If you are a follower of me on
Twitter you will know I've cited others who talk about the life cycle of a Paul Maurice coaching tenure. Today a Twitter user found an article on Paul Maurice from 2011, in his second tenure with the Hurricanes. You can read it below.
The comment at the top of the tweet really says it all and 6 years later are the Jets learning what the Hurricanes have twice, Maurice burns out fast. Are we witnessing that that burn out right now with the Jets and should the idea of an extension even be considered.
Read that article and tell me what you see now with the Jets.
Constant line juggling- check
Pass on errors for vets- check
Taken steps back from first seasons- check
No answers for team play- check
Excuse of games played for fatigue- check
It's all too familiar and does sound like it was written on Sunday after an apathetic effort from the team. You can now figure out what the Jets do wrong, it's not hard, but is Paul Maurice now able to fix it and does it even matter what the roster looks like?
Maurice sold a bill of goods to the media and fans before the season started, all with full support of the GM and ownership presumably. This team was going to be younger this season and with that come growing pains. The Jets have more 4 game losing streaks than they have 3 game winning streaks- is that growing pains or deep systemic malaise?
We could go back and dissect the games from Friday and Saturday but why- what does that do in terms of understanding the Jets as a whole? That's management's job and while it's fun to play 'armchair' GM it's time to say 'we're done here'.
This team is going nowhere until something changes. It's that simple and the troubling part to this general thought is that while issues seem similar to Maurice's last time in Carolina, they are also similar to the the end of Claude Noel's reign.
The Jets up until recently had four players in the top 30 of scoring. They have a top rookie, an incredible sophomore, an emerging top centre and one of the best right wingers in the game. This is a core you can build around but also one that does something, score. Why can't they, and the rest of the team, figure out the other aspects of the game under Maurice.
TSN pundits seem to believe and extension is all but likely for Maurice and that seemed a bit presumptuous a few weeks ago when first mentioned. It seems like utter insanity now given the state of play of the team. Is knowing that the team is doubling down on the coach change the way the players play for him? This is a player's league now, coddled, nurtured and handled are the methods for development with this generation. That's not saying they are given everything easily but it's never been better for players given how the salary cap prohibits so much movement, the same that could be used for providing accountability.
Maurice is articulate, charismatic and handsome. His way with the media and fans buys him far more time and acceptance than others but at the end of the day this is a results driven business and his results are not good. In fact he has the third most losses as a head coach in league history at 563.
That's a lot and it's not just because he started coaching at age 28. It's an accrued amount that is not balanced by the number of games played because the success within those wins is so limited.
The Jets should be an aggressive seller of parts at the deadline if they can get any takers. They should also be in an aggressive evaluation and analysis mode of the coaches. This is not all Maurice either, what has Huddy developed into a better player than Trouba who likely would blossom anywhere? How about Flaherty, what has he done for any goalie in Winnipeg? Special teams???
It's been six years since Atlanta moved to Winnipeg and the drafting part, the developing process, along with the organizational structure is in good shape. Now it's time to take a step to where most teams go once they have solidified their organization, the captain of the ship. The Jets could be a Titanic but bad decisions keep sinking them so it's time to get some one who knows what to do and how to do it. That needs to be part of the process too.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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