Biggest difference between this year's Jets and last year's Jets?

[GNP]

Sure we will be hearing many variations of what transpired over this past season.
Morning rumors at the office.

- When Buff was injured and out of the room, the divide went rampant and Wheeler became very hard to be around. His treatment of younger players, when his play was not at a very high level, created strong animosity in the dressing room, causing the room to get lost.

- Scheif is disgruntled with his contract, and it does not sit well that some players will be out earning him next season, but not out delivering him.
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Very good post here Bo, and I can see a lot of truth in it, as it makes a lot of sense. I can see Scheifele, being disgruntled with his contract, seeing a lot of less valued players making more than him. Just wait til they sign Laine and Connor, and Morrissey.

You can't have it both ways though -- if a team "oversigns" a player, and pays way to much, and gets zero performance the team is saddled with a bad contract.

If the team gambles, and signs a guy their not sure of to a lower contract, and he turns out to be a star --then the player is not happy, and may not perform to his optimal level.

It's very hard to keep everybody happy. No win situation.

Once again, long weekend, we got ousted, rumors will swirl, take it for what its worth, a guy that knows a guy that works out with a trainer for the team kinda rumor.

 

[DannyGallivan]

Honestly, a big difference in the playoffs anyways was puck luck. Series easily could’ve been 4-2 for the jets instead of the other way around when you look at the scores and the way most of the games ended. That’s hockey tho! Puck luck plays a big role in tight series.

Another way to say lack of puck luck, and how we can sum up the Jets season overall...

 

[DannyGallivan]

Poor effort on defense from the top down. Shaky goaltending by Helle until the team fell off a cliff defensively when Helle started playing good and consistent.

Poor coaching and adjustments, or lack of.

Also didn't seem like they wanted to admit there were issues. Ignoring the public comments, they never changed up practices, or had "tough" practices due to effort. We'd see maybe a game or two of effort then back to lazy coasting.

Couldn't agree more on each point. Wheeler... you think you guys really played hard in game six?

 

[CaptainChef]

Colorado went on tear starting March 17. Prior to that, they were miserable for months. It’s a wonder they even made the playoffs.

Agreed that I would have liked the Jets to be rolling for a couple of weeks before the playoffs. Perhaps a bit of a struggle without Morrissey and Buff just getting back.

Still, I thought the Jets elevated their game quite a bit for the playoffs, more than the average team.

Boy, I really don't know what game you were watching the last two weeks or even the last two months of the season! Regularly losing to the doormats of the NHL. Regularly blowing thrid period leads. Couldn't hold on to first place when they had it in the bag a week before playoffs started.

They were definitely not ready for the playoffs and it was perfectly obvious they were going nowhere.

 

[DannyGallivan]

I think missing Stastny was huge. Hayes is alright, but not on the same tier.

The Jets arguably get by St Louis if they still have him. Injuries to Buff and Josh also obviously hurt as I don’t think both guys were at a 100%.

St. Louis was just a nightmare matchup for any club, they have been absolutely dominant since the new year.

Big changes aren’t needed, perhaps the coach - but it seems with Trouba possibly wanting out, and Myers set to test FA... where does the defensive help come from?

Jets get by St. Louis if they play up to their abilities. The Jets are a very, very weak team mentally. They are a deeper team than St. Louis. They have top end offensive talent. They have some elite pieces on the defense. They have a third line that's the envy of the league. They have a Vezina Trophy runner up in net.

Jets should have won game one (blew a third period lead); they should have won game two (Helle played the worst game of his mediocre season) and they should have won game five (an even worst third period blown lead). How many games did they lose at home in the playoffs? Oh yeah, all of 'em! White Out, hurray!

NO EXCUSES!

 

[CaptainChef]

Watching a few of the DAL VS NSH series it looks like Dallas would have beaten the Jets in 5 or less. Relentless forecheck and their top line is something else for driving play and possession.

Yes, I think the Jets would have a much more difficult time against Dallas than they did vs StLou. St Lou are slower and the Jets have always played them well. Dallas has had Jets # this year and most certainly would have if we played them. We'd have been lucky to srvive to game 6 IMO

 

[DannyGallivan]

That's on Chevy then. He half-assed a 6 year "rebuild" and failed to secure a quality 2C.

