Coach Discussion: All Purpose Coaching Thread Part III

[Jets 31]

Jets31 posted this on Tuesday.

I'm reading it on Thursday morning and am astounded at how well it described our PP and 4th line in Wednesday night's game.

This guy must have some crystal balls.

(Uh… that didn't come out the way I meant it to... )

Just pure luck . Although i'm not doing too bad on the prediction thread , Afterburner is the real savant .

 

[WPGChief]

I still don’t like aspects of how they play but at least they haven’t completely given up playing like the Leafs did to Babcock

 

[Jets 31]

The only thing i was critical of Maurice was the Scheifele , Wheeler love . He should have broke them apart last season but he did it and we are a better team because of it . Now if Little comes back and he puts Scheifele and Wheeler back together then let the chips fall where they may .

 

[MrBoJangelz71]

Jets are 7-2-0 after Pomo was forced into situation and did the obvious.

Wonder what would happened if he had acted earlier.

What exactly was he forced to do?

 

[Vekke]

What exactly was he forced to do?

Break up Wheeler and Scheif

 

[MrBoJangelz71]

Break up Wheeler and Scheif

How was he forced in to breaking them up?

He could have easily slid Copp in to that spot and kept Wheeler and Scheif together. He chose to break them up, if you are using the work "forced" by its' true meaning, which is to say he didn't have any other choices.

And who forced him to put Wheeler in the C spot? No one, another solid choice by Maurice.

These narratives are so silly and wrong, that it gets to a point were we are not even dealing with factual elements of his coaching, just an ignorant assessment based off a disdain for a certain coach

 

[Hunter368]

Break up Wheeler and Scheif

That wasn’t a forced break, that was a choice by the coach. Let’s be clear here, I don’t like the bromance at times anymore then anyone else, but moving Wheeler to 2C is a choice and a good one by the coach. There was other options he could of done and chose Wheeler to his credit. I’m all for holding coaches/GM/players accountable when they do poorly or make bad decisions, but equally I give them full credit when they do well or make good decisions. This move clearly is a good move by the coach and Wheeler has responded very well.....both deserve credit for that.

 

[Eyeseeing]

I think coach is a good coach.


But a great coach, make adjustments before he is force into situation. anticipate.
Not make adjustments after he is force into situation.

I agree with this wholeheartedly and the last interview I heard with Maurice is he’s willing to learn from over relying on his vets going forward and to be more in tune with the younger players.
I found that super encouraging.

 

[Whileee]

Maurice has toyed with Wheeler at C a few times. Last time he used him there many here were up in arms about it, promoting Roslovic or even Petan for that role. I suggested Wheeler at 2C in the off-season and the reviews here were decidedly negative. Simply put, Wheeler has been good at 2C and the Jets are powerful down the middle through 3 lines now. Roslovic gas blossomed on RW with Wheeler and Ehlers.

Also, when considering coaching and the Jets performance this season, we need to remind ourselves that the D includes Sbisa, Bitetto, Kulikov, Beaulieu and Poolman. Hellebuyck has been excellent, but they've also won 4 of 6 when Brossoit starts. I think the Jets are managing games well, and their level of effort has been consistently good.

 

[cbcwpg]

So, if Little had never gotten hurt, would Chef and Wheeler still be playing together?

 

[ThinIce61]

It's tough to break up a combination that when at the height of their were one of the best 1-2 combinations in the NHL. They were blazing at one time, no matter who the third member is.

Doesn't make PoMo a bad coach for not breaking them up the first time he read on here that he should do it.

The coaching staff as a whole is doing an incredible job getting the patchwork D we've had all season playing above their pay grades.

Yes maybe it would be nice to still have Ville the Kid around be he needs to add some muscle to be truly successful and it would seem Niku needs to improve on some aspects as well.

Pionk nowhere near the D the Rags were saying he was and Sbisa might be playing the best I've seen him play.

To me that might mean the players are buying in the system our terrible HC is asking them to play.

How does that song go?

All I want for Christmas is my Paul Maurice.

Or something like that.

 

[BoneDocUK]

So, if Little had never gotten hurt, would Chef and Wheeler still be playing together?

Pretty clearly, IMO, based on the evidence of the past few seasons.

Glad to see that their separation has worked well for both -- as several pundits and many posters here had predicted -- but PoMo has resisted making this adjustment in the past, for whatever reasons.

 

[LowLefty]

So, if Little had never gotten hurt, would Chef and Wheeler still be playing together?

Hard to say -
He left them together too long but likely did it knowing how good they can be -
Sometimes a situation will be the catalyst - certainly not the first time a change in events or situation will drive you in a direction that turns out to be the right one.

