Coach Discussion: All-purpose Coach discussion thread

[ffh]

Please read my post and do not put words in my mouth. I never said Little is coasting. I said there are different rules for him.

"from what I understand there are different rules for within the team for wheeler, scheifele, buff and little. when those guys are coasting" ….
sure reads like that's what you said. we agree tho little doesn't coast.

 

[Hobble]

Please read my post and do not put words in my mouth. I never said Little is coasting. I said there are different rules for him.

It appears you put the words in your own mouth.

"From what I understand there are different rules within the team for Wheeler, Scheifele, Buff and Little. When those guys are coasting, the other players see that, and it can cause issues within the team".

Those = players mentioned in previous sentence.

But no big deal. While we may complain about Little's production, he sure seems to put in more work/intensity than Wheeler and Scheifele have been lately.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

From what I understand there are different rules within the team for Wheeler, Scheifele, Buff and Little. When those guys are coasting, the other players see that, and it can cause issues within the team. I also understand that Wheeler/Scheifele do not want to play with Laine, which can also cause a divide in the locker room. The leadership group needs to step up fast here, and I think Maurice needs to split up Wheeler and Scheifele for a period of time, to help the locker room.

I seem to recall last year, the Jets went through a bit of a lull around this time of year, and Wheeler picked a fight in practice, which got the guys fired up. Since that moment, the intensity in games really picked up as well. Maybe Wheeler needs to start another fight in practice. Trading for Stone could light fire as well.

If you think Wheeler "coasts" I don't know what to tell you. The guy is the hardest working player at practices and is an intense individual same goes with Little. There is always different "rules" for players that produce and those that don't. That is a fact of any sport.

Posts like this remind me that a lot of people have no idea what happens behind closed doors in high end sports environments. Your best players are called your best players for a reason. It isn't because they coasted there way there.

 

[Trinity]

It appears you put the words in your own mouth.

"From what I understand there are different rules within the team for Wheeler, Scheifele, Buff and Little. When those guys are coasting, the other players see that, and it can cause issues within the team".

Those = players mentioned in previous sentence.

But no big deal. While we may complain about Little's production, he sure seems to put in more work/intensity than Wheeler and Scheifele have been lately.

Fair enough. I did not mean to include Little in the group of those who have been coasting lately. I meant to include him in the group who has special privileges with the head coach.

 

[Gil Fisher]

Wheeler has heavy feet in his own zone when we don't have possession of the puck.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

When your Captain says you quit, it does not reflect well on the players. But worse on the Coach.

I watched parts of the game last night, first time in awhile for the Jets. And they are playing so unlike the Jets are capable of. Has Maurice lost the room? Coaches have limits to their shelf life. Lamoriello fired Julien with 3 games to go in the season despite being the 2nd seed in the East at the time. You got to wonder will this be a similar circumstance even for the conservative Chevy?

 

[Whileee]

If you think Wheeler "coasts" I don't know what to tell you. The guy is the hardest working player at practices and is an intense individual same goes with Little. There is always different "rules" for players that produce and those that don't. That is a fact of any sport.

Posts like this remind me that a lot of people have no idea what happens behind closed doors in high end sports environments. Your best players are called your best players for a reason. It isn't because they coasted there way there.

I don't think Wheeler coasts, but he sometimes stops moving his feet when he has the puck as he looks for a pass. I think he needs to play with more pace with the puck, creating more pressure on the defense. He started to do this on the PP last night. Scheifele doesn't coast either, but I think that their game together has become a bit stale and predictable (certainly on the PP). More importantly, I think that they tend to bear too much weight to score (especially with the PP and Laine slumping), so their main emphasis is on offensive work. This leads to poor positioning and a lack of focus in the defensive zone. I think they should be split up for a stretch, so that they are each driving their own line and creating more accountability throughout the line-up. As it is, I think that most of the other lines see their role as "not being scored on", and waiting for Scheifele's line to score.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

