After slow start, free agent signing paying off big time

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1 Winnipeg Free Press After slow start, free agent signing paying off big time By: Ed Tait Blame Mathieu Perreault and his absolutely filthy hands. Days from now, when Winnipeg Jets fans are hacking, sneezing and moaning about their assortment of cold and flu-like symptoms, the outbreak will be traced back to the second period of Tuesday s 8-2 evisceration of the Florida Panthers and the moment Perreault blew the lids off the MTS Centre. Perreault deftly tipped a Toby Enstrom point shot past Al Montoya for his second career hat trick he added a fourth goal later with 4:37 left in the middle frame. Moments later, when the goal was confirmed, hundreds of fans honoured an age-old tradition by tossing their hats onto the ice in celebration. Just for the record, by the time those lidless fans ventured outside at game s end, the temperature was -14 C, with a windchill of -22. That prompted the Jets in a humorous example of marketing at its finest to announce a 25 per cent off deal on all headgear in their store. "That was awesome. I had chills, almost," said Perreault, who scored his 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th of the year. "I was sitting there on the bench and almost couldn t believe it. A couple of chances there in the third, too, to maybe get five. It was a crazy night." Perreault became the first player in Jets/Thrashers history to score four goals in a game since Ilya Kovachuk on Nov. 11, Interestingly, there was a very real opportunity for him to finish with five or six goals. Early in the third, he had a breakaway and tried to go five-hole on a deke on Al Montoya but was denied, and with just over three minutes left he fired a nifty feed from Enstrom just wide. FYI, if Perreault had potted a fifth goal, Gail MacDonald of Brandon would have won $1 million as part of a Safeway Score and Win promotion. "I had no idea," said Perreault. "The guys have bee telling me... that s crazy. I wish I knew. In the third, it was a 7-2, 8-2 game and I was just kind of coasting around. I didn t know... I almost feel bad. Sorry, for whoever that was." During Perreault s post-game scrum Andrew Ladd playing the decoy asked, "Frenchy... how many goals did you score tonight?" as Dustin Byfuglien snuck around the other side of the media scrum and tried (and failed) to jam a towel full of shaving cream in his face. It was that kind of night for the Jets, who hammered a Panthers squad that had entered the game on a three-game win streak. Not only did Perreault match history, he helped Paul Maurice pick up his 500th win as an NHL coach.

2 It s been, of late, that kind of year for Perreault, who turned 27 last week. Back in the summer when he signed here, it was seen as a shrug-of-the-shoulders free-agent addition by those outside of Winnipeg. Oh sure, he was a solid third-line centre who was steady in the faceoff circle, but his arrival hardly had anyone in the NHL s Central Division concerned about a shift in the balance of power. Yet, here is Perreault now with 15 goals his career high is 18 after proving to be versatile enough to play both wing and centre while seeing time on the Jets first power-play unit. There might have been flashier free-agent signings, but he s been a dandy fit for Kevin Cheveldayoff & Co. Perreault had the shootout winner in Ottawa in his 15th game as a Jet but didn t score his first until his 20th contest. "It took a while," said Perreault, grinning. "I didn t get a goal for 20 games, even thought I was playing decent, good-enough hockey. I was going from centre to wing, different linemates... new team, new system. But now I really feel comfortable playing with (Scheifele) and Frolik on the wing. "It s the most minutes I ve ever played. Paul has had a lot of confidence in me and put me out there in all kinds of situations. It s been a lot of fun. I ve been enjoying myself a lot lately. That s what they told me, I was going to have a big role, bigger than I had in the past. I was very excited for the challenge. "Slow start, but now things are going very well, and I couldn t be happier." Thousands of Jets fans and those who exited with naked melons couldn t agree more. Perreault a 'four-middable' star of Jets' win over Panthers By: Tim Campbell Under the category of "problems you ve never encountered before but wouldn t mind having a go at," it s looking more and more like the Winnipeg Jets have a fight going to see who drives the bus. At least that s what comes to mind after left-winger Mathieu Perreault, after a slow and uncertain start to the season, continued to sizzle by scoring four goals, the first such performance since the team's 2011 relocation. And if that weren t enough to create a party atmosphere at the MTS Centre, all-star-gamebound defenceman Dustin Byfuglien chipped in with his own pair to help power the Jets 8-2 trouncing of the Florida Panthers.

