On Paul Maurice and Darwinism
I’ve had some time to digest the results of the lacklustre and somewhat feeble effort from the Jets on Tuesday night when they hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Bell MTS Centre. There are simply so many thoughts and ideas about why this same problem, consistent with no-shows by some players in some games or the whole team, keep happening.
I think it simply points back to the coach and some very basic points about the coach.
First I think Paul Maurice could talk circles around me when it comes to hockey. But he should be able to, that’s his job and one that has him in very elite company. He’s one of 31 people to hold a job as head coach in the best league with the best talent- it’s not easy to get to or is it easy to hang on to it. So, yes he should know a thing or two about hockey. However that does not mean he knows how to adapt to hockey.
The game itself is a changing entity, rules tweaks, player styles, and skills along with ever-changing tactics make hockey a continuing experience in evolution and Paul Maurice might not be keeping up.
Today on the morning radio hits from Paul Maurice regarding the practice yesterday listeners were treated to hearing about the drills. These were ones about figuring out reads and how to react to them with speed as well as other puck pursuit with speed drills. Maurice was eloquent and articulate with how he explained what the activities were but what exactly is he adapting to, a game that happened? What about the next one that requires different preparation.
First, speed is a trait of the team. It’s not a tactic, although a coach/team could choose not to be fast if that trait existed within the tam but you don’t make a team fast as an in-season tactic right? It appears Maurice was trying to help his players understand how to use speed, operate with speed or help build it yet it’s unclear what specifically he wanted.
This team has speed. Ehlers, Petan, Wheeler, Scheifele, Trouba, Little and even Buff have the ability to crank it up but that speed is almost useless without structure. What is a player supposed to do with speed if they do not understand the structure and tactics within in to use it?
Tyler Dellow made an interesting point with a piece in which he spoke with Pete DeBoer and how the coach saw Maurice’s rise as a coach compared with himself who had gone through many different levels of service within the professional ranks and with Hockey Canada.
Maurice’s coaching resume is rather thin outside of his professional work. Perhaps a name is noticed in there too. Unfortunately the stuff that Dellow mentions with DeBoer is not in there but a little effort with Google and it can all be found.
With all the talk from Maurice is he simply recycling what he has known as a head coach and trying to get players to execute his system, one that might not have evolved at all with the state of the game of hockey?
It’s a fair question to ask because from a systems perspective it seems that he’s always having to teach it and give drills to players on how to execute it. Remember that Scheifele, Trouba, Little Wheeler, Byfuglien, Enstrom, Perreault, Lowry and Chairot have all been here since Maurice began his first full season as head coach of the Jets in the fall of 2014. These are the core players and the ones who are to lead the team.
Let’s not suggest that they are tuning out the coach, there’s no evidence of that but are they tuned out by the coach?
That’s the difference here in that they may be trying their best to do what the coach has designed but the design is easily countered and the players are seeing and experiencing the problem first hand. They become frustrated and try to do something different to defeat the counter against them.
Certainly that’s the wrong way to approach a group problem as a single entity but is that not the coach’s problem too? What is Maurice doing to adapt to the way the Jets are being played against? What tweaks is he making within the game and to his system as a whole?
The Jets rely on a lot of event data for various coaching decisions. Maurice is provided with data between periods that he can use and hopefully does but does he know how to use it?
Having tombs of data as the Jets do is great but knowing what is valuable and how to use it is another issue. The Jets pay for a third party company to provide them with data and analytics work and they are apparently invested in the new wave as a part of their larger strategy. It’s yet to show much benefit on the ice and no amount of speed drills at practice is going to affect a system that is easily countered.
I’ve seen many people clamouring for a breakdown of Maurice’s system and frankly I’d like to see one too but I’m not sure it’s worth the effort. What would be curious is to know when or what the Jets use to switch between man coverage and zone. Seeing the position and state of the ice at those points could be very telling about what the coach is trying to achieve.
That being said, more often than not the Jets are a team that is easily countered and one that cannot adapt to the changing environment. If you are a person who believes in Darwinism then this is a team with it’s current structure may simply not survive long term. It’s fit but it’s not fit for the current environment and no amount puck and speed drills at practice is going to change that reality.
Speaking of reality, remember last year and the condensed schedule and the lack of time for practice between the start of the season and Christmas? The Jets will have six days off after their game against the Wild on Friday. That’s time to rest but also work on the issues that plague them. Last year’s excuse is now this year’s time to adapt. If the team falters in the same manner on Friday as they did against Columbus I would say Maurice’s survival after that break is very questionable if he cannot adapt.
Survival of the fittest is a cruel reality of a natural environment and it’s time the environment around the Jets became a little more like reality and not what it is now.