NHL history shows that if you are not in a playoff spot when U.S. Thanksgiving rolls around, your chances of getting in are slim. The other side of that coin is, if you are in a playoff spot today, your chances of getting to the post-season are quite good (thanks captain obvious). In the Central Division, the Winnipeg Jets sit in a tie for third with Chicago, each with 27 points. In the Western Conference they sit in a tie for seventh with the Blackhawks. The Jets are coming off back-to-back road wins over Columbus and Buffalo to up their road record to 8-4-2, and lift their record versus Eastern Conference teams to 8-3-2. They wrap up the road trip in Boston Friday. Individually, many have contributed to the success the team has had, including Michael Frolik. The 26-year-old out of Kladno, Czech Republic has moved around the lineup, and as coach Paul Maurice has said, “whichever line he is on, plays well.” If the Jets have some players that are struggling and need a jump start, Maurice has put Frolik on their line for a spell. “I feel like everyone is fighting to play with him,” Mark Scheifele said. “He makes all the best plays. He rarely makes a mistake. He just does everything right and that’s everything you want from a linemate.” For Frolik, it’s a matter of playing his game. “My game doesn’t change much no matter who I play with,” he said. “I try and play the same way.” Maurice was recently asked about what makes Frolik the player he is. “He’s an honest, quick player,” Maurice said. “Quickness to get to the right spots, his consistency shift-to- shift, great personality, always has a smile. There is not a lot of negative after a bad shift. He’s a swing guy, good defensively but has an offensive side. His goal that got us on the board in Minnesota was key to our comeback.” When he played in Kladno, Frolik was called “The Baby Jagr”, because people felt he looked and played a lot like his famous Czech countryman. Drafted no. 10 overall by Florida in 2006, Frolik made the move to Canada, joining Rimouski of the Quebec Major Junior League. He showed his offensive skills with 31 goals and 73 points in 52 games in his rookie year, and after two more productive years in Rimouski, he made the jump to the NHL, starting his career with back-to-back 21 goal seasons. “Stephen Weiss was my centreman and we had good chemistry,” Frolik said. “The most success we had was when Nathan Horton was on our line.” When he was traded to Chicago, coach Joel Quenneville asked him to play a different role. “I was always an offensive guy when I was younger, in Chicago it turned,” Frolik said of the defensive role he was asked to adapt to. “But I still think of myself as an offensive guy. I want to put numbers on the board and help the team that way. But a good defensive game is important and I’ve gotten better at that.” His numbers with the Blackhawks dropped, but the tradeoff was a Stanley Cup. During the lockout-shortened season his regular season numbers were 3-7-10 in 45 games, his playoff numbers 3-7-10 in 23 games. So what part of the game comes easier? “It’s hard to put numbers up on the board and sometimes it can be frustrating. But you make sure the defensive side of the game doesn’t change. Don’t let cheating get into your game. Play defense and the offense will come.” In his first season with the Jets, he posted 15 goals and scored twice in his first game with the team. So far this year, he sits fourth in team scoring at 5-5-10, and has four goals in his last eight games, including a shorthanded goal that stood as the winner Wednesday night in Buffalo. Frolik was part of the Czech Republic team in four World Junior Championships, winning bronze in 2005. In 2007 and 2008 he scored nine goals in 12 games. He also won back to back World Championship bronze medals for his home country, competed at the 2014 Olympics, and has scored two NHL playoff penalty shot goals. Ladd/Little/Wheeler Paul Maurice put Blake Wheeler back on the line with Bryan Little and Andrew Ladd five games ago, and one can’t help but notice how the three have matured into complete players. “In the past, their focus has been ‘we have to go out and score goals’, now I like to get them out against the other team’s best lines in the checking role,” Maurice said. But not only have they been good in the checking role, the three share the team lead in goals at eight, with Ladd and Wheeler sharing the team scoring lead with 16 points each. Little has 15 and has scored the game’s opening goal in each of the last three games. The centreman leads all Jets forwards in average ice time at 20:09 per game, and is first on the team in faceoffs taken, surpassing the 500 mark. In the last game of the home-stand vs St. Louis, Little took 20 of the team’s 66 draws, winning 60 percent. In game one of the road trip in Columbus he took 30 of 67 draws winning 60 percent. And in Buffalo took 20-of-41 draws, winning 55 percent of them. Welcome to the Central To succeed in the Central you need good goaltending. The Jets tandem of Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson has been solid. In terms of team goals against average, the Central Division has the NHL’s top four teams , with St. Louis first at 1.97, Nashville and Chicago next at 2.06, with the Jets being joined by the Pacific Division’s Kings at 2.13. Ice time With Toby Enstrom out the past two games because of injury, Jacob Trouba has led the team in ice time. Trouba led the Jets in ice time 21 times last year. So far this season, Enstrom has topped that category, leading the Jets in ice time 17 times. Jayson Tatum Celtics Jersey . The star receiver certainly isnt celebrating it with the Texans mired in a franchise-record 13-game skid. Terry Rozier Celtics Jersey .1 Sam Stosur will meet Germanys second-ranked player Andrea Petkovic in the opening match of the Fed Cup World Group semifinal. http://www.celticsteamproshop.com/Cheap-...Celtics-Jersey/. The Los Angeles Clippers showed them just how ugly that life could be. Jared Dudley scored a season-high 21 points, Chris Paul added 16 points