The Winnipeg Jets restart their season Wednesday night in Vancouver, following a 20-day Olympic break that showcased their gold medal-winning goaltender Connor Hellebuyck on the biggest stage.
Hellebuyck won’t play against Vancouver because he made a side trip to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday night in Washington, but he is expected to rejoin the team for Friday’s game in Anaheim.
The Jets visit the Canucks just three days after Hellebuyck delivered a 41-save performance to stymie Team Canada and help Team USA snap a 46-year gold medal drought at the Winter Olympics in Milan.
“The biggest thing I was looking for was that he was going to be at his best,” Jets head coach Scott Arniel said at Monday’s practice of the three-time Vezina Trophy winner. “You heard the Canadian players talk about how it was one of the best games they ever played and the goaltender (Hellebuyck) was the difference.
“He was a wall and well deserving of that gold medal.”
Now that the hockey world has seen what Hellebuyck can do with an elite team in front of him, the Jets are hoping some of his Team USA magic will rub off on their late-season playoff push.
Winnipeg is battling for a postseason spot, 11 points away from the final wild-card berth in the Western Conference. The Jets have a compact schedule to do it in with 26 games in just 50 days.
“Points are huge and we got to make a run here,” said Arniel, who won gold with Canada at the 1982 World Junior Championships.
“Our schedule lines up so that we are playing a lot of these teams that are just above us.
“We got to focus on getting two points from Vancouver, then move on to Anaheim. Try to just stay in the moment, not worry about how big the hill is, just take our steps to climb it.”
Eric Comrie is expected to start in goal against the Canucks. Forward Kyle Connor, a member of Team USA, did not go to Washington with Hellebuyck and practiced with the Jets on Tuesday.
Winnipeg will also be without defenseman Josh Morrissey, who will be examined by team doctors after suffering an undisclosed injury in Team Canada’s first game.
The Canucks, who have yet to win back-to-back games at home this season, are in last place in the league and are already looking toward next season.
Vancouver has lost three in a row and 17 of its last 19 (2-14-3) and it doesn’t look promising against the Jets thanks to travel and health woes.
They will be missing Finnish Olympic goaltender Kevin Lankinen and forward Brock Boeser. Lankinen likely won’t be available because of winter storms that caused travel chaos on the East Coast.
Boeser suffered a concussion before the Olympic break but is now dealing with a virus that had him skating with the team Monday but not doing contact drills.
Head coach Adam Foote said the team is officially in a rebuilding mode with younger players who he wants to give more ice time for the rest of the season.
“I am not going to go into what’s happened to us. We all know,” Foote said. “Our young guys are moving forward with a rebuild.
“No. 1, we are going to use this time to win hockey games.
“And No. 2, we want to do it the right way.
“We are working on who we want to be moving forward with our identity, but giving them (ice time) so we have a quicker start next season.”
