Coach Discussion: All-purpose Coach Discussion Thread II

[Howard Chuck]

I’ve come to the point that I believe that Maurice was the right fit initially when hired for our team but he no longer is. He came
in after Noel and felt like the new leader of the team. Picked a grind it out system and we made the playoffs but knew that style wouldn’t be successful long term. Then made some changes but asides from 2017 when we were an unexpectedly good team there just has been an astounding lack of cohesion and consistency. What did we have that year that we don’t now? I think either the players like Maurice too much or vice versa and this group needs to be led in a different way. No idea who a better available option would be but status quo isn’t working. Even wheeler is back to his days of searching for confidence a la the annual 15 game struggle to start the season under Noel. Something is just off. And as a rule this year goaltending hasn’t been the issue. I don’t know where to exactly point the finger on the struggles but we have established a downward trend for sometime now, a lack of team identity (or more accurately a good one), very little consistency (the good kind), no real obvious systemic changes, very few times where the team plays great but just doesn’t get the results and very few guys posting career seasons. Something’s been different and the timing on it happened right after we lost to Vegas in the playoffs. Seems like a million years ago we won that first game in the WCF and I’d like a fresh set of eyes in to figure it out.

Mostly agree. I think Maurice was the perfect coach at the time. We needed someone that would be ok playing a lot of very young players with little NHL experience and he did an admirable job of getting these players where they are today (Laine, Ehlers, Connor, Morrissey etc...).

Now, that we have a very good forward roster that has developed quite well, he doesn't seem to quite know what to do with it. We have defensive gaps without a doubt, but that doesn't excuse the poor play by our forwards. Players have to take responsibility for their own play, but a coach has to be able to lead and push players to perform at their best.

It might be as simple as a new voice. Like you, I don't know who that 'new voice' would be.

 

[Gm0ney]

Either his plan sucks, or the players aren't following it. Either way, it's time to go.

 

[Eyeseeing]

Maurice is a good coach and person it’s simply just time

 

[AtomicJets]

Maurice is still doing a good job with what he's got. Who can honestly say that this team, the way this season has gone with injuries and issues, that they should be better than 6-7? This is a tough situation and people want to fire Maurice because Bourque is playing over Appleton or because injured Niku isn't in the lineup.

I'm not saying Maurice is perfect... far from it.... and Chevy has made some mistakes as well. But this team is still okay. Give it another year to right the ship and they will be back in the playoffs and contending.

 

[AtomicJets]

Not at all... but frankly I don't see Maurice as the problem. I tend to place more of the blame at Chevy's feet for neglecting defence in our drafting for too long... but even he couldn't have seen the Byfuglien issue coming... I still rate our coach/gm in the top half the of the league... easily

 

[Gm0ney]

Maurice is still doing a good job with what he's got. Who can honestly say that this team, the way this season has gone with injuries and issues, that they should be better than 6-7? This is a tough situation and people want to fire Maurice because Bourque is playing over Appleton or because injured Niku isn't in the lineup.

I'm not saying Maurice is perfect... far from it.... and Chevy has made some mistakes as well. But this team is still okay. Give it another year to right the ship and they will be back in the playoffs and contending.

They weren't playing great last season though - especially after Christmas and especially at even strength. Obviously the team is missing big pieces this year with Buff out and Trouba gone - and yes, Chevy's done a poor job of filling those holes - but Maurice can't even put together a decent power play or penalty kill...bottom 10 in both (dead last in PK).

The team's checked out. So fire the team or fire the coach. The choice is clear.

 

[Mbraunm]

If this is a retooling year, maybe we should stick with Maurice.

His dump and chase system, poor deployment, the unending bromance, lack of vet accountability, passive PK and stale/static PP1 will lead us towards a top 5-10 pick in the draft.

Maurice is our qualified tank commander!

 

[Channelcat]

If this is a retooling year, maybe we should stick with Maurice.

His dump and chase system, poor deployment, the unending bromance, lack of vet accountability, passive PK and stale/static PP1 will lead us towards a top 5-10 pick in the draft.

Maurice is our qualified tank commander!

The dump and chase is probably the best thing we do. This complete lack of team D is shocking. I am convinced that Maurice and especially Huddy are not even capable of understanding how things work.

 

[Zippity]

The dump and chase is probably the best thing we do. This complete lack of team D is shocking. I am convinced that Maurice and especially Huddy are not even capable of understanding how things work.

