The Winnipeg Jets will very likely welcome their captain back into the fold this week, and Adam Lowry is coming into a pretty good situation.
When the curtain went up for the Jets’ regular-season schedule on home opening night Oct. 9, the loudest cheer was for hometown hero Jonathan Toews.
A very close second on the crowd meter was for captain Lowry, even though he was on the bench in a suit and not a uniform.
Suffice it to say, the response from the dressing room — perhaps Tuesday night in Los Angeles or almost certainly by Friday in San Jose — will be similar in nature.
If the quartet of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey and Connor Hellebuyck are the straws that stir the Jets’ drink, there is no debating that Lowry is the heart and soul of this very good hockey team.
But the beauty of it is, he’s not returning in a time of great peril — quite the opposite.
Toews is getting back to form on an every-game basis. The former Captain Serious has been dominant on faceoffs, allowing Winnipeg to start with the puck more than 60 per cent of the time when he’s out there.
The Jets are among the top five teams on the penalty kill and in goals against per game. These are the areas where Lowry contributes the most in his on-ice job description.
So a Superman cape will not be required when he does play his first game later this week. And that’s important to remember. It will be Lowry’s first game, not his 13th. It may take a few laps to regain the timing and adjust to the pace.
But the key elements that won’t need any startup time will be providing leadership, intensity, physicality and that Lowry “snarl” where he imposes his will on the opposition.
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