The Winnipeg Jets have some news and not all of it good. No one knows what shoe is about to drop but patience for the same act is wearing thin and now media and players from Pittsburgh are onto the Jets act…err problems. Today Pittsburgh Tribune columnist Dejan Kovacevic created quite a fuss in Winnipeg after his thoughts and comments from Penguins players appeared in his blog
It does not paint a pretty picture for the Jets and added fuel to the fires burning in oil drums by the various factions interested in the Jets; those who see a system and those who question if one exists. We’ll revisit this topic in a later piece, as it warrants some further discussion but most readers of this space know I feel it is very hard to identify what ‘Jets hockey’ is and how it’s played.
What’s so concerning?
First are the comments, unattributed ones, from some Pittsburgh players. “One player said they have “no structure.… Another said they had “no real plan for what they’re doing.… Sounds familiar does it not? Finally this doozy appeared and it’s what I think as the cherry on top, “Yet another called them “really just a strange team.……
That’s not a backhanded swipe by the cool kids in Pittsburgh, it’s a statement of confusion something that says, ‘we don’t get you but we should, but we don’t’ and that is troubling.
As a person I’ve worked in a variety of businesses and organizations and every one takes on an identity or image that is created or placed by the top most people. Culture can come from the bottom but it’s always the top that allows it to exist and become identity. I wonder: has this team taken on the identity of head coach Claude Noel?
Noel is not your normal personality, he’s a bit different, he’s not one of the cool coaches nor is he some sort of revolutionary visionary of hockey, he’s just strange in that way.
Olympics As it stands right now the Jets have three Olympians from the team in Wheeler, Pavelec, and Frolik with a slim chance that Ladd makes it tomorrow but that chance is very slim. Enstrom declined the Swedes and I don’t know if Jokinen is on the Finnish radar, he could be but I do not know. The name that got everyone in a kerfuffle on new year’s day was Byfuglien and why he did not make the US team.
Did yesterday’s performance give you any insight? The stats say Buff is as good as three US defense players on the Olympic team but anyone who saw the two plays from Buff yesterday knows it’s that stuff that did him in. Deep.
Farts
Image is a hard thing to shake, and if the spending by the world’s largest brands is any indication it’s very important to have a good image. Buff kills his. Destroys it in a fiery colossus of mistakes that burn in the retinas of fans and the minds of his critics. He can’t shake it. I read this tweet today from Erin Honto.
#Love is like a fart, if you have to force it, it's probably shit.
— Erin Honto (@TheRealErinH) January 6, 2014That summarizes Buff’s play- when he forces it, tries to take over and be superman he looks like sh!t . Only in the most desperate times do you want or even tolerate the best forcing plays and creating crap. It’s a recipe for trouble and when the Jets do it, in the words of Jim Lahey the you know what hits the fan.
That was the Jets on Sunday and that’s why you probably won’t see Ladd named on team Canada tomorrow. There’s too much you know what to go around it’s high-time some one got a large pooper-scooper and started cleaning it up.