The draft is done, the schedule released, unrestricted free agency exploded July 1 with signings coming fast and furious, totaling dollars never before seen, but remember the old saying, “dollars dont skate. Bill Baumgartner Jersey Store .” All teams made off-season changes, and the time for organizations to see exactly what their team will look like and how successful it will be, is getting closer every day. ?Training camps will start in mid-September. Meanwhile coaches are spending hours on a daily basis reviewing video of new players, prospects and trying to get a handle on what kind of a team they have. For Paul Maurice the off season was a busy one. He was an assistant coach with Canada at the World Championships in Belarus, relocated his family to Winnipeg, watched a lot of video and yet hopefully had some down time, because once training camp starts its full speed ahead. So when the Jets open the season in Phoenix against the Arizona Coyotes what will the team look like? A team that will have to compete in a very tough division and a very tough conference. Ask most hockey people for a list of eight teams that will make the playoffs in the West and for the most part you get the same answer: Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose, Chicago, St. Louis, Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota. No Jets, no Oilers, no Flames, no Canucks, no Predators, no Coyotes. But every year there are surprises. Example number one: Many picked Colorado to be a basement dweller last year, not a division winner. On paper, the top eight forward positions for the Jets seem set.? So simply for a starting point, we will throw out the following line combinations: Bryan Little between Andrew Ladd and Michael Frolik. Mark Scheifele between Blake Wheeler and Dustin Byfuglien (Maurice was very clear in his post season news conference that Byfuglien would be a forward). Newcomer Mathieu Perreault with Evander Kane and (let the discussion begin). There will be competition for that spot and competition for the remainder of the forward spots. Jim Slater will centre the fourth line with a list of candidates that includes Chris Thorburn, Anthony Peluso, Eric Tangradi, Matt Halischuk, TJ Galiardi, Eric ODell, Carl Klingberg, Adam Lowry, Scott Kosmachuk, and so on. The challenge is to have one out of this group step up and grab a top nine position. One to watch is Lowry. Now we have heard a variety of other line combinations, from Kane teaming up with Scheifele, to Byfuglin or Wheeler on the line with Little and Ladd with Frolik moving down, etc. That will all sort itself out at training camp and the pre-season games. There are always surprises good and bad, and there are always injuries that play a part. Perrault will help the power play -- which lacked consistency -- will help in the face-off category -- which needed to be better -- and can play on any of the top three lines. And on the topic of face-offs, Scheifele got better and better last season until he was hurt, to the point where he became Canadas go to guy at the World Championships. There are other questions with regards to the forwards: Can Little repeat his great season of last year? Will Wheeler continue the climb to being a dominant winger? What can Byfuglien do in the dual role of winger/point on the power play? What will Perreault add? And then there is Kane. Will it ever get to the point where he is just “Evander Kane, a very good player for the Winnipeg Jets.” At this point, hes another young player whose potential is unknown. Little, Wheeler and Byfuglien are all coming off career years. Despite his youth, Scheifele getting hurt really slowed the Jets charge for a playoff spot. The team was on an 11-3-1 run when he got hurt, and prior to the injury he was playing the best hockey of his young career. The back end is probably more of a wild card. A healthy Zach Bogosian is key. He needs to become the player the Jets think he can be, the player he feels he can be: Namely, a defenceman that can play in all situations, be counted on to be a shutdown guy, and a player that can handle big minutes. A healthy Toby Enstrom -- who played all 82 games last year – is also a key for the Jets. For now lets pair him with Bogosian. Mark Stuart played big minutes at the end of the last season while paired with Jacob Trouba. Trying to keep Stuart healthy is not easy simply because of how hard he plays the game. Twenty-one times last season Trouba led the team in minutes played and will again be given the opportunity to be a special player. His 10 goals was a franchise mark for rookie defencemen. We all know about the sophomore season in many ways being tougher simply based on expectations. Add Grant Clitsome, Paul Postma, Keaton Ellerby, Adam Pardy, and Josh Morrissey to the list and probably somewhere in that group you will come up with your starting seven. Morrissey had a great playoff with St. Johns after a very good season in junior. Because of his age, Morrissey either stays with the Jets or goes back to Prince Albert. And there are others that have not been listed that will for sure make the final decisions on “D” difficult,” just as it should be. But one to watch is Morrissey. Good goaltending is a must. And just as Bogosian needs to be the player that everyone feels he can be, so does Ondrej Pavelec, more so than any other player on the team, simply because of the position.?? Not many veteran players are forced to be at their best right from day one of camp, but fairly or not, that is the position Pavelec is in. And to be clear, all of last years pitfalls for the Jets cant be thrown on his shoulders, but the Western Conference is full of very good goaltenders and for the Jets to be a playoff team, Pavelec is going to have to show he can be an elite player. Michael Hutchinson will battle hard for the number one spot as he is coming off a great season. Hutchinson enjoyed success in the ECHL and AHL, before being promoted to the big club at the end of the season, and then had a great playoff run with the Ice Caps. Connor Hellebuyck is coming off a great college career and was with team USA at the Worlds, getting a chance to