Are we being too hard on Maurice?

10Ducky10

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I've said that this is the year that he should be judged, not last year with the schedule and injuries or the year before.
He isn't playing the lineup everyone wants and even isn't playing the players that fans want played. We clamor for Dano and Petan and Matthias and get rid of Tanev, don't play Hendricks, play Armia more, put Scheif and Laine together.
All he has done is guide a very young group of talented players to first place overall this year and should be commended in my opinion.
How's the PK? It sucks but I can't really complain about too much else. Chevy gave him the pieces and he is putting together the puzzle quite nicely.
 

NotCommitted

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Jul 4, 2013
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Well, pretty tough to criticize the coach of a top3 team in the league. Yes, they have a good roster but to be fair so do many other teams. I still don't think he's a very good coach tactically, he seems rigid and unable to change things around in a good way when called and it has taken him over a year to get the PP going and PK is still bad. Still, a couple good playoff runs could prove me wrong. Also, I feel he deserves more credit for the current success than he's getting. It seems pretty clear the players are really playing for him, each other and the team, and I believe he has a considerable role in that. Also he's one of the best coaches in handling the media etc, he comes off as a solid, likeable guy and not at all in a pushover "nice guy" way. So he's probably a great coach to play under.

A good reverse example of this from football (that only Finns will know though...) is Mixu Paatelainen. When he first took helm of the Finland national team, I was excited, but he was horrible. At the point where his post-game interviews after yet another loss became all about throwing the players under the bus I knew the team would never play well under him. Never a fault in his tactics, all about the players failing to execute. And the way he spoke those things it was all blame blame blame. The moment he got fired and his assistant coach took on the job, the team started performing. Same players, same team, only different head coach, who stripped away anything fancy from the game plan and just got the players to do their best.

Anyway my point is there's many sides to coaching and while Maurice certainly seems to have his short-comings, I think there are aspects he is excellent at.
 

GNP

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Last year the Goalie SP was about .865 - you won't win with that.

This year it's around .925 --" big difference"

Last year, we were without Myers--the Jet's leading defenseman in points- "big big piece" added here-I'll bet Myers finishes in the top 8 in points for all NHL defenseman.

We also acquired Kulikov to shore up the Left Defensive position, and aquired an excellent backup goalie in Steve Mason.

Last year the Jets young guys were just acclimating to the NHL--now they have more experience and are adjusting nicely.

I think Maurice should be judged when he has a "complete team" in front of him, and so far, you cannot do anything better with this club than Maurice has done. So, give the man a chance when he has a good roster, and wait til this year's end to judge him.

He could even win the Stanley Cup--and there still will be doubters and detractors.:cool:
 
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Tom ServoMST3K

In search of a Steinbach Hero
Nov 2, 2010
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What's your excuse?
Paul Maurice, I believe, almost single-handedly saved this season in Edmonton in the third game of the season. Jets were up 2-0, gave up two quick goals to edmonton, and it looked like the wheels were falling off again. PoMo called his timeout, settled the team down and they went on to win the game, and since then have been brilliant.

Also, I was one of many snarkily predicting PoMo to get the all time losses record in quick fashion. This team has shown me what I know.
 

Eyeseeing

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Paul Maurice, I believe, almost single-handedly saved this season in Edmonton in the third game of the season. Jets were up 2-0, gave up two quick goals to edmonton, and it looked like the wheels were falling off again. PoMo called his timeout, settled the team down and they went on to win the game, and since then have been brilliant.

