No one will accuse the Winnipeg Jets of taking things lightly this weekend.
Amidst a roadtrip of redemption, the Jets were busy all three days of the weekend, with three pieces making headlines around Winnipeg.
First, the Jets capped off a sunsoaked arm of a roadtrip Friday by beating the Florida Panthers. Dustin Byfuglien, arguably the team's MVP through the first half of the season, scored the overtime winner. The win was redemption for the Jets, who were beaten by the Panthers earlier in the week, and moved them to ninth in the Eastern Conference standings, just a point behind the New York Rangers.
The Winnipeg Jets' next game goes this evening against the New Jersey Devils and Martin Brodeur.
Second, word broke Saturday that the Winnipeg Jets, and the city of Winnipeg as a whole, were being targeted by the NHL to host a Heritage Classic game, likely in 2016. The word was broken by Winnipeg Free Press reporter Gary Lawless.
The game would be held at the new Investors Group Field, located near the University of Manitoba campus. IG Field is slated to open this June and host its first football game - that being an exhibition contest for the hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers - towards the end of the month.
This would be the first full-out outdoor game for both the Winnipeg Jets' franchise as well as the city of Winnipeg. In the past, the Manitoba Moose would hold outdoor practices on an annual basis, but never played a game on the frozen tundra of CanadInns Statium.
Finally, just hours before the Jets and New Jersey Devils tangled, the team issued a release indicating that prospect Spencer Machacek had been traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for right winter Tomas Kubalik. Kubalik, 22, has played in just 12 NHL games, accumulating 4 points.
Spencer Machacek, originally drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers, saw action in 13 games with the Jets last season and counted 9 points, the first of his career after having two stints in Atlanta. Machacek now goes to a club who are in desperate need of help - the Jackets sit 5 points out of a playoff spot in the west and 14th overall.
Kubalik, meanwhile, will all but assuredly report to St. John's.
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