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What you saw this afternoon at the MTS Centre was not a mirage on a warmer than average fall afternoon, it was not an illusion from some other entertainment show, nor was it some sort of deceptive hologram. It was reality.
It was the stark, cold reality of the difference between the current Stanley Cup champions compared to the playoff drought ridden Winnipeg Jets come Thrashers.
Let that sink in before you try to be positive because the only positive is that the Jets could be that kind of team. After this sentence though you will only experience why they are not.
Want to start with goaltending? No, I understand it’s been beaten to death already but watching Crawford play facing more shots and action in front of the net spoke to his composure and control of his position. It was far different between the pipes for the Jets.
How about board work? The Hawks won more battles and moved the puck out of trouble or into attacking position with relative ease. They had far more active sticks, they know where each teammate was going to be and they knew where all players were on the ice. The Hawks had no trouble stopping the Jets soft passes and their weak attempts at chipping the puck past their own defense.
Positioning you say? The Hawks had multiple option to pass to on break outs. They supported one another through the neutral zone and controlled possession when they had the puck in the Jets end. The result of the latter was the Hawks making excellent passes to develop good scoring chances, five of which led to goals.
Did you wonder about coaching? Quenville didn’t even need to be behind the bench for the third period. His team knew what to do. They knew exactly how to play that period and how to control the Jets. It was as if they all had the Jets ‘playbook’ on their night tables in the Fairmont when they checked in. It was that easy for them to defend against the Jets and really that’s where this conversation should start and end.
No it won’t be a fire the coach rant because if you read the last column that part seems would seem a bit to you now. That poison pill for Chevy will come but I wouldn’t use it now, but when the coach says “we have what we have… in his post game comments it might be tempting.
However, what is the coach teaching? What are the players learning? More importantly why does it consistently appear that the Jets are reaching for something but have no idea what it is? Certainly there is a system right, there has to be a system? If so some one please explain it as there is no evidence of one and perhaps that’s why the Jets struggle against teams who have one they know, understand and execute.
The Blackhawks all look like the Old Spice guy, committed, confident and ready to take on anything. The Jets? Well they look like they all walked into the Body Shop and each tried a bath bomb, coming onto the ice smelling like potpourri. The combination of scents making them smell like crap, and that’s how they play.
It’s the coach’s job to make sure this team is on the same page and right now he’s failing miserably and honestly is it his fault? He has a team of player s that had an iffy history as a core group and now they are all locked in together, for a while, a long while.
So here it comes, the cold hard lesson of what you are is not more than the sum of the parts. The Jets may be an engine but they can’t get the plane off the ground. Can Noel get into the engine and find the solution? He’s juggled the lines every way around and then some. He’s played the defensive pairings to every combination to unlock something that works.
Perhaps it’s time to try something else like changing the system, building an identity that the players want to be a part of building. Does it sound like conceding to your soldiers before going into battle? It isn’t and nor should it. The coach does need to know what his soldiers are ready to do when they go into battle and right now with this group it appears not much.
If you are one who needs immediate fixes then you obviously want some new soldiers. That’s unlikely to happen for a variety of reasons already discussed before here and other places. However, some better training wouldn’t hurt and that starts with them knowing what they need to do when they go to battle.
That’s Noel’s challenge and I suggest that he will be given the chance to do so but he better do his homework. This group has rejected some basic hockey so maybe he’s right in putting some separation between him and the players. I probably would too if they wouldn’t listen to me anymore, I might even ask my GM to intervene.
Central Buzz(with Peter Tessier, Bill Meltzer and John Jaeckel) Recorded 11/03/13