The Redskins

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SAINT PAUL Packers Cheap Jerseys , Minn. — The Winnipeg Whiteout — that tradition which has Jets fans celebrating the region’s often inclement winter weather by wearing white to playoff games — seemed like a good idea, especially as raucous home crowds helped spur the Jets to a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven first round playoff series with the Minnesota Wild.

The concept of a whiteout was less fun for the Jets come Saturday, as they tried to make their way to the Twin Cities for Game 3. A freak April blizzard hitting central Minnesota shut down MSP Airport during the day, forcing the Jets to land in Duluth, Minn., in the early afternoon.

The Jets’ plane returned to Winnipeg, so the club will fly to Minneapolis tomorrow morning.

That’s about the worst thing that has happened to Winnipeg so far in the playoffs, as the Jets have dominated the last five periods of this series and even survived the Wild’s attempt to send a message in the final seconds of Game 2 as fists flew all over the ice in a “playoff normal” show of increasing bad blood between these Central Division rivals.

This franchise has never won a road playoff game, and as much as they enjoyed home ice in the first two games, the Jets are aware that a less-than-friendly reception is likely in Minnesota.

“They’re the next-best home team in the National Hockey League and they’re going to get into their comfort zone real good,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said Saturday before the team left and returned to Winnipeg. “It’s a loud building, so what we need to do is handle it. Our game won’t change, the things that we want to accomplish on the ice Leonard Williams Jersey , but it’s going to feel different on the bench.”

The Wild, who along with Anaheim and Pittsburgh are among only three teams in the NHL to make the playoffs in each of the past six consecutive seasons, headed home Friday night in a sadly familiar position. Minnesota has trailed a series 2-0 in five of those six playoff seasons, including a year ago when it lost the first two at home and fell to St. Louis in five games.

The pre-series concern for Minnesota was how their defense would fare without mainstay Ryan Suter, who was lost for the season with an ankle injury. Instead, the concern after 120 minutes of hockey has been the Wild offense, which has managed only three goals and 37 shots in two games. The Wild lost three consecutive games just once this season.

“No matter how you cut it, guys play for seven months, and if they go down 0-2, they’re a little bit disappointed, but it’s not like getting down 0-2 in your building and having to go to their building,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said after the team practiced in its rink Saturday. “I don’t think we’ve got any room for rest. We’ve got to play our absolute best.”

Although Boudreau allowed extra rest for defenseman Matt Dumba, who has averaged 28 minutes Cheap Josh Sitton Jersey , 30 seconds of ice time in the first two games as they try to fill the gap caused by Suter’s absence. Dumba stayed home from practice Saturday under orders from the coach, who said he will be ready on Sunday.

If other teams worried about LSU running back Derrius Guice’s character, prompting his fall from first-round prospect to late-second-round pick, Washington Redskins senior VP of player personnel Doug Williams figures he had ”inside information.”

The Redskins, Williams said at a post-draft news conference Monday, did not share the concerns that apparently were behind Guice’s slide until Washington took him with the 59th overall choice after trading down from No. 44 and adding a third-round selection in the process.

Williams called him ”a value pick.”

”We do have some inside information and some influence that helped us along the way. Plus, we had met with the kid. We went to dinner with the kid. We brought the kid up here. Where Guice is from, I’m from the same area, basically. I knew Guice. I knew who he is. I know where he comes from,” Williams said. ”And when you talk about a kid that has produced on the field the way he has, other than what was out there, and you look at this kid, man Blake McLaughlin Ducks Jersey , he’s just a happy-go kid who likes to play football. And I think we were fortunate enough to get a guy like that.”

Guice, the SEC record-holder for most 250-yard rushing games, was connected in reports to a flap during his visit with the Eagles, something Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman denied.

”No one wants to hear their name be slandered like that,” Guice said Saturday during a Redskins draft event at the team’s stadium. The Redskins, he added, ”believed in me; they trusted me.”

Williams said any reports about off-field issues were not a part of Washington’s draft discussion.

”What other teams thought don’t necessarily mean what we thought. … When he’s there at your pick, you have to take advantage of it and pick that guy. And we did that. We didn’t let what other people said influence us. What influenced us is the information that we had gotten from him and the people around him. We had a lot of sources that we talked to,” the MVP of the 1988 Super Bowl said. ”You and I both know the way social media and the media and a lot of other things happen out there when it comes to players. Most of them take one thing and they run with it. Unfortunately, they don’t know the kid.”

Other topics addressed by Williams:

– The Redskins didn’t draft a tight end and they feel ”pretty good” at that position, Williams said, ”because Jordan Reed is progressing with his injury.” Reed needed surgery on his big left toe.

– Washington needs a starting left guard but didn’t pick someone, he said Cheap Customized New York Jets Jerseys , because ”there were some guys on the board, but at our pick, those guys weren’t on the board.” Williams also noted that Ty Nsekhe ”has played a little guard.”

– WR Jamison Crowder ”is still the punt returner,” Williams said, but ”you certainly want to take a load off Jamison, if you can.”

– The Redskins ”had about two or three calls” from teams interested in trading for the 13th overall pick that Washington used to take Alabama defensive lineman Da’Ron Payne.

Notes: After drafting two defensive linemen, the Redskins released three players at that position Monday: Terrell McClain, A.J. Francis and Montori Hughes. McClain joined Washington as a free agent last offseason, but he started only two games and missed time with a toe injury. The Redskins also waived TE Chris Bazile, LB Cassanova McKinzy and DB James Sample.

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