " said Letestu, who has two shorthanded goals so far this season.

Defenceman Darnell Nurse and right winger Zack Kassian added two more quick tallies, making it 3-0 for the Oilers (5-1-0) within a span of 7:52. "Once that puck dropped we knew we had to be ready, we talked about it in the room they came out flying like we knew they would, " said Talbot who is only the third goalie to backstop his team to a shutout in 19 regular-season outdoor games. "We weathered the storm a bit got out of that first period and came out pretty hard in the second there and [Letestu] got a big shorthanded goal and got us started." Jets didn't take off For the Jets, not being able to give their loyal fans a reason to stand up and cheer was disappointing, especially coming off the coattails of an alumni game where the legendary Teemu Selanne stole the show, lifting the Jets to a 6-5 win. "Certainly would have liked to give the fans at least one reason to get out of the seats today. We couldn't do that for them unfortunately," said coach Paul Maurice "But it was such a spectacular week here, especially for the city of Winnipeg, right from the gala, straight through, lots of enthusiasm, enjoyment, and overall it was a spectacular week and the event of our team, but the game was a tough one." Oilers captain Connor McDavid who was held to one assist on the night, said he was happy to experience the spectacle of playing in an outdoor game. "We rose to the challenge," said McDavid. "It was a big win for us." Win moves Oilers into first place The win was the third-in-a-row for the Oilers, moving them into top spot in the NHL with 10 points. Now it's back to Edmonton and another test to see if the they can keep it going. "I thought we started the season sloppily and won games," said Oilers coach Todd McLellan who challenged his team a week ago after dropping a 6-2 decision to the Buffalo Sabres in Edmonton. "We gave up a lot of opportunities and chances. We were very sleepy and casual against Buffalo," he said. "We went after the group pretty hard, but after that, we responded well. and we played two pretty good teams here, three pretty good teams over the last little bit and played the game a lot better." The Oilers host the Washington Capitals next on Wednesday night. Chrisd.ca http://www.chrisd.ca/2016/10/23/nhl-heritage-classic-winnipeg-jets-edmonton-oilers-game-story/

Turnovers Unravel Jets in 3-0 Heritage Classic Loss to Oilers By John Gaudes WINNIPEG — The stage was different Sunday, but for the Winnipeg Jets, the same struggles showed up. Through five games this season, the Jets’ major offensive struggle has been on the power play. At the much-anticipated Heritage Classic, the man advantage did them in again, as two power play gaffes in the second period were the turning point in a 3-0 win for the Edmonton Oilers. Winnipeg, now 2-for-19 on the power play this season, was given an opportunity midway through the second as Darnell Nurse sat for cross-checking. It quickly turned ugly, though, when Dustin Byfuglien coughed up the puck at the Oilers blue line, allowing a Mark Letestu breakaway that ended in an easy goal. Trailing 1-0, the Jets fumbled the puck again moments later, just as Nurse burst out of the penalty box. Off on a break with the electric youngster Connor McDavid, he received a slick pass, burying it to put the Oilers up two. Zack Kassian added another Oilers goal late in the second after Patrik Laine attempted a deke in his own zone, and Winnipeg was unable to respond in the third. “The three turnovers, they’re obvious and the result was emphatic,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice. “I wouldn’t like to think that’s part of our game, we’re seeing it a fair amount early on, but didn’t see it in the first.” “But those turnovers – good ice, bad ice, whatever – they’re going to be in your net.” “In the first period, we did what we wanted to do – we got pucks behind them, we had good sticks, we weren’t trying to do anything too fancy. Then we started to play with the puck a little too much, tried to make plays that weren’t there, and from there they were able to capitalize,” said Jets centre Mark Scheifele. Oilers goalie Cam Talbot thwarted the Jets all afternoon, tallying 31 saves for the shutout. Kassian had an assist to go with his goal, while Benoit Pouliot and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also had helpers. Winnipeg, meanwhile, got a good showing from goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who swatted off 32 shots in a losing effort. The Jets fall to 2-3-0 after the loss, while the Oilers are the surprise of this young NHL season with their 5-1-0 start. “We shouldn’t hit the panic button too soon here. We’re going to come together as a team and when we do, we’re going to be dangerous,” said Hellebuyck. Of course, this all came on the Heritage Classic stage, as Winnipeg hosted its first ever outdoor NHL game in front of 33,240 fans at Investors Group Field. “There’s a bit of a circus atmosphere here in town the last five days, with the hockey that’s been played,” said Maurice, referring to Wednesday’s comeback win over the Maple Leafs and

today’s big stage. “We don’t want to shy away from that, we want to embrace that, we want to become a team that plays in these kind of meaningful, exciting, and eventually pressure-filled games. The fact that it was early in the year, I thought it was great.” The puck drop was delayed two hours from the initial 2 p.m. schedule, as the afternoon sun reflecting off the ice posed hazard to players. By the time the game got underway at 3:53 p.m., the Oilers and Jets had only shadows to deal with, and it never came into play during a quiet first period. In that first, the Jets had a couple chances to open the scoring, with the lineup of Scheifele, Laine and Byfuglien causing problems. Seven minutes in, Scheifele got a cross-ice pass to Laine, but the rookie was unable to get a handle. “I think it’s a prime spot for any hockey player, and you should be able to score from those chances and I didn’t,” said Laine. Minutes later, Byfuglien delivered to Blake Wheeler on the doorstep, but he too failed to get a stick on the puck. Winnipeg outshot the Oilers 10-8 in the first, but puck security and penalties foiled their efforts to get on the board in the second and third. After this brief flirtation with a football stadium, the Jets have 7 of the next 11 games on road rinks. This begins with a home-and-home against the Dallas Stars, who they’ll meet Tuesday in Dallas and Thursday at the MTS Centre.

