Dallas Stars 2 Winnipeg Jets 1 (Jets 32-32-9, 15-17-3 Road) – It was the Jets 41st one-goal game of the season. The loss dropped the Jets seven points back of Phoenix for the final playoff spot in the West. It was another case of the effort being there, but the result not. It was game one of a five-game-in-nine-day trip for the Jets. Jets were minus Andrew Ladd (birth of daughter), Zach Bogosian (upper body) and Ondrej Pavelec (Lower), to go along with a number of other players that are more long term. As a result, Paul Maurice was forced to juggle his lines, putting Evander Kane with Bryan Little and Micheal Frolik. Other than four games early this season when Kane played the left side with Little, Little has had Ladd on his left side the majority of the time. Eric ODell was flipped to left wing, while Patrice Cormier was recalled and centered the fourth line. With Bogosian out, Paul Postma was back in the lineup. All three goals came on the power play, with Ray Whitney opening the scoring at 5:32 of the first. Shots were 12-11 Dallas, with Whitneys eighth the only goal. One goal in the second and again it came on a power play. Tyler Seguins first chance went off the post, but he stayed with it and put home a loose puck for his 32nd of the year. It also extended his point streak to nine games. Shots in the second were 9-7 Dallas. Both teams had chances to score, including an Evander Kane shot off the crossbar. Both Al Montoya and Kari Lehtonen were terrific in this game, Montoya keeping the Jets in it, Lehtonen keeping the Jets off the score-sheet. Late in the period offsetting minors put the teams four-on-four when Alex Goligoski drew a penalty. Maurice immediately pulled Montoya to make it five-on-three and Little with his 22nd of the year and eighth power play goal of the year got the Jets on the board.? Little banged home the rebound of a Kane shot, with Toby Enstrom also picking up an assist. The Jets were also minus Blake Wheeler who crashed into an open door at the Stars bench moments earlier and then headed for the Jets dressing room. He did return for the final minute of regulation.? The Jets outshot Dallas 15-6 in the third but could just get the one by Lehtonen. Jacob Trouba again led the team in ice time at 24:51, Kane had four shots on goal, while Adam Pardy was the only Jet to not record a shot on goal. Little won 21 of 31 face-offs and is closing in on establishing a new career high for number of face-offs in a season. “Were getting close to how we want to play, but we are not there yet,” Maurice said post-game. “We were short some people but these guys are giving it their all. 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The world and its opportunities should belong to him: Hes 23, 6-foot-6, and a recent graduate of Iowa State — and oh, this Brampton boy is headline news in Des Moines, Iowa. And if this was Des Moines, and the young man was sitting inside the Hilton Coliseum - where the Iowa State Cyclones play - hed be affectionately crushed by so many wearing so much cardinal and yellow, because they know him. Hes Melvin Ejim: No one has played more basketball games for Iowa State (135). Few Cyclones have ever been as successful on a basketball court (12th in scoring with 1,643 points). But this isnt Des Moines, this is a big gymnasium on Chicagos west side. Its the second day of the NBA combine and in this large gym are plenty other large, young men with huge reputations from other corners of America. And they want to steal Melvins dream. Because in front of NBA general managers and scouts there are no pep bands to proclaim Ejims college achievements; all he has are his broad shoulders and a basketball - his tools to answer the crucial question: Who is Melvin Ejim? But dont they not know him already? "I dont think they knew as much about me," Ejim says, and his smile turns into a sneer. "If anything, people knew about me more in the Big 12 (NCAA conference), and everybody appreciated what I did, but it was still kind of downplayed. "But I think once I got the Big 12 Player of the Year, and I beat out Andrew Wiggins - who is a phenomenal player - people started to realize: Wait, Wiggins was in that league? Marcus Smart was in that league? Joel Embiid was in that league? And THIS guy got the Big 12 Player of the Year? It solidified for people: Well he might actually be pretty good, but it still left some doubt in people." Doubt? What kind of doubt? There was Ejim on Day 1, fluttering along the true NBA 3-point line, hitting more shots from distance than any other prospect. Then on Day 2 hes screaming on the court, communicating, waving his arms, exploding from one end to the other, making himself too loud and too energetic to be forgotten. Meanwhile, his fellow high-ranked Canadians, Tyler Ennis and Nik Stauskas, decided to participate in only selective drills. And Wiggins, Embiid, and Jabari Parker, the provisional Top three prospects ahead of June 26s NBA draft, decided to skip the event entirely. Doubt? There cant be any doubt of Melvin Ejims passion and potential. Does he really have to sell himself so hard to get drafted? "I think he does," says Matt Kamalsky, director of