Are Jets worried about their identity?
If only the topic of an identity wasn’t a cyclical thing with the Winnipeg Jets. It shouldn’t be but it is and it seems that this questions pops up once a season, and perhaps more frequently depending on fan contenment levels.
Let’s be clear there are only so many ‘identities’ that are unique within the NHL, at least as what you would describe a team as via a word or phrase. If you were to apply a hockey-related identity to each team there would be many duplicates within the 30 teams in the league.
Fast and skillful- Penguins, Blue Jackets, Blackhawks
Goaltending and depth- Canadiens, Flyers, Rangers
Physical and tough- hopefully no one but Ducks maybe? Kings?
Pot-pourri- Canucks, Avalanche, Coyotes, Buffalo
Young and developing- Oilers, Flames, Leafs, and the Jets?
Do you see what this becomes- it’s like the the hot take of naming conventions. A couple of words to summarize what a team is that becomes an absolute of their identity. Are these even accurate? Would you put the Jets in with the Oilers, Flames and Leafs?
Why this idea comes up is that again this season after two consecutive wins the Jets are looking to take a third win, in a row, for the first time. Somehow, this feat has been linked to an identity and if the Jets start winning with more frequency than they lose the team may have found one.
What would it be though?
Looking at the above suggestion of ‘young and developing’, and assuming it’s accurate would the Jets move on from that to something else if they were to put some small winning streaks together?
While they might be one of the youngest teams in the league, and they might be developing is the next step to being something definitive that fans are looking for. What would it be?
What kind of team should the Jets be forming? That’s partially under control, or at least influenced by the GM and the coach, and do they see the same picture? If you look at the recent analysis of the Jets coming from all corners you would see that there is reason to be concerned due to their event-rate on the ice. Defensively at even strength they are a good team, limiting chances and keeping the action against them manageable. Offensively they are a misfiring, unstructured calamity of confusion despite having three of the best young forwards in the league along with Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler.
If the Jets record is to improve and change the team needs to move away from this low-event style of play and develop a ‘new look’ or an identity. What should it be?
Two-way team.
Counter-attack opportunists
Defence first
Balanced attack with depth
Any of these is a step forward but is it reasonable to think it happens sooner as opposed to later? I’m not sure it’s something that will happen due to a tactical move by coaches or even by strategic design but Jets fans could see the evolution of this change starting soon.
Let’s be clear, it’s probably likely that the Jets are playing low-event hockey in the offensive zone by design because the focus with youth is on their own zone first. With players like Ehlers, Laine, Petan, Copp, Dano, Tanev, and Armia starting the season and filling in with injuries the focus by coaching may have been ‘your own zone first’ as these players learn and adapt on the fly.
Take Paul Maurice’s comments about Laine and Ehlers after one game where they lit up the score sheet. He mentioned that they (coaches) didn’t have to teach them much offensively and they left them alone to do their thing. That’s a coach who knows what comes easy to his young stars and sees where the deficiencies are and is focusing on them. However, it’s not just them, it’s others too and the team as whole who are also affecting the events on offence.
Look back to Trouba’s first season under Noel before he was fired almost 3 years ago. Trouba was a different player not so much in how he looked but by a few aspects of his game. Gone, or better said ‘limited’ were the exciting rushes but what was certainly removed from his game were the daring hits he was so cavalier with that rookie season.
The Jets and Maurice knew that there was talent there, but they also knew where the deficiencies were and they likely focused on them as he learned the game at the professional level ‘on the fly’. Look at Trouba now. It has taken him some time to adapt to the team after missing camp and the first 15 games but he’s the most solid defender on the team. His play is smart his hockey sense fully intact and he looks dangerous every shift.
While this may be a shift in options for the player and the team as it relates to strategy and tactics it could also be natural evolution and growth that comes when your game becomes much more complete than it was. It’s the benefit of experience.
That experience is still lacking in many areas of the Jets game, goaltending, defence albeit to a lesser degree, and certainly offence. However, there are signs of improvement but it comes with the inconsistency of a learning process too. That’s why there’s focus on a 3-game win streak because if they can do that, and then do it again, that’s one more small step taken towards improvement.
When you become better than your opposition is on a more frequent basis you are doing something right and those ‘right things’ help form your identity. We might be on the cusp of that identity being formed now, or not. However, when the opportunity presents itself for this team to take a step, no matter how small, most fans and media see it. I guess we just have to wonder if the players and coaches see the same thing, hopefully they do and the sense of urgency that comes with it.