I can’t believe Huddy has made it this far

 

[kelsier]

Not at all... but frankly I don't see Maurice as the problem. I tend to place more of the blame at Chevy's feet for neglecting defence in our drafting for too long... but even he couldn't have seen the Byfuglien issue coming... I still rate our coach/gm in the top half the of the league... easily

Seriously, it's hard to imagine person watching the Jets games or rather having watched the team for past years and being blind to the poor decisions in the past and either ignoring or not seeing the recurring issues that are being inherited from one season to another. Meaning the coaching staff adapting to stagnation where the lack of imagination and creativity could not be anymore transparent. The following is a neat and accurate summary of the hockey the Winnipeg Jets presents today and reveals things as they really are:

His dump and chase system, poor deployment, the unending bromance, lack of vet accountability, passive PK and stale/static PP1 will lead us towards a top 5-10 pick in the draft.

(Naturally whether that leads to the Jets winning another lottery is a whole another story)

Regardless of being weak at the RD this team has more than enough talent and scoring strength to do well this season. So far they've been at best mediocre and that's on Maurice & his crew. My best guess is someone at the very top of the food chain for whatever reason has a crush on the coach. Otherwise he'd be long gone.

 

[rkp]

The dump and chase is probably the best thing we do. This complete lack of team D is shocking. I am convinced that Maurice and especially Huddy are not even capable of understanding how things work.

Don't the Moose employ the same PP PK systems as the Jets, since PoMo wanted it so when players are called up they fit in seamlessly, yet they have the same issues as the Jets.

 

[slurpee addict]

They weren't playing great last season though - especially after Christmas and especially at even strength. Obviously the team is missing big pieces this year with Buff out and Trouba gone - and yes, Chevy's done a poor job of filling those holes - but Maurice can't even put together a decent power play or penalty kill...bottom 10 in both (dead last in PK).

The team's checked out. So fire the team or fire the coach. The choice is clear.

Agree. And, we’ve seen that Maurice doesn’t want to play Niku - he prefers guys like Bitetto. They support his dump it out and chase style. Wrong coach for the team Chevy has put together. Not that the the past six months of defensman choices and shuffling has been good, but the overall trend of play and group unhappiness has been negative for a year or more. Pretty much since his Vegas series lineup decisions. If we recall, that resulted in some vocal discontent from Enstrom, and it’s been a trend ever since.

 

[stonec]

If this is a retooling year, maybe we should stick with Maurice.

His dump and chase system, poor deployment, the unending bromance, lack of vet accountability, passive PK and stale/static PP1 will lead us towards a top 5-10 pick in the draft.

Maurice is our qualified tank commander!

There is no dump and chase system. I began watching Winnipeg games around the time Laine joined. Winnipeg actually plays a rather creative offensive game, especially in 2017-2018 some of the most entertaining games I watched were with Winnipeg playing. You can legitimately criticize Maurice for some of his decisions, but to characterize his strategy as dump and chase is borderline ridiculous.

 

[googleIsMyFriend]

There is no dump and chase system. I began watching Winnipeg games around the time Laine joined. Winnipeg actually plays a rather creative offensive game, especially in 2017-2018 some of the most entertaining games I watched were with Winnipeg playing. You can legitimately criticize Maurice for some of his decisions, but to characterize his strategy as dump and chase is borderline ridiculous.

Yeah, you are right. One thing what Maurice does very well is handling young players. And that is the most important thing when your team is as young as Jets are. People also forget that last season jets played very well in the playoffs. I think he is a good coach.

However, this season is going to be a hard one, mainly because chevy forget to sign defenders contracts. There is a little bit of bad luck too, sharks game roster was laughable because all the injuries etc.

 

[AKAChip]

Maurice is still doing a good job with what he's got. Who can honestly say that this team, the way this season has gone with injuries and issues, that they should be better than 6-7? This is a tough situation and people want to fire Maurice because Bourque is playing over Appleton or because injured Niku isn't in the lineup.

I'm not saying Maurice is perfect... far from it.... and Chevy has made some mistakes as well. But this team is still okay. Give it another year to right the ship and they will be back in the playoffs and contending.

