Wind in his sails
December 9th, 2009 | by kreeco |Chris Neil has missed the last seven games due to a knee injury but that doesn’t mean that opposition team players haven’t had to keep their heads up as Jesse Winchester has been picking up the slack from Neil’s absence and leading the hit parade. It seems like at least once a game Winchester punishes a player from the other team into the boards with a thunderous bodycheck and it has been this kind of hard work and aggressive play that has made him one of the most effective Senators forwards, especially on the forecheck.
Winchester is also an above average penalty killer and although he will probably never score more than 20 goals in a season, he is a valuable member of the team and it’s nearly impossible to win in this league without players of his ilk, especially when the going gets tough in the playoffs. Winchester has a respectable 5 points in 13 games this season and considering that he often gets less than 10 minutes of ice time a game, those numbers are even more impressive.
Playing on the Sens’ fourth line these days alongside Peter Regin and Ryan Shannon, Winchester rarely takes a shift off and plays the game the way it’s meant to be played, hard and with a lot of emotion. Thanks to players like him, the Sens are blessed with some nice balance on their forward lines, something that bodes well for them as they continue their drive towards the playoffs.