face pro shots. He is one to watch. The key stat going forward for the Jets is once again goals against. Only Nashville (with no Pekka Rinne for most of the season) gave up more goals than the Jets in the Central Division. Other concerns include the home record needing to be better (and with the great atmosphere at the MTS Centre, there no reason for it not to be), the power play being more consistent (taking advantage of power plays at key times in a game is as important as how many power play goals you score), and getting the extra point in overtime and shootouts. The Jets were one of the best penalty killing teams in the league, but need to cut down the infractions as only five teams in the entire NHL were shorthanded more. Mack Strong Jersey Store . Adam LaRoche will take that. "I like our position in the standings and I like how our team is playing," LaRoche said after Washington swept a day-night doubleheader from the Cubs on Saturday. Lew Reeve Jersey Store . -- Dane Fox scored his 61st and 62nd goals of the season and Brendan Gaunce had a goal and three assists as the Erie Otters downed the Kitchener Rangers 7-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. https://www.chinacheapjerseys.net/ . "First, I would like to offer my deepest and sincerest apologies for any harm I have inflicted on University of Missouri defensive lineman, Michael Sam," the statement read. WATERLOO, Ont. -- Michelle Wie had to think her 6-under-par 65 would hold up despite a strong wind whipping through Grey Silo Golf Course. It should have been enough, until defending champion Hee Young Park caught fire. The South Korean made her move over the last 10 holes, draining four birdies to match Wies score after Thursdays first round of the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic. Wie, who matched her lowest round of the season, birdied three of the last four holes including an eight-foot downhill putt on No. 18. She said she had the same mindset as last season -- getting out of the gate with a good score in case other golfers continued to go low at Grey Silo. "Thats definitely what I thought today," said Wie, who was off the course before Park started her round. "I was early off and I wanted to just make a lot of birdies early on, especially with 26 under winning it last year, its definitely one of those golf courses where you may have to keep making birdies. I went 6 under today and its not enough. I have to keep making birdies for the rest of the weekend. I still have my work cut out for me." Park, who equalled her opening round score last year when she won with the second lowest score in LPGA history at 26 under, said she surprised herself by grabbing a share of the lead. "I didnt really expect to play well today, because last year and this year pretty different golf conditions -- this year more wet and not firm," Park said. "We played a month earlier than last year, so it was a more windier course condition. We didnt care about other players playing well or not, just one by one shot playing." Park laughed when asked if she could equal her score from last year. "I hope so. Today I was a bit lucky. I didnt really miss my second shots so that I hit the green and had a lot of chance to birdie putt. Also, I tried to put it so I had some uphill easier putts rather than hit it too aggressive downhill." The twosome were one shot better than Chinas Shanshan Feng and two shots ahead of Chinas Xi Yu Lin and Christie Kerr of the U.S. at 4 under. After the top five, 12 players were tied at 3 under. For the first time in three years at the tournament the wind factored into the scoring, as only five players shot better than 3-under par in the first round. Last year, 22 players opened with lower scores. Wie was a measure of cconsistency though on the day with seven birdies, despite some whipping wind, with her only blemish coming with a bogey on No. Tom Greene Jersey Store. 9. "I was consistent and I felt that I judged the wind pretty well today," Wie said. "Tuesday practice round was a lot windier, so I think that was very helpful." Feng had a strong round with five birdies, but she wasnt able to match the leaders down the stretch. "Well, this course is normally a birdie course, so everybodys going to make a lot of birdies," Feng said. "Today, I think the wind picked up a little, so the course was playing longer. I miss a lot of birdie putts, but I stayed patient and I think that was the key." Even though most of last years field had some ridiculously low scores, Feng missed the cut by one. Though she scrambled at times in the first round, biding her time was the key to shooting a low score. "This year here Im not giving myself any pressure. Make it and make it. If I dont make it, its still OK." It was a tough day for the worlds top three players. Top-ranked Stacy Lewis and No. 2 Inbee Park finished at 2-under par, and Lydia Ko, sitting in third in the rankings, came in at 1 over. Sixteen-year-old Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., was the leader among Canadians at 1-under 70. Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., and Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont., were at even-par 70, while Charlottetowns Lorie Kane, Erica Rivard of Tecumseh, Ont., and Alena Sharp of Hamilton were at 2-over 73. Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., finished at 3-over 74, while Torontos Rebecca Lee-Bentham and Nicole Vandermade of Brantford, Ont., shot 4-over 75. Henderson also found the wind to be a factor during her round. she finished tied for 35th last year at 10 under. "Its tough with all the wind out there. Its strong and you have to be really careful in club selection and everything," said Henderson, who finished tied for 35th last year at 10 under. "First goal is to make the cut and 1 under, hopefully, will put me in a good position going into tomorrow." Henderson admitted she is a different golfer than she was two years ago in her first LPGA event. "When I was 14 playing the Canadian Open I was definitely a little scared mouse, thats for sure, but Im definitely a lot more comfortable and my game is a lot better, which really helps." ' ' '