Jets youth split opening two games

PENTICTON , British Columbia – With many people getting back into the swing of their fall schedules with kids going back to school and people’s holidays over and so is the NHL Young Stars Tournament week. This year is a very important one for the Winnipeg Jets organization; it’s their first Young Stars Tournament in 15 years.
 
One of many tournaments going on this week, the Winnipeg Jets have arrived in Penticton, BC along with the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks to put their rookies and farm club through what some NHL reporters are calling the Gauntlet.
 
Kevin Cheveldayoff, Winnipeg Jets GM, along with the rest of the hockey world were excited to see the Jets finally hit the ice after what felt like the longest summer in Winnipeg’s history and all eyes were on Mark Scheifele the 7th overall pick for the Jets in Minnesota this summer. Everyone at the draft seemed surprised when Scheifele where picked, most scouts had Scheifele ranked 20th and lower.
 
When the Jets hit the ice against the San Jose Sharks youngsters they came to prove that they could hold their own. The Jets had their plates full with a Sharks team that had taken a bite of the young Calgary Flames the night before with a 6-1 win.
 
Levko Koper, one of many Jets young stars looking to stand out for the Jets brass, made a great case for himself when he was able to create a turnover in front of the Sharks net just a minute into the game but was unable to score. At 9:11 of the first period, Koper again had the puck and streaked into the Sharks zone and this time he fired the first goal for the Winnipeg Jets putting them up 1-0.
 
Scheifele was unable to show off his skills until their was 4:38 remaining in the first period when he was able to walk into the Sharks zone and deke a defenseman and tossed a great back hander over the Sharks goalie to give the Jets the lead heading into the break.
 
The second period turned into the goaltending duel, with Edward Pasquale in net for the Jets and Thomas Heemskerk in the crease for the Sharks.   Both played well and ended the second period in a 2-0 game.
 
The Jets blew the game wide open twenty four seconds into the third period when Jason Gregoire was streaking up the left side and took a pass from Scheifele and he was able to toss it past Heemskerk to put the Jets up 3-0.
 
The Sharks decided to pull Heemskerk toward the end of the third period in favour for an extra attacker and Winnipeg‘s Koper was able to take possession of the puck to clear it and it ended up going into the net securing the Jets 4-0 win.
 
The next night in Penticton saw the Jets hit the ice to play the Edmonton Oilers who were coming off a win against Vancouver and both teams were fling high. The game was a 2-0 loss for the Jets.