Maurice’s likely impact as Jets head coach

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This article was published 17/09/2014 (4018 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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J.P. VIGIER usually breaks down a certain play or tactic on The Whiteboard, but with training camp opening this week and the first pre-season game Sept. 22, he weighs in today on head coach Paul Maurice — who replaced Claude Noel last January — and how he might influence the team in the days before puck drop on the 2014-15 NHL campaign.

 

J.P. on what Maurice brings to the Jets with the chance to work with the team from the beginning of a training camp:

“It’s going to be interesting. The whole city is talking about this ‘man’s camp.’ What is it going to be? Is it really going to be that hard? I have a hard time believing it’s really going to be overly hard because it’s only going to be three or four days and then they go right into games. If Paul Maurice decides he doesn’t care about the first couple of exhibition games, he can grind these guys out and set the pace.”

J.P. on what might be different in a Maurice camp:

“The first one is on accountability. Now the onus is on the players. They want to have to take control themselves. They’ve changed the coach and there’s no one else to blame now. They can’t point the finger.

“The next thing is, can the leadership group take that next step as a team? That’s who drives the bus on a team. The coach can yell, he can kick and scream, the GM can trade 55 players, but the onus is on the players now. Can that leadership group take a whole new group and push it to the next level? That will be interesting to see.”

 

J.P. on the 50-minute bag skate at the end of last season, Maurice’s emphasis on conditioning and the expectation these athletes would come into camp in tip-top shape:

“I asked Paul Maurice the exact same question late in the season. I said, ‘We’re on Game 72… how can you be talking about conditioning? There’s no way these professional athletes cannot be ready.’ He said, ‘J.P., I have players that are superb athletes that are super ready. There’s a few guys that need to make sure they are in top physical form because they can’t carry two, three, four extra pounds. My expectation is very high for every player. Some players I don’t want to change at all. That’s their style, that’s the way they play and they are elite players at the NHL level. But there are a few players a little bit further down in the roster that aren’t allowed to carry an extra five pounds. I need them to be hungry, I need them to be fast and five pounds can make a difference for those players.’ “

 

J.P. on the impact Maurice might have on the Jets with the opportunity to run a full training camp:

“It makes it easier because if he had come in at the start of this year not having worked with the guys or the organization, he wouldn’t know what to expect or what the flaws of everyone are. He had 35 games last year to evaluate the team and the organization, the players and their strengths and deficiencies. Now he can develop a plan over the year instead of having that plan develop as the season progresses. That plan is already in place. This is where we’ll see, with all that experience, how he’s going to get these guys to go to the next level.”

 

J.P. Vigier is a former NHL player and now a professional hockey skills development coach.