Coach Discussion: Rick Bowness - Jack Adams Finalist

[Jets 31]

I was going to post along these lines. Hockey systems aren’t secrets. Bowness and his coaching staff know exactly what every other team is doing system wise. The question is more of is he willing to adapt to other variations on systems or is he unable to get his team to consistently play the way he wants?

Bowness has done a great job with this team defensively in less than a year, if our PP was even half decent we would be home and cooled with a playoff spot. This slump is on our top players not producing well enough for whatever reason.

 

[ERYX]

Bowness has done a great job with this team defensively in less than a year, if our PP was even half decent we would be home and cooled with a playoff spot. This slump is on our top players not producing well enough for whatever reason.

I agree with you, Dude, and I maintain the A grade I gave to Bowness earlier in the year. I don't think it's a coaching issue -- now that we're on coach #3 with this group and we're seeing the same lack of effort and commitment and terrible results we've seen before from the top 1/2 of the lineup. Maybe it's not mere coincidence/variance that our record was better when we had a lot of injured players?

I found this article interesting, especially with what Bones let slip out of frustration: 'That's what we're dealing with': Jets' Bowness pulls back curtain on issue of motivation, commitment

He was able to get Scheifele to buy in and 55 looked like the dominant beast of yore -- I was shocked and gave Bones a huge amount of credit for that, but it seems that it wasn't enough.

For a team that at least claims to focus so much on character, it's highly ironic to me how tales of locker room toxicity and low energy/effort/urgency turds being laid on the ice seems to recur over and over.

This will no doubt get me lynched, but I can't help but wonder if Ehlers isn't a piece of the problem? 55 and 26 are the favorite targets, but 27 has also been with the team through all these times, and he was the one out for the portion of our season when things were really chugging along. Not saying he's THE problem, but I don't think he's part of the solution either. He's got to wear a piece of this IMO as one of the long-time members of this team and someone we count on for scoring. Not sure why he has this immunity belt from criticism that no one else in the top six has.

 

[Jets 31]

I agree with you, Dude, and I maintain the A grade I gave to Bowness earlier in the year. I don't think it's a coaching issue -- now that we're on coach #3 with this group and we're seeing the same lack of effort and commitment and terrible results we've seen before from the top 1/2 of the lineup. Maybe it's not mere coincidence/variance that our record was better when we had a lot of injured players?

I found this article interesting, especially with what Bones let slip out of frustration: 'That's what we're dealing with': Jets' Bowness pulls back curtain on issue of motivation, commitment

He was able to get Scheifele to buy in and 55 looked like the dominant beast of yore -- I was shocked and gave Bones a huge amount of credit for that, but it seems that it wasn't enough.

For a team that at least claims to focus so much on character, it's highly ironic to me how tales of locker room toxicity and low energy/effort/urgency turds being laid on the ice seems to recur over and over.

This will no doubt get me lynched, but I can't help but wonder if Ehlers isn't a piece of the problem? 55 and 26 are the favorite targets, but 27 has also been with the team through all these times, and he was the one out for the portion of our season when things were really chugging along. Not saying he's THE problem, but I don't think he's part of the solution either. He's got to wear a piece of this IMO as one of the long-time members of this team and someone we count on for scoring. Not sure why he has this immunity belt from criticism that no one else in the top six has.

I give Ehlers a little leeway because of the surgery he had but as far as i'm concerned none of our star players are off limits for criticism . They get paid alot of money to produce and alot of these guys are onto our 3rd and 4th coach.

 

[cbcwpg]

I give Ehlers a little leeway because of the surgery he had but as far as i'm concerned none of our star players are off limits for criticism . They get paid alot of money to produce and alot of these guys are onto our 3rd and 4th coach.

I give Ehlers a little leeway because he was one of the few players in the last couple of games that even showed he cares.

 

[wpgallday1960]

It is distressing to find out (or have confirmed) that the Jets core lacks motivation. The preseason team building session and being accountable to one another seems a distant memory. I think Bowness has done a commendable job. im reminded of the rumours last year of the Jets having the worst dressing room interpersonal relations in the NHL. Maybe this core bunch is uncoachable and the personalities just don’t mix well. I’ll pend final judgement on playoffs and results there in, but it may be time for a rebuild.
Of course I just won a Schiefele autographed jersey on Friday, so, he’ll be the first to go.

 

[Jetfaninflorida]

I give Ehlers a little leeway because he was one of the few players in the last couple of games that even showed he cares.

I'd be surprised if Ehlers was the issue that Bones was referring to. Over the years, Ehlers has come out publicly and been self-critical in interviews. Basically saying that he wasn't good enough that game. He has done this several times over the years. Can't remember 55 ever doing that. Maybe he has, I can't recall that.

 

[Jet]

Let's see if this article is the kick in the ass this team needs.

 

[LowLefty]

Let's see if this article is the kick in the ass this team needs.

Which article are you referring to?
I must have missed it

 

[Jet]

Which article are you referring to?
I must have missed it

The one where Bowness basically said our players need to man the f*** up lol

 

[Ducky10]

Let's see if this article is the kick in the ass this team needs.

Don’t hold your breath.

 

[Jet]

Don’t hold your breath.

I'm just here for the ride.

 

[surixon]

Which article are you referring to?
I must have missed it

The sun and FP wrote articles on his motivation comments.