operations for the college prospect website DraftExpress. "When you look at guys getting drafted who are significantly older than their class, its very rare for guys over 23/24-years old to get picked at all, let a lone make a team, and then be successful at all in the NBA. "But just because it hasnt happened doesnt me it wont work for him." Its not a unique perspective: Too old and too small are ubiquitous descriptions of Ejims flaws in most scouting reports. He spent four years at Iowa State, while Wiggins, Ennis and Stauskass immediate talent created immediate hype. The highest Ejim is projected to be selected is somewhere in the mid-to-late second round. After the Top 30 draft picks, however, there are little-to-no guaranteed contracts. But criticism and long odds wont blunt Ejims smile. Defiance somehow makes it brighter. "People say Im too old, because on the paper it says Im 23 and the other guy is 22 and were born in the same year— its silly," Ejim says. "They say stay in college for four years, and I wasnt going to get any younger by staying. Its part of the process. "The undersized thing, Ive been hearing that from Day 1. That has kind of been overplayed now. Theyre saying Im undersized because they have to, because there is nothing else to say.dddddddddddd. Can you say I cant shoot well enough because I think I proved that [on Day 1 of the combine]. What are they going to say? That I didnt do well enough on the perimeter? Thats what they do here, they criticize—they want to evaluate." And Ejim wants to be evaluated. He wants to be poked and prodded and tested, again and again. He graduated with a history major and business minor, and in the future he wants to go to law school. But thats tomorrow. Today, he measures his growth with every shot he attempts, and every defensive challenge. He can feel himself growing into an NBA player. "A lot of people dont think I can shoot from the perimeter, and a lot of people dont think I can defend the perimeter," he says. "Im just trying to prove them wrong, and I think that is just the first step. Letting them know I can be a knockdown shooter. I can space the floor. I did it in college and being able to translate that to the (NBA) 3-point line — just showing people that I have the capability to do that, the capability to play on the perimeter as a [small forward] and it was gratifying." "Just listening to him talk its very obvious - and its not with all these guys - he knows what he needs to do in order to put himself in the best position to get drafted," Kamalsky says. "Guys dont have that kind of degree of self-awareness and maybe that maturity is a positive." And maturity, and perspective are Ejims greatest strengths. He came to the combine not just to show, but to tell. He wonders: Why would a general manager just obsess over a freakish, young talent that needs constant work? When here he is, learning, adapting, and thriving. Ejim remembers those early, early mornings - sometimes 6 am - walking or biking or busing to the Brampton or Mississauga YMCA. Sometimes hed have to bring his brothers health card and pretend to be someone else, because money was too tight for a membership, and one person can only have so many guest passes. And most of the time young Melvin wouldnt even get on the court; hed be off to side with a ball, watching his uncle and his uncles friend play, listening whenever he was told to: "Melvin, work on your handles." And he grew bigger and stronger and better, but he was still often an inch or inch and a half shorter than many others. So he worked and worked, from Amateur Athletic Union basketball to the NCAA. He counts his uncle, David, AAU coach Mike George (now his agent) and Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg, as part of his inner circle because they ingrained in him the everlasting directive; and if you listen to older, wiser Melvin long enough the mantra hits you like his smile: "I still think I can do a better job of being a better player. Solidify in peoples mind that Im a player, that Im good, that Im good enough." Those ranked higher than Ejim completely agree. "Ive worked out with him," says Ennis, projected to be selected in the Top 20. "I think he really shoots the ball better than people expect. At Iowa State he was playing more (small forward), going forward I think he has the ability to dribble the ball well enough to move to the wing." "We (Michigan) played Iowa State this year - Melvins a beast," says Stauskas, also potentially a Top-20 pick. "Hes a little bit undersized. Hes a guy I feel is going to go to workouts and really impress some people." Only when asked about workouts and meetings with NBA teams does Ejim become skittish. Dig deep enough and he reveals a meeting with the Utah Jazz next week, and then maybe three or four other teams after that. But each session is like a little secret, meant only for him. "My dream is to play in the NBA, to be a contributing part of a NBA team and continue to work, and be a solid player - the best player I can be. However I get there, time will tell." Maybe its why hes smiling: This is Melvin Ejims moment, after all. His big shoulders can bear it. ' ' '