Coach Discussion: Rick Bowness - Jack Adams Finalist

[Eyeseeing]

I said C
We squeaked by in a few as well
Almost blew the Carolina empty netter fiasco
I’m glad we are where we are but I need to see more

 

[sunsethill]

Let's be honest - who the hell thought we'd be 1 point away from the lead in the Central Conference on Nov. 30, with two games in hand? Answer. NO ONE EVER. Let's give the coaches some credit here...

 

[SUX2BU]

I said C
We squeaked by in a few as well
Almost blew the Carolina empty netter fiasco
I’m glad we are where we are but I need to see more

You a tough nut to crack there, squirrel

However, I went C as well. Bone’s classroom attendance was hampered by COVID

 

[kanadalainen]

I gave Bones an A. If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, its probably a duck. Bones is that duck.

Why did I give him an A?

1. Context to underscore outcomes. Compare this quarter season to the last half of last season.
2. Style. A straight-shooter, to the point of being definitive of that genre. I never realized how sick of the 10,000 foot view I was and all the handwaving that went with it.
3. Badass intangibles. Bones looks like he's having fun, even when he's suffering. A proper stoic.
4. Results. The proof is in the pudding, daddio.
5. The players. My hunch is that the players feel that they have an approachable coach who actually coaches, if that makes any sense.
6. Decent defensive system. (Self explanatory)

 

[ThinIce61]

 

[enuffidiotsalready]

all credit to huddy; not being here
let's not underestimate this impact

 

[B33R LEAGUE]

I imagine grading Bones at this juncture is a lot like when my teacher handed out an A+ to the next 3 students after watching me mumble my way through my presentation...

Pomo is an easy act to follow, but credit to Bones.

 

[AlaskaJet]

I said C
We squeaked by in a few as well
Almost blew the Carolina empty netter fiasco
I’m glad we are where we are but I need to see more

Eye-C, caution is good..I respect what you’re saying here although I gave him an A, eh?
Bones and Company can’t take the foot off the gas at all because with success relying on a broader spread of players and synchronization in new systems, there are a lot more moving parts to keep an eye on..

 

[Eyeseeing]

Eye-C, caution is good..I respect what you’re saying here although I gave him an A, eh?
Bones and Company can’t take the foot off the gas at all because with success relying on a broader spread of players and synchronization in new systems, there are a lot more moving parts to keep an eye on..

He could become an A
My whole hope going into this season was on Bowness being able to turn this around.
We haven’t always looked good doing it but the standings don’t lie, so far so good results wise.
I’d revisit my grade at the 1/2 way point.

 

[Howard Chuck]

Well I voted an A. Everyone has lots of great reasons, but I’ll add another ….. his line juggling actually makes sense and he does it at the right time. He has completely transformed 55 and 26 and adding Perfetti has given us an elite top line. A second line with KC and PLD is no slouch either. And he has our bottom six playing like forechecking buzz saws.

Such a fun team to watch again.

 

[Upperdeckjet]

From Elliotte Fridman's 32 thoughts;

One Jet said playing for Bowness is like playing for your grandfather: “He doesn’t get mad at you, just disappointed.”

Great comment!

 

[WpgSteve]

Well I voted an A. Everyone has lots of great reasons, but I’ll add another ….. his line juggling actually makes sense and he does it at the right time. He has completely transformed 55 and 26 and adding Perfetti has given us an elite top line. A second line with KC and PLD is no slouch either. And he has our bottom six playing like forechecking buzz saws.

Such a fun team to watch again.

Bowness has done a good job of warding off complacency. If something doesn't look right, he changes it before the problem stagnates. He doesn't shy away from making tough line up decisions and rotating guys in and out. The latter has been really useful for pushing the bottom six players.

Bowness seems to have a calming presence that is likely exactly what the team needed. He keeps a close eye on the lockeroom to make sure everyone is included and supported. His lineup decisions are fair and transparent. Players know what they have to work on to get into games and Bowness tries to reward their hard work when it can help the team.

I give him an A. The PP sucks, but I blame that more on personnel than anything. It's sucked since Laine and Buff left because the people who replaced Laine and Buff aren't a threat shooting.

 

[Gm0ney]

I like that the team is more fun to watch under Bowness. Scheifele's a new man. They're more resilient than in recent years as well. The W-L results are unarguable...but you should be winning a lot of games when you're getting .920 goaltending.

Special teams seem improved, but the advanced stats suggest the PK improvement is mostly Hellebuyck. Small sample sizes, things will shake out, but goaltending is always a big(gest) part of the PK results.

