Jets first-round pick Barlow aims to keep things simple with Moose

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GRAHAM SKEVIUR-FREHLICH
Special to Winnipeg Sun

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Last Wednesday, he lost a playoff battle with his regular Ontario Hockey League team.
A day later, he was on the phone with the Winnipeg Jets, who selected him in the first round of last summer's draft.

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Now Colby Barlow is on the verge of playing in the pros.

Talk about a whirlwind.

“It's been crazy the last few days, just traveling and getting here and getting to work,” Barlow said.
Barlow, taken 18th overall by the Jets in 2023, practiced for the first time with the AHL affiliate Manitoba Moose on Wednesday morning at the Canadian Life Centre.

Barlow's three seasons with the Owen Sound offense saw him score 184 points in 168 games. This year, despite missing time due to injury, he scored 40 goals for the second time in as many seasons.
The offense fell to Saginaw in four games, a streak in which the winger had one goal and two assists.

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While the sudden switch to the pros after the playoffs is welcome, it's been a wild week for the top prospect born on Valentine's Day in 2005.

“Yeah, it's bittersweet,” Barlow said. “But, you know, it's over and there's a new opportunity, which is exciting.”
Barlow, who signed a three-year entry-level deal in September with an average annual value of $1.2 million, could soon appear in his first professional game, according to Moose head coach Mark Morrison. That means a chance for the 6-foot-1, 194-pounder to show what he can do.

“Obviously, I want to do my best here,” Barlow said. “Show me what kind of player I am, but it's also learning a lot.”

Morrison had previously seen Barlow in an educational moment. He attended the team's development camp in the fall and played for the Jets in the Young Stars Classic in Penticton, BC.
The bench boss said he was familiar with Barlow's game.

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“He competes hard for pucks. He has a great shot. He's a smart player and we're excited to have him here,” Morrison said.

Barlow, who scored in each of his five games with Team Canada en route to gold at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup this summer, says one way to please his new coach is to play confidently and defensively.

“I think it's just simple conservation,” he said. “Don't try to do too much, know my strengths and follow me, what I do. I think it's a big thing for me, and I'm sure for the coaches, to make sure I can contribute to the defense without being a liability in the defensive zone.”

Morrison said the opportunity will help Barlow, who also won bronze for his country at the U18 World Championships (with four points in six games), but he doesn't want to rush the 19-year-old's development.

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“Yes, it is valuable. I mean, we have to be careful,” he said, “what we put it in, and when we build it, we make sure it's set up for success, not failure.

Morrison Barlow, whose team is fighting to hold on to the final play-off spot in the Central Division, laughed as he noted how hard training was.

Speed ​​has been the biggest adjustment for the power forward.

“That way, he's going to adjust right away, to that speed, how the game is played and how everything is going to be faster,” Barlow said.

“I think it's just going to be fixed and I hope to do it quickly and I'm going to do the best I can,” he added.

Fans may get a chance to check out that prospect this weekend, playing against the Iowa Wild at the Canadian Life Center on Saturday and Sunday.

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Defenseman Tyrell Bauer is taken off the ice after blocking a shot to the face during a Manitoba practice Wednesday, April 10, 2024. KEVIN KING/Winnipeg San

SCARY MOMENT IN MUS PRACTICE

A Manitoba Moose practice at the Canadian Life Center took an ugly turn Wednesday when defenseman Tyrell Bauer took a rocket puck in the face.

Practice stopped and the players turned to Bauer's trusty help. He lay motionless face down on the ice for about a minute.

The training staff came out to tend to the sophomore blueliner, whose face was shaky and his nose was showing when he left the ice.

Ice coach Mark Morrison did not give any details about the injury after practice. Bauer had an assist in the first of two games against the Chicago Wolves last weekend and scored a goal against the Abbotsford Canucks before that.

A WHL finalist in 2022 as captain of the Seattle Thunderbirds, Bauer scored 14 points in both seasons with the Moose.

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