The feeling out there amongst Jets fans is a sense of hopelessness for change. They want to see the team improve, they want to see players perform better and they want to see something to be excited about.
I think the last thought is what probably drives so much of the fan angst, they want o feel the euphoria that came with getting the Jets back.
The summer of 2011 was unbridled enthusiasm for the city of Winnipeg and optimism was as contagious as it was addictive. New and old Jets fans were practically drunk on it. Even when the team struggled at first they didn’t care. When it stumbled down the stretch in the spring of 2012 they didn’t care.
The lockout did nothing to douse the enthusiasm either as once hockey started up “TRUE NORTH… was as loud as ever amongst the faithful during the anthems and the cash registers still kept ringing up huge dollars at the MTS Centre.
However something changed after the Jets missed the playoffs. The team and it’s fans waited for the draft and UFA day knowing change was coming as 15 contracts had to be renewed or let go. Fans were aware that something different was coming and no longer did they to be ‘content’ with having a ‘NHL team’ as it was their time to be critical about the team they had.
The team was now entering year three of the five-year plan. It’s a plan that is often talked about but rarely qualified. Everyone seems to know about it but the Jets never seem to talk about it, at least not anymore. All fans know anymore is there is a plan. See this video to see the latest on how Jets ownership views the state and future of the team: http://bcove.me/eyjw49vo
While assuring for those who have patience it seems a bit different to what we have heard from Chevy recently as reported by Ken Wiebe in the Winnipeg Sun.
"The playoffs are very, very important to us. We talk about them, we think about them. If we can take the next step individually and collectively, then I believe we’ll take the next step as an organization."
So which is it? Stability and patience, or the importance of playoffs? If you as the fans, the ones who got drunk on the euphoria of an NHL team, they aren’t drinking the True North Kool-Aid as fast or in such great quantities anymore. They’re a bit skeptical and rightfully so as the on-ice product shows nothing of stability or a foundation for any organization looking to grow towards being a champion.
Fan reaction should not guide the decisions of any sports franchise until the bottom line is affected and right now that reality seems far off for the Jets. But shouldn’t they be concerned?
The bottom six is awful, the Jets have one centre who can carry the puck and right now they have no one who can score with any consistency. Whose fault is that? That’s what fans are asking and how can it be changed. Right now it’s silence from True North in regards to this team, one just hovering above the basement of the Western Conference.
There is no reassurance and certainly no admittance that something is not going according to plan. Articles in papers appear, as one did today from Gary Lawless about there being no quick fix.
Noted post-game call-in show host Rick Ralph made some similar remarks about the perils of firing Claude Noel in an attempt to appease fans or shake up the team. Both Gary and Rick are smart guys, not shy to voice an opinion nor back down from one. They both work for key media and broadcast partners of the Jets as well if that has any significance; it doesn’t.
The fact is changing the coach only presents more challenges for the team in the short and long term and no guarantee. It’s something a GM would do to help save himself and if you read my last column you would no that’s unlikely in this situation.
The fans don’t care though, they see with their own eyes that something is wrong and more and more people are piling on the team, roster and coach with stats that back up the fan’s feelings.
The team is short on talent and probably poorly coached, if not built on haphazard guesses based on a ‘placeholder’ roster moves. The difference between the Blackhawks and Jets was clear on Saturday and it will more than likely be clear tonight as the Red Wings return to Winnipeg after 17 years away. Ironically it was the playoffs where Detroit eliminated the Jets from play in 1996 and tonight, at only the beginning of November they could put them down for good again.
Is that too extreme a thought with still 65 games to play? Probably, but what does anyone see to give even a modest hint of optimism for the short-term future of the Jets?
Keaton Ellerby was claimed off waivers to shore up the defense. Zach Redmond was brought up to the Jets after one AHL game to eventually sit one of Pardy or Ellerby depending on the situation. Yet there is no second line centre, little third line depth all combined with a rotating carousel of players to pick from to form line combinations. This Jets fans is reality, and it is probably reality for the next three years while the golden years of Ladd, Little, Kane, Byfuglien and Wheeler are wasted as part of the five-year plan.
It’s getting tiring trying to find a new spin on this team- one slowly eroding into a bottom dwelling entity in a tougher western conference. For Jets fans that euphoria from 2011 that they crave is long gone. They try to muster it in the MTS Centre but it fades, sooner and sooner each game. The media try to be the pragmatic force but it does not help the fans. They were drunk, exhilarated and jubilant once and they didn’t think that feeling would disappear so fast, and so completely. It’s the cold turkey way to cut off something that was probably unsustainable and unrealistic to begin with.
If you want to really understand why Jets fans are acting the way they are now take a look at anyone after a week of quitting smoking, drinking or something worse. They are tired, irritable and just plain grumpy so I wouldn’t expect much from them, just like they’re starting to not expect much from this team anymore.