Post-Game Talk: Curses Penguined Again

[Flair Hay]

Feels like every team in the league can build momentum and go on a win streak except for Jets .

Have Jets ever won 8 in a row like Pittsburgh just did?

Didnt we win 9 out of 10 with 6 or 7 in a row like last month?

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Anyone else feel the Jets should never take a break..... everytime they get time off.... bull**** happens.

The last 3 games before Christmas were just as bad, maybe worse. The 4 games since the break they have averaged 33 shots. The last 3 before the break they averaged 25.3 shots.

 

[Duke749]

Trouba will never be a #1 dman, he just doesnt have that sort of ceiling. He's alot like Hainsey in his prime, a good top 4 guy......which isn't a criticism, as you really can never have enough of those guys.

Hainsey was never a top pairing defenseman. Trouba has easily been a top pairing defenseman for a few seasons. Your assessment couldn’t be more wrong.

 

[Flair Hay]

I say Trouba is easily a number 2 defenseman in the league outside of him morrissey and Hellebuyck no one else showed up to play

He was awesome for the most part. I think people are taking for granted how much stress a team like the Penguins put on opposing defenseman. He did as good a job handling Sid as anybody in the league would.

Pens as a team are rolling and they got an own goal from us and a fluke. They got the bounces to let them sit back and wait for us to come at them. A lot harder to create offense against them when they dont have to push to score all game.

 

[None]

The second line has come a long way from the biggest complaint being Ehlers deferring to Laine too much.

 

[KingBogo]

This place is pretty much what I expected, though some reasonable discussion has crept in over the last couple pages after the hysteria of last night. I will side with they are getting out played and out worked contingent. Though don't necessarily see it as a bad thing. Last season down the stretch and through the first 2 rounds of the playoffs this team reached a height they had never experienced before. It would be impossible to start a season at the same peak. It would be unsustainable and completely burn out a team after 82 games.

IMO a league top power play masked this for awhile and we piled up the points while not playing our best. Actually this is a good thing because we are sitting in 1st place at the 1/2 way mark. Now that the PP has fallen off the cracks are showing, which again IMO is a good thing. This is a real good time for the team to get it handed to them a few times and get a wake up call that they need to raise there game. Hopefully it only takes 1-3 stretch with a real bad beat down to achieve it, but it might go on for a bit.

Either way this team will emerge out the other side finding a new gear a start showing a dominance again. I expect then another rocky stretch again later in the season where they will have to take it to yet another level. We are still a relatively young team that is learning how to handle themselves now that they are a contender. Instead of all the anguish I'd suggest people enjoy the ride it will be bumpy but rewarding.

 

[Fire Chevy]

He was awesome for the most part. I think people are taking for granted how much stress a team like the Penguins put on opposing defenseman. He did as good a job handling Sid as anybody in the league would.

Pens as a team are rolling and they got an own goal from us and a fluke. They got the bounces to let them sit back and wait for us to come at them. A lot harder to create offense against them when they dont have to push to score all game.

Easily they did they’re best at trying to limit the chances the Pens got, and the Jets did not show up to play for the most part. Only bright then about seeing Connor and laine struggling is cheaper contracts

 

[Flair Hay]

This place is pretty much what I expected, though some reasonable discussion has crept in over the last couple pages after the hysteria of last night. I will side with they are getting out played and out worked contingent. Though don't necessarily see it as a bad thing. Last season down the stretch and through the first 2 rounds of the playoffs this team reached a height they had never experienced before. It would be impossible to start a season at the same peak. It would be unsustainable and completely burn out a team after 82 games.

IMO a league top power play masked this for awhile and we piled up the points while not playing our best. Actually this is a good thing because we are sitting in 1st place at the 1/2 way mark. Now that the PP has fallen off the cracks are showing, which again IMO is a good thing. This is a real good time for the team to get it handed to them a few times and get a wake up call that they need to raise there game. Hopefully it only takes 1-3 stretch with a real bad beat down to achieve it, but it might go on for a bit.

Either way this team will emerge out the other side finding a new gear a start showing a dominance again. I expect then another rocky stretch again later in the season where they will have to take it to yet another level. We are still a relatively young team that is learning how to handle themselves now that they are a contender. Instead of all the anguish I'd suggest people enjoy the ride it will be bumpy but rewarding.

More people should pay attention to the big picture like this. The team has real concerns, but so does everybody else. Multiple times throughout a season.

If people think Scheifele and Wheeler are kind of digging it, ask some Pens fans about the effort Sid and Malkin have some nights over the years

What matters most is getting prepared to be able to beat two of our division rivals in April. Whoever that may be everything else will soon be forgotten.

 

[scelaton]

Maurice's job isn't anywhere close to being on the line. Not even on the horizon yet.

For comparison, 5 years ago, when Claude Noel was fired, the Jets were 19-23-5 and 10 points back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
It was in the midst of a season-worst five-game losing streak, with rumors of player non-confidence in the coach swirling about.
Today, this team has ~ the third best winning % in the league, is leading their division and the coach is held in high esteem by the players, GM, and owner.
Granted, the team is better and expectations are higher...but this place is like the Twilight Zone after a loss

 

[Jetfaninflorida]

Team didn't look great, but until the empty net goal they were trailing based off of two pinball goals and a scandalous degree of league error.

But everyone freak the **** out--it's what you're good at anyway.

(The angle that showed it 'in the net' was subject to parallax error and usable for pucks on the ice surface, but not pucks in the air. By this new standard, the Flames won the '04 cup. ****ing moron league doesn't know when to leave a can of worms alone. But hands up if you're at all surprised that this ****ing joke of a league repeatedly changes the rules in favour of 'Sid' and the Penguins, repeatedly...)

Uh, the puck was in and it's not even a close call.

 

[Howard Chuck]

If the team leadership can't get consistency and effort out of the team or themselves, they need to have a tough conversation.

55 and 26 are not getting their team to play at a high level .

Maurice isn't getting the team to play consistently.

Enough of this, already. This team is playing like they deserve to be back in the conference final and don't want to earn their way there. I really don't want a first round exit to be the motivation for better playing.

It seems to me that 55 and 26 are worried about 55 and 26. It might be time to break up this bromance in favor of improving this team as a whole.

 

[Channelcat]

Hainsey was never a top pairing defenseman. Trouba has easily been a top pairing defenseman for a few seasons. Your assessment couldn’t be more wrong.

He was actually a #1 in Columbus......but that team was awful. We'll have to just disagree on this one. I like Trouba, but if he is on your top pairing, you are in big trouble. Just one mans opinion.

 

[Howard Chuck]

Honestly?

Right now I don’t think his utilization has anything to do with his play. IF you watch his play closely and know “nothing” about him, you’d wonder how in the heck the kid is in the big leagues! He’s floating around, waving his stick at guys, coughing up the puck left and right and is truly a one trick pony right now. (if only I could find a picture of a one trick pony)

I think he needs to have his own press conference and tell everyone how horrible he is...that usually turns his game around.

I’ll also add that the Million Dollar Minister must have mistakenly cursed Patrik rather than blessing him. The timing is close to how his play has dropped off.

Sorry for targetting the kid, he truly is a special player and is just going through some rough times right now, but I’m just not sure utilization is his problem.

Then the intelligent path is to try changing his usage to see if it’s him or his usage. But Maurice won’t change his usage. Won’t take the reins off of him even down three goals.

 

[Hank Chinaski]

Uh, the puck was in and it's not even a close call.

Well yeah, it’s pretty much the definition of a close call. Considering it was ruled no goal on the ice and needed a long review to overturn.

For what it’s worth I think it was in, but Evil Little is absolutely right in that the crossbar camera angle was horse shit. That angle is not conclusive evidence at all when the puck is off the ice surface.

 

[Duke749]

He was actually a #1 in Columbus......but that team was awful. We'll have to just disagree on this one. I like Trouba, but if he is on your top pairing, you are in big trouble. Just one mans opinion.

Uhh by your standards, Buff is a #3 second pairing defenseman. Do you think that’s true as well?

