GDT: 10/6/19 - 5:00PM EDT - Tampa Bay @ Carolina

[Fabiobest]

We had to go on a crazy run to finish the season in order to get 1 point out. And, coincidentally, that crazy run started when Boyle got traded. He was an aging UFA. It wasn't a personal thing. It's what happens in this league.

I remember that this comeback started thanks to the AHLer...I don't know if tha comeback is arrived thanks to that trade...

 

[Fabiobest]

Coop's good man but we need a change, sometimes the coach just can't do it anymore even if it has been previously successful, in this case I think players are blaming Coop for not solving the game plan questions that they have faced in the most critical stages in previous season, and last season was the icing on the cake.
Should have been fired then, he will find a place somewhere else and maybe eventually win a cup. But here? I just don't see it happening.

I don't know...
Before asking to fire him I want to wait a few more weeks, to see what happens...

 

[Fabiobest]

Is Halpern the guy people want to replace him? What about Groulx, he seems more hard nosed.

Both of them are big bets, imho.
In case of a big change, we don't need a bet (that is not necessarily an upgrade). We need to improve. We need a "strong" name.

 

[Sky04]

I remember that this comeback started thanks to the AHLer...I don't know if tha comeback is arrived thanks to that trade...

Point is, the "comeback" was unlikely and the Lightning were sitting out of a playoff position which made Yzerman go into sell mode and was 100% the right decision.

 

[Fabiobest]

Point is, the "comeback" was unlikely and the Lightning were sitting out of a playoff position which made Yzerman go into sell mode and was 100% the right decision.

I don't agree with you about that trade but it's ok: Boyle was trade 2 years ago, it's the past.
We've to think to this season.

 

[DFC]

I remember that this comeback started thanks to the AHLer...I don't know if tha comeback is arrived thanks to that trade...

Not saying it did. But the comeback definitely did not start before Boyle got traded--we were several points out of a playoff spot. Thus, we unloaded older UFAs. It's not a personal thing. It's what all smart teams do in that situation.

Our problems since have nothing to do with the 4th line. It's that our stars have been shut down, rather easily, by good coaches.

 

[DFC]

^ What text?

I've said this before. Cooper USED to be the coach for this team, but he's not anymore. When Killorn and Johnson and Kuch and all them were just finding themselves and finding out how to play in the NHL, Cooper was the guy. Now that everyone has matured, he's just not the guy anymore. I dunno what else to say, really.

I'm on the fence about the Stamkos interview. I think a lot of people are trying to put their view on it, but to have your captain THAT frustrated after just game 3 is pretty telling as well. Who knows.

I've been on the #firecooper train since the sweep. My opinion hasn't changed. But I will say this: give him a week. If the games still even remotely resemble that turd we saw yesterday, give him the axe.

Yeah. I'm not sold that this is Stamkos "holding back" on Cooper. But I'm sold on there being an unhealthy level of frustration in the room. They know their mistakes and yet can't stop making them.

Agreed on Coop probably being better for a growing team than a matured team too. I think the players might be on too much of an equal footing with the coach on this team. All speculation, of course, but it has always seemed like a vibe where Coop is one of the boys. That's fine when it's "us against the world." Not so much when YOU'RE the team on the pedestal, and too good for your own good on some nights.

 

[Hoek]

Is Halpern the guy people want to replace him? What about Groulx, he seems more hard nosed.

Why is everyone skipping over Todd Richards who has previous HC experience? Seems like the first go to.

 

[Fabiobest]

Not saying it did. But the comeback definitely did not start before Boyle got traded--we were several points out of a playoff spot. Thus, we unloaded older UFAs. It's not a personal thing. It's what all smart teams do in that situation.

Our problems since have nothing to do with the 4th line. It's that our stars have been shut down, rather easily, by good coaches.

I agree with you, in particular with you've written in you last sentence.
Our big players have been defeated by a great coaches and great teams

 

[Stammertime91]

If your captain is throwing shade about another team having structure, playing to it, and saying how many times are we going to do the same thing? He's not really pinning that on himself and his teammates I don't think. From my perspective as a fan, he seems frustrated these 3 games look like more dog shit from the playoffs. The fact he even mentioned the playoffs which was half a year ago for them is telling. Dude probably still feels like shit about that. And what does Cooper continue to do? Make goofy, joking remarks about their effort. Players lose respect for stuff like that. They get pissed, irritated, complacent and so on. This is game three. Previous years I don't remember him sounding like his dog died after 9 periods of hockey. Season just started and his body language looks like game 4 against columbus.

