Thursday October 9, 2014

Gila River Arena in Glendale

For Updated Odds on This Game Click Here

Thursday night, the Winnipeg Jets will take on the Arizona Coyotes.   Both teams will be looking to start the new season off with a win.

The Winnipeg Jets were admittedly not a great team last season.  Being in a tough division and an even tougher conference didn’t help much either.  But the Jets just couldn’t put together all the pieces to make it to the playoffs.  They had scoring but they couldn’t score as much as they gave up.  When they had the power play, they couldn’t take advantage.  But their penalty kills were great.   It seemed like the Jets were always just short of takeoff speed.  Can they change it this season? Possibly.  But they will need to tighten up the goaltending and the power plays.  If they can fix those two problems, they could play spoiler to a contending team.  Or they could actually become that contending team themselves.    

Last season, they were the Phoenix Coyotes.  This season, they are the Arizona Coyotes.  But is that all that has changed? They barely missed the playoffs last season and that is the type of thing that can motivate a team if they let it. But will they let it? Will they try to go back to the defensive philosophy that was a hallmark of their success in recent years or will they try to push an offense minded strategy that failed them last season? Perhaps the goal will be to find that delicate balance between offense and defense that could end their two year playoff drought and set them up for success in the future.   

Injuries to Watch

Winnipeg Jets

10/06/14 D Tobias Enstrom Shoulder "?" Thursday vs. Arizona

Arizona Coyotes

No injuries to report at this time

Tony's Pick: Take Arizona

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here

Read more articles by Tony Sink