Winnipeg Jets center Nik Antropov is currently in mourning after the horrific plane crash which resulted in the deaths of many Russian hockey players on the Lokomotiv Yarosavl team. With the NHL preseason so near, it must weigh heavily on Antropov, who played for The Lokomotiv team a while back. My heart goes out to Antropov and the families and fans of the Lokomotiv team.
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
WINNIPEG — Nik Antropov has had moments in his NHL career where he’s lived up to the promise of his huge body and soft hands. The Winnipeg Jets are hoping the 31-year-old has some magic left.
Antropov is expected to eat up minutes in the club’s top six forwards and if he’s healthy — and working with the right people — there’s potential for production.
A 20-goal scorer on three different occasions during his time in the NHL, Antropov has had consistency issues due to injury. But he’s big, has elite ice vision and despite what many outside the game say, has a reputation for being engaged.
“The first time I was in Winnipeg was in 1999 in the world juniors and I always remember it was -48 C but this seems like a great community and it’s good to be back in a market where people care about hockey,” said Antropov, a 6-6, 240-pound winger.
Antropov is busy getting used to the new surroundings of Winnipeg and a fresh direction in his hockey career, but for the most part is mind is elsewhere.
Antropov had nine friends die in Wednesday’s horrific plane crash that wiped out the Lokomotiv team of the KHL and considered former Winnipeg Jets forward Igor Korolev to be “like a brother.”
“Igor was my good friend and this is very sad for me. I knew Igor for 11 years since I first came to North American and he took me under his wing,” said Antropov, who is entering his 12th NHL season. “He did a lot of good things for me.”
Antropov has scored 172 goals and 240 assists in 679 career NHL games. He arrived in North America as a lanky kid out of Kazakhstan with lots of hockey ability but limited life skills.
“It’s a tough loss for us. He’s the godfather of my son,” said Antropov, selected 10th overall in the first round of the 1998 entry draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. “I couldn’t speak English and didn’t know where to go for something to eat. Igor showed me everything. I called his wife and didn’t know what to say. I told her I hoped he wasn’t one of them but then we found out it was.”
Hockey is a brief refuge for Antropov right now.
Read more of the story on the Montreal Gazette.
Well, it looks like the Jets rookie Evander Kane is ready to play with the Jets this year. Last season Kane has 43 points and 19 goals as a left-winger, so I look forward to his presence on the team this year. Hopefully Kane will become a goal scoring powerhouse by the time the season is up!
WINNIPEG – If you’re expecting Evander Kane to shy away from the spotlight this season, think again.
The energetic third-year left-winger skated for the first time with his Winnipeg Jets teammates on Thursday at MTS Iceplex and it was clear early on that he’s comfortable in front of the cameras and the microphones.
“I have no problem with pressure — you’re in a Canadian city now and the microscope is on everybody,” said Kane. “I got a taste of that with Team Canada events and even in junior, playing in Vancouver. It’s not too new for myself.
“I like pressure. I’m a fan of it and I think it makes you play better. It makes me play better. I like when the pressure is on because you have to perform and you’re being counted on to perform every night. I like to embrace pressure and use it to my advantage.”
The 20-year-old is expected to be a key contributor this season and he didn’t shy away from a question about possibly scoring 50 goals, since he would be sporting Bobby Hull’s old No. 9 after being encouraged to do so by the organization.
“I’m looking to score as many goals as I can this season, that never changes,” said Kane, who had 19 goals and 43 points last season. “I worked on everything but the biggest thing for me (this summer) is shooting. I wanted to come into camp and into the camp with better shooting accuracy. That’s what I improved on.”
You can read the rest of the story here on Slam Sports!
I watched the unveiling, and personally I’m not a huge fan of the jerseys. Perhaps I just feel a tad nostalgic, but I do miss the classic logo. All in all though, a logo is simply a logo. What matters is that the players on the team work hard, play as a team, and (hopefully) win the cup!
Lets go team!
The re-incarnated NHL’s Winnipeg Jets unveiled their new uniforms on Tuesday. The Jets, who returned to Winnipeg with the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers to Manitoba’s True North Sports and Entertainment in May, held a news conference to unveil the team’s new uniforms at Royal Canadian Air Force base 17 Wing. The jerseys consist mostly of two shades of blue: Polar Night Blue, found on many of today’s RCAF aircraft, and Aviator Blue, which is similar to historical colours used by the RCAF. What do you think of the new sweaters? Take our survey. “Sharp jersey,” said Jets captain Andrew Ladd. “It’s a clean look and hopefully something that will stand the test of time.” Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said the jerseys honour the rich history of hockey in Winnipeg and echo the traditions of the Royal Canadian Air Force. “We wanted to create a look that worked well with Reebok’s modern and innovative ‘Edge System’ uniforms,” said Cheveldayoff…
You can read the rest of the story on CBC News
Earlier today, the Winnipeg Jets signed three new players to the AHL in order to create more depth and build up a solid team. Included in the signing was defencemen Jason DeSantis and Jake Marto, along with former Manitoba Moose winger Jason King. I think that this signing was a smart move, and should help to strengthen the team. I know that I look forward to this NHL season!
Jason King of the Manitoba Moose
The Winnipeg Jets continue to stockpile organizational depth and talent with the addition of three more players who will wear the colours of the St. John’s IceCaps.
The Jets announced the signings of defencemen Jason DeSantis and Jake Marto and former Manitoba Moose winger Jason King, all to American-Hockey-League contracts.
The 24-year-old DeSantis split last season between the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers. He has played in 85 career AHL games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and the Philadelphia Phantoms after four seasons of college hockey with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Marto, 23, recently finished his senior season with the University of North Dakota where he played 157 games over four years.
King, meanwhile, has played the last three years in Germany, most recently with the Hamburg Freezers. A proud product of Corner Brook, NL, King has 59 NHL games under his belt with Anaheim and Vancouver and has appeared in 256 AHL games with the Moose and Portland. He is fourth on the Moose all-time goal-scoring list with 77
King was originally drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the seventh round, 212th overall, in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.
You can read more about the story here.
After a little less than a month of downtime, I’m happy to say that the Unofficial Winnipeg Jets Blog will now be up for good. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to recover the articles from before the site went down, but as the new NHL season approaches I look forward to being able to post new and relevant team news.
Glad to be back!
