Wellwood’s season ended by hand injury

By Joe YerdonApr 23, 2013, 8:20 AM EDT
4 Comments

Winnipeg’s victory over Buffalo to hang tight in the race for the postseason had an unfortunate casualty for the Jets.

Forward Kyle Wellwood blocked a Thomas Vanek shot in the second period of the team’s 2-1 win and missed the third period with an injured hand. Coach Claude Noel said after the game the prognosis is not good as Kirk Penton of the Winnipeg Sun reports.

“Kyle Wellwood will be out long-term with an injured hand,” head coach Claude Noel said afterwards.

The injury will keep him out of action for the rest of the season whether the Jets make the playoffs or not and the timing couldn’t be worse. Over the last nine games, Wellwood has scored four goals and has three assists in helping the Jets to a 6-3-0 record over that span and getting the team back in the race for both the playoffs and the Southeast Division crown.

Now they’ll have to find a way to replace his production in the lineup for their final three games at least. Nik Antropov and Anthony Peluso are candidates to get into the lineup after both are over injuries of their own.

Waiver claims: Flyers get Hall, Jets snag Santorelli

By Mike HalfordApr 3, 2013, 12:13 PM EDT
42 Comments

A pair of waiver moves came down prior to Wednesday’s trade deadline as the Philadelphia Flyers took Adam Hall off the wire from Tampa, and the Jets nabbed Mike Santorelli from Florida.

Hall, 32, appeared in 20 games for the Bolts this season, scoring 0G-4A-4PTS while averaging over 10 minutes per game.

He also had a brief stint with the ‘Canes (after Tampa put him on waivers the first time), failing to register a point in six games.

Hall was traded back to the Lightning on Tuesday (Carolina got Marc-Andre Bergeron in exchange), and promptly put on waivers. Again.

In case you’re curious about Hall’s role/style of play, he was sitting second among all Tampa Bay forwards in shortanded time on ice per game (2:11) and ranked fifth among all forwards in hits prior to getting moved.

He’s also fairly handy in the faceoff circle, winning 56.4 percent of his draws.

As for Winnipeg, they got former 20-goal scorer Santorelli, who has failed to make much of an impact after his 41-point outburst two seasons ago.

The 27-year-old had played in 24 games for the Panthers this season, scoring 2G-1A-3PTS while averaging 11:06 TOI per game.

Santorelli was actually placed on waivers yesterday but still played in Florida’s 3-2 shootout win over Tampa Bay, playing over 13 minutes while recording one shot on goal.

As TSN’s Darren Dreger notes, the Jets claimed Santorelli to offset the loss of forward Nik Antropov, who was hurt last night and will reportedly miss the next two weeks with a lower-body injury.

Jets sign 2012 first-round pick Trouba

By Cam TuckerApr 2, 2013, 11:48 PM EDT

The Winnipeg Jets announced on Tuesday that the club has come to terms with defenseman Jacob Trouba.

The 19-year-old Trouba was a member of the U.S. gold-medal winning hockey team at the 2013 World Junior Championships.

Trouba is the Jets’ first-round pick, ninth overall, from the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. He played in 37 games for the University of Michigan Wolverines scored 12 goals and had 29 points, along with 88 penalty minutes.

The Jets are barely holding on to a playoff spot and continue to struggle down the stretch.

On Tuesday, the Jets lost 5-2 to the New York Islanders, and have lost four straight games. They hold a two-point lead over the Washington Capitals for top spot in the Southeast Division.

Jets forward Nik Antropov left the game with a lower-body injury and did not return.

Jets take Rangers’ spot in East’s top eight

By James O'BrienMar 14, 2013, 11:02 PM EDT
21 Comments

By beating them 3-1 on Thursday, the Winnipeg Jets took the New York Rangers’ eighth spot in the East – for now, of course.

Nik Antropov started off the scoring with a power-play marker in the first, while Ryan Callahan tied things up early in the second period. Antti Miettinen notched the game-winner 14:52 into the middle frame while Andrew Ladd scored the empty-netter.

As usual with the NHL standings, it’s important to consider context, particularly the fact that the Rangers hold a game in hand. Here’s a closer look at the two teams’ records after the Jets beat the Rangers:

Jets overall record: 14-11-2 (30 points) in 27 games played, 6-6-0 at home, 8-5-2 on the road
Rangers’ overall record: 13-11-2 (28 points) in 26 games played, 9-5-1 at home, 4-6-1 on the road

Beyond New York’s game in hand, it’s interesting to note the disparity in home vs. road games. The Rangers have played 15 of 26 games at Madison Square Garden while the Jets have played 15 of 27 away from home. Even with the Jets’ surprisingly mediocre record in Winnipeg in mind, that could be a factor if it all comes down to the two teams earning one of the final spots.

Whether John Tortorella compliments them or not, it looks like the Rangers need to take the Jets seriously.

Ex-referee: Prust “appropriately” called for diving on Antropov hit (w/video)

By Mike HalfordJan 30, 2013, 5:07 PM EDT
17 Comments

Former NHL referee Kerry Fraser says officials got it right on Tuesday when they tagged Montreal forward Brandon Prust with a diving penalty after being hit by Winnipeg’s Nik Antropov.

First, here’s video of the incident in question:

What followed was a trio of minor penalties — Prust got two for diving, Antropov got two for boarding and David Desharnais got two for roughing.

Here are a few points Fraser made in deciding the call was correct:

— The contact/check that Antropov delivered on Prust was definitely not a check from behind (dangerous hit) and in my judgment not even worthy of a boarding minor!

Given the fact that neither referee appeared to react or raise an arm to call a penalty initially, I am left to believe that boarding and diving penalties were manufactured in hindsight after David Desharnais went after Antropov.

— Prust took a peek over his shoulder and was aware of the impending contact from Antropov. Once Prust felt the contact from behind, he utilized some ‘spring’ in his legs to generate additional velocity toward the boards. 

After contacting the boards Prust bent his upper body forward into his players’ bench.

— This contact was not of sufficient force to cause Prust to be thrown violently into the boards as the language in the rule requires for a penalty to be assessed.

Following the game, Prust was adamant he’d been hit strongly enough to warrant the response, and said it was his first-ever diving penalty.

“I can’t remember one. So it’s a first for everything,” he explained. “I got hit from behind and I fell down and apparently that’s diving nowadays.”

On that note…

Prust says he’s never been whistled for diving before, but he’s certainly been tagged for embellishment.

The following incident occurred during Game 5 of last year’s Eastern Conference finals, when Prust was with the Rangers:

New Jersey’s Peter Harrold was given two minutes for roughing on the play, while Prust was given an unsportsmanlike conduct minor.