Winnipeg Free Press https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/plenty-of-options-for-backup-role- 460189143.html Plenty of options for backup role Hutchinson or Comrie will have big shoes to fill if Mason misses time By: Jason Bell There was no update Sunday on the health and well-being of Jets goalie Steve Mason as the NHL club returned to Winnipeg following a relatively successful four-game road trip. The Jets won a pair of games in regulation, defeating the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, and suffered a pair of regulation losses to the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks, and are still in fine shape with a 14-6-3 record. Winnipeg is tied for second place in the Central Division with Nashville and trailing only the St. Louis Blues, and tied for third in the Western Conference with the surging Predators and the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, whose success is the talk of the NHL. The Jets host the Minnesota Wild (11-9-3) tonight at 7 p.m. at Bell MTS Place. Of great concern, however, is the status of Mason, who took a puck to the mask in the first period againt the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. The Jets might require a replacement from their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, and there’s concern about a possible concussion. Mason gave up goals to Sharks defenceman Tim Heed and centre Logan Couture on Saturday night in San Jose, he joined his teammates in the dressing room for the intermission but did not return to the crease for the middle frame. Connor Hellebuyck took over and stopped 19 of 20 shots in relief to increase his save percentage on the season to .929. Midway through the game, the Jets announced Mason, a 10- year NHL veteran puckstopper, incurred an upper-body injury. A hard one-timer from Sharks winger Jannik Hansen at 8:43 of the first was likely to blame for Mason’s early exit, as the blast struck him squarely in the mask. During the ensuing stoppage of play, he told the bench he was good to continue, but during the break he admitted to feeling unwell. "He stayed in (after the shot) and said he was OK after that. We talked to him at the (TV) time out, but by the time he got off the ice he was not feeling right. For us, that’s enough. He’s got to come out," said Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice, following the 4-0 loss to the Sharks. "He wasn’t feeling good. He was sick." The netminding tandem of Michael Hutchinson and Eric Comrie has been dynamite for the Moose (14-5-2) who have won nine of their last 10 and lead the AHL’s Central Division. Comrie’s latest gem was a 30-save shutout Saturday against the host Milwaukee Admirals to push his personal record to 8-4-1, with a 2.30 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. But promoting Hutchinson out of necessity seems most logical. Though he did not figure into their plans following the 2016-17 campaign and was left exposed for the expansion draft, Hutchinson knows the landscape after playing parts of four seasons with Winnipeg and has 41 career NHL victories. Hutchinson has repeatedly refused interviews this season, demonstrating there’s a level of discontent with the direction his career has gone. However, the recent numbers with Manitoba don’t lie — in a back-up role, he’s 6-1-1 with a 2.14 GAA and .939 SP. Hellebuyck (12-2-2), off to a brilliant start to his bounce-back season, will still get the bulk of the work moving ahead. But he’ll require some respite during a busy rest of November and a hectic December, meaning either Hutchinson or Comrie will have big shoes to fill if Mason is out for any length of time. Mason’s Jets career began with significant turbulence after loses in his first three starts to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets. Since then, his play has been much improved and he’s officially gone 2-0-1, allowing six goals in 11 periods of hockey. Hellebuyck, speaking a day before Mason was injured, said he’s a huge fan of his creasemate. "He’s a great goaltender and you can see it in him every day. He works hard, he knows what he’s doing. He’s a veteran. He’s going to give himself the best chance to win every single night. And he shows that every day in practice. Hellebuyck was asked if observing that approach from a former NHL rookie of the year and now long-established starter serve as motivation? "Absolutely. And not only (Mason), but the entire team. You see the way they’re working hard at their game and I think it drives everyone," he said. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/chiarot-believes-fine-the-right- punishment-for-butt-end-460196703.html Chiarot believes fine the right punishment for butt-end By: Jason Bell WINNIPEG Jets defenceman Ben Chiarot believes the punishment fit the act. Chiarot was slapped with a US$3,763.44 fine by the NHL department of player safety Saturday for his butt-end to the chin of Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry on Friday. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund. The incident occurred in the second period after Perry, a talented offensive player for the Ducks who plays with an edge — making him rather unpopular around the NHL — drove hard to the net occupied by goalie Connor Hellebuyck. While it was difficult to pick up during live action, video clearly showed Chiarot moving his glove toward Perry’s face, with the butt end of his lumber sticking out. Perry incurred a circular-shaped gash that required 20 stitches to close. Speaking to reporters following the defeat to the Sharks — more than 24 hours after the incident — Chiarot said there was no malicious intent on his part and a suspension wouldn’t have been appropriate. "There was no real intent on my part to jab him with the butt end of my stick, and I knew that and I’m pretty sure everyone else knew that," he said. "I was pretty confident it would just be a fine. "It was a scrum in front of the net and I was just getting my hands up to protect myself. "I know he caught a butt-end on the chin, you know when guys are getting their hands up there’s going to be sticks flying around. That’s going to happen. Guys are going to get clipped by sticks." Little heating up Nothing has come easy to Bryan Little when it comes to offence this season. During his tenure in Winnipeg, the veteran centre has become accustomed to being a key provider, and the Jets have come to rely on his complete game — including the points that come with it. But Little has struggled to locate his scoring touch this season, and the assists expected from a savvy play-maker between two young, dynamic snipers, Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers, haven’t exactly been piling up, either. He has three goals and nine helpers while appearing in all 23 games for the Central Division team. During a 14-game block of games between Oct. 17 and Nov. 14, he collected just a goal and three assists. But signs on the four-game road trip to Nashville and California point to better days ahead for Little, who is very aware a contribution from the second forward unit strengthens the Jets as an upper-tier Western Conference squad. He scored just once — a laser-beam ripper past Anaheim goalie John Gibson in a 4-1 triumph — but picked up three helpers on the trip as well. There was a clear indication of relief by Little — he tilted his head back and peered upward — when rubber met mesh. "The chances have been hard to come by, the goals have been hard to come by this year. But the last three or four games I thought our line’s been picking it up," he said, following the victory over the Ducks. "We’ve been getting more chances. I should have had one earlier when Ehlers made a nice cross-ice pass to me and I kind of whiffed on it a bit. "You’re going to have stretches where things aren’t going your way. And then there’s games like tonight where it ends up in the back of the net," added the 30-year-old, who signed a six-year, US$31.746-million contract extension in mid-September. "Now, we hope to get something rolling with the three of us." He said production can’t always come primarily from the trio of centre Mark Scheifele and wingers Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor. "We realize that we need to be playing better, especially five-on-five. I think we have been getting more chances and more time in their end. That’s what we need. We need all lines going. If one line has an off-night, the other ones pick it up," he said. Winnipeg Sun http://winnipegsun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/winnipeg-jets/jets-nearing-end-of-busy-month Jets nearing end of busy month By Ken Wiebe The finish line for this 14-game November mini-marathon is fast approaching for the Winnipeg Jets. Fresh off a four-game road trip through Tennessee and California, the Jets don’t exactly have much time to exhale, as they host the Minnesota Wild on Monday at Bell MTS Place and jump back on a plane to Denver on Tuesday to face the Colorado Avalanche for the first time this season on Wednesday.