I think overall he's a B. Needed a change, good results, still waiting to see if he can actually fix team defense.

 

[GaryPoppins]

Couple thoughts I had.

- Does the Jets solid play speak more to Bones’ ability or Pomo’s inability? We’re seeing what happens in Fla when good goaltending doesn’t bail you out.

- Does the turn around with a fresh voice leave a lasting lesson with Chevy/Chipman about shelf life of coaches?

 

[ThinIce61]

I think Bowness deserves an A, minimum is a B.

Hellebuyck has been phenomenal thus far, part of which is because of the system that Bowness has installed in front of him. Everyone appears to be buying in. Rittich has been average but we may have to depend on him a little more as the season progresses.

Morrissey has been all world on D. Demelo has been, well, DeMelo. Schmidt and Dillon are night and day from last season. Pionk has had some hiccups but I think he's closer now to what he is than his first season here where he exceeded expectations. Samberg has been decent so far and Stanley with an incomplete grade so far due to injury but he is still having issues when he was in. Copacana and Heinola have not played enough to have really earned a grade. We will need all of them and likely a couple more from the farm before it's all said and done.

Last season's favorite whipping boy Scheifele has been completely transformed it seems and though I make fun of Wheeler in my game predictions for the most part he seems to have been playing as if the weight of the captaincy and it being removed has rejuvenated him. KFC though not scoring at the pace we would like to see has been his usual self and you have to think the teams overall shooting % which is woeful will even out over time. Perfetti has been magnificent and will be a joy to watch for many moons here. If there is one F in the top 6 that I have concerns about it is PLD. Some nights the intensity we saw in the early parts of last season just doesn't seem to be there. And to think as mentioned we have the record we have almost completely without Ehlers in the lineup. I have no doubt that or PP will be better when he returns and that can't happen soon enough for me.

A large part of this teams turnaround from the train wreck that was last season can also be directly attributed to the play of our bottom 6. It seems like the plan though we didn't know it at the time and questioned why seemingly so little was being done was to being in role players and that we did.

Gagner started hot and then lost some steam but as mentioned elsewhere I still contend that he will be with for the season and if we make the playoffs he will be an important veteran piece at that time. Saku and Flow have been revelations to me and though they may not get 10 goals combined on the season when they are on the ice they are constantly hustling. Gustafson who for all intents and purposes is a new player for how little he has been able to stay healthy and play for us in the past is another who is not going to score much but doesn't seem to take a shift off. I like what I've seen from Easy Mount and Barron. I am ever so hopeful that Barron can find a scoring touch as even with Ehlers back in the lineup at some point we need at least one player in the bottom 6 who can put the puck in the net, other than Lurch who only seems to score on the PK.
For me Harkins, Appleton and Toninato are only bit players who can be serviceable as injury replacements in the short term but where I would look for an upgrade if possible.

Ultimately it does come back to an entirely new coaching staff and the culture that has been developed in the room. Last season we would sag when losing a lead or having a bad game(we've had a few of those) bu the team as a whole doesn't appear to be letting those games get to them and deflate them like we saw so many times last season.


Onwards and upwards and lets see if we can at least duplicate our record over the first 21 games over the next 21.

 

[ERYX]

I said C
We squeaked by in a few as well
Almost blew the Carolina empty netter fiasco
I’m glad we are where we are but I need to see more

With this roster?

People have impossibly high standards and short memories. It was the near consensus that running back last year’s roster minus Stastny and Copp would be a garbage team even with Scotty Bowman at the helm. I think Bones has done a great job with this roster by how much he’s exceeded expectations.

I swear we could go 82-0-0 and then sweep every series and win the cup and people would be saying “yeah but we almost lost a few of those games and our corsi isn't what I expect”.

 

[sipowicz]

B for Bowness, anyone would have been better than the dud combo of MO and Lowousy!

 

[slurpee addict]

I gave coaching an A. Probably some of that has to do with the comparison to the few last years of coaching incompetence. (I give Dave Lowry a bit of a pass - he inherited suddenly a mess without the authority or means to fix it immediately). So, this year we are actually seeing some coaching and some deliberate and effective man management - something that PoMo apparently didn't think was necessary. I don't want the comparison however to take away from the fact that while Bowness may have had small shoes to fill, I like his style; his ability to address problems early; and his overall demeanor on the bench and in the scrums/post game comments. Sure 55 and 26 have shown a lot more positive attributes and Morrisey and Helly have been outstanding. Some or most of that may actually be due to the presence of a new coaching staff and style. Good on them all, and let's hope they stay the current course.

