Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile
The intro from last night at the MTS Centre, as seen from the stands.
The post game walk after amongst the fans said that as they left the warm confines of a controlled whiteout to the streets of a rare but not surprising April snow. Yes there was NHL playoff hockey back in Winnipeg after 19 years and some old wounds were healed but the reality was that this team is simply not as good as it needs to be.
The blame-storming has begun, whether it be directed towards Ladd, Byfuglien, Enstrom, or others, fans are looking at this series with a ‘what went wrong’ mentality. The optimism from last week is long gone and fans are trying to figure out what moves have to be made so ‘this’ does not happen again.
Frankly the feel good story of Winnipeg needs to be put to bed. The amount of media in town to cover the return of playoff hockey to Winnipeg has been rather condescending. How many of the stations and reporters were showing up and giving the team, one that nobody picked to be anywhere near the post season, any attentions when they were playing to make the post season? How many wanted to come to Winnipeg in January and really learn about what was driving this team far beyond expectations? None.
They wanted the whiteout, they wanted the fans to be the story again, just like they were in 2011 and like that first game against the Habs, there was more interest away from the ice than what was to happen on it.
RIght now, to paraphrase what John Jaekl was saying back in 2011 during Canucks vs Blackhawks round 3- ‘the better team is winning’. How are the they doing so? It shouldn’t be a mystery in fact it’s pretty obvious what is happening. Better tactics, better execution, and better discipline.
The Ducks could have easily been called for 3 or 4 ‘too many men’ penalties last night instead of the one they were dinged. That was a tactic, and it worked because the Ducks wanted to push the Jets. They took that risk against a team having no luck on the power play and dared the officials to call it. Remember in 2011 the amount of calls that were made for that particular penalty? Want to bet the Ducks know something about those refs and the rates of that call this season across the NHL?
That’s gamesmanship and the Jets aren’t there and that might be what irks so many fans right now. That guys with 4 cup rings between them, Byfuglien, Ladd and Frolik are brining far less than the Ducks best. The Ducks aren’t playing with fear because their opposition is doing nothing to scare them yet Engstrom looks rattled as does Buff, the latter so much so that he took a penalty after a goal to make a ‘physical point’.
Adjsutments have to be made but will Maurice make them? Would he dream of putting Buff on forward and bringing in Harrison or Chairot? Would mixing the lines so that Jets’ 2nd line centre, Mark Scheifele, had some reprieve from Ryan Kesler make a difference?
Think of it this way- as Ted Wyman of the Winnipeg Sun said to me on Twitter:
@Teddier certainly agree with that. What have they got to lose by shuffling things up? #NHLJets
— Ted Wyman (@Ted_Wyman) April 21, 2015Try this:
Ladd, Little, Wheeler Stafford, Lowry, Byfuglien Perreault, Scheifele, Frolik Thorburn, Slater, Tlusty
Enstrom Myers Stuart Trouba Pardy Harrison/Chairot
Adam Lowry has the meanest streak on the team and it may mean he is best set to handle the antics and game of Kesler. In fact Lowry may be one of the few Jets who could agitate Kesler enough to make him do some dumb things. The point is- with three games played, all being decided by one goal late in the game (aside from game 1 empty net) is there anything to lose that can’t be changed mid-game if it goes wrong?
Say that Buff needs to go back to defines then move Pardy up to the fourth line as has been done this season already, and slide Frolic and Tlusty up. There is little time to look for answers for the Jets, they need something, anything to give them some life at least to get another game, and perhaps another after that.
Fans are resigned to a series loss and looking ahead but the only thing the team, most importantly Paul Maurice, should be looking at is how to solve the micro-problems that have cost the Jets two possible wins. It’s just as easy to believe that the Jets could be up 2-1 had some things gone differently. Make the right adjustments and maybe the ‘puck luck’ will start to change but trying to force the same thing again in a do or die game seems a bit futile. It’s like the cliche definition of insanity…