News Article: Ken Wiebe sits down with Paul Maurice for an exit interview.

[portamoral]

A power play featuring Wheeler, Scheifele, Little, Perreault and Byfuglien shouldn't be in the bottom third of the NHL. It's been consistently lacklustre for 4 straight seasons. How'd we end up 30th by a mile with Wheeler and Scheifele having career years and Buff 8th in D scoring? I just can't believe that the problem is lack of talent...

you realize that some good players aren't that good on the PP right? most of those guys are good 5v5 players and can put up good numbers but lack the elite offensive instincts needed to be part of an above average unit in todays nhl. we have no seguin, benn, kane, giroux, backstrom, crosby, malkin, getzlaf thornton etc. to run something advanced enough to produce in the upper echelon of the league. simple as that

you can have talent which all of the guys you mentioned do, but truly great PP's need some very high IQ players on them to make those fast & complex decisions with the puck.

wheeler and co. just cycle on the perimeter, barely keeping puck possession until we are sometimes able to muster up a weak outside shot from the point with nobody in front.

wait until guys like petan, connor, morrissey etc. are running things. gonna look a lot different.

 

[Hank Chinaski]

you realize that some good players aren't that good on the PP right? most of those guys are good 5v5 players and can put up good numbers but lack the elite offensive instincts needed to be part of an above average unit in todays nhl. we have no seguin, benn, kane, giroux, backstrom, crosby, malkin etc. to run something advanced enough to produce in the upper echelon of the league. simple as that

you can have talent which all of the guys you mentioned do, but truly great PP's need some very high IQ players on them to make those fast & complex decisions with the puck.

wheeler and co. just cycle on the perimeter, barely keeping puck possession until we are sometimes able to muster up a weak outside shot from the point with nobody in front.

wait until guys like petan, connor, morrissey etc. are running things. gonna look a lot different.

That seems like a plausible explanation, but it doesn't quite add up/tell the whole story.

Just look at the stats this year. Tampa Bay is loaded with high IQ offensive talents, and were only 1.0% better than the Jets in PP efficiency. New Jersey is one of the most offensively challenged teams in the league, and they finished #9. There's a big systems component and luck component as well.

EDIT: I mostly agree with you, though. They lack a true triggerman, and really need one or two more high IQ guys to run the PP through.

 

[Puckatron 3000]

Don't know if Maurice is just towing the company line, but it's pretty ridiculous that the Anaheim series was somehow seen as an indictment of the Jets core players.

Why wasn't there "another level to get to"? Well let's start between the pipes. Pavelec was good in games 1 and 2 (the GWG by Silfverberg in game 2 was pretty soft), and then went full sieve in games 3 and 4. You're going nowhere in the playoffs with Pavelec as your goalie, but we all knew that! Scheifele looked every bit like a playoff rookie and was rendered ineffective. Key contributors like Ladd were playing with injuries. They probably could have used one more reliable defenseman (perhaps in lieu of Stemp and Tlusty) to help beat Anaheim's forecheck. And most importantly, it's four freaking games. Anything can happen. FFS, they lead for most of the series!

I'm sorry, but talking about not being able to reach another level in the Ducks series sounds like retconning to justify the mishaps of the 2015 offseason and how 2015-16 appears to be a completely wasted season. Did Maurice emphasize the need to get younger and re-tool at any point before their season went into the toilet in November?

/rant

I agree with much of what you're saying. But I think you're missing a key point.

It wasn't just the 4 game series that led Chevy to view last year's team as having reached their top level. As having nothing more to give. It was that they killed themselves to get there. Even the Ducks remarked on how beat up the Jets were. That's not a sustainable way to be a contender.

Could the team have been improved by roster changes? Especially goaltending? Absolutely. Would it have been enough to push the Jets into a serious contender? Without having to play themselves into a bloody pulp every season? Without having to mortgage the future to fill the roster holes?

Well, we'll never know. But Chevy's call was no. And the decision was based on more than a 4 game sweep against Anaheim.

