ch Paul Mauric

WINNIPEG -- It was back to business for the Winnipeg Jets Wednesday, as they skated for the first time since the Olympic break and prepared to resume their quest for the playoff berth that has eluded the franchise for so many years. Jamie Collins Jersey . With 22 games left and just over a week till they play again, coach Paul Maurice says he wants to get started right away sharpening defensive neutral zone play and forechecking without the puck. "Our sole focus is trying to find ways that we can be more aggressive with it," he said. The Jets were still minus their four Olympians -- forwards Olli Jokinen, Blake Wheeler and Michael Frolik, plus No. 1 netminder Ondrej Pavelec remain in Sochi -- but they made up for that with a healthy Evander Kane, Jim Slater and Matt Halischuk, all back from the injury list. Slater was out the longest after sports hernia surgery in Montreal. The centre and one of the teams faceoff leaders last played Oct. 18 but he says he now feels strong and ready to compete. Its a far different team than the one he left, with the Jets on a roll since Maurice took over from Claude Noel. They now sit just two points out of that coveted playoff spot. Slater says its always tough to be on the sidelines when a new coach comes in. "The slates wiped clean and when you cant get out there and play and show him what youve got, its definitely tough, you dont know where you fit in," he said. But Maurice helped to set his mind at ease. "Ive played against Paul a lot of my career when he was in Carolina, so we had a talk, he knows what kind of player I am and just wanted me to get healthy, come back strong and ready to go." The focus may be on getting his team ready for their first game Feb. 27 when the Phoenix Coyotes visit Winnipeg, but Maurice says hes still arranged practice Friday to let the team watch Canada and the U.S. play in the Olympics. "Weve moved practice so that we can get together and watch that as a team," he said. "Its a big deal so we want to respect that and enjoy it. . . At the end of the day hockey events are what were all about, right, and this is a big game." Its been seven years since the Atlanta Thrashers were swept in the first round of the NHL playoffs in their only appearance. Kane last played Jan. 26 in Chicago. He was out twice with an injured hand, the second time after what turned out to be a premature return resulted in an infection that saw his hand swell to the size of a baseball. He says hes sure hell be ready to go Feb. 27 and he likes where the Jets are now sitting. "We put ourselves in a position now where we can make a push and we have a legitimate shot to make the playoffs and contend," he said. "The last part of the schedule we play the teams that kind of bunched in with us so its going to be an good opportunity for us to make a push and finish off strong." Team captain Andrew Ladd says the time to practice will help the Jets get their pace back up. "I think that was the best part of our game, the last 10 games or so . . We were playing (with) speed and confidence and weve got to find a way to get that back." He said its also good to see players like Slater and Halischuk return after long absences. "Its nice to have some extra bodies." Chandler Jones Jersey . -- One game. After a season featuring more losses than wins, thats all that separates the New York Knicks and the final post-season spot in the weak Eastern Conference standings.Ryan Allen Jersey . It all paid off Friday night, when the Toronto right-hander earned his first victory since 2008 with an effective and emotional effort at Baltimore. McGowan allowed five hits over 6 1-3 innings, and the Blue Jays used two unearned runs to beat Chris Tillman and the Orioles 2-0.It was an inning like no other in Blue Jays history, at least not one that anyone can remember. In the second game of their day/night doubleheader at Minneapolis, three Blue Jays pitchers, Steve Delabar, Sergio Santos and J.A. Happ combined to issue eight walks, wild-pitched home three runs and gave up six runs in total on just one hit. That turned a 5-3 lead into a 9-5 loss, a twinbill sweep at the hands of the Twins and a series loss. Counting the nine walks issued by the two starters, R.A Dickey and Dustin McGowan in just eight and a third innings, the Jays surrendered 17 free passes on the day. Grant you, one "crappy day" as skipper John Gibbons put it, inflated these numbers, the Jays have dropped to 10th in pitching stats in the American League. Worse than that, their 4.05 team ERA is the worst in the AL East and so is their walks allowed total of 67. The walks total is particularly disturbing when you look at their division rivals. In order, Boston and the Yankees have only walked 37, Baltimore 39 and Tampa Bay 45.  