Putting up zeroes in limited minutes through six games with the Winnipeg Jets to start the 2017-18 NHL season wasn’t what Nic Petan had in mind.
Neither was getting sent back to the American Hockey League.
Harbouring rickety confidence level hasn’t generally been part of the guy’s makeup. Scoring goals and being a setup man has always been his thing, from the time he started playing as a kid in the Vancouver area, throughout a brilliant Western Hockey League career in Portland and in several long stints with the Manitoba Moose.
After cracking the Jets’ 23-man roster to start the season, Petan, 22, was demoted in late October after being held pointless in six games, despite opportunities on the power play.