WINNIPEG – There is just something special about the start of training camp.
All the excitement as a team begins the grind of training camp, the ups and (hopefully minimal) downs of the regular season, and the thrill of what could come in the postseason.
But it all begins with day one.
“Today was great to be on the ice with everybody and have them pushing each other and together as a team,” said Kyle Connor, who posted a career-high of 97 points last season. “I’m really excited to get started and see the guys.”
When the first ice session began on Thursday, Connor was alongside two familiar faces in Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi. The focus of day one wasn’t so much on systems or developing chemistry within linemates, but keeping that trio – who outscored their opponents 49-36 at five-on-five last season, per Natural Stat Trick – together was a perfect way to kick off camp for Connor.
“They both look great, you can tell they put in the work,” Connor said. “Even the skates coming up to camp, they were pushing the pace. It’s day one, but I’m excited to build on what we’ve been doing as a team and as a line.”
The 28-year-old winger is in the final year of his seven-year contract and plans to let the business side take care of itself while he focuses on being the best player he can for his team.
“Obviously it’s a family here. You feel that right from the beginning, even with opening remarks from (executive chairman and governor, Mark) Chipman, (general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff), coach (Scott Arniel). They’re all saying the same thing. It’s a family. We pride ourselves on the community and it’s a close-knit group. You can feel that just in the relationships around the room.”
Cheveldayoff said he’s had great dialogue with Connor’s representatives and continues to do so, adding that he sees both Connor and captain Adam Lowry (who also has an expiring contract at the end of this season) as big parts of this team's roster. As a general manager, there are always tasks that need to be done, but when he looks at this Jets group in training camp, Cheveldayoff likes what he sees.
“It's a very close group, obviously, during the season. I think it's a very close group off ice, during the offseason,” Cheveldayoff said. “It's the opportunity that's in front of them and the hunger and the scars and the pain that get left behind when you don't get as far as you collectively want to.
“Every group learns a certain something along the way.”
Perhaps Arniel put it best when reflecting on the Presidents’ Trophy (and William Jennings Trophy) winning regular season, and the triumph over the St. Louis Blues in a physical, down to the final second first round series.
“That playoff series, that was right out of the 80's and 90's for me. Maybe without the fighting,” said Arniel. “But that physicality of that series was something that, if we weren't ready for it, that might have been over very quick and probably not in our favour.”
Building that kind of compete level doesn’t happen in one day. It’s built over 82 games. Thursday’s three sessions had aspects of one-on-ones, two-on-twos, and some small-area games as a way to start the building process.
“This group in the last three years, we’ve won the most regular season games in the league,” said Arniel. “Florida has played the most playoff games, like 63 playoff games. That’s the next goal, that’s what we have to get to.”
Despite all the success of last season, there is a noticeable ‘unfinished business’ feel around the group. The Jets added Stanley Cup winners in Jonathan Toews and Tanner Pearson, and brought in more depth in a number of positions, including Gustav Nyquist and Cole Koepke up front – just to name a couple.
It won’t be just one name that helps the Jets get where they want to go, but building a squad that wants to go on this journey together is a foundational piece.
“This group’s kind of been together a long time and we’re very comfortable picking up each other in any situation,” said Connor. “I think we pride ourselves as a team, you know, you look to that guy next to you in the locker room and it’s an open book. Whatever you’re feeling, whatever you can help the other guy with, we’re trying to be the players we can but also the best teammates we can. It starts with our leadership with (Adam Lowry), and Josh (Morrissey) and Mark are examples of that. It goes to the chemistry of this team.”