Based on what is going on right now, I don't see him messing with the lineup - even if it means Wheels stays where he is -

One way to look at it is he waited for them to return to glory and it never happened - too long in fact. But he now has a situation that is working - maybe he'll stick to this line combination the same why he hung onto the Scheif / Wheels combo. I'm going to assume he will unless the wheels really fall off and this explodes - can't see that happening but you know he will consider reuniting them if he needs to make changes - they are his "go to" right or wrong.

All that aside, another thing to consider is how Wheeler feels about his new role. Does he like the center position regardless of the teams needs? If not, can he be convinced this is the best spot for him and the team? If Mo can convince him of that, this all might become a lot easier.

Good test for Mo as much as it is for Wheeler.

 

[cbcwpg]

All that aside, another thing to consider is how Wheeler feels about his new role. Does he like the center position regardless of the teams needs? If not, can he be convinced this is the best spot for him and the team? If Mo can convince him of that, this all might become a lot easier.

Good test for Mo as much as it is for Wheeler.

Was wondering myself.... Is Maurice still the guy Wheeler is willing to go thru a wall for? How about if this becomes permanent? Not everyone's ego handles a demo0tion well. Only Wheeler knows.

 

[KingBogo]

Was wondering myself.... Is Maurice still the guy Wheeler is willing to go thru a wall for? How about if this becomes permanent? Not everyone's ego handles a demo0tion well. Only Wheeler knows.

There have been many comments about how Wheeler is willing to do whatever it takes to win games. I think we can rest easy the captain will handle it well.

 

[Hunter368]

Most man games missed to illness/injury.

Jets 3rd most man games missed.

 

[Duke749]

Was wondering myself.... Is Maurice still the guy Wheeler is willing to go thru a wall for? How about if this becomes permanent? Not everyone's ego handles a demo0tion well. Only Wheeler knows.

This is nothing but baseless gossip.

 

[Buffdog]

Most man games missed to illness/injury.

Jets 3rd most man games missed.

Does that include buff?

 

[Duke749]

Does that include buff?

Doesn’t look like it. It would be much higher i would think. Could be 100% wrong though.

 

[surixon]

There have been many comments about how Wheeler is willing to do whatever it takes to win games. I think we can rest easy the captain will handle it well.

Yeah, he's got his big contract and I think a championship is the only thing he cares about right now.

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

Does that include buff?

Yes, it says so in the list. WPG BUF 82 games.

 

[Hunter368]

Does that include buff?

Don't think so, at least not the entire time he was gone. Including Buff Jets would be number one in the NHL man games missed, add to that the mass change of our D core.......pretty amazing what the players & coaches have done this year. Top 10 team at this point......wow.

 

[rkp]

How was he forced in to breaking them up?

He could have easily slid Copp in to that spot and kept Wheeler and Scheif together. He chose to break them up, if you are using the work "forced" by its' true meaning, which is to say he didn't have any other choices.

And who forced him to put Wheeler in the C spot? No one, another solid choice by Maurice.

These narratives are so silly and wrong, that it gets to a point were we are not even dealing with factual elements of his coaching, just an ignorant assessment based off a disdain for a certain coach

my god who else was going to play center at the time with experience? no coach would have put a young player at center when you have a player with experience such as wheeler. yes of course he had no choice!

 

[Whileee]

my god who else was going to play center at the time with experience? no coach would have put a young player at center when you have a player with experience such as wheeler. yes of course he had no choice!

He could have put Copp at C. He already used him in that role earlier this season. So, he did have a choice and he chose to put Wheeler at C and keep Copp at LW.

 

[Puckatron 3000]

While I think line decisions are important, I don't think they're as key to success as many here seem to think. Whether Maurice was "forced" to move Wheels to center or not is far less important than how he has the team playing as a whole. My personal guess is that Maurice took the opportunity to move Wheels to 2C partially as a way to split Wheeler and Scheifele, who weren't playing great together but are both leaders on the team who want to play together, without ruffling any feathers.

I know people have been calling to split up that duo for ages. But the timing of when to do that can be important as well, in terms of player morale. Doing it both when it must have become obvious to Scheif & Wheels that the line wasn't working, in addition to having an obvious need at 2C which appeals to Wheeler's "do anything for the team" attitude may go a long way towards keeping everyone happy and playing hard for the coach. A good manager knows when to use a carrot, and when to use a stick. Sometimes a bit of finesse is a good thing. You can't just flip around your lines constantly. You want to find the best time to do it, with the greatest chance of success.