Maurice says it’s ‘too early to tell’ how well Jets are doing
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/10/2015 (3643 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
You wouldn’t expect Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice to say he’s got no clue about his team, but that’s what he said today on the eve of Friday’s home opener against the Calgary Flames.
Specifically, Maurice said after today’s practice at the MTS Centre there’s nothing in the team’s first four games — they come home from a four-game road trip with a 3-1 mark — that has revealed anything earth-shattering to him.
Yet.
“Too small a sample,” the coach said today. “I understand you want assessments on how we play and I get that but I’ll just give you a blanket, ‘I don’t know yet. It’s too early to tell you.’
“There’s nothing in your first four games that will tell you anything about what you’ll look like two months from now. Everybody wants a predictor.
“What we did this week won’t tell us how where we’re going to be two months from now so we’ll handle today and come back here tomorrow and work our butts off. It’s a cliche but it’s the only way to handle the NHL.”
When the Jets meet the 1-2 Calgary Flames, they’ll begin a six-game homestand by being the last NHL team to have its home opener.
When the six-gamer is over later this month, the road games start piling up again, to the point where the Jets will have played more on the road than at home until well into the season’s second half.
Maurice sees no problem there
“It’s only a concern if you have a problem in one or the other,” he said. “If you’re struggling on the road, that works against you. We kind of found our identity in November (last season) on the road.
“We’re not getting an easy schedule here. I took last year’s schedule very personally. This year’s schedule? I realized it’s life here. And life for a lot of Western Conference teams and it’s not personal.
“I haven’t been here that long but I’ve always felt very comfortable on the road with this team. The road’s not like it used to be. The buildings aren’t quite as intimidating as they used to be.”
Friday’s Jets lineup will look much like it did for Tuesday’s 4-1 win over the Rangers. Defenceman Ben Chiarot was out for that one and didn’t practise again today.
Maurice said he doesn’t expect Chiarot’s injury to be a long-term one.
tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca
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