Paul Maurice's Statement

How Jets' New Coach Has Been Winning Without Coaching

By Gaetan Harris

You can be forgiven if you think that Paul Maurice has coached four games so far with the Winnipeg Jets. The simple fact of the matter is, however, he hasn’t.

Jets fans and armchair GMs may be giving Maurice all the credit for the team’s current four-game win streak, but I know better. Let’s break it all down, shall we?

Maurice flew in last Sunday night and subsequently stood behind the bench the day after when the ‘Yotes came to town. But, that’s all he did, he stood. He might have been quizzing himself with faces and names so that he wouldn't appear completely clueless, but in reality, he was evaluating. So how did the team win? Well, first, these players had a new coach. Since most players shoulder the blame after a coach is fired, they put it on themselves to come out and show the new bench-boss what they can do. Boom. Team motivation won them that game, not to mention being at MTS Centre and wanting to end a nasty 5-game drought on home ice.

The Calgary Flames are…well, they’re the Flames. Second-last in the division with 39 points, the Flames are clearly in rebuild mode. To describe their play this season as sub-par would be generous. This is a team that the Jets are supposed to beat. Like others, I don’t think that 49 points for Winnipeg is representative of the talent they have. This game allowed them to put their skills on display (as they always should be against basement-dwelling opponents) and chalk up their second in a row.

Good win. But again, regardless of who’s behind the bench, they’re expected to win against Calgary. Which brings me to…

…Edmonton. Oh Edmonton, champions of the perpetual rebuild. Every year they're handed such high expectations (and draft picks) and every year, they disappoint. This is another of those expected games. It shouldn’t have gone to overtime in the first place but, the Jets ground out a win in the end. I’ll give the team additional style points for all three goals coming only from rookies (Mark Scheifele and Jacob Trouba [x2]).

That brings us to now. This is where Maurice actually begins the job of coaching this team and righting the ship, especially when the Jets are mind-bogglingly still in the hunt for a playoff spot. After last night's impressive win over Anaheim, two of the next three games are against Western Conference juggernauts in San Jose and Chicago. If we are to get a glimpse into Maurice’s coaching style and potential direction of the team, these are the games to watch. They are his statement games; to the fans, the management, and the league at large. Scouting of his previous coaching jobs shows us that he likes to establish a solid, disciplined defence and there’s no batter stage to introduce that kind of play than against some of the most formidable opponents in the NHL.

Anecdotal evidence would tell us that Paul Maurice started coaching last Monday, but this next stretch is where it really matters. If they can go 2-1 over the next three, then I’ll be cautiously optimistic for the future of my home team, and for the future of Paul Maurice.

Make your statement now, Paul. Everyone is watching.

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Gaetan Harris is Burnaby's biggest Jets fan and he recently unlocked his Twitter feed, so you can bother him at @GaetanH.