I don't think Wheeler coasts, but he sometimes stops moving his feet when he has the puck as he looks for a pass. I think he needs to play with more pace with the puck, creating more pressure on the defense. He started to do this on the PP last night. Scheifele doesn't coast either, but I think that their game together has become a bit stale and predictable (certainly on the PP). More importantly, I think that they tend to bear too much weight to score (especially with the PP and Laine slumping), so their main emphasis is on offensive work. This leads to poor positioning and a lack of focus in the defensive zone. I think they should be split up for a stretch, so that they are each driving their own line and creating more accountability throughout the line-up. As it is, I think that most of the other lines see their role as "not being scored on", and waiting for Scheifele's line to score.

Playing poorly doesn't equate to not caring which seems to be some kind of theme.

I think they are waiting for the hammer to drop on a trade before they mix it up.

 

[Jack722]

I don't think Wheeler coasts, but he sometimes stops moving his feet when he has the puck as he looks for a pass. I think he needs to play with more pace with the puck, creating more pressure on the defense. He started to do this on the PP last night. Scheifele doesn't coast either, but I think that their game together has become a bit stale and predictable (certainly on the PP). More importantly, I think that they tend to bear too much weight to score (especially with the PP and Laine slumping), so their main emphasis is on offensive work. This leads to poor positioning and a lack of focus in the defensive zone. I think they should be split up for a stretch, so that they are each driving their own line and creating more accountability throughout the line-up. As it is, I think that most of the other lines see their role as "not being scored on", and waiting for Scheifele's line to score.

Agree here. I think we would benefit hugely from a more balanced lineup up and down. Split Scheif and Wheels and hand them responsibility for keeping their lines honest on both ends of the ice, make sure you have scorers and drivers on all three top lines, and for godsakes put Perreault with finishers... and I think things will start to improve.

 

[FonRiesen]

I don't think Maurice is a poor coach as such but he is the number one problem with the team and has been all season. He seems like an average coach who has good communications with players. The problem is he's not a very good or great coach and somebody who can make Jets a true Stanley cup contender. He is quite capable running the team when everything is going fine but he can't adapt and the problems with him remain these:

1. He doesn't have the balls to separate Wheeler and Scheifele when it's obvious this should have been done quite some time ago
2. He's running his veterans (see point 1) into the ground before the play offs by overplaying them... and the veterans are now starting to show signs of this.
3. He's letting the veterans run the team instead of running it by himself and just trusting the veterans to show leadership
4. He is not able to adapt to obvious problems like you stated.. like for example playing Little and Laine together for more or less last 1,5 year when overwhelming evidence (presented often in this forum ... too lazy to search for it now) is that both players suffer from this as they are poorest possible fit you can find in the Jets team. I'm not talking about the last 20 games or such when Laine has been in a slump but the last two years. Yes Laine has a lot blame on himself but the coach is also a moron if he doesn't do his best to get his team's best goalscorer going again...especially when evidence shows that Laine has had better production with every other center in the team.
5. He is not able to react within the game fast enough and this is the main reason I don't believe Maurice can ever make the Jets the stanley cup winner

Saying that Chevy should fire Maurice immediately and let the guy from Moose coach jets or possibly to get someone like Joel Quenneville for the playoff run.

Yes, I'm sure team will start showing improvements soon enough anyways but they will not win the cup with Maurice.

I agree with you analysis, but disagree about firing Mo (for a week). I'm okay with a 'figurehead coach' that is a great talker - that's an important piece. But he needs a good strategically-minded assistant coach to run the bench properly in game; maybe he's okay to be the inspiring 'player's coach' but delegate more responsibilities to someone who keeps players accountable, and not meddle with that. Little and Wheeler need to be a pair again - they always worked well together, though they've both gotten older and haven't played together for a LONG time, so maybe that chemistry is ruined, too...

Huddy needs to be fired if he's responsible for Morrow playing over Niku. It took Trouba sitting out for him not to be mismanaged and anchored to Stu- the way Niku is being treated, I have more compassion for him, because it's becoming a trend.

