Winnipeg Jets Paul Maurice was in attendance for the NHL Coach’s Association meeting at the NHL 2019 Draft in Vancouver. They were being briefed on the rule changes that were announced yesterday at the conclusion of the GM meetings among other agenda items. Paul Maurice had some thoughts about the rule changes.
He was his usual eloquent self when he said, “We all appreciate to have to the opportunity to participate in these things”. He got right to the heart of the matter soon enough though when he was asked about how the challenges might be used or applied.
“I can just tell you from the bench back in my time in Winnipeg, this game just gets faster every single year to the point that you understand misplays now better than we ever have. We have better technology for our video guy to help us on it. I’ll tell you that there’s a bunch of them that are going to be tough, like the puck into the netting”. Maurice went on to explain that the they usually have a player tell them, by pointing to the net. He went on to say that he would rather have the ‘opportunity participate and to fix the egregious ones’.
The interesting point about Maurice’s thoughts on the rules changes was how they will affect the video coach. “It all falls down on that coaching staff, there’s more for him to process during the game, so we’ll talk about that how it changes his process from just marking the game to focus on the Hawkeye system,” which is the video tracking system the NHL will adopt this coming season.
Hawk-Eye System
He was clear about one thing when it came to the decision-making process, “The pressure’s on the video guy but the head guy makes the call”. This likely speaks to an improved in-game communication process between the video coach and the bench and how the head coach will ultimately arrive at the decision to be made.
Maurice was asked about choosing the dots for face-offs and he had an interesting thought about this upcoming rule change too. “ Well I like that, I think that if we had put it in five years ago it would have had a major impact. When they spread the centres out, when they put in the bars there’s a lot more guys going to their forehand, not pulling it back on their strong side, they’re jamming it to the boards. It’ll matter now”.
Maurice made a further point by saying he sees two criteria for his best face-off men, best on strong side and best on weak side which likely indicates how he sees using this option. Line usage, PP vs 5v5 will all have an effect on who he chooses to use and where.
I had the chance to ask Maurice about how tactics and such will play a role since the departure of Jacob Trouba. “The first thing we’re going to do is wait and see who we have.” It sounds like the coach could be saying there are more moves to make that could affect the blue line. That seems obvious given the draft and rumors around players the Jets might be looking at, but also the free agent period too.
Maurice talked about Trouba and his time with the Jets, “He was a real strong player and it’s not something we didn’t know was coming to be honest with you. We’re not shocked by it, we were prepared for it. Every single team has to deal with this, having players leaving you. All of us facing cap issues are going to go through this, so that’s now a true test of your depth”.
He’s not wrong about that and it’s likely something that he’s thought about for some time and why the Jets have likely to keep talks open with Tyler Myers. Maurice did follow up with this comment, “We got two young right-handed defensemen who have played for us at times and they’ll get an opportunity to have a bigger role but and we’ll have some time on the clock to see if there are some other players available”.
I asked Maurice if he was familiar with Neal Pionk before the trade and he had this to say about the newest Jets defenseman.
“Every time a name comes up my job and my staff’s job is to vet them as a player and tell them not necessarily what the cost of the deal or how it works but how does this player fit in with what we do, and we’re excited about him”. That’s an interesting angle because I tried to ask Paul about if he knew Pionk before the deal and he mentioned that he is part of the process to vet a possible new Jets player. Clearly there are things he likes about Pionk and sees an upside there with him which should answer some of the questions as to why the Jets wanted him as part footed return.
Off to the draft- more as it happens.
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