Not at all... but frankly I don't see Maurice as the problem. I tend to place more of the blame at Chevy's feet for neglecting defence in our drafting for too long... but even he couldn't have seen the Byfuglien issue coming... I still rate our coach/gm in the top half the of the league... easily

So I understand that the defensive personnel this team has is far from ideal but I think it's just unfortunate timing that it gives Maurice a handy excuse for failings that go far beyond the bottom four defence. The Jets had a much stronger defence on paper for much of last season and more or less the same problems existed, though not to such a dramatic degree. Maurice's failings in roster management are well documented and not worth bringing up here but what it has always boiled down to is, even with two upgrades on D (say Beaulieu and Niku in for Sbisa/Dahlstrom/Bitetto or even Byfuglien back) what have we seen from Maurice as a coach that makes us confident that he's the guy that's going to take us to where we need to be. At this point, the season we had two years ago is the exception rather than the rule. Not to mention that essentially every player has either stagnated or regressed under Maurice. Even the ones who seem to be steadily improving (Ehlers, for example) are held back by limited usage. And while I agree to an extent that playing Bourque over Appleton, isn't a major reason for the team's lack of success this season, it's disheartening to see a coach who so often misattributes a team's success with how many gritty veterans he can play five minutes a night. Having a fourth line who can actually play is valuable on a number of levels, not the least of which to take the burden off of the top line that usually peters out by January. This year, they've petered out in October.

And I could not disagree more that Chevy has ignored defence in the draft. For one, which of the forwards that were taken in the first round would you have taken a defenceman over in retrospect? Vesalainen? His first round drafting record is as good as any GM in the league and then there are guys like Samberg and Niku who are surefire NHLers essentially taken after the first round. Glover and Green haven't and likely won't pan out but to say he's ignored the position is ridiculous.

 

[Mbraunm]

There is no dump and chase system. I began watching Winnipeg games around the time Laine joined. Winnipeg actually plays a rather creative offensive game, especially in 2017-2018 some of the most entertaining games I watched were with Winnipeg playing. You can legitimately criticize Maurice for some of his decisions, but to characterize his strategy as dump and chase is borderline ridiculous.

Fair enough.

 

[voyageur]

I still think Maurice is the right coach for this team. Look at how calm he was after the team put in a poor performance, and he got bailed out by the goalie. He looked furious after the turnover Scheifele made at the end of the game. Yet he threw no one under the bus. Veteran coach. Jets struggled all last night with puck possession on choppy ice. Going to be more of the same tonight. Except big Adam Lowry is back to gain some territorial advantage.
I'd like to see Maurice get into a rotation of 20 minutes for Scheifele, 16-18 for Little, 16-18 for Lowry and some strong 4th line shifts. Was disappointed that Perreault got the bump over Ehlers on the PP last night. Special teams were somewhat better though. You feel like he is coaching a defense similar to his first full season with Pardy, Clitsome, Stuart, Harrison, Postma all fighting for playing time. We actually have a better defense now, but the chemistry on defense doesn't come instantly. Once Morrissey settles down, and starts to win more shifts, I'll be a lot more confident in the direction of this team.

 

[Ducky10]

There is no dump and chase system. I began watching Winnipeg games around the time Laine joined. Winnipeg actually plays a rather creative offensive game, especially in 2017-2018 some of the most entertaining games I watched were with Winnipeg playing. You can legitimately criticize Maurice for some of his decisions, but to characterize his strategy as dump and chase is borderline ridiculous.

Exactly, teams play the Jets a certain way, they know they have speed to burn and if they don’t challenge in the neutral zone with back pressure and stand up at the blue line, they are going to get smoked. Chip and chase and dumping the puck in is the right play often, it’s not the overriding strategy. The Jets try to get other teams to do it as well. The problem I see is twofold, their reads on dump ins are sometimes poor and it gives them little chance of retrieval. Secondly, they are forced into doing it a bit more often because of the defensive structure they’ve been forced into by personnel. The forwards are playing so deep to help out, it’s had an effect on their transition game to a degree. Odd man rushes and fast play through the neutral zone has been at a premium so far this year. ELR has shown good promise in creating that more though. They have been tough to handle the last couple of games.

 

[jepjepjoo]

There is no dump and chase system. I began watching Winnipeg games around the time Laine joined. Winnipeg actually plays a rather creative offensive game, especially in 2017-2018 some of the most entertaining games I watched were with Winnipeg playing. You can legitimately criticize Maurice for some of his decisions, but to characterize his strategy as dump and chase is borderline ridiculous.

Care to elaborate?

 

[JetsUK]

I can’t believe Huddy has made it this far

Huddy deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame for Failing Upward.

 

[Teemusalami204]

There is no dump and chase system. I began watching Winnipeg games around the time Laine joined. Winnipeg actually plays a rather creative offensive game, especially in 2017-2018 some of the most entertaining games I watched were with Winnipeg playing. You can legitimately criticize Maurice for some of his decisions, but to characterize his strategy as dump and chase is borderline ridiculous.

For playing a rather creative offensive game there is a real lack in creative goals.

