Speculation: 2018 Off-Season: We fell short again... now what do we do?

[Fabiobest]

One thing is sure I think: our head coach, during the 2018/2019 season will be Jon Cooper.

 

[cheech70]

One thing is sure I think: our head coach, during the 2018/2019 season will be Jon Cooper.

He is not the problem not perfect either

 

[Fabiobest]

He is not the problem not perfect either

I think he'll have another chance in the next season, with a team, maybe, I hope, more competitive.

 

[These Are The Days]

uuugggghhhhhhhhh

 

[Fabiobest]

uuugggghhhhhhhhh

Let's see what will happen during the next weeks.
But now, we've a news imho. The first one.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

Im of the same opinion. Cooper is not untouchable by any means but I've seen way too much complacency from the skaters during this series that I believe he's not necessarily the prime reason we lost.

 

[DownIsTheNewUp]

What is Cooper going to do? Stamkos is a one-trick pony from the dot. He's not physical, he doesn't pass well, he doesn't defend well. He's kinda sorta okay at killing penalties. But if you shut down Stamkos there is very little else he does well that will make any difference

There's a lot of things Cooper could have done, when dumping it in isn't working, try some different types of zone entries, you know, mix it up a little. We got caught in a rut since the dump and forecheck worked so well against NJ and Boston. It wasn't working against the Caps. On the occasions that it did, the Caps just protected the slot and let us cycle around until we lost the puck, there was no pressure at the net.
As far as Stamkos, well obviously his shot is his best weapon, but I wouldn't call him a one trick pony. I'll admit his defense isn't great, but he is a great passer and play maker (aside from an occasional bad decision). Physical? depends on what you mean, he can play pretty physical on the forecheck (you just don't see it as much in the regular season), but he's not a guy that's good at battles on the boards. Overall, he's a good player with an all world shot, not many guys are great at every facet of the game. Some of you guys act like a guy who is PPG over a 10 year career is somehow a bad hockey player.

 

[T REX]

There's a lot of things Cooper could have done, when dumping it in isn't working, try some different types of zone entries, you know, mix it up a little. We got caught in a rut since the dump and forecheck worked so well against NJ and Boston. It wasn't working against the Caps. On the occasions that it did, the Caps just protected the slot and let us cycle around until we lost the puck, there was no pressure at the net.
As far as Stamkos, well obviously his shot is his best weapon, but I wouldn't call him a one trick pony. I'll admit his defense isn't great, but he is a great passer and play maker (aside from an occasional bad decision). Physical? depends on what you mean, he can play pretty physical on the forecheck (you just don't see it as much in the regular season), but he's not a guy that's good at battles on the boards. Overall, he's a good player with an all world shot, not many guys are great at every facet of the game. Some of you guys act like a guy who is PPG over a 10 year career is somehow a bad hockey player.

Who cares about reg season stats? How do you play in the playoffs and in the big games. Zero points in 6 game sevens is literally disappearing when your team needs you the most.

 

[DownIsTheNewUp]

Who cares about reg season stats? How do you play in the playoffs and in the big games. Zero points in 6 game sevens is literally disappearing when your team needs you the most.

I admitted he hasn't been good in game 7s. You going to judge a guys complete career on six games though?

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

I know post-mortems are totally a sports fan thing, but I want to say that I was really, really impressed that you guys beat the Bruins. I know that was "only" the second round, but I thought the Bruins were the best team in the NHL all year, bar none. You guys lost to the Capitals, a team who have been the best team in the NHL in past years and didn't peak early this year. It probably sucks. There's probably a ton you would want done differently.

But that's just the way hockey is. Sometimes it's rock-paper-scissors and the team that makes it four rounds just dodged the bad matchup. I mean, I look back at 04, and I thought by far the best team in the league was the Red Wings, not the Lightning, and beating them was more than special. To lose to the Lightning later just seemed tough to make sense of. Would the Lightning have beat the 04 Red Wings? IDK.

Be critical, but don't undervalue being in the ECF. You didn't go through an easy division to get there; the 2nd round may well have been a SCF in terms of quality of hockey. Maybe Cooper could have done something differently against the Capitals. But I'll say this, take a mobile defense (Orlov/Niskanen/Carlson/Kempny) and an elite puck handling goaltender (Holtby, or as you guys might recall Bishop) and sometimes there is no answer. There are so many ebbs and flows in a season that winning the cup isn't as simple as having the best roster with the best coach.

 

[PhysicalGraffiti]

That was a tough game to be at last night. I stayed way after the game was over just because I wasn't ready for the season to end. After those three games I felt so good. I had doubted us against Boston and they showed up and really just looked like a complete team. Those three wins gave me such a good feeling. The arena felt alive like it did during the 04 Cup run. Things just seemed to be clicking. I remember being in the Thunderdome after the Flyers series in 97 and being so optimistic just at the thought of being in the playoffs and winning some games. It was deflating to see them lose that series, but I had hope. This year it wasn't just having hope, I really thought and expected the team to go far.