MyToba.ca http://mytoba.ca/featured/despite-loss-maurice-calls-great-week-winnipeg/

Despite loss, Maurice calls it ‘a great week for Winnipeg’ By Scott Taylor Winnipeg, MB – Before Sunday’s Heritage Classic, Winnipeg Jets assistant captain Mark Scheifele talked about how proud and honoured he was to play in the outdoor spectacle. While still proud and honoured after the game, he certainly wasn’t pleased with the outcome. The visiting Edmonton Oilers capitalized on three big Jets mistakes, two in the attacking zone, both in the second period, and turned them all into goals. With a three-goal lead after 40 minutes, the Oilers controlled the final period and beat the Jets 3-0 in front of a terrific crowd of 33,240 at Investors Group Field in the first outdoor NHL game in Winnipeg history.“ The experience was awesome but at the end of the day the two points were big and we lost out on them,” Scheifele said. “In the first period, we did what we wanted to do. We got pucks behind them, we had good sticks and we didn’t try to do anything too fancy. Then we started to play with the puck too much. We tried to make plays that weren’t there and when we had chances we failed to capitalize.” That about summed it up. Giveaways in the second period led to three goals and the Jets couldn’t answer. Mark Letestu stole the puck from Dustin Byfuglien and went in on a breakaway

and beat Connor Hellebuyck with the first goal – shorthanded – at 9:24. Darnell Nurse was the beneficiary of a great pass by Connor McDavid after the Oilers took the puck almost the length of the ice. Nurse easily beat Hellebuyck at 11:10 and it was 2-0. Then, another turnover led to an Oilers chance and Zach Kassian buried a great pass from Benoit Pouliot and that’s all the Oilers needed. “I had a breakaway against them in the pre-season,” said Letestu, who scored the eventual winner and was the game’s second star. “So I used the same move. I know, I went back to the well again, but this time it worked.” After a 110-minute delay, the Oilers and Jets took to the outdoor rink at Investors Group Field in front of a loud, excited packed-to-the-rafters IGF. The reason for the delay was actually “good weather.” The glare from the sun was making it difficult for the players, especially the goalies, to see. The first period was scoreless despite the fact that Patrik Laine alone had three good chances (on his best chance he fired a shot over the net from point-blank range) and Drew Stafford should have opened the scoring near the end of the period. The Jets outshot Edmonton 10-8, and had four legitimate scoring chances. “We just didn’t play our game,” said Laine. “I had a shot from a prime spot for any hockey player and you should be able to score from those chances and I didn’t and that was it. Everybody should score from there.” The second period, which has been a thorn in the side of the Jets all season, reared its ugly head again as Winnipeg gave up three and couldn’t master the often choppy outdoor ice.“ The turnovers were obvious and the result was emphatic,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. “I liked our game in the first period and we had at least three Grade A chances and we couldn’t capitalize. We seemed to miss the net an awful lot. Those turnovers, on good ice or bad ice or whatever, they’re going to beat you. And remember, the ice was the same for both teams so that is not an excuse.” The Jets have now trailed their opponent, heading into the third period, in all five games they’ve played this season. Twice – against Carolina and Toronto — they were able to overcome the deficit, but not against a fast, young Oilers team that appears to be closer to the complete re-build. With the loss, the Jets fell to 2-3-0 on the season. The Jets have allowed 19 goals through the first five games this season and that’s not good enough. Edmonton outshot Winnipeg 32-31. Oilers goalie Cam Talbot, the game’s first star, made all 31 saves to get the shutout. Hellebuyck stopped 29 shots and fell to 1-2-0 with a 3.41 goals against average and an .880 save percentage in his three starts. Regardless of the outcome, Maurice was thrilled with the event. “It was such a spectacular week here, especially for the city of Winnipeg,” said Maurice. “From the gala straight through. There was lots of enthusiasm, enjoyment. Overall, it was a spectacular week and event for our team, but the game was a tough one.”

Maurice was asked if there was one moment during the week that will be a memory forever. He didn’t hesitate to answer. “I have a picture in my head of Saturday’s game and the True North chant that came after the National Anthem,” he said. “(Jets owner) Mark Chipman was standing down two rows in front of me, taking it all in, and in my head I’m thinking if he understands – which I’m sure he does, but he’s such a humble man – the impact he had on a community and I wondered if, in the inaugural game of the Manitoba Moose years ago, if he knew that all that hard work would come to this in a really short period of time. “I’m just really proud to be here. It was great to have (the Heritage Classic) here, the timing was right. They didn’t get the game started when they wanted to, but the ice was just exceptional for an outdoor rink and I thought it was great. It was great for the City of Winnipeg. I think all of you would agree that we showed ourselves in a very positive light. It’s an exciting place to live and work and it’s a great place to play hockey. The fans are enthusiastic and are spectacularly enthusiastic and it was just a great week for all of us.” Things get back to normal this week. The Jets play in Dallas on Tuesday and then meet the Stars back in Winnipeg on Thursday night. They head to Colorado for a game against the Avalanche on Friday and they wrap things up with a game against the Buffalo Sabres next Sunday afternoon at MTS Centre.