The biggest news out of Winnipeg is clearly the Paul Maurice resignation, but Interim Head Coach Dave Lowry picks up his first win as "the guy" behind the bench.

Former Head Coach of the Winnipeg Jets, Paul Maurice, announced his resignation on Friday, the 17th of December. While holding the accolade of the second longest tenured head coach in the NHL, since replacing Claude Noel in January of 2014. While it was clear that the time was coming to an end in Winnipeg, it still came as a surprise, especially that it was a resignation.

It has been rumoured that Paul Maurice approached Kevin Cheveldayoff and Mark Chipman in the summer with a similar statement that he delivered to the media.

Amidst a worldwide pandemic, it is beyond relatable for many, if not all of us, that we are different people than we were before March 2020. The biggest thing I took away from the statement was that he felt relieved he didn't have to coach the game that night, and didn't have any responsibilities (coaching wise, of course) to wake up to the next day. Burn-out and loss of passion has been seen all around the globe in the past 18 months.

Now, by no means am I saying this is the sole reason for his departure. He stated that he felt he took this team as far as he could, and with such a long tenure, and the track-record over the past few seasons, I think we can all understand that.

To highlight his career so far, he started out as a defenseman in the OHL, where he suffered a career-altering eye injury. Since then, at a young age of 32, he began his coaching career, and has coached 1684 NHL games with Hartford, Carolina twice, Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Winnipeg Jets, posting a 775-680-229 record.

Interim Head Coach, Dave Lowry, who was an assistant coach prior to the promotion, worked the bench from a different perspective for the first time Friday in the 5-2 loss to the Capitals, but earned his first win today against the St. Louis Blues.

Nikolaj Ehlers and Paul Stastny put in a great effort, recording 7 points combined, as well as 2 points by Mark Scheifele. This line played a dominant game, seeing Ehlers register his 12th goal of the season, and Stastny with his 6th and 7th, but most notably, getting his 500th career assist.

The game started out with a scoreless first period, but just under 5 minutes into the second is when the Jets got on the board first. Later in the period Vladamir Tarasenko and Mark Scheifele would each net a goal, followed by a two goal third period from Stastny.

The Jets had a lot of great chances this game, and Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves and was able to keep steady in the crease.

While 2 games isn't near enough to evaluate a coaches abilities, Dave Lowry seems to be giving a different way of motivation, as the Jets seem to have a bit of an extra step. Even in the 5-2 loss Friday, they showed signs of a totally different team. Sure, there are things to work on still, especially on the defensive side of things, but we will have to wait to see if there is much of a difference.

With COVID-19 making it's way around almost all of the NHL locker rooms, the NHL has cancelled all cross-border games until at least December 27th, which will see at least the next two game, Nashville and Dallas, postponed.

How do you feel about having Dave Lowry step in? Who do you think is a good candidate for the job if they hire externally? And what are your thoughts on todays game, let me know your answers to all of these in the comment section, and thank you for taking the time out of your day to read!

Jacob Billington

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