Chevy's gotten a great cast together that if mobilized correctly could give 3 great scoring lines and one elite checking line. Instead we have 1-2 passable 5v5 scoring line. And good players aren't being developed while worse players play, all in the name of some outdated vision of 80's hockey principles.

If this 2-month wakeup call cumulative in this last stinker isn't enough to change the way Maurice rolls (and starts coaching EVERYONE), then fire him. Give him a week to prove that the vets are not above questioning. If he can't do that, get someone that can.

 

[Ducky10]

Fair enough. I did not mean to include Little in the group of those who have been coasting lately. I meant to include him in the group who has special privileges with the head coach.

What special privileges?

You mean respect?

 

[Ducky10]

I don't think Wheeler or Scheifele coast, I also think they care a great deal, but they have not looked very engaged lately, it's hard to deny that. The details is their game are lacking, mostly in areas of defensive responsibility, they are often on the wrong side of the puck and they don't seem committed to being in the right position to prevent goals as much as they seem interested in taking shortcuts to score goals. I can't remember the last time I saw that line start a rush cleanly from down low, it almost always starts above the hash marks, which makes it really hard on our D to move the puck and considerably easier for the opponents D to disrupt the breakout.
Questioning their overall commitment and effort is silly, but the commitment to play a certain way and be disciplined in their approach is necessary from your best players.

 

[Ducky10]

..

Huddy needs to be fired if he's responsible for Morrow playing over Niku. It took Trouba sitting out for him not to be mismanaged and anchored to Stu- the way Niku is being treated, I have more compassion for him, because it's becoming a trend.

.

Maurice needs to be fired if he allows Huddy to decide Morrow plays over Niku, he's the HC.

I don't really think not playing Niku is a fireable offence, but it is definitely a questionable decision.

 

[FonRiesen]

What special privileges?

You mean respect?

The special privilege of no accountability, no coaching (his own words) and permission to cheat offensively.

Every player deserves some respect from their coach, and the worst thing a coach can do is to divide the room into factions by treating some with respect and some not.

Edit: respect is different than reward, and Maurice doesn't seem to reward evenly either, the most obvious recent case was Lane's historic November with no trend of elevated playing time. I think that may have played a role in his subsequent drop - he was promised more playing time IIRC at the beginning of the year if he played well.

 

[pucka lucka]

Maurice needs to be fired if he allows Huddy to decide Morrow plays over Niku, he's the HC.

I don't really think not playing Niku is a fireable offence, but it is definitely a questionable decision.

Morrow does nothing very well. Niku is probably the most creative d-man we have. The former plays over the latter. WTF.

 

[cbcwpg]

Maurice needs to be fired if he allows Huddy to decide Morrow plays over Niku, he's the HC.

I don't really think not playing Niku is a fireable offence, but it is definitely a questionable decision.

Speaking of Huddy... has anyone every heard him say a word to anyone ( the press ) since the Jets hired him? Just curious.

 

[Mbraunm]

I agree with you analysis, but disagree about firing Mo (for a week). I'm okay with a 'figurehead coach' that is a great talker - that's an important piece. But he needs a good strategically-minded assistant coach to run the bench properly in game; maybe he's okay to be the inspiring 'player's coach' but delegate more responsibilities to someone who keeps players accountable, and not meddle with that. Little and Wheeler need to be a pair again - they always worked well together, though they've both gotten older and haven't played together for a LONG time, so maybe that chemistry is ruined, too...

Huddy needs to be fired if he's responsible for Morrow playing over Niku. It took Trouba sitting out for him not to be mismanaged and anchored to Stu- the way Niku is being treated, I have more compassion for him, because it's becoming a trend.

Chevy's gotten a great cast together that if mobilized correctly could give 3 great scoring lines and one elite checking line. Instead we have 1-2 passable 5v5 scoring line. And good players aren't being developed while worse players play, all in the name of some outdated vision of 80's hockey principles.