 

[Jets 31]

Which article are you referring to?
I must have missed it

Look at today's GDT @sipowicz posted it there.

I give Ehlers a little leeway because he was one of the few players in the last couple of games that even showed he cares.

Yup i'm going to just start calling him Rocky .

 

[BoneDocUK]

I give Ehlers a little leeway because of the surgery he had but as far as i'm concerned none of our star players are off limits for criticism . They get paid alot of money to produce and alot of these guys are onto our 3rd and 4th coach.

Agree, but Ehlers is now PPG over the last 9 games or so, while still recovering from a significant injury and surgery. IIRC he has outscored the rest of the usual suspects (excluding New Guy Nino) in that period, showed plenty of passion and take his lumps and then some.

WTF are the rest of them doing? How can 55 not take a single shot against SLB? Why is elite sniper KFC passing off shooting chances again and again? Why is 26 playing PP1 in positions he's ineffective in? Why are we still expecting a point shot through zero traffic to beat golaies who aren't Jack Campbell over and over again?

It's the Jets Malaise, 2023 Edition.

There's no explaining it. No solving it. Not from outside the room, at least.

 

[cbcwpg]

Which article are you referring to?
I must have missed it

'That's what we're dealing with': Jets' Bowness pulls back curtain on issue of motivation, commitment

A red flag began surfacing on Tuesday, hours before the Winnipeg Jets would eke out a 2-1 victory over the visiting Arizona Coyotes.

winnipegsun.com

 

[WaveRaven]

They knew this last year its nothing new. No way was a new coach going to change this. Why in gods name didn't they already address this. I don't get it.

 

[Guffman]

Maybe a big chunk of the core doesn’t what to be here and they are mailing it in to force the Jets organization to make significant moves.

How else do you explain star players getting paid millions to not exhibit professionalism by actually expending expected effort and motivation?

That is why it is so hard to cheer for this lot.

 

[ERYX]

Which article are you referring to?
I must have missed it

The article I posted above in post #277:

'That's what we're dealing with': Jets' Bowness pulls back curtain on issue of motivation, commitment

A red flag began surfacing on Tuesday, hours before the Winnipeg Jets would eke out a 2-1 victory over the visiting Arizona Coyotes.

winnipegsun.com

 

[hardystar]

Rick Bowness confirmed what I have thought for some time. The Jets are talented but lack killer instinct, as an example I find that too many times they score a goal and then the other team replies way too quickly.

In my opinion, this is a bullet that Bowness used correctly. Either the Jets will pick up their play or they will miss the playoffs or exit quickly in the playoffs and this will lead to significant personnel changes in the off-season.

 

[WaveRaven]

I think the problem is our core forwards aren't willing or able to play physical and go to the hard areas required. They flourish during the early season but as the going gets tougher they can't or won't adapt. We've also drafted mostly soft perimeter players.

 

[ERYX]

Maybe a big chunk of the core doesn’t what to be here and they are mailing it in to force the Jets organization to make significant moves.

How else do you explain star players getting paid millions to not exhibit professionalism by actually expending expected effort and motivation?

That is why it is so hard to cheer for this lot.

I really don't know how to explain it. To me, "wanting out" of Winnipeg doesn't really explain the lack of effort either ... how does playing like garbage and appearing to other GMs as a "locker room cancer" assist in getting traded? Seems like a recipe to just get stuck in Winnipeg but humans are not always rational creatures.

I will say that something definitely happened to Scheifele as he's changed a lot over the years. I have no idea what that something was. It may be coincidence that his change in attitude coincided with the end of a long-term relationship -- that could be a cause or another effect of whatever is eating that Scheif. He was reinvigorated by Bones and will the program but appears to have fallen off again.

Aside from Scheif and his pretty obvious outward signs of unhappiness I really don't know where the problems are but this is getting so bad that, after my initial hope with Bones, the fact they're already ignoring his sytems and "not playing the right way" after good success, suggests to me that there are deep problems and I am now getting aboard the "we need to rebuild" bandwagon. Something needs to be changed, that's for sure, and shuffling coaches isn't the something.

 

[fmrdh]

55 was playing great for the first 3+ months of the season, if he didn't want to be here why would be seemingly totally engaged then and not now?

 

[ERYX]

55 was playing great for the first 3+ months of the season, if he didn't want to be here why would be seemingly totally engaged then and not now?

Pure speculation, but two possibilities that come to mind:

1) He was secretly asking for a trade all season, when it didn't happen and the trade deadline passed, he the lost his motivation.
2) More likely IMO -- Bones was really able to get him re-engaged and interested again, but over time, since the motivation isn't coming from within, that engagement is dropping off.

 

[LowLefty]

The sun and FP wrote articles on his motivation comments.

OK - got it. Those were the quotes from the recent post practice presser.
I just got around to listening to that -

 

[Crocket]

I think Wheeler is a locker room cancer. But, that said, if you're the coach you might be stuck with him. I think we need to move him to 3C. Sounds crazy but he's just not effective as a top 6 anymore. Center makes him more effective and reduces his ice time. Also makes our bottom six much better, opens up the top six.

Forwards:
connor - PLD - Ehlers
Scheif - Perfetti - Nino
Barron - Wheeler - Namestnikov
Apple - Lowry - Stenlund

Defense
JOMO - Demelo
Samberg - Dillon
Capo - Schmidt