Since bench boss Paul Maurice took over for Claude Noel in mid-January, the Jets' have gone from doormats to just two points out of the Western Conference playoff race, and are heading into the stretch run as healthy as they've been all season - and that includes having Evander Kane back on the ice.
In and out of the lineup since slicing his hand open during an altercation with Tampa Bay's Eric Brewer just before Maurice took the reigns, Kane, who should be in the lineup on Thursday night when the Jets host the Phoenix Coyotes, doesn't regret coming back at Brewer, who gave him a hard cross check in the back to instigate the fight.
"I don't fight a lot," Kane said upon returning to practice. "Fighting is a part of the game. It's a good part of the game. It's a necessary part of the game. You have to have it to control the game. Those type of things, they happen." then, addressing the specific incident, "He gave me a shot in the back. I'm not going to back down, let's put it that way."
Physical for being a smaller winger, Kane has 107 hits to his credit and 50 penalty minutes in 42 games played - but with his game being a speedy play maker, his 29 points on 15 goals and 14 dimes is down a bit from where he'd like, but much of the decrease in numbers can be attributed to his intermittent participation.
Kane isn't the only injured player that has been cleared for duty, but he is the only one that Maurice is clearing to play - veteran centerman Jim Slater and winger Matt Halischuk got the go ahead from team docs at the same time as Kane, but Maurice isn't one for making wholesale changes, particularly when his team is on a serious roll.
"I have to clear them, too, and I'm still watching them in practice and have to watch them play," Maurice said after Tuesday's practice. "My first reaction is that I liked the way our hockey team was playing prior to the break, so those players get the nod early and then we'll make adjustments as we go."
Slater has been out since undergoing a sports hernia operation in October and Halischuk has been on the shelf for over two months with a broken arm - and both understand the way Maurice works.
"You've definitely got to earn your way back off the IR," Halischuk said. "I just look at this as an opportunity to come in and see what I can do. It's exciting to be part of the group here and going forward, we're all looking to have a strong playoff push here."
http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/02/hand-fully-healed-winnipegs-evander.html#.Uw49kYUcq58
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