and 17 assists, and the Clippers jumped all over the Bulls in Roses absence for a 121-82 victory Sunday. Boston Celtics Jerseys . The Toronto Argonauts signed the veteran linebacker to a three-year deal Tuesday, hours after the start of CFL free agency. Gordon Hayward Celtics Jersey . After not scoring 40 points in the opening quarter in the last five seasons, the Rockets have done it five times this season and twice in the last three games.NEW YORK -- To Derek Jeter, it was just another day to get ready for spring training. On a minor league field at the New York Yankees complex in Florida, he took batting practice, fielded grounders and chatted with teammates. And then he drove away in his Mercedes, offering no hint that the countdown to his retirement had already begun. Hours later, Jeter alerted the sports world: This will be his final season. "I know it in my heart. The 2014 season will be my last year playing professional baseball," Jeter posted Wednesday in a long letter on his Facebook page. "I have gotten the very most out of my life playing baseball, and I have absolutely no regrets," the shortstop wrote. While it was no secret the team captain was getting close to the end of his brilliant career as he neared 40 -- especially after injuries wrecked him last season -- Jeters announcement caught many by surprise. In fact, some people wondered whether his account had been hacked. But it was quickly confirmed that one of the greatest players in the history of baseballs most storied franchise was serious. A 13-time All-Star shortstop who led the Yankees to five World Series championships, Jeter was the last link to the powerful Yankees teams that won three straight crowns from 1998-2000. Longtime teammates Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte retired after last year. "Derek Jeter is Mr. Yankee of his era," Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner told The Associated Press. "He was the face of one of the greatest teams ever." Jeter was limited to 17 games last season while trying to recover from a broken left ankle sustained during the 2012 playoffs. He hit only .190 with one homer and seven RBIs. "Last year was a tough one for me. As I suffered through a bunch of injuries, I realized that some of the things that always came easily to me and were always fun had started to become a struggle," Jeter wrote. "The one thing I always said to myself was that when baseball started to feel more like a job, it would be time to move forward." "So really it was months ago when I realized that this season would likely be my last. As I came to this conclusion and shared it with my friends and family, they all told me to hold off saying anything until I was absolutely 100 per cent sure," he wrote. "And the thing is, I could not be more sure," he wrote. His agent, Casey Close, said Jeter wanted to declare his intentions before the Yankees start spring training later this week so that his future status wouldnt be a distraction. The Yankees open camp for pitchers and catchers on Friday. Jeter has said hes healthy and ready to go -- at 39, his next birthday is in June. "Derek called me this morning to tell me that he planned to retire following the season," Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner said.dddddddddddd Said Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, a former Jeter teammate: "Im excited for him. Its kind of nice to see him go out on his own terms." Jeter is the Yankees career hits leader with 3,316. Hes ninth on the all-time list; a 200-hit season would put him in fifth place. Jeter is a lifetime .312 hitter in 19 seasons, with 256 home runs and 1,261 RBIs. He has scored 1,876 runs, stolen 348 bases and is a five-time Gold Glove winner. Added up, his numbers put him among the greats in Yankees history, with fans often invoking the names of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle when mentioning Jeters legacy. But No. 2 is defined by so much more than his numbers. His backhanded flip in the playoffs, his diving catch into the stands, his speech to close old Yankee Stadium and his home run for career hit No. 3,000. An October presence for so many years -- Jeter is a career .321 hitter in seven World Series -- he also became Mr. November in 2001. His winning, 10th-inning homer came shortly after midnight in a Game 4 that began on Halloween. Jeter was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1996, the season the Yankees won their first World Series since 1978 and re-established themselves as a major force. He was the MVP of the 2000 World Series. Commissioner Bud Selig said during his tenure, "Major League Baseball has had no finer ambassador than Derek Jeter." A staple for so long in the Yankees lineup, Jeter missed the first 91 games last year. He felt pain in his right quadriceps when he returned July 11 and again went on the disabled list. Jeter came back for three games but strained his right calf. In early September, he was done for the year. The Yankees will open the 2014 regular season on April 1 in Houston. Their final game is scheduled to be at Fenway Park, against the longtime rival Boston Red Sox. Rivera announced a year in advance that he would retire, and was saluted everywhere he played last season. Jeter is sure to get a similar farewell tour. "I wish everybody does it like that," Rivera told ESPN radio. "I think that would be the right thing for him to do." Jeter wrote that he wants to pursue business and other interests "in addition to focusing more on my personal life and starting a family of my own." "And I want the ability to move at my own pace, see the world and finally have a summer vacation," he said. "But before that, I want to soak in every moment of every day this year, so I can remember it for the rest of my life. And most importantly, I want to help the Yankees reach our goal of winning another championship," he said. White NFL Jerseys Cheap Youth NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Stitched NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Discount Jerseys ' ' '