Reports of Maurice’s pending exit are greatly exaggerated

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This article was published 23/12/2016 (3254 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — We might as well begin here… Paul Maurice is not about to be fired.

That rumour began earlier this week — yet again — after the Winnipeg Jets lost 4-1 here Tuesday night to the Vancouver Canucks.

It originated, near as I can figure, in the 24/7 sports media industrial complex that is Toronto, which is the same place that originated most of those fabulist ‘Oh my God! Jacob Trouba is about to be traded!’ stories that went on for months in the summer and early fall until they were finally exposed for what they were from Day 1: ill-informed nonsense.

The Maurice firing rumour percolated, like these things always do, for a day or two in the sports-talk swamp until eventually it got spread around enough — and talked about enough — that even the Jets’ radio rights holder, TSN 1290, asked me about it on their pre-game show Thursday night.

I told them what I’m telling you: don’t be stupid.

There are really two issues at play here, separate but related. Is Paul Maurice about to be fired? And should Paul Maurice be fired?

The answer to both questions is no. Let’s deal with them in order.

Anyone who thinks Maurice is teetering on the edge of unemployment does not understand how True North Sports and Entertainment operates. This is an organization that is loyal to a fault, which is how it came to be that this franchise began play in the NHL in 2011 with an AHL coach behind the bench — and then kept Claude Noel around long after it had become readily apparent to everyone else that an AHL coach was all Noel was ever going to be.

All of which is to say that Mark Chipman is not exactly a trigger-happy owner. There may come a time when Chipman and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff will decide to bid farewell to their bench boss, but the suggestion that it’s going to be sometime soon is uninformed gibberish.

The Jets continue to believe, I’d argue with ample justification, that Maurice is uniquely suited to the task of turning a room full of young talent and inexperience into the kind of club that can compete night in and night out with the best in the league.

So no, Cheveldayoff is not about to fire him. And anyone who says they know otherwise is lying because the Jets — from top to bottom — are the most buttoned-down organization in the NHL.

This team doesn’t leak, never has. Indeed, quite literally the last person who will know when Chevy decides Maurice needs to go will be some media guy in Toronto.

Now for the other issue, whether Maurice should be fired.

The premise of that one is that the Jets have underperformed expectations so far this season. I’d argue that premise is also deeply flawed.

The reality is that this team has fared pretty much the way anyone who was paying attention at the start of the season expected them to — erratically; flashes of brilliance offering an occasional bit of light in deep, dark valleys.

Like a bunch of kids, in other words. Which is exactly what they are.

Layer on top of all the youth and inexperience a historically onerous early season schedule and a disastrous run of injuries and the fact this bunch is breaking for Christmas one game under .500 is clear evidence of Maurice’s ability, not an indictment.

The man remains, in my books, part of the solution, not the problem.

Now, none of this is to say Maurice is not worthy of criticism. There are all kinds of things that give me pause about the man some nights.

And that begins with the continuing struggles of the special teams. “I’m in charge of all things broken,” Maurice said at one point last season.

No disagreement here. And to the degree the power play and penalty kill are broken — still — that’s on him.

Is it a firing offence? Not yet. But at some point something has to change — or else something is going to change.

And then there’s Dustin Byfuglien. Maurice got a lot of credit for reeling in No. 33’s unique game and turning the big man from what was a liability under Noel into a huge asset.

But Buff has been reverting to old habits again, and that’s also on Maurice, who continues to give him a half-hour of ice a night despite the number of odd-man rushes that continue to pile up.

And then there’s the whole line-blender thing. Maybe it’s just a personal preference, but I like a coach with a light touch when it comes to juggling personnel. Chemistry takes time to build, but sometimes the best things are worth waiting for.

A light touch? When it comes to putting things together and taking them apart, Maurice has a lead foot. Injuries have, largely, left him no choice, but still… how about we let the fellas play for a bit and see what develops, just for a change of a different kind?

But in the end, maybe the strongest case against Maurice is the most enduring case against Maurice: look at his long career in the NHL and he has always been essentially what he is today: a .500 coach, more or less.

In 18 seasons as a head coach, his teams have made the playoffs seven times.

Now, that says a lot about the teams he’s coached; Hartford, Carolina, Toronto and Winnipeg is not a Sports Select parlay you’d play. Ever.

But it also says something about Maurice.

Cheveldayoff knew all that when he first hired him. And he knew that about him when he signed him to a contract extension.

Fire him over it now? Because a ridiculously young team with a ridiculously difficult early schedule and a ridiculously long list of injuries is one game below .500 while it waits for Santa to slide down the chimney?

Ridiculous.

Look, at the end of the day, predicting when a coach is going to get fired is a mug’s game. At the start of the season the online website bodog.net listed the odds of Maurice being fired first in 2016-17 at 7-1. That still sounds about right to me.

But what do I know? About the same as everyone else, which is to say not much.

You know who bodog listed as the coach most likely to get fired first this season, at odds of 13-4? John Tortorella, head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Blue Jackets, of course, presently have the best record in the entire NHL, a mind-boggling 22-5-4 heading into Friday night.

And Tortorella? Vegas now lists him as the favourite this season to win Coach of the Year.

email: paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek