‘It’s past the babysitting stage’: Ladd

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This article was published 17/02/2016 (3523 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TAMPA, Fla. — There was nary a complaint from the subjects — some would say victims — of Paul Maurice’s demanding practice Wednesday at Amalie Arena.

After Tuesday’s lacklustre 2-1 loss in Carolina, captain Andrew Ladd was calling for the Jets to step up to something better tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“It’s up to every guy in that room individually to prepare mentally and physically for tomorrow night and be ready to play,” Ladd said. “At this point, it’s past the babysitting stage. You’re a professional athlete and it’s your job.”

Veteran winger Drew Stafford had a little-heard theory on what’s plaguing his team generally this season, sitting last in the Central Division with a 25-28-3 mark.

And it’s not that the Jets don’t work hard — that overused cliché.

“In our situation, the work is there but sometimes when teams are quicker than us, it would look like they’re outworking us but we’re too stubborn to change our game as far as adapting to their style,” Stafford said. “And I mean whether it’s keeping it simple through the neutral zone or dumping pucks in instead of making plays when we know a team has good sticks.

“If they’re intercepting passes or taking pucks away, it’s not like they’re outworking us, it’s almost like we need to change and work harder at shifting gears so we can cut our losses with those little plays in the neutral zone or driving and getting our legs going and driving and dumping it in and getting on the forecheck, which can change things.”

Stafford puts a lot of importance on adaptability.

“Some nights the legs might not be there, because it’s hard for 82 games to have fresh legs, but for the most part you shouldn’t question our work ethic as much as our ability to I guess cut our losses and not be so stubborn when a team is just a little quicker than us or has better sticks than us,” he said.

Stafford said nobody was surprised that the Jets skated some on Wednesday, even though there wasn’t an extra day between games.

“We’re all professional,” he said. “A lot of us in here have been doing this for a while. We know the message. It’s a learning experience for our younger guys maybe to understand that every day you’re here is a give, that it’s a privilege to play in the NHL and you can’t take any of that time for granted.

“The work and the effort, as far as getting better, has to be there for us every single day for us to be successful. Other teams just aren’t taking breaks. We’ve got a Tampa team who is fighting for their playoff lives as well so they’re not just going to hand us over an easy game. That’s pretty much the message.”

Jets centre Mark Scheifele, one of those younger players, was in lock-step with all of those themes.

“We have to work,” Scheifele said. “This league, you know, is not easy and every night you have to give it your all to have a chance of winning. We haven’t been doing that as of late.”

Scheifele was asked if he thought Maurice was getting frustrated.

“I think everyone is frustrated,” he said. “We’re in a spot we don’t want to be. We need points and we’re not getting them and I think everyone’s frustrated.”

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Maurice changed up his lines during Tuesday’s loss, going back to one old standard in Ladd, Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler.

It generated a third-period goal for the Jets, but nothing more.

The signal from the coach?

“That he’s just trying to create something,” Ladd said. “In that game, we’re struggling and he was trying to get something going.”

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Defenceman Dustin Byfuglien, who took a skate to the groin area during Tuesday’s first shift, took Wednesday’s practice off but should be ready to go tonight, Maurice said.

Centre Adam Lowry, who missed Monday’s practice but played Tuesday, also stayed on the sidelines on Wednesday but should be able to play.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca