Claude Noel continued with his theme of too many passengers in games yesterday as he addressed media. He said he would take the 'high road' as getting into anything means you have to 'untangle it' and that coulddomore damage.
Blake Wheeler echoed those sentiments when he said that 'Sometimes some guys are going and some aren't'. He pointed a finger at himself and when he said 'I don't have my A-game 100% of the time,' in an honest assessment. He's right but at least he can mention it and discuss it. Other Jets can't it appears.
So if everone is 'going' what does that look like?
It means the Jets can roll 6 decent forwards and make life a bit more difficult for the opposition, as they did for two period on Thursday against Chicago. However when the elite team got up on the hosts again some Jets mailed it in.
There in lies the issue and one which begs more questions and subsequent answers- how to weed out this distinct characteristic of the team?
Effort is only one part- giving a damn is another and far too often in the recent years the latter is far more evident than the former. A quiet acceptance that the game is out of reach usually creeps over the roster showing a 'hurry up and end this game' display on the ice.
First and foremost it would appear that for some players are tired of the Noel system. It's one with few options other than a dump and chase game with little to no east-west action. Chicago beat the Jets with a puck control cycle and counter-attack that would look foreign to most fans if all you saw was Jets hockey. It's not that easy to do but one has to wonder if the team is coached to do it, let alone practice it?
Moving forward what does today's game against the Wild hold hope for bucking the new 3-game skid?
Any chance against a division rival who has beaten you twice should give rise to effort from everyone and some would suspect we'll see it as the coach and leaders on this team are calling out effort and desire.
The excuse is a crutch though, something some are hanging onto despite the reality that this team is not deep enough or talented enough. That reality is only maginfied when players don't show up prepared to put in 100% effort and determination each and every game. Today Pavelec gets the start but unless the Jets win I don't see him finishing as his record in matinee games is abysmal and atrocious. Montoya should start simply on that fact alone- that's the coaches issue and he has to share in criticism.
The numbers are ugly, the record is 'meh' and there is a growing sense of something amiss within the team if consistency of effort and preparedness is missing and players know, see and call it out.
There is tons of speculation about the 'who' in all of this. Take your shot. We all know where it leads. Fact is there's one guy, a 30 goal scorer who is in a slump, plays like he is pouting and only wants to shoot wrist shots from the top of the circles. He is the Jets crutch right now and the team needs him to be a Kane, one they use to beat the opposition with on a regular basis.
Does the slump end this afternoon?