Also, I was one of many snarkily predicting PoMo to get the all time losses record in quick fashion. This team has shown me what I know.
Lol ... also guilty
I am not enamoured with him and hoped he would have a career year...so far so good
 

Whileee

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May 29, 2010
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Well, pretty tough to criticize the coach of a top3 team in the league. Yes, they have a good roster but to be fair so do many other teams. I still don't think he's a very good coach tactically, he seems rigid and unable to change things around in a good way when called and it has taken him over a year to get the PP going and PK is still bad. Still, a couple good playoff runs could prove me wrong. Also, I feel he deserves more credit for the current success than he's getting. It seems pretty clear the players are really playing for him, each other and the team, and I believe he has a considerable role in that. Also he's one of the best coaches in handling the media etc, he comes off as a solid, likeable guy and not at all in a pushover "nice guy" way. So he's probably a great coach to play under.

A good reverse example of this from football (that only Finns will know though...) is Mixu Paatelainen. When he first took helm of the Finland national team, I was excited, but he was horrible. At the point where his post-game interviews after yet another loss became all about throwing the players under the bus I knew the team would never play well under him. Never a fault in his tactics, all about the players failing to execute. And the way he spoke those things it was all blame blame blame. The moment he got fired and his assistant coach took on the job, the team started performing. Same players, same team, only different head coach, who stripped away anything fancy from the game plan and just got the players to do their best.

Anyway my point is there's many sides to coaching and while Maurice certainly seems to have his short-comings, I think there are aspects he is excellent at.

Some HF Boards logic...

Leafs have better talent than the Jets.

Jets have outperformed the Leafs so far.

At this point, Maurice is outcoaching Babcock this season.

:nod:
 
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Upperdeckjet

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Dec 14, 2011
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I am a big fan of our coach. The thing to remember is that we as fans do not know what goes on in that dressing room. The politics, the emotions, the balancing of personalities. Like everyone else, those first two games, I was like, "ah geez". Now, after this wonderful ride to the top, how can we not just let him do his thing and enjoy.
 
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Eyeseeing

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I am a big fan of our coach. The thing to remember is that we as fans do not know what goes on in that dressing room. The politics, the emotions, the balancing of personalities. Like everyone else, those first two games, I was like, "ah geez". Now, after this wonderful ride to the top, how can we not just let him do his thing and enjoy.
I will certainly enjoy the ride.
Based on his complete body of work I reserve the right to be “cautiously” optimistic.
People can pick and choose whatever they want including sample sizes.
I just want a career year out of Paul not his normal
 
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PhilJets

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Almost everybody toned down on him for almost a month now.
Fans see what he is doing now.
He deserves it.
But fans had a case for being hard on him before.
If ask the coach he probably agree based on the records.

All is well now hope he keeps it up.
 
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sipowicz

The thrill is gone
Mar 16, 2011
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The Jets are tied for 1st in the NHL and on occasion are dominating the opposition. Could Maurice be a better coach than is the common consensus on the board?

Coach is only as good as his goaltenders, Helly has been A1 this season coupled with the play of the D mainly a healthy Myers and the acquisition of Kulikov has made all the difference!
 
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Aavco Cup

"I can make you cry in this room"
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The Jets are tied for 1st in the NHL and on occasion are dominating the opposition. Could Maurice be a better coach than is the common consensus on the board?

The coach gets too much credit when things go well and takes too much heat when they don't.

Speaking of coaches. How much time does Guy Boucher have left?
 
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grieves

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Apr 27, 2016
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It's getting tougher by the day to critique Maurice, that is for sure. However, much bigger sample size needed, and basically a career year from him.

I guess the big question is how this team would do with another coach. In other words, are we winning because of Maurice, in spite of Maurice, or are we actually not even performing well, but getting lucky. There is no way to benchmark the team.

The wins keep racking up, but I think at least the beginning of the season we were quite lucky. When the offense dried up (5v5 dried up almost completely at some point), the goaltending came through, and when the goalies were not perfect, the scoring is what got us the W. Very few games when both failed at the same time, so that is pretty lucky at least.