No, we had the talent. Sure, I'd wish we were more "all in" on Stone, but at the end of the day it was not the ability that was lacking... it was everything else.

 

[Channelcat]

Guys, the match-up had nothing to do with it. Yes, Blues were the hottest team coming in. And it showed. But Colorado would have done what they did to Calgary to us and Dallas would likely have worked the Jets over as well. The Jets failed. The match-up didn't.

When Im watching these other games I haven't seen many teams that the Jets could have beaten imho. Ironically Pittsburgh and Tampa and both were among my favorites lol.

 

[sipowicz]

When Im watching these other games I haven't seen many teams that the Jets could have beaten imho. Ironically Pittsburgh and Tampa and both were among my favorites lol.

The Jerts somehow lost to Ottawa twice in one week near the end of February, that's really hard to do, what an accomplishment!

 

[CaptainChef]

Most people saw that there was something wrong with the Jets before the playoffs. Some fans like to bury their heads in the sand a pretend it's not happening, and that's fair enough. Add to that the fact that Maurice would NOT try things to optimize the lineup and you have a recipe for a first round elimination.

Other teams were lower in the standings, but ramping up and optimizing. We coasted on our talent all year, bleeding shots and blowing leads.

I keep saying it, but we have far too much talent for this to have happened all year without either leadership or coaches doing something about it.

Totally agree. Far too much talent to be playing the way we did this year. I'm also putting it all on the shoulders of leadership & coaching. A true leader doesn't dictate he will only play with certain players (ie Scheif) and doesn't decide he's special so he should be allowed to take more than 1 minute shifts whenever it suits him. I'm sure its practically written in his contract that he must play only with Scheif & must always be on PP1, with PP1 playing more than the first minute of practically every PP.

As for Maurice, well its the tail wagging the dog with him. Gets accolades from Wheeler so often in interviews, wonder why

 

[Channelcat]

The Jerts somehow lost to Ottawa twice in one week near the end of February, that's really hard to do, what an accomplishment!

Yes, but those were "development games" and lots of guys were battling injuries, plus the one hour time change in the away game. I also think there may have been a bit of a bug going around.

 

[robertocarlos]

Sure we will be hearing many variations of what transpired over this past season.
Morning rumors at the office.

- When Buff was injured and out of the room, the divide went rampant and Wheeler became very hard to be around. His treatment of younger players, when his play was not at a very high level, created strong animosity in the dressing room, causing the room to get lost.

- Scheif is disgruntled with his contract, and it does not sit well that some players will be out earning him next season, but not out delivering him.

Once again, long weekend, we got ousted, rumors will swirl, take it for what its worth, a guy that knows a guy that works out with a trainer for the team kinda rumor.

Screw Chef. He signed the papers. And I heard worse rumours, which are probably facts, about the dressing room. And Chef is Wheeler's lap dog in this battle for control of the team.

 

[sipowicz]

Yes, but those were "development games" and lots of guys were battling injuries, plus the one hour time change in the away game. I also think there may have been a bit of a bug going around.

Don't forget that long nasty plane ride for the game in Ottawa, plus many guys had to carry their own cell phones!

 

[Do or Die]

Blame Laine for introducing the team to Fortnite

 

[Teppo Numenor]

Last year was the first year they had real success, they carried that momentum and expectations well for the first half of the season. They lost focus a little bit in the second half, maybe ran out of gas against hungry teams.

Lets remember that St. Louis was the best team in the second half, playing with the 'focus' of a new coach. It was a close series and really could have gone either way based on puck luck.

We should expect better next year with a stronger focus on team defence. This is what has brought St. Louis and Dallas back. A bit of a shake up coming as well with the cap crunch. Keep chariot.

 

[Board Bard]

Screw Chef. He signed the papers. And I heard worse rumours, which are probably facts, about the dressing room. And Chef is Wheeler's lap dog in this battle for control of the team.

So maybe Scheifele isn't the blessed saint he's often portrayed to be. Maybe he's . . . human, like the other 7.5 billion of us? I hope all of this (in the form of eyewitness accounts from players) came out in the exit interviews with Chevy with sufficient weight on the fire-Maurice-trade-Wheeler side. But it didn't sound like any of the players were riled up enough to start a palace coup, so it looks like status quo next year.

