Chevy’s got work to do

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This article was published 23/04/2015 (3905 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

And now Kevin Cheveldayoff must decide what he saw: A young team with lots of parts that is still learning or a group that simply isn’t good enough to compete with the NHL’s best teams.

 

Emotions will be running high right now after last night’s 5-2 series-clinching loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Cheveldayoff, however, can’t fall into that trap and overreact.

Thankfully for fans of the Winnipeg Jets, that’s highly unlikely. Cheveldayoff doesn’t rattle and the quick defeat will be taken with perspective.

This next evaluation is critical. To determine if some pieces need to go, if it’s best to serve youth and let veteran free agents walk or to try and keep as much of the band together as possible falls to Cheveldayoff.

The exercise isn’t to get into the playoffs. It’s to win rounds. To advance and to eventually contend. The Jets aren’t there. Not even close.

The symptom, namely being bounced in four-straight games by the Anaheim Ducks, is obvious. But the disease is more difficult to diagnose.

Do four games outweigh the previous 82? Can we throw a blanket over the Jets and simply state they’re not good enough and never will be? Or is more of Cheveldayoff’s patience the key right now. Was this a step forward despite the cloak of disappointment the Jets find themselves shrouded in this morning? Or was it an indictment of too many Winnipeg players now conclusively guilty of being not good enough.

Can we simply pin all of this on the Jets and skip the fact the Ducks are very good and provided their own contributions to the series?

Lots of folks were in love with the Jets just one week ago. You remember, they were big and heavy and deep down the middle and backed up by a seamless goalie.

More than one pundit, this one included, picked the Jets to win this series. Were we tricked by a late-season mirage? An experienced and balanced Ducks squad made the Jets look bad. But is this a temporary case or a permanent malaise, which only amputation can correct?

Today, they’re a beaten group having been exposed by a superior team with more top-end talent, poise and smarts.

Cheveldayoff will have watched his two top paid defencemen, Toby Enstrom and Dustin Byfuglien, have a stretch of games that is best described as disastrous. Enstrom was overpowered and Byfuglien simply overheated.

Captain Andrew Ladd went without a point until late in the fourth game and had some very tough moments in the series. Same with second-year defenceman Jacob Trouba. Don’t be surprised if we find out in the coming days they’re dealing with extensive injuries. Centre Bryan Little, too.

The Jets were mentally soft and unable to limit mistakes in their own zone at critical moments. Certainly experience is a factor, and Cheveldayoff will have to sift through the four losses and see what bumps will be smoothed over through the passing of these games.

Likely the GM will come to the conclusion there’s a mix of things that contributed to this quick exit. Maybe Enstrom simply doesn’t belong in the Western Conference with his slight frame and limited stature. Perhaps Byfuglien isn’t the pillar around which to build a defence corps.

The Jets allowed 16 goals in four games. The goaltending was adequate, it wasn’t a factor. Not bad, but not remarkable. This series can’t be pinned on Ondrej Pavelec. For a team that prides itself on team defence there were way too many neutral zone gaffes. The Jets just didn’t employ playoff smarts and discipline. They let the games get away.

Improvement is required. Cheveldayoff will have to decide if a little rest and chicken soup can cure what ails his team or if it’s going to require some surgery.

Again, likely a bit of both. Trouba, Adam Lowry, Ben Chiarot and Mark Scheifele will all learn from this moment and return better players.

The old wood? Yeah, some of it should go. Maybe Cheveldayoff lets some of his youth come on stream or maybe he swaps out a few of his veterans. The mix needs adjusting.

It was a good season. It was a bad playoff.

The Jets are closer and this was a needed step in the organizational arc.

They got to shake hands at the end of a series. But there’s some work to do before they are the winners in that traditional line.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @garylawless