3 The franchise just doesn t have much in the way of gloriouis history in this department. There are other leadership candidates, of course, but on this night Perreault and Byfuglien took centre stage to bring about another significant moment. It was the 500th career win for Jets head coach Paul Maurice, who has had previous stops in Hartford, Carolina and Toronto. With a mark of , the Jets continued to move forward in the Central Division and Western Conference standings, now to 52 points and keeping in touch with rivals ahead of them in the Central. Four-middable Perreault got his team off on the right foot on Tuesday night, sniping a pair of first-period goals on Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo to keep the Jets true to their good-starting team narrative this season. Then in the second period, already ahead 4-1, Perreault was parked in front of Luongo s replacement, former Jets backup Al Montoya, when Toby Enstrom s point shot nicked him on the way to the back of the net. It took some CSI-like video examination to determine it was Perreault s third goal of the night. When P.A. announcer Jay Richardson named Perreault as the scorer 33 seconds after the goal, the hats rained down. Perreault wasn t done. Thirty-six seconds after the announcement, he followed up Michael Frolik s breakaway, and when the Panthers fumbled around with Montoya s fine stop, Perreault swooped by and whacked home his fourth of the night. All of that extended a points streak to four games (6-2-8). Perreault has been a steady producer since mid-november, now with 25 points in his last 24 games. It took four years for a member of the franchise to follow Eric Boulton s hat trick for Atlanta in Now there s another barely a month after Bryan Little broke the jinx. Buff stuff Byfuglien s impact continued to be a major one on Tuesday night. His two goals against the Panthers the second driving Luongo from the net 6:37 into the second period were works of art. On the first, his 10th of the season, Byfuglien jumped into the rush and carried the puck down the left side, making a three-on-two. When the Panthers yielded space galore in order to block possible passes, Byfuglien simpley snapped a laser over Luongo s catching glove and under the crossbar at the far corner. Just 2:44 later, Byfuglien worked a give-and-go with Andrew Ladd and eventually stuffed the puck on Luongo, with both his skates below the goal line. Not again It was Luongo s first start in Winnipeg in 16 years and about one week and his fortune was about the same as last time.

4 The Panthers No. 1 goalie, who s been having an excellent season, last played here in the gold-medal game at the 1999 World Junior at the old Winnipeg Arena, losing the game in overtime to Russia. Forward, march The Jets used the points to improve their standing in the ultra-competitive Western Conference during one of their most taxing weeks of the schedule. At so far, they leave today for Dallas to continue a seven-games-in-11-days stretch that continues Friday in Chicago and back here Sunday against Arizona. Winnipeg Sun Jets cruise past Panthers on milestone night By: Ken Wiebe About the only thing the Winnipeg Jets didn't get right on this night was the attempted shaving cream pie to the face of Mathieu Perreault. With his first four-goal game of his career, Perreault helped propel the Jets to an 8-2 triumph over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night before an appreciative crowd of 15,016 at MTS Centre. As Perreault was surrounded by members of the media at his locker, Jets captain Andrew Ladd played the role of decoy as Dustin Byfuglien swooped in but the prank was unsuccessful and the hero went back to answering questions without a face full of shaving cream. Perreault scored four goals as a member of the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League back in February of 2010, but this is a first at the NHL-level and he won't forget it. That was five or six years ago and you can't compare to doing it at the highest level, said Perreault, who has 15 goals and 28 points in 43 games this season. Four goals is something really special. Obviously, the bounces were going my way. It was one of those nights and I had a lot of fun. The Jets are back in action on Thursday as they open a two-game road trip against the Dallas Stars. Perreault's four-goal game was the first in Jets 2.0 history and just the third in franchise history, with Ilya Kovalchuk providing the last one as a member of the Atlanta Thrashers, on Nov. 11 of 2005 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Perreault opened the scoring at 7:24, then extended the lead four minutes later with a powerplay goal that came on a quick wrister.

