New coach says Jets face ‘challenges’
The Winnipeg Jets have a new coach on a short-term deal who knows he has a long-term project on his plate.
“We’ve got our challenges,” Paul Maurice said after taking in his first practice with the team Monday morning.
“I’m not saying I’m coming in here and taking this team to a completely different level over the next week.”
But the veteran coach of more than 1,000 NHL games, who took the Carolina Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup final in 2002, says he sees a lot of potential in the Jets.
“Youth size and speed is the easiest way for me to sum that up. I like some of the pieces and some of the parts.”
The size was apparent when he stepped on the ice with the team at the MTS Centre. “This is the first time that I’ve ever as a coach felt short and that’s a really, really nice feeling,” he said, following practice, as he met with reporters for the first time since arriving in Winnipeg after Claude Noel’s firing Sunday.
The last straw for general manager Kevin
Cheveldayoff was last week’s 6-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Jets seemed to have taken a step backward rather than move away from the defensive lapses that left them 19-23-5 and last in the Central Division.
For 2 ½ years, Noel tried to inject a more responsible, defensive gene into the Jets, after they moved to Winnipeg from Atlanta. Now it’s Maurice’s turn and he agreed that seems to be what’s missing.