 

[surixon]

It seems to me that a couple of players need a jolt. If the players are just going through the motions then the coach needs to be the one to provide it. As the commander he controls the ice time, usage etc and needs to start using those tools to try to spark the team. We have gone through about a month of Maurice allowing the players to try to work through things themselves to no avail.

Time to split up Scheifele and Wheeler in an attempt to get them to up their effort levels and carry their own lines. It will hopefully get Wheeler to start driving the net again and trying to score instead of looking for Mark all the time.

He needs to do something about that second line as it has been atrocious for a while now.

 

[sipowicz]

Didnt we win 9 out of 10 with 6 or 7 in a row like last month?

Yeah and that was so last month, the Jets record means squat, team needs a new coach and a rebuild!

 

[Howard Chuck]

It seems to me that a couple of players need a jolt. If the players are just going through the motions then the coach needs to be the one to provide it. As the commander he controls the ice time, usage etc and needs to start using those tools to try to spark the team. We have gone through about a month of Maurice allowing the players to try to work through things themselves to no avail.

Time to split up Scheifele and Wheeler in an attempt to get them to up their effort levels and carry their own lines. It will hopefully get Wheeler to start driving the net again and trying to score instead of looking for Mark all the time.

He needs to do something about that second line as it has been atrocious for a while now.

Maurice did a fantastic job playing all these young players and letting them get experience the past two years, but now it looks like he doesn’t know how to get all of this talent going or how to motivate them.

 

[John Agar]

We still have at least 2 games in hand against our immediate competition for the Conference and Division...

We have seen worse times than this... much worse times...

Now having stating those 2 positive points.... if this continues I can't see any reason for Maurice not to be fired...

We know this team can play... when it wants to... and rarely most of them all at once or for 3 full periods this year so far...

So repeating the same things over and over again is the definition of madness... and you can't fire the team...

Po'Mo' is stubborn and inflexible and possibly this is wearing not just on fans, but maybe a team... now I segue...


I remember years ago as an Operational Manager having a very talented and well-spoken staff member, who the clients loved...

There were warnings to me about the person's behaviour away from the work environment, warnings of intimidation of other staff, warnings of unprofessional behaviour when management wasn't around in the work place...

I poo poo'd it, because of "all those other redeeming qualities of said person".....

I allowed it by inaction... by being stubborn and inflexible... not questioning my judgement.... not questioning the person... not trusting the persons who warned me...

Finally I acted because a competing companies' GM called me up one day and said "this person was on their property saying all sorts of ridiculous inflammatory things about our operation"...

Out of professional integrity and respect in the way we ran our business he had called me...

I was devastated... it didn't take me long to act.... and it was swift...

The 'Cancer' was removed.... and our operation and personnel flourished...


What does this have to do with the Jets... ? I am not saying Po'Mo' is the Cancer, but there have been lots of tell tale signs of unprofessional play - inconsistencies in play, commitment to structure and just plain effort...

Not acting... doing the same thing over and over again... "they will play out of it"... helps that Cancer spread...

I had failed... didn't loose my job, but possibly deserved to... I have never have discounted "warnings" ever since...


Po'Mo'... the warnings are there, have been there all season and if you don't act …. don't get consistent effort most nights, by most of the players on all lines... then you deserve to be fired.

Coaches/Team Leaders are responsible for team cohesiveness and team combined effort/attitudes.... Po'Mo' has failed so far and the Jets with all this talent have "stumbled" to what we are seeing now in these last number of games....

"We are in first place" …. "why make a fuss" is what some will say.... I say stop the Cancer...

Keep ignoring the "warnings" and it will get a lot worse... I'm just warning, just warning....

Make some people "cry in that room".

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

So right when Bucky starts rounding into form the guys are gonna stop scoring now?

That was a steaming pile of giraffe dung! ugly ugly ugly

I'm getting sick of watching Laine's piss poor body language too.

Time for Mo to do some actual coaching. Mind you I suppose he already has with that goalie pull tictac.

Wake up boys!

What makes you think Bucky is rounding into form?