5 Perreault's third goal of the game required a lengthy look from the off-ice officials, who determined the Jets' versatile forward had indeed deflected home a point shot by Toby Enstrom at 15:23 of the second period. Once the goal was finally announced during a stoppage in play, the ice was littered with hats as Perreault became just the second player in Jets 2.0 history to score three times in a game. In case you've forgotten, Bryan Little, on Dec. 5 against the Colorado Avalanche, is the other. But Perreault wasn't done there, jamming in a rebound after Michael Frolik was stopped on a breakaway at 16:32 of the second period. Perreault nearly scored a fifth during the third period and the crowd showed their appreciation on several occasions. That was awesome. I got chills, said Perreault. I almost couldn't believe it. After signing a three-year deal with the Jets worth $9 million on July 1, Perreault took some time adjusting to his new team before finding his offensive groove. Since chipping in three assists in his first 19 games, Perreault has 15 goals and 25 points in 24 games and has been one of the most consistent performers. I'm happy for him because he's done it the right way, said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. He's worked so hard. The victory helped the Jets improve to on the season and gave Maurice 500 career NHL wins. Obviously he's quite dedicated to his craft and a professor of the game, that's for sure, said Jets defenceman Jay Harrison, who has been coached by Maurice at four different stops. It's a passion as well. His love of the game comes through with every thing he does. Guys rally around it and it's inspiring as well. I was lucky enough to be around for his 1,000th game, when he became the youngest coach to get to 1,000. To see him get his 500th win, he's very deserving and I'm very proud of him. Byfuglien also scored twice for the Jets, one on a blistering shot down the left wing and the other on a nifty give-and-go with captain Andrew Ladd. Harrison and Evander Kane rounded out the scoring for the Jets, who scored eight times for the first time this season. Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo gave up four goals on 20 shots and was pulled by head coach Gerard Gallant in the second period, bringing Al Montoya on in relief against his former team. Aside from the confidence that comes with scoring more than a handful of goals against a former Southeast Division opponent, the Jets were able to contain a Panthers team that had won three consecutive games and four of their past five overall during this lengthy road trip.

6 Perhaps most importantly, for a team that coughed up several leads on the weekend against both the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, the defensive lapses were kept to a minimum. That trend will need to continue for the Jets to finish the week the way it started. FLIGHT RECORDER JETS 8, PANTHERS 2 Three Stars Mathieu Perreault, Jets Became the first member of Jets 2.0 to score four goals in one game. Dustin Byfuglien, Jets His dominant play on defence continues with two goals and an assist. Zach Bogosian, Jets Chipped in an assist and was on the ice for five even-strength goals for. THE SKINNY The Jets continued to play the role of bully against their former Southeast Division rival, beating the Panthers for the fifth consecutive time on home ice to give Paul Maurice his 500th NHL victory. During those five games at MTS Centre, the Jets have outscored the Panthers Maurice scores 500th win as Jets beat Panthers By: Ken Wiebe Paul Maurice didn't imagine getting the 500th win of his NHL career in such lopsided fashion. But when you've stood behind the bench as long as Maurice has, you'll take them anyway you can get them. On the one-year anniversary of coaching his first game with the Jets after taking over from Claude Noel, Maurice watched his team erupt for an 8-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night at MTS Centre. Maurice now sports a record of with the Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs and the Jets. I've been really fortunate, said Maurice, who was given a game puck to add to his memorabilia collection. Mr. (Peter) Karmanos and Jim Rutherford are the two biggest influences on me, getting an opportunity to coach as young as I did and then staying with me. That's really where my thoughts are now. An appreciation in the faith and the support and letting me learn in my job, on the job, which you just don't get to do in the NHL. Those two guys are the reason I'm here at 500 today. I feel honoured to be in this league that long.

7 Since stepping behind the Jets bench, Maurice is His first win (7-4) with the Hartford Whalers came against the San Jose Sharks and he remembers how he and his wife celebrated the monumental occasion. We hit the Burger King drive-thru on the way home, said Maurice. My wife should have figured out then that it wasn't a very glamourous job. Jets coach Maurice on penalty habits: 'It's who we are' By: Paul Friesen The most penalized team in the NHL has come to a conclusion about its sinful ways. It likes itself this way. Despite seeing their penalties cause some blood loss over the last couple of weeks, the Winnipeg Jets say they re not going out of their way to avoid them. We re going to spend some more time killing penalties, head coach Paul Maurice said, Tuesday. It s who we are. It s what we do. Sure, Maurice wants to see his team kill them off better than they have: going into Tueday s game against Florida, the Jets had given up eight power play goals in their last four games and 10 in their last six. They cleaned up their act against the Panthers, taking just three meaningless minors and killing them off in an 8-2 romp. But going into the game Maurice said he s not preaching discipline anymore. Two of our last four games we ve spent an awful lot of time talking about staying out of the penalty box and we didn t play any good in those games, he said. So I don t think we re going to talk about that anymore. In fact, the Jets see their new-found reputation as the NHL s troubled child as a badge of honour: a symbol of their competitive mentality under the new coach. We probably cross that line more than smart people would say we should, Maurice concluded. But there might be a little advantage in that, too. KING OF PAIN There are times you wonder if he s going to hurt somebody. Some of the hits thrown by Jets defenceman Dustin Byfuglien look downright scary. Unnatural, even.

