WINNIPEG – Happy New Year, indeed!
In the Winnipeg Jets’ first practice of 2023, they were joined by some faces they’ve longed to see.
Nikolaj Ehlers, Cole Perfettiand Nate Schmidt were all in regular practice jerseys. Blake Wheeler and Saku Maenalanen also took part in the 50-minute session, wearing red non-contact jerseys.
“A holiday miracle. A Christmas miracle,” said Schmidt, who has been out since being injured on a Tanner Jeannot hit against Nashville on December 15.
“It calmed down a little bit after the first couple days,” Schmidt said. “It really progressed well throughout Christmas over those couple days. It’s amazing what a couple full days will do, just stay away from the rink, no nothing – will do for you mentally as well.”
Video: PRACTICE | Nate Schmidt
Certainly there is a mental boost to being back on the ice with teammates as well, something Ehlers hasn’t been able to do in a full capacity since the fateful morning skate in Colorado ahead of the third game of the season.
“It feels good to be out there with the guys, feel a little bit closer to the team again and a little bit more on the same page as them,” Ehlers said. “It feels good.”
He spent the next five weeks after leaving that morning skate in Colorado trying to see if rest would help his injury heal up. The 26-year-old gave it one final try on November 16 at hockey for all center, skating on his own with strength and conditioning coach Jake Wolff, but it wasn’t to be.
He had sports hernia surgery on November 20, and while that meant his return would be a number of weeks away, there was actually a bit of relief.
“The first five and a half weeks before the surgery were the hardest because you didn’t have a timeline,” Ehlers said. “You felt it getting better, it was still there, you tried skating and it felt fine, but it felt the same as the second game I played. I knew it wasn’t really getting anywhere. Being in that waiting time where you have no idea what is going to happen is mentally not fun.”
Deciding on the surgery, then getting a timeline from there changed the whole mentality.
When Ehlers got back on the ice for the first time after his surgery, it was one day before Schmidt went down with his injury.
Video: PRACTICE | Nikolaj Ehlers
The day Schmidt went down, Blake Wheeler went down too.
“I was just like ‘oh man not another one,'” said Schmidt.
But there would be another one. Perfetti’s injury in Boston just before Christmas left the Jets with a total of seven regulars out of the line-up at one time.
But even as the roster took hit after hit, other players stepped up to fill the roles as best they could, which has led to the Jets winning two straight heading into Tuesday’s game against Calgary.
“I commend our guys for being able to grind through this the last couple of weeks,” Schmidt said. “We don’t ever practice that much anymore because we haven’t had time to. It was perfect timing for us to be able to come back in and just have a full day, for all of us – for Nik, myself, Cole , Saku, Blake – it was good.”
So, practice is one thing. The next step is when these players are able to return to game action.
Schmidt feels he could return this week. Ehlers repeatedly said he “feels really good.”
Video: PRACTICE | Rick Bowness
Head coach Rick Bowness said there are a lot of things in the air at this point.
“We have to see how all of them recover today, see how they feel. They’ll be re-evaluated tomorrow,” said Bowness, adding that the fact Ehlers and Perfetti were in light blue jerseys (not the red non-contact jerseys , but also not the regular dark blue or white jerseys) is an important distinction.
“That shows they are a lot closer. Today was their first full practice with the team. They’ve done a lot of skating on their own, they haven’t had team practices,” Bowness said. “This was the first for them. So do we decide to give them another practice on Thursday, which we have? Again, we will see how they all feel tomorrow. Obviously, the two guys in red are not close, but the other guys are that close.”
The biggest thing that stood out to Bowness throughout the injuries – a situation the Jets are still going through, with Mason Appleton and Logan Stanley yet to return to the ice – is the work done by those in the line-up through an extremely difficult month of December.
Winnipeg played 16 games in 30 days, with three of those days being the holiday break, and finished with five games in seven days. Four of those five games were on the road, two on the west coast, and two on the east.
Through it all, the team stayed on track.
“We’re a family, we’re all in this together, and when your name is called, be ready to go, be ready to support each other,” said Bowness, adding that the injured players are supporting young players in their roles. key to that.
“It’s gotta come from the veterans and it’s gotta come from the injured guys, especially the key guys that we’ve lost,” he said. “They have been in the room and they’ve been wonderful, supporting the guys that are playing for them. But it all comes back to the team-first mentality.”
ICE CHIPS
Josh Morrissey was the only player that didn’t practice on Monday, but Bowness said the defenseman should be available for Thursday against Calgary.
Just more of a maintenance day today,” Bowness said. “He should be fine for tomorrow.”
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