 

[God King Fudge]

Its not so much that we lost those games, its HOW we lost them. Caps series we were up 3-2, shutout the final two games. Last year 62 wins, swept. Even in the pens series we didn't adapt.

This. This. This. This. This. This.

 

[DFC]

If your captain is throwing shade about another team having structure, playing to it, and saying how many times are we going to do the same thing? He's not really pinning that on himself and his teammates I don't think. From my perspective as a fan, he seems frustrated these 3 games look like more dog **** from the playoffs. The fact he even mentioned the playoffs which was half a year ago for them is telling. Dude probably still feels like **** about that. And what does Cooper continue to do? Make goofy, joking remarks about their effort. Players lose respect for stuff like that. They get pissed, irritated, complacent and so on. This is game three. Previous years I don't remember him sounding like his dog died after 9 periods of hockey. Season just started and his body language looks like game 4 against columbus.

It seems coupled with last year, yeah, where he talked about having to answer for CBJ's gamelan.

3 games isn't enough time to sound alarm bells, but we look like a team that has lost faith in itself and its coach. If that continues, all sorts of alarm bells will sound. I don't think Coop can last if this team is playing .500 hockey mid-November.

 

[BeingTheThunder]

It seems coupled with last year, yeah, where he talked about having to answer for CBJ's gamelan.

3 games isn't enough time to sound alarm bells, but we look like a team that has lost faith in itself and its coach. If that continues, all sorts of alarm bells will sound. I don't think Coop can last if this team is playing .500 hockey mid-November.

Right. By Mid-November. All of this fire Cooper talk after starting the season 1-1-1 is making me LMAO. Folks need to chill out. They'll figure it out.

 

[DFC]

Right. By Mid-November. All of this fire Cooper talk after starting the season 1-1-1 is making me LMAO. Folks need to chill out. They'll figure it out.

Sure. But even when they do, is there any faith Coop can get it done in the playoffs? It's starting to feel like the team lost a lot of faith in him after the sweep.

 

[BeingTheThunder]

Sure. But even when they do, is there any faith Coop can get it done in the playoffs? It's starting to feel like the team lost a lot of faith in him after the sweep.

I don't know that I'm ready to make that leap from the Stammer interview. I feel as though he is talking to the boys in the room and not so much about the coaches. Pretty much telling them to get their heads out of their asses and play smart, disciplined hockey. That's my take on it anyway.

 

[DFC]

I don't know that I'm ready to make that leap from the Stammer interview. I feel as though he is talking to the boys in the room and not so much about the coaches. Pretty much telling them to get their heads out of their asses and play smart, disciplined hockey. That's my take on it anyway.

Agreed, although it's fair to say that a coach is the guy who gets the team to do that. And we seem to have a problem with guys getting less and less disciplined the longer they're here.

It's Stamkos's post-CBJ comments that seem more aimed at Cooper. And that's troubling, because he's probably right. We're a very talented team who, on a lot of nights, appears to have no direction. Even if that's on the players, it's STILL on the coach too. I mean, it's not like the Pens weren't a talented team before they brought in Sullivan. But they sure played awfully bad. We do that too, sometimes. Usually when it matters most.

I have a hard time believing 23 guys "don't care" when the alternate option is one single guy has a bad gamelan.

 

[VinikToWinIt]

Agreed, although it's fair to say that a coach is the guy who gets the team to do that. And we seem to have a problem with guys getting less and less disciplined the longer they're here.

It's Stamkos's post-CBJ comments that seem more aimed at Cooper. And that's troubling, because he's probably right. We're a very talented team who, on a lot of nights, appears to have no direction. Even if that's on the players, it's STILL on the coach too. I mean, it's not like the Pens weren't a talented team before they brought in Sullivan. But they sure played awfully bad. We do that too, sometimes. Usually when it matters most.

I have a hard time believing 23 guys "don't care" when the alternate option is one single guy has a bad gamelan.

The Pens comparison is what I keep coming back to as well. Bylsma always had the team in the playoffs, 1st/2nd divisional finishes, doing fairly well overall... But once he was fired you realized how good that team could have been all those years.

