3-on-3 is the Rage but Seating Controversy dogs Jets
The fans were there, the new jumbotron was in place and even former Winnipegger Randy Bachman was on hand to do guitar solo anthems. The Jets though were ready as were the Wild who had already played one pre-season game.
The Jets and Wild showed considerable rust between them with shots not on mark, passes not on the stick and positioning all over the map, this was to be expected. The game was more of a version of ‘opportunity lost’ than anything else but there is much to be taken away from the event.
Burmistrov
He handled the puck, controlled the corners and proved to be a very capable puck controller- just like he was in his final season in Winnipeg. His line, with Perreault and Ehlers, had some good cycles and confounded the mostly younger Wild players. Ehlers proved to be capable with NHL players and had some chances that Backstrom would not allow to turn into goals.
As has been said in this column before, since the departure of Wellwood and Burmistrov the Jets have not had a puck controlling player on the roster who can do what they do, until now.
Ehlers
He looked comfortable but at times he looked like he wanted to impress the fans and coaches, trying to force things when they weren’t there. He will certainly need more time on the ice before the coaches can determine if/where he will fit but there is no reason for fans to not be optimistic about his chances.
Lemieux, Copp, Armia
Two of the three made noticeable impacts but Brendan Lemieux struggled against the bigger, faster players. It was not for lack of effort and he certainly had some success with the physical play, disrupting a few Wild players, but he does not seem quite ready yet and likely to head back to junior.
Copp had some solid play as did Armia. In fact Armia had some incredible defensive efforts to backcheck disrupting Wild attacks. Of the line that many had pegged as one to watch, having two out of three players make an impact was should be seen as a positive. During one of the intermission interviews, Moose head coach Keith McCambridge said he was impressed with Armia last season with the IceCaps and really pumped the player’s tires.
Morrissey
He played in the bottom pairing with Kichton but had a few solid efforts. Like Ehlers he tried to force some plays when there were none there but in the end he never jeopardized his team. Did he stand out? Not particularly but he didn’t where goat horns either and that is a good thing.
Petan and Raffl
Having these two paired with Chris Thorburn seemed rather puzzling but when you put a lot of youth in the line up you need a vet like Thorburn to keep the opposition honest, or so I’ve been told. Raffl is the brother of Thomas Rafll who plays on the Flyers and has come over from the Swiss league on a PTO. He’s big and has some deft hands but we didn’t see much of them last night. He’ll get more looks but even with the passing and play-making of Petan nothing really materialized. Petan made some passes, had some chances but didn’t have much to work with and perhaps that was by design as should be make the team or be called up he would be a 4th liner working with the likes of Thorburn, Fraser, and Peluso. Even Gretzky could not turn Semenko into a scoring threat and it’s doubtful Petan is going to have much of an effect on those guys but the skill is there he just might need to hone it at the professional level in the AHL for a bit.
3-on-3
Who else needed a cigarette after the first whistle of the OT period? That was pond-hockey at it’s best and talk about exciting and probably a bad nightmare for goalies all at the same time. As Pavelec had been replaced by Hellebyuck it was the rookie prospect who got to take on the new format between the pipes for the Jets. He pulled off a grand larceny of theft at one point with his glove hand in OT to keep the Jets in it before Dumba ended it for the Wild shortly after.
The thing about 3 on 3 is that it’s hard play a system but there are teams who will figure this out and use that session as a dagger. Any team with a player who can carry the puck such as Karlsson or Keith will be deadly if paired properly. For the Jets that player is likely Trouba as he can get back just as fast.
That seems to be the key in 3-on-3 as getting the puck up is easier but if it turns around getting back is just as hard as 5-on-5. Where teams will want to adapt is having a trailing player not getting to deep as if a shot is missed it can go around the boards and come back down the ice in an odd-man rush quickly. The other thing some teams might try is setting up for a good shot as opposed to any shot for the same reason. Getting the puck on the goal and not high or wide will prevent or at least reduce chances for odd-man rush the other way. Watching teams adapt to this format will be very interesting.
The seating controvery.
To much fanfare the Jets added almost 300 seats to the MTS centre this past summer. They are called lodge least and were built at the bottom of the upper level extending out over the lower bowl and above the luxury suites. Not much news was made of them until last night when game conditions finally arrived.
Photo from @Sabadecade
photo from @darrenford tweet
Photo from @darrenford tweet
Photo from @darrenford tweet
Here is why people are upset- they have had a relatively unobstructed view for four season and now the new seating has placed more bars, and people, in the viewing field for fans in the bottom rows of the upper level. People took to Twitter and were not happy and the photos above are taken from those tweets.
It’s a potentially ugly situation and for more than a few fans how TSNE handles this situation will be very interesting based on the goodwill they have established. For many on the Jets waitlist this may seem like small potatoes but if you had paid for 4 years for something and then it was noticeably diminished wouldn’t we all be upset?
This may be the first great PR test for the rarely criticized team and company and it’s probably overdue, luckily for them.
Jets face the Oilers again tonight, but in Edmonton, with a much younger and vastly different roster before the rubber match on Friday back at the MTS Centre.