 

[DannyGallivan]

So maybe Scheifele isn't the blessed saint he's often portrayed to be. Maybe he's . . . human, like the other 7.5 billion of us? I hope all of this (in the form of eyewitness accounts from players) came out in the exit interviews with Chevy with sufficient weight on the fire-Maurice-trade-Wheeler side. But it didn't sound like any of the players were riled up enough to start a palace coup, so it looks like status quo next year.

We can lose patience with Wheeler and Scheifele all we want, but the truth is, they are our two best players... and under contract for a long time. They're keepers for next year and beyond. We need to build around them, starting with freeing up salary to keep Connor and Laine.

 

[Channelcat]

Screw Chef. He signed the papers. And I heard worse rumours, which are probably facts, about the dressing room. And Chef is Wheeler's lap dog in this battle for control of the team.

That Scheifele contract is good....but not nearly as team friendly as people say. 6.125 still puts him among many elite players. He's got nothing to complain about.

 

[tntkid]

How do we even get this Jets team to play proper defense again.

Maurice continues to play run and gun dump and chase hockey where defensive teams with a strong forecheck eat us for dinner.
We give up numerous odd man rushes , breakaways and allow way too many shots on net from high danger areas.

You can't win in the NHL with this style of play.

 

[Daximus]

How do we even get this Jets team to play proper defense again.

Maurice continues to play run and gun dump and chase hockey where defensive teams with a strong forecheck eat us for dinner.
We give up numerous odd man rushes , breakaways and allow way to many shots on net from high danger areas.

You can't win in the NHL with this style of play.

Purely defensive systems are hard to implicate because they are not fun. They don't lead to big numbers and exciting plays a lot of the time. Most coaches that implement these types of games tend to see a regression the next year. I'd put money on the Isles regressing next year. But on the opposite side it's not always easy playing the run and gun style either. There is no real "way" to win a cup. Each system has winners and losers on both sides.

 

[Ducky10]

How do we even get this Jets team to play proper defense again.

Maurice continues to play run and gun dump and chase hockey where defensive teams with a strong forecheck eat us for dinner.
We give up numerous odd man rushes , breakaways and allow way to many shots on net from high danger areas.

You can't win in the NHL with this style of play.

Every good team in the NHL has a "strong" forecheck. The Jets don't struggle with them because of some run and gun style of play, they struggle with them because of a lack of execution from any number of players at a given time. They give up odd man rushes for the same reason.

Not defending Maurice, at some point he has to get his message through and be able to get his team to do what is needed, but at the end of the day there isn't some magic system that beats strong forechecks, it's following a system and executing it that does.

 

[tntkid]

Every good team in the NHL has a "strong" forecheck. The Jets don't struggle with them because of some run and gun style of play, they struggle with them because of a lack of execution from any number of players at a given time. They give up odd man rushes for the same reason.

Not defending Maurice, at some point he has to get his message through and be able to get his team to do what is needed, but at the end of the day there isn't some magic system that beats strong forechecks, it's following a system and executing it that does.

I am not sure how Maurice even gets these guys to play his system because our lack of defense on most nights has been incredible.

Our top line rarely back checks and is a liability when we have a lead especially in the 3rd period.
The Only line that plays with any type of defensive structure is Tanev, Copp and Lowry.

This was a very frustrating team to watch play this season.

 

[Robinson2187]

Watching a few of the DAL VS NSH series it looks like Dallas would have beaten the Jets in 5 or less. Relentless forecheck and their top line is something else for driving play and possession.

Yup they're a force and will continue to be if Bishop stays hot. Blues-Stars will be a war.

 

[Howard Chuck]

We can lose patience with Wheeler and Scheifele all we want, but the truth is, they are our two best players... and under contract for a long time. They're keepers for next year and beyond. We need to build around them, starting with freeing up salary to keep Connor and Laine.

They were the two players who racked up the most points with their first line minutes, but I can't say they were our best players.

 

[Howard Chuck]

Purely defensive systems are hard to implicate because they are not fun. They don't lead to big numbers and exciting plays a lot of the time. Most coaches that implement these types of games tend to see a regression the next year. I'd put money on the Isles regressing next year. But on the opposite side it's not always easy playing the run and gun style either. There is no real "way" to win a cup. Each system has winners and losers on both sides.

I think you look at your roster and it's strengths, and you decide on a strategy to take advantage of those strengths.