Winnipeg Sun http://winnipegsun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/winnipeg-jets/trouba-joins-jets-list-of-walking- wounded Trouba joins Jets list of walking wounded By Ken Wiebe The depth of the Winnipeg Jets’ defence corps is about to face its stiffest test of the season. As the Jets get set to return from the all-star break, a source confirmed the Jets will be without blueliner Jacob Trouba for an extended period of time because of an ankle injury. Trouba suffered the injury in the latter stages of overtime on Thursday as the Jets lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Anaheim Ducks. Trouba had an assist and played one of his best games of the season, while logging a team-high 27:05 of ice time. Trouba has three goals and 20 points in 50 games with the Jets this season and is averaging just over 22 minutes of ice time per game. The pairing of Trouba and Josh Morrissey has been flourishing in a shutdown role this season. The Jets were already without defenceman Dmitry Kulikov last game after he was drilled from behind by San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl. The status of Kulikov won’t be clear until the Jets return to practice on Monday. Trying to overcome injuries is nothing new for the Jets, who have been without top centre Mark Scheifele since Dec. 27 due to a suspected shoulder injury. Centre Adam Lowry has also missed the past eight games, though he is closing in on a return from an upper-body injury. Goalie Steve Mason has missed the past six games after suffering his second concussion of the season. With Trouba on the shelf for what is expected to be a six-to-eight week period, rookie defenceman Tucker Poolman will draw back into the Jets’ lineup and Dustin Byfuglien will be asked to take on a larger role. Byfuglien figures to be reunited on the top pairing with Morrissey and should see an increase in ice time. Poolman has one goal in 13 games with the Jets to go along with one goal and six points in 13 games with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League. The Jets have 32 games remaining in the regular season and currently sit in first place in the Central Division with a record of 29-13-8, good for 66 points — which is one more point than the Nashville Predators, who hold three games in hand. After playing 29 of their first 50 games on the road, the Jets are about to open a 10-game home stand on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Toronto Sun http://torontosun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/few-if-any-predicted-hellebuycks-ascent-to-becoming- an-all-star Few — if any — predicted Hellebuyck's ascent to becoming an All-Star By Michael Traikos TAMPA, FLA. — Ask Connor Hellebuyck how he got to the All-Star Game and the Winnipeg Jets goalie will tell you it has to do with trusting that he could be amongst the league’s elite. But he also got here because of a lack of trust. After a disastrous season last year, in which the Jets missed the playoffs in large part because Hellebuyck and back-up Michael Hutchinson combined for the third-worst save percentage in the league, the team no longer trusted that the 24-year-old was ready to handle the starting job on his own. So Winnipeg went out and signed free agent goalie Steve Mason to a two-year contract worth $8.2-million. For Hellebuyck, it served as a wake-up call. “It kind of said that they wanted to see some improvement,” he said of Mason coming in. “They wanted to give the team the best chance to win.” In the end, that is what’s happened — but not like anyone had imagined. While Mason started the season as Winnipeg’s No. 1 goalie, it didn’t last long. He was pulled in the opening-night loss to Toronto and followed it up with a six-goal loss to Calgary, opening the door for Hellebuyck to come in and steal back his job. The Michigan native didn’t waste the opportunity. Hellebuyck won his first four games and went more than a month before losing in regulation. With 26 wins (second to only Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy), four shutouts (tied for second) and a .924 save percentage that is amongst the league’s best, he is a big reason why the Jets are leading the Central Division and considered a Stanley Cup contender. “I’m sure there’s lots of people who wrote me off after last year,” said Hellebuyck. “So it is pretty nice to be here and to successfully show that I actually have more. That being said, my team’s playing very good in front of me and they win a lot of games. With team success comes individual success.” Actually, the opposite is true. If there was one thing holding back the Jets from taking that next step and becoming a Stanley Cup contender, it was goaltending. Last year, the team scored the seventh-most goals in the league but also gave up the fourth-most. This year, the team is in the top-10 in each category. “I think we’ve learned a little how to play in front of him. That’s giving him confidence,” said Jets captain Blake Wheeler, who also praised the team for making life easier on the 24-year-old goalie. “Imagine being a goalie and not seeing a lot of shots and then seeing a two-on-one, a two-on- oh, a breakaway. We’re giving up crazy, egregious opportunities to our goalie in years past. And he was a young kid. You see those opportunities and you’re giving up those goals and it rattles you. So I think we’ve done a better job of cutting that out of our game and it’s given him a lot of confidence. “You could see in the beginning of the year his confidence was growing and now it’s to the point where when we give up a tough, two-on-one or a breakaway, he’s making the save. That’s been the biggest difference in our team this year.” The reason Hellebuyck is making those saves is that he trusts himself to do that. When he was struggling last season, he found that he was scrambling. This summer, he sought the help of four different personal coaches — “Yeah, four coaches,” he said, laughing — who worked with Hellebuyck on everything from getting physically and mentally fitter to becoming more patient in reading and reacting. “Patience training,” said Hellebuyck. “Not just instantly going down. Being able to read the play and read the stick before (the shot) … letting it come to you before reacting to it. There’s a ton of trust there. I think the most important part is trust, because once you have that trust foundation down, your body starts to react on its own.” Of course, you can’t trust yourself to make the save unless you have the confidence to do so. And Hellebuyck, who struggled with his confidence a year ago, has improved that aspect of his game as well. “I think I hold myself to a higher standard and I wanted to get back to that and kind of show every single day that I have what it takes,” he said. “You can’t ever get down, especially not in this league. Guys will be down all over you. You have to trust yourself and you have to believe in yourself every single day.” So, does he believe he’s among the elite? “We’re all here, right,” Hellebuyck said of being at the All-Star Game. “They’re all great goaltenders and I grew up watching them too, but I’m here with them and I’m pretty excited about that.” __________________________________________________ While the so-called “Vegas flu” has been attributed to the team’s near-perfect 19-3-2 record at home, the Jets have had similar success when playing in Winnipeg, where the entertainment options are not as plentiful. So what’s the secret behind the team’s 17-3-1 at home? Is it that it’s so dark and so cold that the players are miserable, like the San Jose Sharks had joked in a video mocking the city earlier this year? Not quite, said Sidney Crosby, whose Pittsburgh Penguins lost 7-1 at MTS Center in October. “They feed off their crowd,” said Crosby. “They get off to good starts and feed off their energy. They’ve always had great crowds and they are big and gritty.” Connor Hellebuyck agreed, adding that visiting teams usually have to pass through Minnesota (17-4-4 at home) on their way in, which makes for a very difficult road trip. “Winnipeg’s not an easy place to come into now,” he said. “Team’s travel might be tough or maybe they play Minnesota the night before, which is also a good team.” Yahoo Sports https://sports.yahoo.com/jets-lose-jacob-trouba-6-130047179.html Jets lose Jacob Trouba for 6-to-8 weeks: report By Scott Billeck The Winnipeg Jets will be without one of their top defenseman for up to two months. The Winnipeg Sun’s Ken Wiebe broke the news late Sunday night, reporting that Jacob Trouba will miss the next six-to-eight weeks with an ankle injury he sustained in Winnipeg’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks last Thursday.