What's wrong with this team

[ramp23]

Is a lack of passion. I'm tired of seeing post game interviews where our captain says "We didn't bring enough effort" or "Our forecheck wasn't good enough. We can fix that." Well, guess what...It ain't been fixed! I want to see our captain show some emotion. I want to see sticks thrown! I want to see some indication that we are trying to turn things around and so far I have not seen that from this team. Sorry for the rant.

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[tarheelhockey]

You think it would be a positive sign if players started going on rampages?

 

[Unsustainable]

You think it would be a positive sign if players started going on rampages?

 

[TheBigKahuna]

I'd like to see the Canes play with some emotion, especially when they are losing. But instead of getting angry or playing with a "fire of passion", they seem to sulk and roll over.

 

[tarheelhockey]

This team needs a Wild Card.

 

[NorthStar4Canes]

I'd like to see the Canes play with some emotion, especially when they are losing. But instead of getting angry or playing with a "fire of passion", they seem to sulk and roll over.

I agree, the proper response to doldrums losing is turning up the flame, raising the level of agression, and going for blood in a controlled way. But this team is playing like they've lost the taste for it completely, that their agression has been capped. They need to go back to step 1.. to tap into that and forget about the "controlled" part....you can't channel something if it's not even there in the first place. They need to taste blood again and like it...

So yeah, let them rampage a bit and learn to like in-your-face hockey again. Use the frustration to tap into and fuel agressiveness instead of letting it be channeled right away into sulkiness and rolling over. Worry about controlling the agression later.

 

[vwg*]

The Staals, Skinner and Semin are cancers.

amirite?

Get rid of anyone whose last name starts with S.

 

[normalpsychology]

lack of passion due to leader(less)ship and culture of laziness (soft play, losing is ok, crumble under adversity, no need to stick up for each other). think about it, e staal is a lazy person. and what does he have to play for now? he's already won the cup, ridiculously cushy contract (length and absurd amount of money), fans love him no matter what. he's just coasting and he's fine with that.

 

[FlyingSquirrels]

Do we need a separate thread after every loss asking whats wrong with this team? Read the damn GDT's. Everyone "rampages" there about what is wrong.

 

[DaveG]

Let's face it, this team isn't doing a GD thing until Ward's back. We'll be lucky if we win 3 of the next 10.

 

[skillhockey]

Whole team is just 1 line. Skinner and Staal can't get nothing done but occasionally. Dmen go fishing on offensive blueline causing odd man rushes(mcbain vs winnipeg one example of many this season). There's also some lack of emotion and energy atm.

 

[Sasha Cares]

4th straight year without the playoffs... Eventually you blow it the **** up

 

[QuitStaaling]

Pretty obvious what's wrong with this team. Injuries have slaughtered us. Goalie depth is terrible. Our defense, when healthy, is average at best. Secondary scoring is a severe red flag. Special teams is a work in progress.

Big, big decisions coming for this team in the offseason. We'll have a ton of opportunities to make some great additions with the cap influencing some trades.

Joni Pitkanen should be traded while he's healthy. His injuries really make him undependable. 3rd in 2013? We'll also save money letting LaRose, Ellis, Corvo and Hall walk.

Buy-out Jussi Jokinen if he's still around.

I would also look into a Bobby Ryan - Jeff Skinner+ move. Skinner is great but his concussion history is an issue. Bobby Ryan would be sick with J. Staal and Ruutu, IMO. Save a few bucks next two years. He would probably love the team and resign for a godd term.

UFA defenseman looks like slim pickings this summer but there is a lare group of impactful forwards looking for a home. Handful of goalies becoming UFA's but it looks like Peters will get the job fulltime backup job with his meager salary and history.

Huge draft coming up for us. We are only ~7 points away from Seth Jones. The thought of him or even Drouin a Cane.............holy wow wow. Any draftee up through 15th or so is a possible franchise player. Looking good there.

Not sure if we have a 2nd rounder or not but we could be within reach of Zachary Fucale if it's early enough. JR would be foolish to pass on him.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Goalie depth is terrible? How many teams have a 3rd string goalie better than Peters? 4? 5?

 

[TheBigKahuna]

Goalie depth isn't the problem. The blueline is THE problem, second would be the lack of cohesion and scoring. The fact that most guys on this team are more likely to poke check a player than stand them up and take the body, speaks volumes. The Canes have been a soft team for many years.

 

[Wolfpuck]

Goalie depth isn't the problem. The blueline is THE problem, second would be the lack of cohesion and scoring. The fact that most guys on this team are more likely to poke check a player than stand them up and take the body, speaks volumes. The Canes have been a soft team for many years.

This.

