Here's what you need to know about the game last night for the Winnipeg Jets:
1st Period Shots: Wpg-4 CAR- 9
2nd Period Shots: Wpg-4 CAR-13
3rd Period Shots: Wpg-13 CAR-7
Here's event data from WAR on Ice
If you choose to look at it
The question that really should be asked is this though: Is Paul Maruce starting to experience the same problems and frustration as former coach Claude Noel?
The quote has been on all sorts of media and the first I saw of it was from Ted Wyman of the Winnipeg Sun:
But it's the affect in Maurice's voice when you hear it that should be concerning. He's lost as to what more he can say and do. He's slowly putting accountability back towards the players as he talks publicly and he's at a loss to explain results and the team's play.
He looks and sounds a lot like this:
Make sure of one thing though, Paul Maurice is going nowhere. This state of play is not all on him. That being said how much change makes sense now and how much for later?
The trade deadline is two weeks away and most fans want change, even if it's just for the sake of change. The problem becomes this group likely needs more than a shake-up, it needs surgery deep within it's core to fix what ails it. This is no day surgery.
When do you start it and has it even been diagnosed? For the sake of the fans there is a diagnosis, a lacklustre core that does not work hard enough. Now what do you do about it and when?
Here's my approach.
Andrew Ladd must be traded. Don't worry about the the return, the approach right now is addition by subtraction.
At this point I would put feelers out leading up to the trade deadline for Brian Little and perhaps Toby Enstrom. They do not need to be traded yet but interest should be gauged for the future.
By trading Ladd the captain is gone as is his persona and role and maybe a message gets sent through the group that things are changing. At that point I would watch the response from the remaining group and see who truly 'gets' the situation and what must change.
So why shop Little, he of the undervalued contract? Because of his deal, and that he is part of this core group who could be expendable for the right return. The same can be said of Enstrom too and while some would suggest he is overpaid is he overpaid if Jets retain some salary? Something that also helps them keep the cap up and away from the floor for the future.
The goal here is to re-create the roster with a different dynamic, one that has a passionate leadership but also one that closes the age-gap on the team. The future is not now and while I value the contributions of both Little and Enstrom that's the reason why I think they should be possible moved, because they have value.
The point here, if it's no obvious, is that again there's enough evidence to suggest something is off within this group. Whether they push each other, hear the coach, accept responsibility or more there's a missing piece or a deep rooted problem. The coach has been changed, peripheral players have come and gone as well as younger core pieces too but the same problems have reappeared.
What exactly is there left to do?
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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