GDT: 10/6/18 - 7:00PM EDT - Florida vs Tampa Bay

[Rschmitz]

Citing criticism =/= wanting him fired after 1 game.

Just like how a "joke" =/= an opinion you're so wrong about you need to backtrack all the time.

There are several posts which are calling for him to be replaced

 

[VoluntaryDom]

Citing criticism =/= wanting him fired after 1 game.

Just like how a "joke" =/= an opinion you're so wrong about you need to backtrack all the time.

I’ve had some wrong opinions that I’ve backtracked on. I’ll admit to that. For example my opinions on Drouin and Dotchin last year.

However, I have never legitimately wanted to trade Kucherov. Those have been jokes.

 

[RegularSznAllStars]

Same story as last year when we started 1-1, before the team went on to comfortably score more goals than any other team this decade.

I was on the fire cooper bandwagon after two games last year, then they turned it on. If we look like shit after 5 or 10 games, im back on the bandwagon. But, it’s been one game. People need to chill for a few weeks.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Some of you guys need some Barry Melrose and OK Hockey back in your lives again.

This is what they do. They coast along the regular season and save it for the playoffs. We got hurt vs Chicago in a year none of us were expecting a title and yet it's used as ammo to fire the coach. The following year we were walking wounded against the Pens and by the following Christmas we made Tampacuse jokes again and still came within a point of the playoffs. Say we did make it. We weren't winning the Cup that year. But let's indict Coop anyway for us not getting to the dance eh?

Last year? Yeah I was pissed. That is the only time in his tenure I would say he dropped the ball and even then I dispute the quality of that team vs a trap. But please stop throwing the previous 3 years around as if we were entitled to a Cup we never expected to win and were going to pull it off with a walking wounded lineup the following 2 years by some random miracle with Pittsburgh standing in our way both times. So much time has passed that all we can do is get mad at a single game anymore.

For me this is my last hurrah with Cooper not because I think he has done a bad job. But because what defines a truly great coach is to win it all with a great team. You basically do as expected ala Arbor, Bowman, Q etc. In no way am I comparing. But I want to see him take the next step. Either he takes the next step or his next step need to be out the door


I won't hold anything before last year against him. But enough time has gone by to where I can conclude that he's had enough time regardless of the circumstances

I find this trend of coasting thru the regular season alarming. Especially for a team that has said they have only themselves to blame. They always say how hungry they are yet they can’t even show up for a full period in their season opener on home ice? Shameful.

I’m not sure coaching is the problem. Motivation sure is though. Is that solely on the coaches? And what are the (coaching personnel) alternatives?

 

[Cmac66]

I was not able to watch the season opener so could not really say much about the performance. With that being said, it had been apparent for a while that cooper tactics seem to struggle against certain teams. The amount of times last season when we crumbled in the big pressure games was unbelievable and when we really need certain players to step up they failed to deliver so. Considering we have one of or if not the best team in the NHL currently we seem to have a lot of players who hide during the big occasions. We always seem to get out shot and always put a lot of faith in Vasy to bail us out. Do the players have it too easy with cooper?. We now have a few new coaches so will hold judgement until later in the season.

 

[These Are The Days]

I d

I find this trend of coasting thru the regular season alarming. Especially for a team that has said they have only themselves to blame. They always say how hungry they are yet they can’t even show up for a full period in their season opener on home ice? Shameful.

I’m not sure coaching is the problem. Motivation sure is though. Is that solely on the coaches? And what are the (coaching personnel) alternatives?

I personally have not been able to put a finger on it. Coop took over and yielded immediate results as an interim coach. We were hungry the next two years and then after that? *Fart noise*

I do think that the Stamkos contact was a distraction in Cooper's third year and I think Stamkos himself mentioned that it took a toll on him. Johnson wasn't healed and the TKO line was not working. But yet after a few team meetings bam! We had a 9 game win streak. Then the blood clot. Good God. Then the year following I will give Cooper his due that we played okay out the gate the year following. We had some stinkers but we got to November 15th the night Stamkos tore his knee up with a record that was meh but not alarming. I can't say Coop lost the room because by God we rallied to within a point of the playoffs. Then last year happened and everything seemed okay. Rallying the way they did 2 years ago, dominating at certain points last year, 2 good first years at the helm. I can't say the room does not respond to him or respect him. Not after all this. I've narrowed why we say something and do another to 2 possible things that makes sense to me.

1. The room respects Cooper but he either lacks the ability to really consistently piss them off and up their game like Torts or he let's them figure it out. It's hard to tell because for all I know he's a guy that moves furniture in intermission speeches.