Players and coaches come and go, but the constants are soft defense and no physicality. Why Rutherford continues to refuse to address this befuddles me. Do we really plan to make the playoffs in a division with the Devils, Flyers, and Penguins, if we don't get tougher and steadier on the blue line?

 

[TheBigKahuna]

170 pound Captain Poke Check....

or

The difference in salary is minimal compared to what each offers on the ice. This was a HUGE mistake by Rutherford.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Goalie depth isn't the problem. The blueline is THE problem, second would be the lack of cohesion and scoring. The fact that most guys on this team are more likely to poke check a player than stand them up and take the body, speaks volumes. The Canes have been a soft team for many years.

Yep. I wonder how the forwards would be performing if we hadn't been decimated on the blueline for so long. Good hockey teams are strong down the middle, and it's impossible to be strong down the middle when you don't have a single defenseman who can reliably stand up an oncoming player (well, maybe Bellemere, but he's only been here for a week).

I was as excited as anyone about our forward upgrades this summer, and got carried away with the idea that we'd just score 5 goals a game every night and depend on Ward to win it for us. But remember when we were all talking about how horrible and soft our defensive group would be? Well, now that's biting us in the ass. Even healthy they weren't great, but the injuries have really turned them upside down. And they don't have that mistake-eraser in net. That affects the entire team, especially the centers who have to provide more support in their own zone and therefore can't do as much to help the wingers create offense.

A lot of dominos have fallen the wrong way for this team in the past month. It would be nice if all the defensemen just stepped it up and played over their own heads, but we should never have been in a position to rely on that kind of overperformance in order to stay competitive.

 

[rocky7]

lack of passion due to leader(less)ship and culture of laziness (soft play, losing is ok, crumble under adversity, no need to stick up for each other). think about it, e staal is a lazy person. and what does he have to play for now? he's already won the cup, ridiculously cushy contract (length and absurd amount of money), fans love him no matter what. he's just coasting and he's fine with that.

This is a quick sumation of some of the issues that I agree with. I of course would add Muller and his entire coaching staff in there as well. I don't know how much the other members of the staff contribute and if Muller is even the kind of guy that would pay attention to their ideas, but one would think that together they could come up with something besides constantly blabbering about the lack of effort. This tells me that they have no idea about what the heck to do. Like I have said before. Accountibility may sound fine but he has to be accountable as well. Basically or perhaps not so basic is the fact that multiple problems exist. You can't just point to one issue and say that's what's wrong with this team.

 

[TheBigKahuna]

It starts in the GM's office, and trickles down from there.

 

[What the Faulk]

170 pound Captain Poke Check....

or

The difference in salary is minimal compared to what each offers on the ice. This was a HUGE mistake by Rutherford.

Are we still doing this? Allen ranks near the bottom of the Ducks in +/- (25th) and has been a -3 in two of his last 3 games. He's also been a healthy scratch several times this year, but doesn't have the added benefit of being younger with still a bit of upside. McBain makes just over half of what Allen makes and also contributes offensively.

If this team had 3.5 million tied up in Bryan Allen for the next 3 years, he'd be more of a scapegoat than anyone. And the team wouldn't be any better.

 

[tarheelhockey]

The team doesn't need Allen specifically. I'm not even sure they really need to get rid of McBain, who has had some terribad moments lately but is generally a decent middle-range puck mover.

It's more about letting Allen go and then failing to fill his role. Pretty much the same thing that happened when Cole left and his role was simply left vacant. It's one thing to be a speed-based team, but this group is flat out soft, and that doesn't win games for a variety of reasons (both physical and psychological).

 

[What the Faulk]

The team doesn't need Allen specifically. I'm not even sure they really need to get rid of McBain, who has had some terribad moments lately but is generally a decent middle-range puck mover.

It's more about letting Allen go and then failing to fill his role. Pretty much the same thing that happened when Cole left and his role was simply left vacant. It's one thing to be a speed-based team, but this group is flat out soft, and that doesn't win games for a variety of reasons (both physical and psychological).

This I absolutely agree with. I think that's been the core of the problem all year.

But Bryan Allen himself was never the answer. Him walking was not "a huge mistake". I think that contract is going to hamstring Anaheim, especially since he's already been a healthy scratch this year. This guy makes more than Jokinen, and probably wouldn't be in the Top 4 for very long at all. Just not a contract they could have afforded.

 

[TheBigKahuna]

It's a comparison in the TYPE of defender. McBain is super soft, and mistake prone. He's borderline useless, and might easily be the weakest player on the roster. Allen had size, and was able to play physical, and drop the gloves if needed. Rutherford gutted the blueline of size and toughness, and thinks adding one "fleet footed PMD" after another is the answer, when clearly it's not.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

Oh, time for the monthly "McBain is the most worthless player in the NHL." conversation.