If this 2-month wakeup call cumulative in this last stinker isn't enough to change the way Maurice rolls (and starts coaching EVERYONE), then fire him. Give him a week to prove that the vets are not above questioning. If he can't do that, get someone that can.

Absolutely agree here. The eye test and underlying metrics have been pointing to significant issues this ENTIRE season. With the talent that Chevy has assembled it would be extremely difficult to underperform consistently like this team has.

However, from the very beginning of the season up until now, I have been continually shocked with how Maurice can so spectacularly mismanage the top 6 (in my opinion, he has always been good at managing bottom 6 talent).

I am truly baffled how he has gone with Little-Laine & Scheifele-Wheeler for such a long period of time.

This team has been “out talenting” opposing teams for wins this year. However, the talent has been doing this in spite of bizarre coaching all year long.

Sooner or later this strategy falls through. In my opinion, I am a bit surprised it hasn’t occurred sooner.

The next 20 games will tell us whether we have a good coach. Can Maurice optimise the roster, manage TOI and hold everyone accountable here on out? We shall see.

 

[Board Bard]

This year's performance is on Maurice, it seems. Who carries the responsibility for last year's, then?

Hellebuyck mostly. Then add in players who didn't think it was okay to use vacation time during games.

 

[Channelcat]

Speaking of Huddy... has anyone every heard him say a word to anyone ( the press ) since the Jets hired him? Just curious.

I've heard him on 1290 once. But he avoids the media like the plague. Probably a good idea I'm still trying to figure out why he's here.

 

[Maukkis]

Luck and variance?

Statistics would suggest that it is the exact opposite. We have been lucky this year, while last year's success looked to be sustainable based on us controlling the xG share. This year, not so much.

 

[Channelcat]

Absolutely agree here. The eye test and underlying metrics have been pointing to significant issues this ENTIRE season. With the talent that Chevy has assembled it would be extremely difficult to underperform consistently like this team has.

However, from the very beginning of the season up until now, I have been continually shocked with how Maurice can so spectacularly mismanage the top 6 (in my opinion, he has always been good at managing bottom 6 talent).

I am truly baffled how he has gone with Little-Laine & Scheifele-Wheeler for such a long period of time.

This team has been “out talenting” opposing teams for wins this year. However, the talent has been doing this in spite of bizarre coaching all year long.

Sooner or later this strategy falls through. In my opinion, I am a bit surprised it hasn’t occurred sooner.

The next 20 games will tell us whether we have a good coach. Can Maurice optimise the roster, manage TOI and hold everyone accountable here on out? We shall see.

Excellent post and very accurate in my opinion. It's hard to explain how a team can play so poorly and put up the record they did. Bottom line, it wasn't sustainable

 

[surixon]

This team needs to go to a top 9 system now. Spread the talent out and makr three good offensive lines. Out second line has been a mess all year and our third line can't score so it puts all the pressure on the first line which might be why they are gassed and cheating.

Petan Scheifele Laine
Perrault Little Ehlers
Connor Copp Wheeeler
Tanev Lowry Roslovic

 

[surixon]

Statistics would suggest that it is the exact opposite. We have been lucky this year, while last year's success looked to be sustainable based on us controlling the xG share. This year, not so much.

Yup we were a top 3 team at eliminating HDCA and we were also the most dangerous team generating chances off the cycle. This year we aren't very good in either .metric

 

[Ducky10]

Morrow does nothing very well. Niku is probably the most creative d-man we have. The former plays over the latter. WTF.

Yep, WTF is most certainly the sentiment.

 

[thegr8one66]

I watched parts of the game last night, first time in awhile for the Jets. And they are playing so unlike the Jets are capable of. Has Maurice lost the room? Coaches have limits to their shelf life. Lamoriello fired Julien with 3 games to go in the season despite being the 2nd seed in the East at the time. You got to wonder will this be a similar circumstance even for the conservative Chevy?

PIT won the Cup in 2009 and 2016 by firing their coach midway through the season......