After a disappointing loss to the Canadiens at home on Saturday night the Winnipeg Jets find themselves in a tie for the Central Division lead but with a game in hand over rival the Nashville Predators. They are but 2 points ahead of the outrageously changed St. Louis Blues who have the same number of games left (four) as the Jets.
Here's how the schedules compare.
Winnipeg:
@Chicago 34-33-11
@Minnesota(next night) 36-34-9
@Colorado 36-29-13
@Arizona 38-33-8
Every single one of these teams has a chance to be a wild card team even if it is unlikely to happen- they are playing for something.
Nashville:
@Buffalo 31-38-10
Vancouver 34-35-10
Chicago 34-33-11
Perhaps Chicago will put up a fight but should the others even dream about winning games now?
St. Louis:
Colorado 36-29-13
@Chicago 34-33-11
Philadelphia 37-34-8
Vancouver 34-35-10
Jets fans can only pray that Chicago and Colorado put up a fight and that the other two decide to do anything.
Basically a win tonight, in Chicago against the team that has gone 5-3-2 vs the Jets 5-5-0 is imperative. This is the make-up game as after this Nashville and Winnipeg are even. To make matters worse the Jets need Colorado to help them in St. Louis.
Who would have thought that this is the way it would come down back on January 1st?
Given the Jets recent malaise in play does anyone have a guess on whom on the roster might show up as well as the coaches?
This is where fans' ire should be directed right now- behind the players on the bench. This is not about replacing the coach, looking at histories or anything else, this finger-pointing is about what are you doing?
Right now, has anything changed other than line combinations when it comes to the on-ice strategy? It appears the coach moves players around and hopes for the 'best players to be their best'. That's not always going to happen and aside from last Saturday night against the Preds, it hasn't happened.
'Do better' is not a tactic nor a strategy. More importantly it appears that many of the better coaches in the NHL are facing the Jets and finding some systematic holes to exploit with almost no adjustment from the Jets coaching staff.
Breakouts- they are the same
Neutral zone transition- see above
Zone entries- dump and chase
Defensive coverage- hybrid-zone that players forger cannot read
PP- get it to Laine and hope he can blast it.
Nothing has changed and if that's the case why have a coach? Just hire one for training camp to set everything in motion and let the players play and have a person to call out lines. The players look lost, act lost, and are clearly feeling the pressure and yet nothing changes. Nothing. At. All.
They need help and the first thing would be to give them some options for set up and puck movement on the PP. Let them have some change in the fun area of the ice and see what that does. Second, give some better structure and strategy to the zone exists as they are almost to predictable and teams have not closed off the middle of the ice forcing the Jets to make passes to the wings where they can be isolated. Finally, stop dumping the puck and giving up so much gap on defence. Can they fix this by tonight?
I expect 2-2 but hoping for 3-1- better bring back 2015 Pavelec.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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