Judy Owen, The Canadian Press

A big smile crossed Nate Schmidt's face as he described the fresh approach and one fun surprise during a practice at Winnipeg Jets training camp.

New Jets head coach Rick Bowness had players scrimmaging with opposite-handed sticks, plus goalies Connor Hellebuyck and David Rittich manned the creases without sticks. 

"It was amazing. I loved it," said Schmidt, who's entering his 10th NHL season. "Variety is the spice of life and you add new things in your life, I think it just makes everyone a little more well-rounded.

Rookie receiver Dalton Schoen caught three touchdown passes and running back Brady Oliveira scored twice as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers clinched first place in the CFL West Division for the second straight season with a dominating 48-11 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday.

The two-time defending Grey Cup champions improved their record to 14-2 in front of 27,159 fans at IG Field and earned a bye before hosting the West Final on Nov. 13.

The loss officially eliminated the Elks (4-12) from the playoffs because they can't pass the Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-10).

Jermarcus Hardrick is going to ensure his helmet is buckled on tight when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers host the Edmonton Elks on Saturday.

Even though the 13-2 Bombers are favoured to beat the 4-11 Elks, the veteran offensive lineman predicts a battle with an outcome that isn’t a given.

“Any time you face a Chris Jones team, you’ve got to get ready for a fight, and I’m talking street fight,” Hardrick said after Friday’s walk-through, referring to Edmonton’s head coach and general manager.

David Rittich was glad he delivered a shutout for his new Winnipeg Jets team, but any kind of victory would have felt good.

Rittich made 37 saves and Kyle Connor scored two of Winnipeg's four second-period goals as the Jets defeated the Calgary Flames 5-0 in pre-season action Wednesday.

“Obviously, it’s great if you perform well,” Rittich said. “If you get saves and you get a shutout it’s nice. I don’t really care.

“Most important thing for me is we got the win. That’s what matters.”

Mike O’Shea was glad the Blue Bombers provided fans with an exciting see-saw battle against the Calgary Stampeders on Thursday, especially when it was Winnipeg who came away with a historic 31-29 victory.

The Bombers (10-1) became the first team in CFL history to record 400 home victories (Calgary sits at 399). They did it in front of 30,062 fans at IG Field, who were also treated to some highlights by the Stampeders.

Pierre-Luc Dubois says he never asked the Winnipeg Jets for a trade and comments that he wants to play in Montreal were blown out of proportion.

The five-year NHL forward spoke with the media on a phone call Monday after agreeing last Friday to a one-year, US$6-million qualifying offer with the Jets.

“You hear stuff that I want out of Winnipeg,” Dubois said. “If I wanted out, I would have asked for a trade. I didn’t ask for a trade. Not for one second. It didn’t cross my mind for one second to ask for a trade.”

Rick Bowness doesn't mind being the second choice.

The new Winnipeg Jets head coach took part in his first press conference Monday, a little more than a week after first target Barry Trotz declined the team's offer because the veteran wanted to spend more time with his family.

"If I’m in his chair, I’m going after Trotzy. I am. It’s that simple," Bowness said with a laugh, referring to Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff sitting beside him.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive lineman Willie Jefferson was understated about his fourth-quarter interception for a touchdown Friday.

The veteran snared a tipped pass by Hamilton quarterback Dane Evans to help seal Winnipeg's 26-12 win over the visiting Tiger-Cats.

The Bombers (3-0) remained unbeaten to start the CFL season, while the Ticats were winless in three starts.

“It was a good night. A good night at the office,” Jefferson said. “Offence, defence, special teams came out and did what we needed to do, get the win.”

Starting the season 2-0 should have the Winnipeg Blue Bombers feeling pretty good, but that’s not the case with the back-to-back Grey Cup champions.

As the Bombers prepared to host the winless Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-2) on Friday – the club they beat for both titles – the focus was on correcting mistakes on both sides of the ball.

“It’s better to be 2-0 and have things you know you need to work on and you can still correct them than being 0-2 and having that same situation, right?” Winnipeg linebacker Adam Bighill said after Thursday’s walk-through practice.