8 Maurice figures that s why Byfuglien occasionally gets called for penalties, like the hooking call he drew while destroying Anze Kopitar in L.A., Saturday. I find him to be an incredibly clean hitter, Maurice said. What happens after the hit, I mean, it just doesn t look normal, so something strange must have happened, right? He just drives through people so strong. Same with the hit on Francois Beauchemin in Anaheim a day later. And the mid-ice collision with the Ducks Corey Perry. The nagging question I just can t get out of my head: where was this Dustin Byfuglien the last three seasons? No. 33 spared the Panthers his wrath, Tuesday, instead burying them with a couple of goals in the second period. The first was a rocket of a wrist shot on a Jets three-on-two, the second a softie that had to embarrass starter Roberto Luongo before it chased him from the game. HALF A KANE Maurice has gone out of his way to say how much Evander Kane s return has meant. The thing is, he doesn t have all of Kane back, yet. No. 9 acknowledged he s nowhere near 100% after returning to the lineup earlier than expected (he missed five games after blocking a shot in Minnesota). No, definitely not, Kane said. But I can play and contribute. If I can do that, I ll play. Just still recovering and trying to feel better and heal as fast as I can. After getting nearly 20 minutes of ice time in his first game back, Kane played 15:31 in his second, 14:16 on Tuesday. CAVALRY RETURNS The return of injured players has paid immediate offensive dividends for the Jets, more than even the most optimistic could have imagined. To wit: Kane scored in his second game and again in his third, Tuesday; Zach Bogosian has two goals and added a picture-perfect assist on Perreault s first of four against the Panthers; Toby Enstrom has assists in all three of his games back; even Mark Stuart picked up a helper on Jay Harrison s goal against Florida. Kane singled out the difference Enstrom makes. Toby moves the puck so well, some of our breakouts were a lot cleaner with him back there, he said. He makes plays that not a lot of guys can. LOW-KEY CELLY

9 I liked Kane s reaction when he scored the Jets eighth goal against Florida in the third period: he did nothing. There s no need to celebrate the goal means nothing. Anything else is either immature or rubbing salt in the opponent s wound, two things I wouldn t have ruled out Kane doing in the past. Good on him. BLUE-LINE GAMES Got a chuckle out of Maurice s admission that he and his assistant coaches played the what-if game while their top-four defencemen were out. We try not to spend too much time talking about the number of guys out of our lineup, the coach said. But the little fun game we were playing before everybody we played we took the top-four D out and thought how good they d be. So we survived a very, very daunting task. Here s how it breaks down: the Jets went with Bogosian and Enstrom out, won the game in which Trouba joined those two in sick bay, then went with all four out. They re since the Fab Four, beginning with Bogosian, have started trickling back. I didn t expect anywhere near that. Instead of falling off the Western Conference playoff line, the Jets have moved into sole possession of fifth place. There s no sin in that. And lots to like. Canadian Press Mathieu Perreault scores 4 as Jets dominate Panthers Winnipeg victory is 500th career win for coach Paul Maurice Mathieu Perreault said he got some lucky bounces. Four of those bounces turned into goals on Tuesday, as the Winnipeg Jets trounced the Florida Panthers 8-2.