What I don't like and have not seen any improvement:

Veterans not held to the same standard as the rest of the team, which can be detrimental in the long-run
Roster management seems to be a huge issue, in-game and otherwise (my opinion naturally)
In-game adjustments are lacking
Special teams having the same problems for 20-something years is not acceptable. No process takes that long.
Coaching staff seems inadequate (goalie coach especially), although I'm not sure if this is Mo's choice.
Inability to try new things (also not a fan of not experimenting during garbage time last season) and think outside the box

What I do like:

He seems intelligent and likeable
Goalie support is much better this season, but so is the goalie (because he was coached outside of the team)
He is winning
 

Guerzy

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Jan 16, 2005
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I am personally here to eat the crow currently being served to me by Maurice, and I have zero problem doing so. I did not think Maurice would be the coach to turn this ship around given what we were seeing the last couple years and even just the first two games of this year even if it was just 2 games. For me it felt like a continuation of last year and what I had already experienced as a Canes fan with Mo in years past. I was wrong.

I hope this team continues to play the way they are for this season and years to come, and if that is the case, job well done Paul Maurice. I had very little belief in Mo but I am more than happy with what we've seen this season and I hope it continues.

My crow tastes good and to this point in the season anyway, I am happy to sit here and eat it.
 
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Whileee

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The coach gets too much credit when things go well and takes too much heat when they don't.

Speaking of coaches. How much time does Guy Boucher have left?
Miserable job...

Boucher takes a somewhat mediocre Sens team to 98 points and the 3rd round of the playoffs, and now in jeopardy?
 

Jets1975

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Dec 9, 2011
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Way too early to make judgement on PoMo this season. Hot goalie and talent have helped. Yes, it's nice to see this team top of the standings right now, but we're only a 3rd into the season. Long way to go. If we were to go on a loosing streak, we could quickly drop to 4th/5th/6th in this crazy division, then what do people on this board say bout PoMo? Pretty sure the Fire Maurice thread would be hot again. I'll wait for judgement until after the season.
 
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Tasteless Beaver

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Jul 8, 2015
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He looks a lot more relaxed on the bench, and his chewing speed seems to have dropped under 150 chews per minute. He's even been caught laughing...I doubt we see a meltdown this year. He's safe and he knows it.
 

Whileee

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May 29, 2010
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My main concern about Maurice coming into this season was whether he'd be able to coach a really talented group to allow them to fully display their talent, while also getting them to play a strong, responsible defensive game. Early on, I had concerns that his approach was stifling the talent, but they've really blossomed over the past dozen games or more. They have been better at protecting the crease area and clearing rebounds than last season, and we're seeing fewer breakaways and other odd man breaks. Meanwhile, the offense is really taking shape. They are playing with very good pace, and they are making a lot of smart plays in the offensive zone, seldom making bad plays with the puck that could lead to a quick breakout. Although I still have concerns about the chemistry on the ELL line, the rest of the lines have really been humming. I am particularly impressed with the 3rd line, especially with Lowry back to anchor it. The line isn't scoring a ton, but they are having an impact.

Lowry (2017/18, 5v5 adjusted, via Corsica.hockey): 54.9 CF%, relxGF% +10.3

The following two graphics says a lot about how important Lowry's line has been in absorbing and beating tough matchups. When your third line can play a lot of the top-6 from other teams,

lowryad93


lowryad93
 
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Jimby

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Nov 5, 2013
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We have all heard that and it is pretty hard for a coach to overcome bad goaltending. There are however a few teams whose goalies have better records than ours who are well below us in the standings. Good goaltending alone will not earn the coach wins. Maurice deserves a lot of credit.

Coach is only as good as his goaltenders
 

surixon

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Jul 12, 2003
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I thought he had a very poor year last season in which his systems seemed completely counter intuitive to the talent he had and I think that showed in the underlying numbers and the fact that the team trailed all the time.

He seemed to learn from it over the summer and had the team playing a high temple forecheck this preseason and after a poor start we are seeing it again. We are now for the most part playing to our capabilities which is all you can ask of the coach so credit where it is due. The PP is also much improved. There are a couple of areas namely the PK that still need a lot of work but by and large he's managed his bench fairly well and his player usage has been much better.
 