 

[Eyeseeing]

With this roster?

People have impossibly high standards and short memories. It was the near consensus that running back last year’s roster minus Stastny and Copp would be a garbage team even with Scotty Bowman at the helm. I think Bones has done a great job with this roster by how much he’s exceeded expectations.

I swear we could go 82-0-0 and then sweep every series and win the cup and people would be saying “yeah but we almost lost a few of those games and our corsi isn't what I expect”.

This is/was a good roster already, not sure I agree with you there.
My hope like many others was that Bowness could make this work and so far he is.
A C is fair , we are certainly in a great position and I hope we’ll keep improving and his grade would as well.
If you look at the preseason predictions thread on our finish I predicted we’d be comfortably in a play off spot.
I was positive last year even though I didn’t want Maurice back and it was apparent the team was lost.
Bowness has these guys believing and we have a 4th line that can actually play.
The defensive structure is miles ahead of whatever we have been trying to accomplish under the old regime.
It’s nice to be able to enjoy again but let’s not pretend every game has been a masterpiece.

 

[pictman]

This is/was a good roster already, not sure I agree with you there.
My hope like many others was that Bowness could make this work and so far he is.
A C is fair , we are certainly in a great position and I hope we’ll keep improving and his grade would as well.
If you look at the preseason predictions thread on our finish I predicted we’d be comfortably in a play off spot.
I was positive last year even though I didn’t want Maurice back and it was apparent the team was lost.
Bowness has these guys believing and we have a 4th line that can actually play.
The defensive structure is miles ahead of whatever we have been trying to accomplish under the old regime.
It’s nice to be able to enjoy again but let’s not pretend every game has been a masterpiece.

Your grading can be whatever you think it should be. BUT for your consideration. We were a non playoff team. We basicly have the same roster. We now are 1st in our division by winning percentage. We are 6th in the entire NHL by winning percentage. No team paints a masterpiece in every game.This has been done while learning a new system, developing a new locker room attitude and a better work ethic.It has been done without one of our best players in the lineups. A few bad games ,yes but no losing streaks and points in alot of those games. This team has moved from an F to a B And it's mostly on Bones . Which I would argue makes his grade much better than that.
Lordy ! This takes me back 50 years to standing infront of a teacher waving an exam at them and arguing for a better grade.

 

[FonRiesen]

I gave an A for the entire coaching staff: it's never just one man at this elite level.

Even if this is 100% "new coach bounce" effect: at least the team is getting the new coach bounce, since it doesn't happen every time as we all have experienced.

Of course, I don't believe that's it - after all, we started out a little slow and have clearly developed systems that have been improving.

I have to say, though - there is a big element here of improvement by subtraction... I guarantee our D numbers would not be as good if Bowness was forced to work with Huddy, who should not have survived much longer than Noel...

At the same time, Bowness deserves some kudos - sounds like he's more helpful with providing real feedback to the players from day 1, is a better communicator, and shovels significantly less bullshit.

 

[Eyeseeing]

Your grading can be whatever you think it should be. BUT for your consideration. We were a non playoff team. We basicly have the same roster. We now are 1st in our division by winning percentage. We are 6th in the entire NHL by winning percentage. No team paints a masterpiece in every game.This has been done while learning a new system, developing a new locker room attitude and a better work ethic.It has been done without one of our best players in the lineups. A few bad games ,yes but no losing streaks and points in alot of those games. This team has moved from an F to a B And it's mostly on Bones . Which I would argue makes his grade much better than that.
Lordy ! This takes me back 50 years to standing infront of a teacher waving an exam at them and arguing for a better grade.

I give this post an A for passion
Too early to tell

 

[cbcwpg]

I give Kudos to the coaching staff for what we have seen so far, but I also think a huge factor in the play we have seen is just having some of the players giving a crap again.

 

[SLAYER]

Too early to tell

For certain. However, at the 1/4 season mark, I give Bones an "A" for what he has gotten the Jets to do in the first ~20 games. He has gotten an under-performing roster to step up and play for each other. Helley back in Vezina mode. Chef looking dangerous every single game, he has really bought in and is playing well. Our D looks way better as they start to play some coherent systems. Less scrambling in the D-zone when we can't get the puck out.

There's still a lot to iron out, but the team has exceeded my expectations already.

 

[Heldig]

B+ for me.

Hugely impressed (most of the time) seeing the forwards covering for the D / actually back checking.

Scheifele resurgence is amazing.

Still, we rely so heavily on Hellebucyk. With out Vezina caliber goaltending where is this team.