 

[God King Fudge]

Right. By Mid-November. All of this fire Cooper talk after starting the season 1-1-1 is making me LMAO. Folks need to chill out. They'll figure it out.

Again. This is not a 3 game issue. This has been a several seasons issue. You cannot treat this as a completely blank slate. We're multiple years into our window. People acting like this stuff is isolated are making me LMAO.

 

[BeingTheThunder]

The issue when we're having a rough game on most nights, from my point of view, is that we spend way too much time chasing the puck (like the Carolina game). Not really forechecking but chasing the puck. It's ridiculous to have a team that is supposed to be this talented running around on the ice, looking like the Washington Generals chasing after the Harlem Globetrotters. Sometimes that is what I think of when other teams dominate the possession time... and it happens way more often than I am comfortable with. Is that coaching? Is it effort from the players? Is it the scheme? I really don't know maybe it's all of those things. However, I do agree that some difficult decisions will need to be made if it is not cleaned up pretty quickly.

 

[DFC]

The issue when we're having a rough game on most nights, from my point of view, is that we spend way too much time chasing the puck (like the Carolina game). Not really forechecking but chasing the puck. It's ridiculous to have a team that is supposed to be this talented running around on the ice, looking like the Washington Generals chasing after the Harlem Globetrotters. Sometimes that is what I think of when other teams dominate the possession time... and it happens way more often than I am comfortable with. Is that coaching? Is it effort from the players? Is it the scheme? I really don't know maybe it's all of those things. However, I do agree that some difficult decisions will need to be made if it is not cleaned up pretty quickly.

Even if it IS the players, it's STILL the coach, because some coaches are a lot better at getting players to buy in than others.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Well the team clearly has alot of talent. You dont win 62 games without that. I also think Coop did some things right because I dont think you win 62 games with a bad coach either. I do think Coop is being a bit stubborn with how he wants his team to play and maybe the players are being a bit stubborn too. Just hope they fix this because they have the talent to win it all.

 

[DFC]

Well the team clearly has alot of talent. You dont win 62 games without that. I also think Coop did some things right because I dont think you win 62 games with a bad coach either. I do think Coop is being a bit stubborn with how he wants his team to play and maybe the players are being a bit stubborn too. Just hope they fix this because they have the talent to win it all.

No doubt. The question is whether or not Coop is the guy who can turn all that talent into a unit. And it's been a long time since we've said, "yeah, we won those games because we played a disciplined structure." Way too often we win because of one player or another going hero mode, rather than the team sticking to a structure.

 

[CupsOverCash]

No doubt. The question is whether or not Coop is the guy who can turn all that talent into a unit. And it's been a long time since we've said, "yeah, we won those games because we played a disciplined structure." Way too often we win because of one player or another going hero mode, rather than the team sticking to a structure.

Which is kind of crazy if you think about it. This team won 62 games last year and if majority of that is talent and not the system/structure then Coop is holding this team back and Im just kind of confused how a HC who has won at many different levels cant make the adjustments. I also wonder why the players arent or havent had this discussion with him and then how in the world has things not changed? Is he just stubborn or are the players just not listening to him anymore? How can he not figure it out? Kind of a bizarre situation in my opinion.

 

[DFC]

Which is kind of crazy if you think about it. This team won 62 games last year and if majority of that is talent and not the system/structure then Coop is holding this team back and Im just kind of confused how a HC who has won at many different levels cant make the adjustments. I also wonder why the players arent or havent had this discussion with him and then how in the world has things not changed? Is he just stubborn or are the players just not listening to him anymore? How can he not figure it out? Kind of a bizarre situation in my opinion.

I just think it matters a lot less in the regular season than in the playoffs, when the other team, and their coach in particular, is only thinking about how to beat you.

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

If your captain is throwing shade about another team having structure, playing to it, and saying how many times are we going to do the same thing? He's not really pinning that on himself and his teammates I don't think. From my perspective as a fan, he seems frustrated these 3 games look like more dog **** from the playoffs. The fact he even mentioned the playoffs which was half a year ago for them is telling. Dude probably still feels like **** about that. And what does Cooper continue to do? Make goofy, joking remarks about their effort. Players lose respect for stuff like that. They get pissed, irritated, complacent and so on. This is game three. Previous years I don't remember him sounding like his dog died after 9 periods of hockey. Season just started and his body language looks like game 4 against columbus.

IF this is the case you know stammer would go to ownership and relay the message