 

[Gm0ney]

you realize that some good players aren't that good on the PP right? most of those guys are good 5v5 players and can put up good numbers but lack the elite offensive instincts needed to be part of an above average unit in todays nhl. we have no seguin, benn, kane, giroux, backstrom, crosby, malkin, getzlaf thornton etc. to run something advanced enough to produce in the upper echelon of the league. simple as that

you can have talent which all of the guys you mentioned do, but truly great PP's need some very high IQ players on them to make those fast & complex decisions with the puck.

wheeler and co. just cycle on the perimeter, barely keeping puck possession until we are sometimes able to muster up a weak outside shot from the point with nobody in front.

wait until guys like petan, connor, morrissey etc. are running things. gonna look a lot different.

I'm pretty sure Wheeler, Scheifele, Little, Perreault and Buff have enough hockey IQ and talent to be able to run an effective power play. It's coaching that's failed here. You identified it yourself - perimeter passing/shots, no one in front of the net. That's the system, as fas as I can tell. I don't think it's been 4 years of Vincent telling someone to get in front of the net and the players just not doing it.

 

[portamoral]

I'm pretty sure Wheeler, Scheifele, Little, Perreault and Buff have enough hockey IQ and talent to be able to run an effective power play. It's coaching that's failed here. You identified it yourself - perimeter passing/shots, no one in front of the net. That's the system, as fas as I can tell. I don't think it's been 4 years of Vincent telling someone to get in front of the net and the players just not doing it.

apparently not man. the coaches know these guys dont have the ability to pull off a complex PP anyway so they stick with doing this weird cycle bs until something opens up for buff to shoot. its so predictable and easy to defend. all they have to do is put lots of pressure on us and we will run ourselves out of space and cough up the puck. face it we wouldn't do any better with a different approach. it's the guys out there that dont have good enough offensive instincts to execute something properly.

you never see any team PK aggressively against top PP's in the league because they would get exposed fast and left out of position. the game plan of the other team is pretty much swarm us as fast as possible because we dont have anybody that's capable of settling things down and finding the seams.

 

[Gm0ney]

apparently not man. the coaches know these guys dont have the ability to pull off a complex PP anyway so they stick with doing this weird cycle bs until something opens up for buff to shoot. its so predictable and easy to defend. all they have to do is put lots of pressure on us and we will run ourselves out of space and cough up the puck. face it we wouldn't do any better with a different approach. it's the guys out there that dont have good enough offensive instincts to execute something properly.

you never see any team PK so aggressively against top PP's in the league because they would get exposed fast and left out of position. the game plan of the other team is pretty much swarm them as fast as possible because they dont have anybody that's capable of settling things down and finding the seams.

Everything you're saying is an indictment of the coaching staff. They assume players who are elite 5v5 can't run a complex PP so they give them a very predictable and ineffective system because, hey, you can lead a Wheeler to the slot, but you can't make him shoot. This system hasn't been effective for 4 straight years, so let's not change anything and blame the players' lack of talent?

Now if it were me, I'd just fire the garbage QMJHL coach running special teams and hire someone who hopefully isn't an idiot. The other option is to keep Coach Idiot and waste 5 years waiting for our own Claude Giroux to develop...which, now that I think about it, is pretty much what I'd expect from this team.

 

[portamoral]

Everything you're saying is an indictment of the coaching staff. They assume players who are elite 5v5 can't run a complex PP so they give them a very predictable and ineffective system because, hey, you can lead a Wheeler to the slot, but you can't make him shoot. This system hasn't been effective for 4 straight years, so let's not change anything and blame the players' lack of talent?

Now if it were me, I'd just fire the garbage QMJHL coach running special teams and hire someone who hopefully isn't an idiot. The other option is to keep Coach Idiot and waste 5 years waiting for our own Claude Giroux to develop...which, now that I think about it, is pretty much what I'd expect from this team.

basically what I'm trying to get at is, even if we fired them and hired new guys who made us run something more complex, our guys wouldn't even have the IQ to pull it off. i actually think it would suffer even more if thats possible. i believe the coaches realize this too and purposely get them to execute something a little more suited to their level and style. unfortunately this style doesn't even yield average results at best.

edit; our best PP this year has been when petan/burmi have controlled it with postman on the point. this is the direction we need to stick and run with next year. as great of players little, wheeler, ladd etc. are and were for us, they are not capable on the PP. they just aren't. buff is fine and so is scheif for now. but we need a major shakeup and as our new guys come in i'd expect a hugely different PP in terms of system and personnel running it.

 

[winnipegger]

Well Chevy can't exactly come out in September and say "we're going with a youth movement, so you should expect a tank-erific season". He and Maurice are going to push for wins from the get go, knowing full well the deficiencies of the lineup.

