Winnipeg Free Press https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/jets-taking-police-by-committee- approach-this-season-448107463.html Jets taking police-by-committee approach this season By: Jason Bell NO one’s walking the beat for the Winnipeg Jets this season. The Central Division team, making final preparations for the start of the 2017-18 NHL season in a week’s time, neither has nor intends to create the position of resident tough guy on the roster. To a man, the players say they will police by committee. "We’re going to have to stick up for each other and that won’t fall on any one guy," Winnipeg captain Blake Wheeler said Tuesday. "If there’s any liberties individually, we’re going to have to stand up for each other. "Generally, (the NHL game) seems to be going away from that kind of stuff, but there’s still guys who are going to tow the line a little bit. It’s great to have as many guys stand up for one another as possible." Gone is the one player who, limited skills notwithstanding, could be counted on to consistently answer the bell for the Jets. Chris Thorburn was assessed 55 major penalties for fighting during the six season he spent wearing No. 22 for Winnipeg. He dropped the mitts 13 times — nearly half of the Jets’ 27 fighting majors — during the 2016-17 season, tying him for fifth-most in the league. Now 34, the right-winger is plying his trade with the St. Louis Blues, assuming the role of enforcer left vacant when Winnipeg product Ryan Reeves was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 31st pick of the first round of this past summer’s NHL draft in Chicago. Clearly, the Penguins put stock in employing a bodyguard to protect prized assets such as forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel and blue-liner Kris Letang. The Jets, who have also parted ways with others who weren’t afraid to trade punches such as defenceman Mark Stuart and winger Anthony Peluso, are taking a more judicious approach to filling their roster spots. Matt Hendricks, signed late in the off-season to a one-year contract after four seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, is regarded as a gritty checker, solid faceoff guy and effective penalty killer, but he’s also the logical choice for the role of heavyweight in Winnipeg. With 81 NHL fights under his belt, he gets it by acclamation. But he’s 36 now and only had one scrap in 42 contests a year ago with the Oilers, and doesn’t expect to dance just because the heat on the ice reaches a fever pitch. "The way the game’s going now, you look around the league and for the large spectrum of teams now it’s done by committee," said Hendricks. "In the short amount of time that I’ve been here, we’ve got guys that can stand up for themselves, guys that can stand up for their teammates as much as needs to be done. "I don’t think not having that one or two heavyweights in our lineup will or should make us timid going up against other teams or in any arena in the league." A couple of regulars have demonstrated in the past they’re willing to fight if the cause is right. Dustin Byfuglien had three majors a year ago, while fellow defenceman Jacob Trouba and centre Adam Lowry had two apiece. Lowry also had three bouts in 2015-16. So far in the pre-season, youngsters Brendan Lemieux and JC Lipon have engaged in a couple of fights on behalf of the Jets, while Byfuglien lost his cool Monday night at Bell MTS Place and took on Calgary Flames’ heavyweight Luke Gazdic. "You look at Lipon and Lemieux and what a great job they’re doing, working hard in camp every day, definitely battling hard, and you see they take on some tough customers. I just think they’re part of a group of guys that really care about one another," said forward Shawn Matthias. Matthias challenged Cody McLeod in mid-March after the Nashville Predators forward delivered a questionable open-ice hit on Lowry. It’s worth noting Matthias had only had seven fights in 524 games over parts of nine seasons, while McLeod, who hails from Binscarth, Man., led the league in fighting majors (19) last year and has 130 since he broke into the league during the 2007-08 campaign. Matthias was injured during the fight and was done for the season. "When you see one of your brothers take a cheap shot or someone takes a run at you, yeah it pisses you off," said Matthias. "The one I was in last year, I thought the guy stuck his knee out, so I went in there and, unfortunately, my bad shoulder got a lot worse after that one. But when you see a guy you care about in that instance, my linemate for most of the year, he would have done the same for me." Jets head coach Paul Maurice admires his players’ loyality and protective instincts, but said turning the other cheek is also part of the team’s plan to spend less time in the penalty box. "There are going to be clean hits that we let go, that aren’t answered right away, and we’re going to have to learn to take it when the score says we need to," he said. "And then, most importantly, stick together and by committee make sure that we take care of each other on the ice. "The Western Conference still has lots of guys on team who do that for a living. We just won’t go into the season with one. We think that we’ve got enough guys that can handle it if we need to. But I don’t think we have anyone getting to the puck second because of it, and that’s the No. 1 concern." https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/perreault-scratched-from-game-to- welcome-baby-448028803.html Perreault scratched from game to welcome baby By: Jason Bell The Perreault household has had a visit from the stork and not the injury bug. Winnipeg Jets centre Mathieu Perreault was scheduled to play Monday night against the Calgary Flames, but was scratched from the lineup before the pre-season game at Bell MTS Place. Jets head coach Paul Maurice did some stickhandling Tuesday morning, providing an explanation for the turn of events without actually delving too deeply into Perreault’s personal life. "Matty Perreault had an expansionary issue with his family and it’s all very, very positive. But I don’t get to announce that, right? So, we can pretend I didn’t say anything," he said. The Jets are 1-3-1 in the pre-season, with two more games to go before the start of the 2017-18 regular season. Adam Lowry left in the second period of a game the home side won 5-2 with an undisclosed injury. Maurice said the big third-line centre won’t dress tonight against the visiting Ottawa Senators, but should be good to go when the Jets kick off the season at home exactly a week later against last year’s NHL rookie-of-the-year Auston Matthews and the rest of the Toronto Maple Leafs. "We wouldn’t think (Lowry) is gonna have a problem starting the season," Maurice said. "We’re being very cautious here. Most of these are either groin, hip flexors or your quad strains — tightness that we can’t loosen up, which is what you’d expect based on the way we’ve run camp. It’s been a grind for them." A pair of nicked-up veterans, blue-liner Tyler Myers and centre Bryan Little, returned to practice Tuesday morning at Bell MTS Iceplex, while forward Joel Armia rested for another day. "We don’t have anybody that right now is a concern for opening night," Maurice said. Early in the third period, Flames forward Marek Hrivik took a high hit from Jacob Trouba and the Winnipeg rear-guard was slapped with a match penalty for an illegal hit to the head and five- minute major for fighting with forward Garnet Hathaway. There was no word from the NHL on any additional punishment on Tuesday. ● ● ● Maurice took a shine to the play of Brandon Tanev not long after the fleet-footed forward finished his university career at Providence College and signed with the Jets near the tail end of the 2015-16 NHL season. Tanev earned a starting job with the Jets last fall and played 51 games in the NHL, but also had to handle the impact of a demotion to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League. His Jets numbers included just a pair of goals — both scored in the same game in mid-November against the Detroit Red Wings — and two assists. Locked in a battle for fourth-line work this training camp, Tanev was a major contributor on a penalty-killing unit Monday that extinguished all five of the Flames’ power-play opportunities. Flashy will never be a descriptor for the Toronto product and he’ll never play major minutes, but it’s difficult to knock his tenacity as a checker. His place in the NHL as a role player — past, present and future — is clearly defined, and he’s just fine with that. "In this league it’s all about roles, about giving what you have to give, especially as a bottom-six player.