2. Stamkos is not an effective captain.

He has bad games, bad habits, bad luck and the first to talk about playing hard and the first to not find a way to up his game. I watch his body language with Kucherov and they are WAAAYYY too buddy buddy. Vinny and Marty were best friends but you'd still see them coach each other up. I just don't see it from Stamkos.

If Coop really does have a hands off approach combined with ineffective captaincy then that might explain something. But even then I'm spitballing and have no clue. But in the off chance I'm right we'll need a strong hand coach and Cooper isn't it.

At any rate I do not believe a healthy relationship exists between Coop and Stamkos for some reason or another. Not as in they dislike each other but rather we're getting saying things and doing things that are different from each other. A coach needs a firm hand on his captain and a captain needs a firm hand on his team. I don't know where the break in the chain is but I have to guess if there is one it's that way.


Or we could all be wrong. Who knows?

 

[Rschmitz]

I find this trend of coasting thru the regular season alarming. Especially for a team that has said they have only themselves to blame. They always say how hungry they are yet they can’t even show up for a full period in their season opener on home ice? Shameful.

I’m not sure coaching is the problem. Motivation sure is though. Is that solely on the coaches? And what are the (coaching personnel) alternatives?

On every teams forum page, you'll find threads of fans complaining about effort. 82 long, physically grueling games is a lot to ask 100% effort on. Having said that, the year we missed the playoffs I thought the consistent lack of effort couldn't be more obvious. Many blamed it on playoff fatigue, but they desperately needed a shakeup in the lineup that didn't transpire until we dug ourselves too big of a hole and players went down with injury.

Injecting the younger players helped a lot then. The complacency of some of these forwards sitting pretty with long NMC spliced contracts hurts in that the push from the Syracuse guys isn't going to be effective.

 

[Herbert Lewis]

These aren't knock offs for that price? Did you notice if they had a Sustr?

I just got my AUTHENTIC Lightning sweaters, albeit they are the older Reebok versions, but what do you want for $45 a piece. They look extremely legit, other than like I said they are Reebok versions that I bet they bought the leftovers after the NHL went to Adidas.

 

[DFC]

On every teams forum page, you'll find threads of fans complaining about effort. 82 long, physically grueling games is a lot to ask 100% effort on. Having said that, the year we missed the playoffs I thought the consistent lack of effort couldn't be more obvious. Many blamed it on playoff fatigue, but they desperately needed a shakeup in the lineup that didn't transpire until we dug ourselves too big of a hole and players went down with injury.

Injecting the younger players helped a lot then. The complacency of some of these forwards sitting pretty with long NMC spliced contracts hurts in that the push from the Syracuse guys isn't going to be effective.

I never like blaming effort because it's too easy/convenient, when the issues are likely a lot more complex. Occasionally it's probably true that the other team was hungrier, but, in general, what looks like a "poor effort" is often a poor strategy. Like you said, 2016 was likely an exception, because it seemed like the team thought they could get away with anything, including mailing in half the year. But I think we've always given a big effort in the playoffs. But things go wrong, and a lot of times the other team is just flat-out better, as was the case vs. Washington and Pittsburgh. We've been the bridesmaid three times now, giving the eventual Stanley Cup winner their longest series.

 

[Sky04]

I never like blaming effort because it's too easy/convenient, when the issues are likely a lot more complex. Occasionally it's probably true that the other team was hungrier, but, in general, what looks like a "poor effort" is often a poor strategy. Like you said, 2016 was likely an exception, because it seemed like the team thought they could get away with anything, including mailing in half the year. But I think we've always given a big effort in the playoffs. But things go wrong, and a lot of times the other team is just flat-out better, as was the case vs. Washington and Pittsburgh. We've been the bridesmaid three times now, giving the eventual Stanley Cup winner their longest series.

Why is that the mentality though and why wasn't it addressed? That's what I don't understand, they didn't win anything that year and started the following season 3 months late. They looked and often do times look like an entitled group that doesn't want to work for their wins. Washington just won the cup and their players are coming out blazing this season.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Why is that the mentality though and why wasn't it addressed? That's what I don't understand, they didn't win anything that year and started the following season 3 months late. They looked and often do times look like an entitled group that doesn't want to work for their wins. Washington just won the cup and their players are coming out blazing this season.

Well last year they came out blazing. That was after the slow start the previous year. Why did it happen then and why wasnt it addressed right away? Dont know. Definitely was a huge reason why they missed the playoffs that year. All that team needed was one more bounce their way and they were in. This year I think the effort has been good but our top players still need to be better.