CULLEN’S CUPS

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Regardless of whether the NFL previously had an anthem policy gag order Kentrell Brice Jersey , it has one now. Even if it only relates to one owner.

Via Clarence E. Hill, Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the NFL has instructed Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to quit talking about the anthem policy.

Last week, Jones said that his players will be on the sideline and standing for the anthem, ignoring both the fact that the NFL’s Anthem Policy 2.0 (which currently has been tabled) permits players to stay in the locker room and the fact that the NFL and NFL Players Association may negotiate an Anthem Policy 3.0 that preserves in some way the players’ right to protest during the anthem.

Jones had been scheduled to conduct a round of interviews on Sunday evening with Dallas-area media outlets, and those outlets were informed that there could be no questions about the anthem policy. FOX 4 canceled its interview given the limitation on the questioning.

Via Hill, Mike Doocy of FOX 4 explained that he made the decision to kill the interview after being told at the last minute he couldn’t ask any questions about the anthem policy. While it would have been better for Doocy to have been allowed to ask the questions with Jones simply declining to answer, it’s hard to pass on a chance to sit down with Jones, even with restrictions. Given the Dez Bryant situation and every other issue involving America’s team, why not do the interview and simply tell the audience that, shortly before the session started C. J. Beathard Jersey , the Cowboys slammed the door on any anthem questions?

The league has now slammed the door on any anthem comments from Jones. It remains to be seen whether he’ll be punished for the things he already has said. Given that this would simply give the primary resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue another reason to attack the NFL, the league may choose not to pick Jerry’s deep pockets over this one — unless he defies the direct order to quit talking about the anthem policy.

The NHL’s return to Winnipeg has been an instant success in the seats, with regular sellouts since the Jets arrived in 2011 for a second landing in the smallest market in the league.

Progress on the ice has been measurably slower, with just one appearance in the playoffs in the first six years in wintry Manitoba after a struggling franchise moved north from Atlanta, but the patience of general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has been rewarded and then some this season.

Sporting the second-best record in the NHL, the Jets have carried the momentum of 11 wins in their last 12 games into their first-round series against Minnesota.

They boast one of the game’s coveted prodigies in 19-year-old Patrik Laine and his 44 goals. They have a balanced roster that ranked second in the league in scoring and fifth in fewest goals against. They face the Wild on Wednesday night at home, where they’re an NHL-best 32-7-2 this season.

”Enjoy it, right?” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. ”We work real hard to get to a place where there’s mounting pressure and mounting enthusiasm, and then we want to keep working to get to more and more and more. So you have to be a part of it. You have to enjoy it for sure.”

Their time to take a big step forward to join the league’s elite has arrived. They even, considering their seed, represent the best hope to bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada for the first time since 1993.

Toronto is the only other team that made the playoffs this year Adam Thielen Jersey , and the Maple Leafs must start the first round on the road against the Boston Bruins.

”You don’t know how many times you’re going to come across this opportunity,” goalie Connor Hellebuyck said, ”and especially now with the great team like we have here. I’m really excited to see what these guys bring.”

With another series of ”Whiteout ” events planned for Bell MTS Place, with fans encouraged to wear white team gear to the arena and surrounding parties, the city has been buzzing all week even as winter again overstays its welcome.

”I’m very excited. I can start feeling my body getting those butterflies,” Hellebuyck said.

The knock against the Jets is the collective lack of postseason experience, with a four-game sweep by the Anaheim Ducks in 2015 serving as the only action in the playoffs for some of these players. Laine hadn’t even been drafted yet.

That’s where the Wild have a clear advantage, with this their sixth straight appearance in the 16-team tournament.

Though they were overshadowed in the Western Conference this season by the Jets, the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Nashville Predators and the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, the Wild posted the third-best record in franchise history. Center Eric Staal had 42 goals, his most in 12 years. Jason Zucker scored a career-high 33 goals. Their defensemen ranked second in the league with 200 points.

”You really got to go through it to know what it’s about Deion Jones Jersey ,” left wing Zach Parise said, adding: ”I know they’ve been short-lived the last couple years, but you hope with just being there that will help us.”

Here are some other key angles to follow with the series:

PALS IN PADS

Hellebuyck and Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk met last summer in British Columbia during training sessions and rounds of golf that forged a friendship, with Dubnyk encouraging Hellebuyck to keep his head up after the Jets signed Steve Mason to an $8.2 million contract.

Sure enough, Mason stumbled early and Hellebuyck supplanted him as the primary netminder to tie for the NHL lead with 44 wins and finish eighth in goals-against average.

”It’s been fun to watch but that’s enough now,” Dubnyk said. ”It’s been a great year for him, but I’ll stop cheering for him now.”

SUTER OUT, SPURGEON IN

One of the Wild’s greatest assets for this matchup will be absent, with a season-ending broken ankle for stalwart Ryan Suter, who tied a franchise defenseman record with 51 points in 78 games.

The upside is that Jared Spurgeon, who missed the last 17 games with a torn hamstring Robert Alford Jersey , is on track to return. He practiced with one of the two power-play units on Tuesday, and coach Bruce Boudreau said he’d make a game-time decision about Spurgeon’s availability on Wednesday.

WHEELS UP

Jets captain Blake Wheeler tied for the NHL lead with 68 assists this season and finished ninth with 91 points, fueling a potent first line with Kyle Connor and Mark Schiefele to take some of the scoring pressure off Laine.

Wheeler played at Breck High School in the Twin Cities area and in college for Minnesota before turning pro. He has never missed more than three games in any regular season since his debut with Boston in 2008-09.

CULLEN’S CUPS

Wild center Matt Cullen contributed a modest 11 goals and 11 assists from the fourth line, but the 41-year-old’s contribution transcends points. He’s played in 123 postseason games, winning three Stanley Cups including the past two with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

”This is why we got him, his experience in positions like we’re in right now,” Boudreau said. ”So we’re hoping he’s going to be valuable.”

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