Why Paul Maurice Must Go


The primary reason why Paul Maurice must go is because Manitoba is not Toronto.

People of the GTA will always fill the Air Canada Centre regardless of the team having any chance of winning the Stanley Cup.  (I almost called it Grey Cup, because, it has been so long for Canada that I almost forgot what we were playing for.)  The Maples Leafs organization has no need in putting a winning team on the ice so they don't even bother pretending that are trying.  That is because they have such a large market and their fans are just that, fans.

In Manitoba, we are actually hockey fans.  We understand the game and we expect to have a reasonable expectation of success at some point.  Our Jets 2.0 franchise seems to think we are from Toronto.  They expect us to blindly buy tickets and fill the arena without producing too much of a product.

We were so happy to have a NHL franchise back in the city that we were patient and supportive in the first three years and didn't have any expectations.  We expected it would take a while to build a team. But, I don't think we are going to be that patient going forward.

In the first couple of years, it was a major coup to go to a Jets game.  Now, not so much.  A friend of mine with season tickets told me that this year, when it wasn't available to attend a game, he literally couldn't give his tickets away.

Last night, the Jets were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs - again.   Of course, there would be approximately 2 people who would argue that there still is hope.  Hope was a big deal for us in the first five years.  Now, no one is talking hope anymore.  We have replaced hope with chance. We seem to have two chances to get into the playoffs, slim and none.

Right now, the status quo is that we have nothing to remain at the arena after the announcement of the 50/50 winner.   The most excitement that we see at a a Jets game is when "True North" is yelled out during the National Anthem.

There was a debate earlier this week about how much longer we should keep Coach Paul Maurice.  Should it be 2 years or 3 years.  Really. I am of the believe that anyone who is coaching in the NHL should have one of two things; a winning record or a personality.

Paul Maurice has a long NHL career coaching for the Hartford Whalers; the Carolina Hurricanes (two different terms); the Toronto Maples Leafs; and now the Jets.  In total, he has coached 1287 games and won 556 of them.  And, his record is still out-shining his personality.

So, we were patient and we would be prepared to be patient still, however, we want to know that the franchise is atleast trying to put a quality product on the ice.  We want to know that you believe that your market is Manitoba and not the Greater Toronto Area.

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