 

[Board Bard]

Team didn't look great, but until the empty net goal they were trailing based off of two pinball goals and a scandalous degree of league error.

But everyone freak the **** out--it's what you're good at anyway.

(The angle that showed it 'in the net' was subject to parallax error and usable for pucks on the ice surface, but not pucks in the air. By this new standard, the Flames won the '04 cup. ****ing moron league doesn't know when to leave a can of worms alone. But hands up if you're at all surprised that this ****ing joke of a league repeatedly changes the rules in favour of 'Sid' and the Penguins, repeatedly...)

You'd need two cameras to create a parallax effect. There was no parallax effect.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Just to add a positive note to what I am sure will be a pretty negative thread.....

The past 5 or so weeks should likely help bring down some contract $$ from Laine and Connor's potential ask. In a cap world, every couple of $100,000 helps!

Connor's last 10 games - 0G, 0A, -10
Laine's last 10 games - 3G, 1A, -9

Getting to pay your players less because they are not as good as expected is not a positive. It is just a result of the negative.

 

[KingBogo]

Maurice did a fantastic job playing all these young players and letting them get experience the past two years, but now it looks like he doesn’t know how to get all of this talent going or how to motivate them.

IMO at least our young stars are too willing to take a back seat to Scheifele and Wheeler and are unwilling or unable to take a game on their shoulders. So I agree with those that would like to split up Scheifele and Wheeler as I think this will help our young wingers get going. If Ehlers is out then bring up Matty P to spark things as well. I'd go:

Ehlers/Matty P-Scheifele-Laine
Connor-Little-Wheeler

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I don't want to "Like" this post but I feel it's closer to the truth that I would like to admit.

With the age of our roster, if this is true it can only be because Chevy ****s up, or has ****** up already.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

• Uh, that wasn't good.
• Marred by a string of bad luck in the first period in terms of injuries and bounces, and millimetres off from keeping it a 2-goal game in the second, the Jets looked... off. There was no jump or step to the game as there simply wasn't any offense going, as Matt Murray easily saw all pucks coming his way. The defense was equally as miserable in breaking out from their own zone - all the good chances came from when they entered with possession, but failed to convert on a close enough shot or storming the net for a rebound. Not a lot of effort out there.
• Tough to do a line-by-line analysis as Ehlers injury caused everyone to move around the lineup... with the exception of Scheifele and Wheeler. This is far from calling out the coach or the two individual players, but this is frustrating as a fan to see. Curious thought: how does it reflect on the team when your two top players who haven't scored much recently remain on the top line with the most opportunities, even though they haven't put forward a strong effort?
• The defense misses Buff, but more importantly it misses Ehlers on offense. Simply put, with the exception of Connor when he's playing extremely well or Tanev even though he doesn't have any skill past always going to the net for rebounds, Ehlers is clearly a dynamic crux and part of the Jets offense. Remove Ehlers, and throw not having Buff on top of it as well, and it was pretty anemic.
• Kulikov-Morrow looked much, much weaker tonight versus how strong they performed versus Edmonton, Kulikov much more visually apparent because of some lost battles against the board and whiffing on hits. (At least Chiarot makes his hits, even if it becomes a 4-on-2 the other way like it did tonight... I guess?)
  
• Hellebuyck played as well as he could given the circumstances of the goals against. If the Jets play a tighter game and remove those opportunities for awkward bounces and deflections immediately in front of the net, you can almost guarantee a 'return-to-form' for the goaltender. Except, it's not really a return-to-form for him, it's a return-to-form for the Jets defensive structure. Maybe those weird bounces will go the other way for Hellebuyck soon enough, just like they did for Myers when everything was going in against him after a misread and misplay.

Chief's final eyetest says: I dunno. Hard to play a game when a top forward goes off to injury in his first shift and then have to respond to two really flukey deflections. But that's the game of hockey and you can't play or appear defeated by it - which is a shame, because the Jets did exactly that. They've got to play better, no excuses there.

Halfway like this post - but I see a little too much excuse making. The kind of bad luck you point to is exactly what happens to teams that are not playing well. And the injuries are no excuse.