We could have had a magic season like Calgary or Colorado and the youth gets lucky and gets into the playoffs. But that didn't happen; the rookies (and bad vets) on the Jets **** the bed because they weren't ready for NHL hockey. With how many inexperienced players played this year it's not terribly surprising the team finished where it did. I think that's what Maurice is saying.

 

[Robinson2187]

Trouba has been overrated on this board since the end of his rookie season. I wouldn't sweat his departure if it returned a SOLID lhd since Enstrom seems to be declining and until Morrisey is ready.

Oh and fire all coaches save for Maurice. He gets another half season imo.

 

[Board Bard]

Don't know if Maurice is just towing the company line, but it's pretty ridiculous that the Anaheim series was somehow seen as an indictment of the Jets core players.

Why wasn't there "another level to get to"? Well let's start between the pipes. Pavelec was good in games 1 and 2 (the GWG by Silfverberg in game 2 was pretty soft), and then went full sieve in games 3 and 4. You're going nowhere in the playoffs with Pavelec as your goalie, but we all knew that! Scheifele looked every bit like a playoff rookie and was rendered ineffective. Key contributors like Ladd were playing with injuries. They probably could have used one more reliable defenseman (perhaps in lieu of Stemp and Tlusty) to help beat Anaheim's forecheck. And most importantly, it's four freaking games. Anything can happen. FFS, they lead for most of the series!

I'm sorry, but talking about not being able to reach another level in the Ducks series sounds like retconning to justify the mishaps of the 2015 offseason and how 2015-16 appears to be a completely wasted season. Did Maurice emphasize the need to get younger and re-tool at any point before their season went into the toilet in November?

That's exactly what I took out of that part too. More of the usual revisionism.

 

[YWGinYYZ]

All I was hoping to find is a consistent way of telling when the Jets representatives are telling the truth in interviews and when they are bs'ing, since in one thread the word of the Jets representatives is taken as gospel whereas in another thread if you try to do the same people say something like "Why are you falling for the Jets mindgames with the media?"

You can say my name: it's OK. That "people" is me - I consider this to be informative, but still a spin, just like all media discussions. For instance: I don't for one reason believe that the core was "bad" due to a poor showing last PO's. The team was beaten into the ground. Is it possible that they wanted to go in a different direction? Sure, but I don't think it was necessary to throw them under the bus while they did it.

See? I'm consistent. It's all spin.

 

[Board Bard]

Chevy in the interview talking about young players coming into the organization -- you need to understand where those players are at from year one, not year three.

Chevy's previously stated and demonstrated way of handling the NHL roster -- after two and a half years of evaulating the roster without making any significant changes, I needed another coach to come in and help me.

What a bozo...again, certainly.

 

[CorgisPer60]

Chevy in the interview talking about young players coming into the organization -- you need to understand where those players are at from year one, not year three.

Chevy's previously stated and demonstrated way of handling the NHL roster -- after two and a half years of evaulating the roster without making any significant changes, I needed another coach to come in and help me.

What a bozo...again, certainly.

To be fair, Claude Noel was a Chipman hire. Chevy hired PMo himself. Noel was a joke of a HC.

 

[Whileee]

I agree with much of what you're saying. But I think you're missing a key point.

It wasn't just the 4 game series that led Chevy to view last year's team as having reached their top level. As having nothing more to give. It was that they killed themselves to get there. Even the Ducks remarked on how beat up the Jets were. That's not a sustainable way to be a contender.

Could the team have been improved by roster changes? Especially goaltending? Absolutely. Would it have been enough to push the Jets into a serious contender? Without having to play themselves into a bloody pulp every season? Without having to mortgage the future to fill the roster holes?

Well, we'll never know. But Chevy's call was no. And the decision was based on more than a 4 game sweep against Anaheim.

Maurice also alluded to the fact that he didn't think that the current core's best hockey was in the next 3 years. Basically implied that they were at their peak, and likely to decline a bit in the next few years. He specifically mentioned that a player like Wheeler would likely perform at a high level for several more years because of his skating and fitness, but I think the implication was that Ladd was not likely to be able to bring any more to the table in the future. We've had a lot of analysis presented on these boards that concluded that forwards have a decline in production as they age, with a significant decline starting in their early 30s.