A year ago, the Jays issued 98 walks in the first month of the season. At the teams current average of just a fraction over four per game, and with 11 games remaining in April, they will finish with 111 for the month, and remember, they started last April at 10-17 and never really recovered. In the last five years, the Blue Jays exhibited their best control in 2010, the final season under Cito Gaston when Bruce Walton was the pitching coach. That season, they walked only 77. That year, they finished with 85 wins, and wound up in fourth place, 11 games off the division lead. In 2011, the walk total jumped to 107, then improved to 85 in John Farrells second and last year with the team. Then, the total jumped to 98 in April of 2013 and as stated, the club is now on pace for 111 this month. More walks, especially by the starters, generally means more pitches thrown, fewer innings pitched, more stress on the bullpen, and another up the track finish. The Blue Jays, whove fashioned an 8-8 record so far, are by no means in a crisis situation yet, but if they keep this pace up well into May, they will be. Misery Loves Company You know the old saying, misery loves company. Well, the White Sox arguably had an even worse game walk-wise than the Blue Jays did on Thursday night. On Wednesday, they dropped a 14-inning five-hour 17-minute marathon at home by a 6-4 count. But the real story is how they lost. After starter John Danks gave them six decent innings of three-hit ball, albeit walking four batters, skipper Robin Ventura went through seven relievers, including four in the 8th inning. In the 8th, relievers Scott Downs, Jake Petricka, Donnie Veal and Maikel Cleto each walked a batter and the Red Sox scored a run to cut the Chicago lead to 3-2 before Cleto finally got out of the inning. In the 9th though, he walked two more to lead off the frame before getting the hook. Matt Lidstrom took over, and allowed the tying run to score, but ddid manage to go two innings without walking anyone. Tedy Bruschi Jersey. Then Ventura handed the ball over to Daniel Webb, who worked the 11, 12 and 13th innings, giving up one run while walking another three. Each team scored a run in the 11th, so it was 4-4 after 13. After 59 pitches, Webb was done. Ventura was out of pitchers, choosing not to use any of his other starters and really messing up the rotation. In the 14th inning, infielder Leury Garcia went to the mound. He proceeded to walk two before giving up a game-winning two-run double to BoSox rookie centrefielder Jackie Bradley Jr. The Red Sox walked only three over 14 innings and struck out 15. The White Sox, who have one of the best pitching coaches in the business in Don Cooper, walked 15 on the night and struck out only five. Hard to believe two games like this happened on back-to-back nights. Altogether, the Blue Jays two games at Target Field lasted six hours and 15 minutes. The White Sox played a game, plus the five extra innings in five hours and 17 minutes. Incidently, the White Sox have walked 79 batters, the worst in the American League, and their ERA is 4.90, better only than Minnesotas.  Oddly enough, Chicago has the same record as the Blue Jays at 8-8. The Jays are tied for second in the AL East with Baltimore, two games back of the Yankees, while the White Sox are tied for third with the Royals, just a game behind first-place Detroit. Sandwiched in between, just a half game behind the Tigers, are the Twins, if you can believe it with the worst earned runs average in the American League. Safe to say, nearly three weeks into the season, the hitters are ahead of the pitchers for the most part. Numbers Game Some surprising numbers in the early going. BoSox righthander ace Clay Buchholz still doesnt have a victory. Hes (0-1) with a 5.51 ERA. On top of that, the top two batsmen to switch teams in the offseason are struggling. Robinson Cano, who jumped from the Yankees to Seattle as a free agent, went into Thursday nights game in a 3-18 slide, but did get one hit and drove in three runs in an 8-6 loss to Texas. Overall, Cano is hitting .271 with one homer and eight runs batted in. Prince Fielder, who was dealt by the Tigers to the Rangers, is only hitting .164 with one homer and four runs batted in. Like their parent club, the Buffalo Bisons got swept at home in a doubleheader on Thursday by Scranton Wilkes Barre, the Phillies farm club. On the plus side, Ricky Romero, who thanks to five early season postponements, was making only his second start of the season, gave up just one run over six innings on just two hits in the opener. He did walk four and strike out two, but he  also retired 11 of the final 12 batters he faced and induced 12 ground ball outs in getting a no-decision. On the flip side, Kyle Drabek got beat up pretty good in the second game. In just four innings, he gave up five earned runs on 10 hits, including three homeruns. He struck out four and walked none, as the Bisons record dipped to 7-5. cheap jerseys ' ' '