Jetfaninflorida

Southernmost Jet Fan
Dec 13, 2013
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LHD and Goaltending were addressed in the off season. We can debate and will never know what effect signing Mason has had on Helle's play this year. But the bottom line is that we are getting goaltending and don't have a black hole on our third pairing LHD any longer. Our coach is benefitting from this considerably. He manages the line up and the use of all of these assets and has to be given credit in sharing in our success as well.

However, stupid penalties, questionable player utilization and special teams are on him too. Our PP is killing it. With the level of skill that we have in our top 6, I think you would have a hard time finding a head coach in the NHL who could screw that up much. Our PK strategy is laughable - that's on Maurice. Our idiotic penalties are down, but not good enough yet if we want to contend for the cup. Our OT record is laughable given how much talent we have to take advantage of all of that 3 on 3 ice. It's a small sample, but how many times are you going to keep starting Buff on the 3 on 3 when he almost always gets burned in that situation, part of which is that he just refuses to come off the ice? Come on, man. Dumb penalties, special teams and OT games are so critical to playoff success or failure. Let's see how he manages and improves these things throughout the year before he gets a medal.

So yeah, we are hard on him. Lord knows the Winnipeg media isn't. If we don't question and challenge him, who will?
 
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Ducky10

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My biggest criticism of Maurice was my impression that he couldn't get this team to play to a style that suited it's talent. I't's taken awhile but it's a young team that also had sub-standard goaltending for too long. I'm probably guilty of being too impatient, to this point he's addressed almost all my doubts about areas I didn't think he'd properly deal with. I still don't love the PK but there have been intermittent signs of it being altered and I can't really complain with it's effectiveness lately.

I thought he micromanaged the team a bit too much last year, thinking he had more effect on outcomes than he does. I've really liked how he's let things grow this year so far though and it seems to be paying dividends. The test for him imo is if and when this team goes through a down period, how will he respond. His ability to push the right buttons and keep the train on the tracks will be the most important thing for the rest of the season.

I've always genuinely liked Maurice as a person, he seems like a good guy. For all my shots about his coaching, I'm sincerely happy he's having some success.
 

GNP

Here Comes the Jets -look out hockey world !!!
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Some HF Boards logic...

Leafs have better talent than the Jets.

Jets have outperformed the Leafs so far.

At this point, Maurice is outcoaching Babcock this season.

:nod:
_____________________________________________________

The Leafs have better talent than the Jets ??? - I just don't understand how anybody could say that ? or think that way? The only better talent the Leafs may have is Mathews over Laine. ( Mathews is better)

The thing with the Jets, is they are way deeper than any other team in "upper middle" type talent--like Ehlers, Connor, Scheif, Wheeler, Laine, Perrault, Little, Perrault, Myers, Buff--etc. All these guys can score "bigtime."

We don't know how good this team is yet until the young talent fully matures. I think there is a good chance we could have a "dynasty" team on our hands here in Winnipeg, that could win many championships.

Example- would you want to have "one big hitter"--like say McDavid, and hope he carries the whole team ??? or would you rather have about 10 upper middle guys that can all score. I'll take the team that's deep in "upper middle players"

Look at what Edmonton's done this year, with arguably the best player in the NHL ( or world) ? Yes, that's right-they've done nothing.

Gone are the days when 1 guy like Gretzky or Bobby Orr can carry the whole team. In those days in the 1980's about 80 % of the league ( or more) were Canadians. Right now, I'd say Europe makes up about 40% of the NHL and the USA 20%-and Canada 40%--so it's more of a "world league", and attracts the best talent in the world.

The Jet's are so deep in talent, and can keep coming at you in waves, and I don't think Toronto is anywhere close to matching the deep talent pool the Jet's have. I do agree that Toronto has some really "great players" as well-but not close to the Jets.
 
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