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Play 60 Kid! 'Manage the Game' |
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It wasn't fatigue, or the busyness of the schedule as coach Paul Maurice would have you believe.
The Jets had this game. They had a two goal lead and took their feet off the gas pedal in terms of driving play. More troubling than that was the mistakes, the mental errors that came during the game particularly from two defensemen, Mark Stuart and Toby Enstrom.
It was Stuart who face-planted at his blue line trying to challenge...errr realize he was WAY out of position for a carry-in by detroit on the PP. Or when his partner Jacob Trouba was chasing the play down low with Abdelkader, Stu backed right up against Pavelec instead of taking Tatar in front who had the easy chip in for a goal.
Stuart is not the only one. Normally reliable Toby Enstrom severed up a double pepperoni pizza in the slot all 2011 Oduya-style to allow the Wings to make it 2-1. Go to the 2:00 min mark
It was all about mistakes and the Jets made many of them, but one no more serious than disregarding if not completely abandoning the style of play- the tactics that made them successful. They let Detroit dictate the pace, run the lanes and tried to keep up with them. That is not the Jets bread and butter and the Wings got their goals and the win because of it.
If you want to lend some credence to being tired due to the schedule think of last season- by November 12th last season the Jets had played 20 games. 8 days later they are playing their 20th this season. But wait the season started 8 days earlier for the Jets last year so there is NO difference. Yes teams have letdowns, see Maple Leafs, Toronto, but last night was not a let down it was a 'let up' there's a big difference.
The fourth line of the Jets had a combined 11:30 in ice time. Jim Slater had the most a 5:56 for the game with Thorburn and Halischuk having less than 3 minutes each. Once again this is the old coaching habits happening, because the coach can't use his 4th line. Why is the bigger question?
What was Thorburn doing on the roster? There is no person for him to fight on Detroit- that's not their team. So why not put in Galiardi on the other side of Slater and add some skill and speed? Look what the third line is doing now with Lowry, Scheifele and Frolik- they are a threat and not a liability. Shouldn't the fourth line be structured that way?
The result is 8 Jets players had over 20 minutes of ice time last night, the Red Wings? Oh they only had 2 players over 20 minutes and only one (1) under 12 minutes. Those two players who had 12 minutes of ice time both had assists by the way.
This one is on the coach and not the schedule- it's a home game with a day off since the last game and calling 'fatigue' is an excuse to distract from real issues. This was about play, team and individual, and game management (classic Noel phrase). The coach and players did not manage the game well and that's an old habit most fans and media forgot existed, it's still there.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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