10 "Four goals, it's something very special," Perreault said. "Obviously, bounces were going my way. "In the four goals, breakaways, (Michael) Frolik shoots it and it bounces right to me... I had a couple chances in the third, too, to get maybe five. It was one of those crazy nights." Perreault scored four goals with the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League about five or six years ago, but it's a different feeling in the NHL. "You can't compare doing it at the highest level," Perreault said, who played with Anaheim last season and was a Winnipeg free-agent signing in July. Fans gave the team and first-star Perreault a loud standing ovation after the victory, which earned Paul Maurice his 500th win as an NHL head coach. The eight-goal output was a season-high for the Jets, one short of the franchise record. Jets defenceman Dustin Byfuglien scored a pair of goals and added an assist. Jay Harrison and Evander Kane also scored for Winnipeg ( ). Dave Bolland, with his first of the season, and Brad Boyes had goals for Florida ( ), which finished a six-game road trip by going Boyes said the Panthers made too many mistakes. "I think my son who's 11 months now, he probably could have scored a couple tonight, too," Boyes said. "It wasn't the way that we normally play." Perreault's four-goal performance tied the Winnipeg/Atlanta franchise record for most goals in a game. Former Thrashers star Ilya Kovalchuk was the last to do it in 2005 and Pascal Rheaume recorded the first one. "It's great. Any time you see a guy get those four like that, it's fun," Byfuglien said. "It's fun to be a group. "(But) the fun's over with now. We've got stuff to maintain and get back to work." Perreault had his first-career hat trick on Jan. 24, 2012, against Boston. He almost didn't have his third goal Tuesday as it was first declared a Toby Enstrom goal, but then Perreault got the nod for a deflection. He now has 15 goals and 14 assists in 43 games after starting the season going 19-straight games without a goal. Rookie goalie Michael Hutchinson made 25 saves and had fun watching his teammates across the ice. "Mathieu getting his hat trick and his fourth one, that was just huge," Hutchinson said.

11 "He's such a key player for us and he's had such a great year. He definitely deserves everything he got tonight. It was great to see it was on home ice and all the fans supported him." Roberto Luongo started in net for Florida, but was pulled with 13:23 left in the second period in favour of Al Montoya after letting in four goals on 20 shots. Montoya made 11 stops. The Jets mounted a 2-0 lead just past the midway point of the opening period on Perreault's first two goals and made it 3-0 early in the second. The first goal came after Winnipeg capitalized on a Florida turnover followed by Perreault scoring his second goal just two seconds before a hooking penalty to Florida centre Nick Bjugstad expired. Winnipeg made it 3-0 at 3:39 of the second period when Byfuglien took the puck up the left side of the ice, paused for a split second like he might pass, before snapping a quick shot that went over Luongo's glove. Bolland scored at 5:15 to make it 3-1, but Byfuglien responded with his second goal of the game 68 seconds later when he squeezed a close shot through a gap between the post and Luongo's right pad at 6:23. Jets captain Andrew Ladd assisted on Byfuglien's goal, extending his points streak to a careertying seven games with four goals and five assists. Montoya got the nod after the goal made it 4-1. Perreault then scored back-to-back goals late in the second period to make it 6-1. Winnipeg had outshot the Panthers after two periods. Harrison widened the gap to 7-1 at 4:26 of the third period, Boyes made it 7-2 just over a minute later and Kane scored on the power play at 13:47 to end the rout. "Great, great story in Matty Perreault scoring four," Maurice said. "First time I've seen that in almost five (years). "And I'm happy for him, because he's done it the right way. You know he's worked so hard. He went through that stretch when he wasn't scoring. And his practices got even more competitive and he worked even harder and he had a stretch where he was just, competing on every puck." The Jets head out for two-game road trip starting Thursday in Dallas. The Panthers host Colorado on Thursday. The Hockey News Could Dustin Byfuglien win the Norris in half a season on defense?

