Coach Discussion: All Purpose Coaching Thread Part III

[surixon]

I think Maurice is quite good with high intensity teams with limited talent.

He runs a fairly simplistic system that utilizes simple breakouts and break/dump ins. Couple that with an emphasis on cycling and it lends itself fairly well to teams that work hard and are limited by talent.

Where I still see him struggling is in how to really turn our highly skilled players into a 5 man force at ES. @ecolad post on the Canes and how they attack and breakout as a unit is a good example of how you get the most out of a very talented unit.

I think he's at a loss when it comes to creating a skilled game plan/system.

 

[Gm0ney]

Paul Maurice - still trying to build a team of Adam Lowry's out of a bunch of Ehlers, Scheifeles, Laines and Connors...

 

[cbcwpg]

Following up on a discussion about odd man rushes at both ends, I asked Paul Maurice if Winnipeg could win a wide open style of game.

"Sure but that's true of every single team in the NHL. You play a wide open game (and) it's going to be on your goalies."

**

We play a defensive game and "it's all on our goalies"...

JMO, if it all comes down to Helly if we win or lose, then play fire wagon hockey and try to outscore the other team. At least it will be entertaining.

 

[surixon]

Paul Maurice - still trying to build a team of Adam Lowry's out of a bunch of Ehlers, Scheifeles, Laines and Connors...

All of our offense comes off of seam passes with this team. It's mind boggling to hear him preach a game that runs counter to the talent on this team. Guys like Connor/Ehlers/Laine are never going to be net front battlers that score a number of greasy rebound goals. They score goals off their shots and off of making the goalie move crease to crease.......

He really should have looked at the Washington/Pens and Hawks cup wins if he thinks you need to be a meat and potatoes team to win in the playoffs. No what you need to do to win is playboy your strengths.

Also this team doesn't come close to coming out ahead on the chances and hasn't for a year and a half.

 

[DashingDane]

When will we see consequences to for the players on pp1 underperforming? What did it take for Paul to switch it up last time?

I don't know how a unit that was one of the best in the league has become this poor but even more frustrating is the fact that it isn't having consequences. Especially when you have both Rosie and Nikky playing their best hockey ever and not being rewarded for it. It's such a shame that you almost have to hope for injuries in order for Paul to make any changes.

 

[Adam da bomb]

All of our offense comes off of seam passes with this team. It's mind boggling to hear him preach a game that runs counter to the talent on this team. Guys like Connor/Ehlers/Laine are never going to be net front battlers that score a number of greasy rebound goals. They score goals off their shots and off of making the goalie move crease to crease.......

He really should have looked at the Washington/Pens and Hawks cup wins if he thinks you need to be a meat and potatoes team to win in the playoffs. No what you need to do to win is playboy your strengths.

Also this team doesn't come close to coming out ahead on the chances and hasn't for a year and a half.

Also if that’s the team he wants no clue why they traded Lemieux. Trade connor for josh Anderson and another power forward etc.

 

[surixon]

Also if that’s the team he wants no clue why they traded Lemieux. Trade connor for josh Anderson and another power forward etc.

Well for one I don't believe that is the type of team Chevy or the scouts want.

Nothing in our drafting history suggests we want big grinding team. We've passed on those types for skill pretty consistently.

 

[Howard Chuck]

Well for one I don't believe that is the type of team Chevy or the scouts want.

Nothing in our drafting history suggests we want big grinding team. We've passed on those types for skill pretty consistently.

Seems like quite a disconnect between Chevy and Maurice. It's odd that they built the team a certain way, but keep a coach who wants them to play differently?

 

[Gm0ney]

Seems like quite a disconnect between Chevy and Maurice. It's odd that they built the team a certain way, but keep a coach who wants them to play differently?

Size and grit are relatively easy to acquire compared to high skill. Makes sense to focus the drafting on skill and pick up the big grinders through other means (free agency, trades, waivers).

 

[Psych0dad]

When will we see consequences to for the players on pp1 underperforming? What did it take for Paul to switch it up last time?

I don't know how a unit that was one of the best in the league has become this poor but even more frustrating is the fact that it isn't having consequences. Especially when you have both Rosie and Nikky playing their best hockey ever and not being rewarded for it. It's such a shame that you almost have to hope for injuries in order for Paul to make any changes.

If he would just stop making it all go through Wheeler, and use him net front instead, it would work better.

 

[surixon]

Seems like quite a disconnect between Chevy and Maurice. It's odd that they built the team a certain way, but keep a coach who wants them to play differently?

I've been thinking that there has been a bit of a disconnect for a while now. I think it's one of the reasons Maurice is on the last year of his deal.

 

[surixon]

Size and grit are relatively easy to acquire compared to high skill. Makes sense to focus the drafting on skill and pick up the big grinders through other means (free agency, trades, waivers).

Impact grit isn't easy to come through and they haven't gone out of their way to target it.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

Seam passes lead to odd man rushes. They don't want to have odd man rushes against

 

[Duke749]

Paul Maurice - still trying to build a team of Adam Lowry's out of a bunch of Ehlers, Scheifeles, Laines and Connors...

These answers, I like not...

 

[grieves]

Maybe you should play a meat & potatoes style with some teams, but it's definitely not a given. Players are not just generic pawns that coaches battle with.

