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DAVID ZALUBOWSKI \/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
Bruce Boudreau (centre) says he hasn\u2019t seen anything to indicate the Jets have stopped trying to win.<\/p>\n
This, despite dropping six consecutive games (0-3-3) and 19 of their last 25 overall (6-15-4) as they begin a three-game road trip on Wednesday night in Detroit. They\u2019ll also play Thursday in Toronto and then wrap up Saturday in Ottawa.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m surprised a little bit,\u201d admitted Boudreau. \u201cKevin (Cheveldayoff) is one of the most patient GMs ever, right? He doesn\u2019t make any rash moves. But they\u2019re at the stage where they\u2019ve got to start winning. I think something needs to jump-start this team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep trying everything until you find something that works.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jets coach Scott Arniel has seemingly tried every trick in the coaching playbook \u2014 individual meetings with players, extended video sessions, ripping them publicly, pointing the finger of blame at himself publicly and killing them with kindness in the form of unexpected days off.<\/p>\n
If Cheveldayoff isn\u2019t going to give him any other options to consider, Boudreau suggested Arniel may need to send more pointed messages with the existing roster.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether that means sitting out a guy that has been a regular forever, just to say \u2018We\u2019re not going to take it anymore, we\u2019ve got to get going, I\u2019ve given you guys all the rope you want and we\u2019re getting the same results,\u2019\u201d said Boudreau.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, I think something has to be done, a move where guys are like \u2018I better get my ass in gear, I\u2019m next.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Boudreau, who played for 17 years and then went on to coach for more than 30 \u2014 most recently with the Vancouver Canucks in 2022-23 \u2014 is one of the most respected names in the game who still works as a broadcast analyst around the league. He\u2019s been watching the Jets closely this year and has identified several problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they had any other line scoring goals, they wouldn\u2019t be in this mess they\u2019re in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Indeed, the Jets are essentially a one-trick offensive pony, with Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi doing the majority of the heavy lifting. The trio has combined or 52 goals in 37 games, with the 22 other skaters who have appeared in the lineup combining for 54 goals.<\/p>\n
Arniel has been reluctant to split them up, so far only moving Vilardi to another line for short spurts but always keeping Scheifele and Connor intact. Boudreau said it may be time to re-consider.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easy to check one line,\u201d he said. \u201cLast year, they had two and three lines going. This year, they\u2019re not. When you\u2019ve only got one line going, and the other team is focusing on them and checking them, they know if they don\u2019t score they\u2019re not going to win. It\u2019s really problematic.<\/p>\n
The Jets\u2019 recent run tells the story: strong defensive structure, solid goaltending and six consecutive one-goal defeats (excluding empty-netters).<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve got that goalie, they\u2019ve got that defence,\u201d Boudreau said. \u201cThey should be able to hold their own defensively. But you\u2019ve got to score goals in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they had any other line scoring goals, they wouldn\u2019t be in this mess they\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winnipeg is averaging 2.86 per game this season, which ranks 22nd. Since Nov. 4, however, when a 9-3-0 start began to swirl down the drain, they are 30th in the league at 2.44.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for the Jets, their issues don\u2019t just end there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t look fast to me,\u201d said Boudreau. \u201c(Nikolaj) Ehlers wasn\u2019t an elite goal scorer, but he added so much speed to the lineup. It made the team look faster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, with Ehlers gone to Carolina, free agent signings such as Jonathan Toews, Gustav Nyquist and Tanner Pearson have failed to deliver. Core players such as Cole Perfetti (slowed by a high-ankle sprain), captain Adam Lowry (slowed by off-season hip surgery) and veteran, aging wingers such as Nino Niederreiter and Vlad Namestnikov have all struggled, too.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t JOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES<\/p>\n Everything should be on the table, including breaking up the top line of Mark Scheifele (left), Gabriel Vilardi (centre) and Kyle Connor, when it comes to solving the Jets\u2019 scoring woes.<\/p>\n \u201cScoring down the line has dried up,\u201d said Boudreau.<\/p>\n \u201cJonathan Toews, as much as we all love him, has not become the player after the layoff that we thought he hopefully could be. Great on faceoffs, but production-wide, it\u2019s just not been there. They\u2019ve got to find a way to score.\u201d<\/p>\n One thing Boudreau does not see is a team that has quit on Arniel.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, no. They\u2019re trying every night. Winnipeg tries their ass off,\u201d he said. \u201cBut, you know, the coach is the easiest one to question. I won eight division titles and I still got fired three times.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s also experienced the aftermath of Presidents\u2019 Trophy seasons \u2014 including his own in Washington in 2009-10 which ended in a first round playoff exit \u2014 and knows how hard it is to follow-up on that kind of success.<\/p>\n \u201cThey call them career years for a reason,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have them every year. The goals that went in off the post last year? Now they\u2019re going wide.\u201d<\/p>\n As difficult as it may be right now, Boudreau said the key is trying to keep things as positive as possible.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the coach is acting like Eeyore from Winnie-the-Pooh, you\u2019re probably not going to get a lot out of these guys,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the veteran leadership has to come through, too. There\u2019s enough veterans on this team that they should be able to do that. But just find a way to turn it around. Score that extra goal. Bear down. Shoot the puck where you might normally be trying to make the perfect play. I\u2019m starting to sound like a coach, again.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the trade market, Boudreau surveys the current NHL landscape and sees 32 teams \u2014 the Jets included \u2014 that still feel they have a shot at the playoffs. Parity reigns supreme, save for the three-headed monster of Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota threatening to lap the field.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\tThe Warm-Up<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets Game Days<\/p>\n On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.<\/p>\n \t\t\tSign up for The Warm-Up<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t Which brings a sliver of hope for a group that is currently seven points below the playoff line with 45 regular-season games remaining.<\/p>\n \u201cA wild-card is the only thing (the Jets) could possibly get at this point. One thing about Winnipeg, though. If they get in, there will be no pressure on them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve had pressure the last three, four years because they were the higher seed. Now, there would be no pressure. I think that could work to their advantage. But somehow, they\u2019ve got to flip the switch and some of these one-goal losses have to turn into wins.<\/p>\n \u201cA rut and a groove \u2014 they\u2019re exactly the same thing with two totally opposite meanings. Right now they\u2019re in a rut, but they could turn it into a groove by winning those one goal games, then they would be hard pressed to lose, because then they would have the confidence and the belief that they can do it all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/mikemcintyre<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Mike McIntyre Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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