12 By: Jared Clinton When a rash of injuries was close to sending the Winnipeg Jets into a tailspin, coach Paul Maurice called on Dustin Byfuglien to move back to defense. Whether Maurice knew it or not, the move was the best decision he may have made in the year since he s taken over behind the bench for the Jets. Byfuglien, who has been moved from defense to forward and now back again throughout his career, isn t simply excelling as a rearguard, he s staking his claim as the Jets undisputed MVP in a season where without him all may have been lost. One could even argue he has a shot at the Norris Trophy. What Byfuglien brings to the backend is incredibly strong skating for a big man, a booming slapshot, and a physical presence that had been missing with injuries. Add to it all that Byfuglien is a positive possession player, can eat considerable minutes, and spared the Jets from throwing returning defensemen Zach Bogosian and Toby Enstrom right into the fire. That alone is enough to give him some consideration as the Jets most valuable player. There was much debate about what Maurice should do with his lineup when Bogosian and Enstrom did return, but the answer lies simply in the faith Maurice is showing in the 29-yearold s game. Before the return of Bogosian and Enstrom, Byfuglien was averaging roughly 27 minutes a game as a blueliner. In Sunday night s game against the Anaheim Ducks, Byfuglien played nearly 30 minutes, while no other rearguard saw more than 23 minutes on the ice. The second highest time on ice for defenseman was Ben Chiarot, Byfuglien s partner, and he only saw 22:39 of action. It s not just that he s eating minutes, either a big reason why Byfuglien is receiving such high praise throughout the league is how well he has been producing while playing as part of Winnipeg s defense corps. In the 17 games he s suited up for as a defenseman, Byfuglien has potted four goals and 14 points, and has been held off the score sheet in just six games. Over the course of a full 82-game season, if Byfuglien s play were to stay at this rate, it would result in roughly 19 goals and 67 points from the backend from Byfuglien, which is elite level production from a blueliner. Consider that last season s Norris Trophy winner, Duncan Keith, tallied 61 points, and you have an argument that Byfuglien could have been voted the league s top defenseman had be been back there all season. There has also been an incredible thing happening to Winnipeg s underlying numbers since Byfuglien s move to the blueline. Almost everything is up, and, while the samples are different and could make for some variation, the positive change doesn t seem like a coincidence. It s where the real argument for Byfuglien s Norris candidacy lies. In the 17 games Byfuglien has been on defense, Winnipeg s 5-on-5 Corsi For percentage is seventh best in the NHL, an admirable 53.1 percent. Before his move back to defense, a 26 game span, the Jets boasted a Corsi For of 51.1 percent, 12th in the league. What makes this more outstanding is, during those 26 games before Byfuglien was a defenseman, they were actually starting more shifts in the offensive zone than the current 17-game run with Byfuglien on defense. Before he was a defender, Winnipeg was starting 51.1 percent of their non-neutral zone faceoffs in the offensive zone. With Byfuglien on defense, that number is 49.4 percent. This means that

13 not only has Winnipeg had better possession numbers with Byfuglien manning the point, they ve done it while the 6-foot-5 monster has been their go-to defenseman, tasked with dragging them out of bad zone starts. There are also very interesting things happening when it comes to Winnipeg s on-ice shooting percentage and PDO over Byfuglien s tenure as the team s number one defenseman. It has been noted on multiple occasions this season that the Jets have struggled to score, having one of the league s worst 5-on-5 shooting percentages. Matter of fact, it wasn t even one of the league s worst it was the worst, with Winnipeg scoring on only 5.8 percent of their 5-on-5 shots before Byfuglien moved back to defense on Dec. 5. Since then, however, Winnipeg s shooting percentage has skyrocketed to 9.5 percent. Their goaltending, which has had its 5-on-5 save-percentage drop off a small amount, is the only thing that brings down what is already a high PDO at 101.5, the ninth highest mark in the league. While Winnipeg fans were long waiting for a correction to their shooting percentage, few could have expected this. Byfuglien moving to defense seems to be just what the team needed, and now, instead of begging for the shooting percentage to go up, fans can be content with a slight dip in the number. Though he s taking slightly fewer shots per game from the blueline Byfuglien has averaged 2.88 per night on defense, and had nearly 3.3 per outing as a forward it s hard to argue he s not having a more positive impact from the point. On top of that, the nearly three shots per game from the point would put him in the same company as Erik Karlsson, Keith Yandle, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Kris Letang, Brent Burns, and Drew Doughty, to name a few. Finally, one of the greatest revelations of late is the importance of controlling the game from a scoring chances point of view. Like possession, scoring chances for can help predict future goals, which correlates to future wins. Advanced statistics go-to War-On-Ice.com, where all the data in this article comes from, has this information collected and defined, and it s definitely worth a look. With Byfuglien as a defenseman, the Jets have been the fourth best team in the league, having a scoring chance for percentage of Before Byfuglien moved to defense, Winnipeg was 11th, breaking about even with 50.8 percent of the scoring chances. If you re of the mind that Byfuglien was more effective as a forward, don t let his days as a Chicago Blackhawk cloud your vision. With Winnipeg, he s been an elite defenseman one of the best in the entire league. If Maurice had sent him out as a rearguard to begin the season, we may be talking about Byfuglien for the Norris. And though his half a season on the blueline may hurt his cause, I think fans in Winnipeg will simply take him helping them to the playoffs.