We are not a meat & potatoes team right now. You can't be an iron chef with the plan of making meat and potatoes if the ingredients don't allow for it. The players nowadays are freaky and you need to play to your advantages and minimize your disadvantages.

 

[DRW204]

Why what Paul Maurice calls 'Christmas hockey' might be a...

 

[Guffman]

Meh, not necessarily...stats and probabilities are funny like that sometimes and we're looking at just this one part of the game - which is pretty important, but not so important that its impact can't be overshadowed by the other stuff.



I think it's more likely that a team with lots of talent and a flawed plan can paper over bad xGF...like with a killer powerplay or great goaltending. I think ideally every team would like to consistently carry the play and generate more dangerous chances on offense, while also preventing dangerous chances against.

We've heard Maurice talk about zone-time - it seems to be something he considers important. And I can perhaps understand if his overall strategy is to stay out of the defensive zone as much as possible - although last year with basically the same lineup as the 2017-18 team that went to the conference finals I really thought that was a dumb plan and had a lot to do with the Jets' eye-test and fancy-stat woes...I wanted that team to pin its ears back and go. Anyway, this plan isn't working. The Jets have the lowest xGF/60 in the NHL and 3rd highest xGA/60...we're only low-event in the offensive zone.

And this plan wasn't working last year either. Even with Trouba and Buff (for half the season) and Myers and Chiarot and Tanev and Little the Jets weren't creating much offensively or preventing much defensively. Their xGF/60 last season was 7th lowest in the league. Their xGA/60 was 9th highest.

So yeah, we're worse this year. At both offense and defense:

	xGF/60	xGA/60
2018-19	2.17	2.38
2019-20	1.97	2.49

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

This team hasn't been good since the 2018 playoffs. There's been a dropoff this year but the team wasn't playing well to begin with. To go from 8th-worst xGF to 2nd-worst xGF with worse personnel...it's not an accomplishment. We're just burning more prime years of our skilled players, spinning our tires with Maurice.

I think part of my issue with these types of stats is that it doesn’t factor who is taking the shot. If I have an offensive line out against a line that is offensively inept, I would be very aggressive even if the xGF% favoured the opposition line. They won’t score often so I don’t mind giving up extra opportunities if I can squeeze out more events for my offensively gifted line.

What I “expect” in terms of goals depends on a lot of factors, not some boiled down malarkey based on what an “average” player can expect to achieve from a shot at a particular location and velocity against an “average” goaltender.

The stat is relatively simple in concept but doesn’t seem to have the depth to really be meaningful. If you want to use this as a starting point and then have to explain away the differences between expected and actual, then maybe the stat needs further refining.

I understand that people say “oh, this is a predictive stat....you’ll see... the team’s actual results are u sustainable.” I always ask, “OK, based on your predictive stats, frickin’ predict the results to the end of the season and let’s see where we end up”. No one takes up that challenge. Huh.

 

[10Ducky10]

Like it or not the playoffs are a different type of hockey. I honestly don't think this team is built, right now, to go very far in the playoffs. Helle can't do it all and they need a couple big, talented guys on D. Samberg and Buff come to mind.

 

[Channelcat]

So I apologize if I missed something, but why did Bro start last night? Helly has 2 days off and then last game (a big one) before the break?

Its completely asinine. I don't think I've seen a coach do this before.

 

[tbcwpg]

So I apologize if I missed something, but why did Bro start last night? Helly has 2 days off and then last game (a big one) before the break?

Its completely asinine. I don't think I've seen a coach do this before.

It was suggested before the Wild game (I think maybe on the radio). Gives Hellebuyck almost a week off before playing him heavily in the next couple of weeks.

Better to do it against an Eastern opponent than a division rival I guess. You'd hope your backup could give you a solid performance though.

 

[Pongs21]

So I apologize if I missed something, but why did Bro start last night? Helly has 2 days off and then last game (a big one) before the break?

Its completely asinine. I don't think I've seen a coach do this before.

A few reasons that I could see his rationalization. Not making excuses for his decision, just trying to make sense of it:

- Montreal on the last game of a tough western road trip - was probably thinking Montreal didn't have much left in the tank and looking forward to getting home for the break.
- Momentum from the Wild game
- Give Bro a start to get him in there to keep him somewhat fresh
- Have a pretty tough schedule coming up after the break and Helle's not going to get much rest and will probably be rode pretty hard

With the way we played yesterday I don't think it would have mattered much who was in net.

 

[lomiller1]

Calling it now. The Jets will miss the playoffs this year.

Furthermore, I think it’s likely (~2:1) that they will miss the playoffs in both 20/21 and 21/22 unless there is a coaching change.

 

[Channelcat]

Calling it now. The Jets will miss the playoffs this year.

Furthermore, I think it’s likely (~2:1) that they will miss the playoffs in both 20/21 and 21/22 unless there is a coaching change.

I can't imagine this team making the playoffs.

 

[Jets 31]

I can't imagine this team making the playoffs.

After the Montreal game no but the game just before against a division rival who was red hot at home that we beat 6-0 , yes .

 

[Eyeseeing]

After the Montreal game no but the game just before against a division rival who was red hot at home that we beat 6-0 , yes .

I think we would really have to fall off badly to miss, however we are likely going to be a wild card.