Dubois complains about first game with the Jets

His head coach had good things to say though…

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Published 3 years ago
Dubois complains about first game with the Jets
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The Calgary Flames beat the Winnipeg Jets in regulation for the first time this season, running forward Pierre-Luc Dubois’ debut with his new team. This was Dubois’ first game since Jan. 21 right before he was traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets to Winnipeg. He didn’t record a shot on net, had one hit and was minus-1 in 13 minutes 10 seconds of ice time.

And he complained about his performance right away the 3-2 loss to the Flames. 


“It’s the first game in 20-something days. The legs, the hands, the head, you’re trying to get everything back and I felt as the game went on, I was getting some things back,” said Dubois postgame, per Sportsnet. “But I can play a lot better than that. I’ve never been injured, so I’ve never missed a (long) period of time. Going from Game 4 to Game (12) was a big jump. Game 4 was still kind of pre-season. Game (12), you’re in the season.
“During seasons, there are always steps that you take. There’s a step mid-way through the season after a couple of games at Christmas, then the playoff race, then the playoffs. My goal is just to kind of skip that step of the pre-season games and get right to where we’re at right now.”

The new Jets forward then attempted to be more positive, explaining how he tried to get more involved offensively.

“As the minutes kept going, I felt better and better,” said Dubois. “I felt like I was reading plays faster, I was reading positioning faster where in the first period or so, I thought it took me a little bit too long to read. So, I think (with) practice and video and games, slowly it’ll come back.”

His new teammates had good things to say about Dubois, and head coach Paul Maurice noticed all of the brilliant attempts he pulled off, most notably an impressive across-the-body pass to Kyle Connor at the offensive blue line. 

“It’s been a long time since he’s played a game, but there were lots of good things. Strong movement to the net, physicality, some real nice hands,” said Maurice. “The exciting part is he’s going to just keep getting better and better because he’s a powerful man.

“It looks like there won’t be holes in his game. He defended well, battled hard, made smart plays, showed some real nice finesse picking a stick in the offensive zone to open up a chance. He’ll get more ice time as we get moving forward and he gets his sea legs.”

Dubois better focus on the positive and grow from there, but we can understand how he is not used to positive feedback from a head coach. He cannot already feel unsure about his arrival in Winnipeg : he just got there! 

Source: Sportsnet