“Change for the sake of change isn’t coming. It’s just not part of the plan…
Those were the closing words of the piece in the Winnipeg Free Press written by columnist Gary Lawless. It’s a surprising statement but it’s also one that that is rather cryptic.
Pardon the next generalization but here goes: our friends in the major media seem to sum up the situation and put into a well-written piece the state of being while us folks, part-timers, fans or wannabe media types try and delve between the lines and get you the last bit of meat on the gnawed over bone.
I think with this piece, one that has had some Twitter discussion rattling the Internet today, that Lawless has put into play the sentiments that many have being howling for some time. The actions do not match the cumulative party line of patience, compete, develop, groom, grow, etc. More importantly the fans paying the 3rd highest average ticket price in the league and their Jets TV subscription see something different on a night in, night out basis and therein lies part of the discrepancy between what’s on the ice and what’s going on off the ice.
That’s a hard space for fans to understand and accept.
The waiver-wire pick-ups, the depth trades and signings and the odd call-ups all combine for a fan-base that is trying to understand when change will realistically happen. When the Jets will buck the trend that existed before they came to Winnipeg. Are those moves part of the plan? While most people can come to an acceptance of Cheveldayoff as a capable chap, no one knows if he is capable of executing the plan thus deserving the faith required of a fan base and their dollars.
So when does change happen?
It won’t be for the sake of change as Lawless states. It will be because of the plan and if you were a betting guy you would bet on one or two players being moved come the off-season. Cap space, player availability and the standings prevent large player transactions but in the off-season that all changes, and that’s where meaningful change will come. Change that goes according to plan and not because of the duress the team and organization find themselves in now.
With the half-way point of the season about to be met on the 31st of December and the Jets playing their 41st game where do you rank the team?
Overall a C-
Top 6 forwards a C+
Ladd- B Little B Wheeler C
Frolik B+ Scheifele C+ Kane C+
Bottom 6 forwards a D
Setoguchi- C Jokinen C+ Thorburn C-
Tangradi C Peluso D Wright D- Halischuk- C Slater- incomplete O'Dell incomplete Albert incomplete
Top 4 defense a C+
Byfuglien- B Enstrom B Bogosian C Clitsome D
Bottom 4 defense a D
Pardy C- Trouba B+ Stuart D Ellerby C Postma incomplete Melchiori incomplete Redmond incomplete
Goaltending a C+
Pavelec C Montoya B-
When one part is good the others are poor. When the goalies makes saves the forwards can’t score. They win the battle in the dot, but can’t get a shot. As soon as Noel sees a hole, before he can adjust the opposition scores a goal.
That’s how it goes and keeps going for the Jets- a cycle of mediocrity and inconsistency all balancing out to a near .500 record…again. No sign of growth as a team, only as individuals.
The fans want the cycle to stop and I wonder if they care ‘how’ that happens. The problem for the Jets is they are too far along in their ‘plan’ to say definitively if it is not working. All we know is parts of it aren’t working and that’s where criticism lies.
Why bring in Ellerby to sit him? Why sign Tangradi to do the same? Does the team need a Thorburn and Peluso? What about James Wright? 11 points in 125 NHL games and since he played his first NHL game only Brian McGratton has matched his .09 pts/gm pace. No player in the time span of Wright’s has played as much and none of them have produced as little. In 95 games played Fraser McLaren has the same stats line of 4 goals and 7 assists.
Wright is but one symptom but he may best emobody what ails the Jets: a woeful bottom 6 forward group and a coach who cannot get much out of anyone at anytime.
The challenge now for the Jets is there will be opportunity for change and when it comes the fans expect it to happen. It won’t be change for the sake of change, it will be because that change is necessary and then there will be something significant and meaningful to judge.
Game night tonight against the Wild.
A betting man says the rivals from the south will hammer the listless Jets. Turkey hangover, post-Christmas blues, acceptance of a futile group could all be reasons why the Jets don’t show up tonight. The problem is that’s what the fans are talking about now, not why the Jets will win, it’s all about how the Jets will lose. I guess that’s another thing to add to the list of ‘changes’.