I don't think it's time to fire Turk, but I don't have much more before I start thinking that. This team is suffering from fixable problems that have existed since last year while the rest of the league gets faster and this team somehow is getting slower and has less endurance. I mean you could probably count the number of teams ours could still outspeed on one hand. And this is the biggest source of our defensive problems imo. We're never had a rock solid blueline corps. The team's defensive strength came from a 5 man group's ability to forecheck and backcheck while stifling offense with aggressive puck press that required high speed and endurance. We don't have that anymore so the defense has broken down.
The team is a roll of the dice on getting a shot on goal whether they're 25 feet away or 2, shooting drills are clearly failing. The team still has, admittedly, an improved passing game but still a problematic consistency in pass timing, selection, and execution. Clearly there continues to be problem with drills in respect to passing.
In terms of Turk's strategies it feels like his whole offensive zone game book is built for scenarios where the team has the lead because they are almost completely inert when trailing. Teams know that if they grab an early lead all they have to do is run a tight collapse with sticks on the ice and the fifth man doing aggressive puck press and the Knights just have no clue what to do with the puck. They'll either cycle around the boards until they lose it, try to force a pass through traffic in the slot resulting in turnover like 95% of the time, or pass it to the point where we only have like two guys who can get it through. Opposing defenses don't have to move from their defensive positions because the only Knight moving in the offensive zone is almost always the puck carrier. It's predictable and without the speed we had before, it's completely stoppable.
Of course it's not all Gallant's fault as there's more members of the coaching staff and on some level it's the players who need to give enough of a shit themselves. But he's the guy steering the ship and at some point you have to ask why the ship keeps sailing around in circles instead of going forward. In my opinion, the take that we're just not deep or talented enough is a shitty cop out. We've seen what this team can do when the cylinders are firing. They just haven't been enough. And they won't start unless game preparation improves
now. Trading for a defenseman will do f*** all of Turk doesn't fix these fundamental problems.
"We didn't play a bad hockey game tonight. Unfortunately, we didn't get any points out of here tonight but we played a better game tonight. Overall I was happy with the performance."
Is that really what he said?