 

[None]

Hmmmm. So do we now have confirmation that Maurice is in the final year? If so this could be very good news. I really hope we don’t get trade deadline news like a few years back when Stuart was extended.

Unless he can adapt very soon he is a terrible fit for the current group of skilled forwards.

Edit: also interesting that local media has no clue what Maurice has left on his deal or was unwilling to go public with it.

Late reply to your post, but if Maurice is in the final year of his contract I wonder what the benchmark was for getting an extension prior to the season. What were the expectations last year from ownership and management? I assume he'd have an extension already if he met those expectations.
My guess is that they were expecting similar postseason results as 17-18. If they had gone to the 2nd round or WCF again he'd probably have a multi-year extension already.

I also wonder what he'd have to do this year given that the roster has taken a clear step back in depth. You'd have to think expectations are lower, but by how much?

I'm not even sure how much there is to read into him not having a contract beyond this season. Did Maurice want a shorter deal to prove he's worth more money and miscalculated after the results of 17-18? Coaches salaries were ballooning around that time, maybe Cheveldayoff had the foresight to not commit too much in actual dollars based on a single season of success.
Just like the Byfuglien situation any situation, silence leads to speculation. They were pretty vague on length when his current contract was announced, which seemed strange at the time.

 

[GNP]

I think Maurice is a good upper middle coach, and the Jet's have been an upper middle team over the last 2-3 years. Could any coach do much better when we've lost all our starting defenseman - except Morrissey -- I really doubt that.

Would there be a better coach ? -- probably but who ? You look at what Brindamour has done with Carolina, and what Trotz has done with the Islanders, and you'd have to say, there is a better coach, but for this season, I'd stick with Maurice while the Jet's rebuild the defence.

I think the Jet's are a 500 team, or a little better this year, unless a trade is made for a couple solid defenceman. We're very close again, we just have to rebuild the defense. Our Goaltending and forwards are great -- we're really very close here.

If somehow we get a healthy Buff back --we'll be in decent shape, but it doesn't look to good for that, as it looks like Buff may not return to the game.

 

[Positive]

If we're going to pass judgment on a person's job performance, at least use recent history within our organization. I find it a bit unfair that people constantly bring up the 'Lifetime percentage' thing, because a lot of that is ancient history in different organizations.

No employer would actually ever review, promote, demote, or retain an employee based on what they did 15 years ago when they worked for someone else. If your boss did this to you, you'd probably scream foul. You'd probably ask what that had to do with anything; and that these are different circumstances and you're not the same person, and your skill set and approaches have changed or grown. You'd probably say it was a different company, a different team, with countless other contributing variables. You'd ask to look at your contributions during your tenure with this company because that is what is actually relevant.

Use recent history. If you still think he sucks and isn't making a positive impact, then sure, can him. The last year and a half has honestly not been good and I like the idea of change(s) behind the bench too actually. But harping on this 'lifetime record' doesn't make sense to me. As a gauge of performance limits for goalies or athletes in general, sure. For managerial/white-collar roles? Not really.

Hell this community probably skews a bit on the older side, so I'll guess each of us are probably under .500 when we talk about our jobs, personal challenges, and relationships. Would it be fair for your wife to call you a 'crappy .500 husband' because of previous failed marriage 15 years ago? Even better, how about you call her out on her history with men prior to you, and let me know how that goes.

 

[AKAChip]

I still think Maurice is the right coach for this team. Look at how calm he was after the team put in a poor performance, and he got bailed out by the goalie. He looked furious after the turnover Scheifele made at the end of the game. Yet he threw no one under the bus. Veteran coach. Jets struggled all last night with puck possession on choppy ice. Going to be more of the same tonight. Except big Adam Lowry is back to gain some territorial advantage.
I'd like to see Maurice get into a rotation of 20 minutes for Scheifele, 16-18 for Little, 16-18 for Lowry and some strong 4th line shifts. Was disappointed that Perreault got the bump over Ehlers on the PP last night. Special teams were somewhat better though. You feel like he is coaching a defense similar to his first full season with Pardy, Clitsome, Stuart, Harrison, Postma all fighting for playing time. We actually have a better defense now, but the chemistry on defense doesn't come instantly. Once Morrissey settles down, and starts to win more shifts, I'll be a lot more confident in the direction of this team.

I mean... it’s pretty clear he threw no one under the bus because it was Scheifele who screwed up and he will bend over backwards for both him and Wheeler. You better believe if it were Roslovic or Ehlers who turned it over there, the media would have heard about it. He still found a way to crap on Roslovic specifically after that game.