Here's one analysis....

 

[Whileee]

I guess personal choice, imo it was everything we knew already or spin or soft as fluff. But that's just our media, not blaming TNSE.....if I was them I would be happy to having bubble gum media tossing nothing but soft balls over the plate.

I couldn't care less if they ask "tough" questions. Any NHL GM or coach will mostly deflect those. It might feel cathartic, but it won't yield any more interesting information.

What bugs me is that they don't ask insightful hockey questions. For example, Chevy was asked what he thought about the lottery process. Who cares? What they should have asked him was what he thought of the prospect pool this year. Since the Jets are most likely selecting in the 6-7 range, what does he think of the tiers of prospects this year? Does he like the LHDs available? How deep is the draft compared to previous years? Any chance he would try to trade up or down? Or they could ask him about specific players. What does he think about Chychrun? Does he think Tkachuk is a top prospect?

I'm much more interested in information about those types of issues.

 

[Whileee]

A power play featuring Wheeler, Scheifele, Little, Perreault and Byfuglien shouldn't be in the bottom third of the NHL. It's been consistently lacklustre for 4 straight seasons. How'd we end up 30th by a mile with Wheeler and Scheifele having career years and Buff 8th in D scoring? I just can't believe that the problem is lack of talent...

That was rarely the PP, though. Usually, the #1 PP had Ladd on it, most often with Little and Wheeler up front. Perreault and Buff were the others once they went to a single point man. I don't like the PP set- up, but I also think that players like Ladd, Little, Perreault and Wheeler don't have the same skill level as players like Getzlaf and Perry, Kane and Panarin, Thornton and Pavelski, Seguin and Benn.

The PP could be a lot better in its scheme, but I also think they needed better players. Even Wheeler and Perreault can be very frustrating in terms of the decisions they make with the puck. Wheeler has a terrible one-timer, and not a great shot overall. Perreault works hard, but doesn't have the same vision and passing ability as a lot of players in the league playing that half-wall.

By the way, I just noticed that Perreault had 3 even strength goals this season (in 71 games). A real down year from him in the scoring department.

 

[Gm0ney]

basically what I'm trying to get at is, even if we fired them and hired new guys who made us run something more complex, our guys wouldn't even have the IQ to pull it off. i actually think it would suffer even more if thats possible. i believe the coaches realize this too and purposely get them to execute something a little more suited to their level and style. unfortunately this style doesn't even yield average results at best.

edit; our best PP this year has been when petan/burmi have controlled it with postman on the point. this is the direction we need to stick and run with next year. as great of players little, wheeler, ladd etc. are and were for us, they are not capable on the PP. they just aren't. buff is fine and so is scheif for now. but we need a major shakeup and as our new guys come in i'd expect a hugely different PP in terms of system and personnel running it.

So after looking at the situation for 5 years, you've concluded that the coaching is getting the best results they can out of this collection of players, and the problem is the players. Little and Wheeler just aren't capable on the PP? Buff is 'fine'? I just couldn't disagree more.

I'm not saying that Wheeler, Little, Buff, Perreault, Scheifele, etc., are the greatest collection of talent in the league and should have a Top 5 elite powerplay. But I am saying that they're smart and skilled enough to handle a different pp setup. It's the coaches' job to figure out what that system is. Let's just say I have more faith in the skill of the Jets top players than Vincent. There's no way that group should be dead last.

 

[sipowicz]

Trouba has been overrated on this board since the end of his rookie season. I wouldn't sweat his departure if it returned a SOLID lhd since Enstrom seems to be declining and until Morrisey is ready.

Oh and fire all coaches save for Maurice. He gets another half season imo.

Enstrom is by far the most overrated Jet, he was hyped as a premier power play specialist and when that myth was busted early in the first season the story got changed to a great puck moving D man and very good defensively. Sure he was very good defensively just not against big, physical teams and his puck moving isn't exactly stellar either unless you call icing the puck a great defensive move. Lost on many is the fact that the Jets win more with Enstrom out of the lineup, many used to think it was just a coincidence now its a pattern.

 

[sipowicz]

To be fair, Claude Noel was a Chipman hire. Chevy hired PMo himself. Noel was a joke of a HC.

Sure Noel wasn't really NHL calibre but his record and Mo's record with the Jets is pretty damn close, Mo has had the benefit of more to work with, think about it.

No playoff's next season, no Maurice to start 2017 season! Yes poor special teams and lack of team discipline is on the coach!

 

[Gm0ney]

That was rarely the PP, though. Usually, the #1 PP had Ladd on it, most often with Little and Wheeler up front. Perreault and Buff were the others once they went to a single point man. I don't like the PP set- up, but I also think that players like Ladd, Little, Perreault and Wheeler don't have the same skill level as players like Getzlaf and Perry, Kane and Panarin, Thornton and Pavelski, Seguin and Benn.

The PP could be a lot better in its scheme, but I also think they needed better players. Even Wheeler and Perreault can be very frustrating in terms of the decisions they make with the puck. Wheeler has a terrible one-timer, and not a great shot overall. Perreault works hard, but doesn't have the same vision and passing ability as a lot of players in the league playing that half-wall.

By the way, I just noticed that Perreault had 3 even strength goals this season (in 71 games). A real down year from him in the scoring department.

Coaching has to shoulder a big part of the blame here. Ladd was excellent at deflecting pucks - why wasn't he parked in front of the goalie every power play? Buff's pretty elite from the edge of the crease too. Why are we playing the perimeter game? It's not like there haven't been a lot of different personnel in and out of the PP lineup over the years - and they're dead last 2 out of the last 4 years, bottom five in 3 out of 4 and bottom third 4 out of 4.

And now you're saying Perreault is a just hard worker who doesn't have good vision and passing ability?! Am I being Punk'd?

 

[Puckatron 3000]

Maurice also alluded to the fact that he didn't think that the current core's best hockey was in the next 3 years. Basically implied that they were at their peak, and likely to decline a bit in the next few years.

Right, I recall that too. So any improvements made to the roster would also have to compensate for the core's decline. Put another way, the contention window was short.

On top of that, this contention window overlapped with so many other very strong central teams being at their peak.

I agree with the critique from others that if Chevy had wanted to contend with the Atlanta core, he needed to pull the trigger earlier. But I also believe the course of action he did take was the best for the long term future of the club. At the expense of this long stretch of mediocre or worse hockey. Something he is taking a lot of heat for now. But that should change as the team rapidly fires back up the standings over the next couple years, and stays there.

 

[sipowicz]

Right, I recall that too. So any improvements made to the roster would also have to compensate for the core's decline. Put another way, the contention window was short.

On top of that, this contention window overlapped with so many other very strong central teams being at their peak.

I agree with the critique from others that if Chevy had wanted to contend with the Atlanta core, he needed to pull the trigger earlier. But I also believe the course of action he did take was the best for the long term future of the club. At the expense of this long stretch of mediocre or worse hockey. Something he is taking a lot of heat for now. But that should change as the team rapidly fires back up the standings over the next couple years, and stays there.

We hope, if goaltending dramatically improves (feel confident about that), if the prospects pan out, if the team can stay healthy, if coaching improves...

 

[Puckatron 3000]

We hope, if goaltending dramatically improves (feel confident about that), if the prospects pan out, if the team can stay healthy, if coaching improves...

No doubt injuries will always be a factor. But I feel we have better depth than ever before to ride out an injury bug.

Agree on coaching, but only in the context of special teams.

I think we have enough good prospects that a few could bust without totally screwing us.

 

[Blue Shakehead]

So now we are taking Maurice at his word. If only there was a way for mere mortals like me to tell when Maurice is saying stuff for manipulation purposes and when he really means it ....

Here is what we are being led to believe: Paul Maurice, the guy who had Byfuglien as our permanent #3RW until catastrophic injuries forced him to move him back to being a perrenial all-star and top 15 defenseman; who had assessed Adam Lowry as our #1C going into training camp; the Paul Maurice who still has the worst statistical PK defenseman in the league getting the most ice time on the worst PK in the league (a PK that cost us any hope of the playoffs this year); and the Paul Maurice who trotted out Ondrej Pavelec and his .870 through all 4 games of a playoff sweep; is now telling us that he knew way back in May 2015 that the team just wasn't good enough and that they had to switch gears for the future. He knew that then but decided to tell us now, 12 months later, after the gears were already switched and the wheels had fallen off. No sale, comrade.

 

[Do or Die]

We need another point man....so we can get that immovable Buff fella, right in front of the net....