My changes? Step 1 is obvious and I'll embrace the hate.

1. Change the logo and uniforms. The highlights of the 25th year anniversary really showcased how awful they are.
2. Fire Bowness. We were one of the best teams in the league, but our special teams were a question mark all season.
3. Killorn and Miller can go. I'd honestly rather see Conacher in one of those spots, I saw some flashes from him.
4. Find out why Kuch stopped showing up when it mattered. If it was an injury, that's fine, if not he really needs to wake up. Performing in the regular season is great and helps us get to the playoffs, but if you disappear when it matters most why bother?
5. Mess with the defense. Coburn and McDonaugh can both go, even Girardi. Need some replacements who aren't at the end of their career.
6. Find someone who will crash the net. With all those rebounds last night we could have used someone like Boyle who will stand in front and smash in the rebounds.
7. Give Vasy more rest next season. I like Budaj and think when healthy he can be a great backup, but give him some more starts. Vasy was a tad fatigued at the end of the year. It didn't really show in the playoffs, but can't hurt as his career goes on.
8. No more sticks of fire to start the games. They weren't there in 04, they're bad luck.

Aside from that it's really hard to be overly critical when a team does that damn well during the regular season and gets to game 7 of the ECF. They don't need a complete overhaul, just always room for improvements. I don't think Cooper needs to go. It's hard to win the Cup, but the team really gave a good showing and I'm proud of that. Just wish we could have made that next step and won the Cup again.

 

[CupsOverCash]

That was a tough game to be at last night. I stayed way after the game was over just because I wasn't ready for the season to end. After those three games I felt so good. I had doubted us against Boston and they showed up and really just looked like a complete team. Those three wins gave me such a good feeling. The arena felt alive like it did during the 04 Cup run. Things just seemed to be clicking. I remember being in the Thunderdome after the Flyers series in 97 and being so optimistic just at the thought of being in the playoffs and winning some games. It was deflating to see them lose that series, but I had hope. This year it wasn't just having hope, I really thought and expected the team to go far.

My changes? Step 1 is obvious and I'll embrace the hate.

1. Change the logo and uniforms. The highlights of the 25th year anniversary really showcased how awful they are.
2. Fire Bowness. We were one of the best teams in the league, but our special teams were a question mark all season.
3. Killorn and Miller can go. I'd honestly rather see Conacher in one of those spots, I saw some flashes from him.
4. Find out why Kuch stopped showing up when it mattered. If it was an injury, that's fine, if not he really needs to wake up. Performing in the regular season is great and helps us get to the playoffs, but if you disappear when it matters most why bother?
5. Mess with the defense. Coburn and McDonaugh can both go, even Girardi. Need some replacements who aren't at the end of their career.
6. Find someone who will crash the net. With all those rebounds last night we could have used someone like Boyle who will stand in front and smash in the rebounds.
7. Give Vasy more rest next season. I like Budaj and think when healthy he can be a great backup, but give him some more starts. Vasy was a tad fatigued at the end of the year. It didn't really show in the playoffs, but can't hurt as his career goes on.
8. No more sticks of fire to start the games. They weren't there in 04, they're bad luck.

Aside from that it's really hard to be overly critical when a team does that damn well during the regular season and gets to game 7 of the ECF. They don't need a complete overhaul, just always room for improvements. I don't think Cooper needs to go. It's hard to win the Cup, but the team really gave a good showing and I'm proud of that. Just wish we could have made that next step and won the Cup again.

lol I knew what your number 1 was going to be.

 

[T REX]

I admitted he hasn't been good in game 7s. You going to judge a guys complete career on six games though?

He's injured a lot. He disappears in big games. He plays well during the reg season. He's a decent player. Nothing more.

 

[ElectricDreamMachine]

To be fair, since Girardi was paired with Hedman, he never truly got top 4 minutes whether during the regular season or the playoffs. Hedman played for an average 26+ TOI, Strålman and McDonagh had about 22+ each and both Girardi and Coburn averaged around 16+ minutes. But yeah, I wonder how much of Heddy's problems in the playoffs were that he often had to cover for a lesser partner.

He actually averaged over 19 minutes in the Washington series, which is definitely too much. I totally agree on the Hedman part and I think it would be huge to have a stable top 4 and not this constant pair shuffling.

 

[The Gongshow]

Coop isn't being fired, our roster will be the exact same next year.

Should have gotten Karlsson when we had the chance!!

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

1. Change the logo and uniforms. The highlights of the 25th year anniversary really showcased how awful they are.

I half-agree. I love the logo, hate the uniforms.

We're confirmed to be getting a third jersey next season, and the survey they put out last summer leads me to speculate that we're getting a throwback third. If people buy that uniform, we could see changes to the primaries.

 

[The Gongshow]

 

[Maelmoor]

I checked out the playoff record for the past four seasons (since 2014-2015), despite missing out last season we are:
- Second in playoff games, with 60 games, only Pens with 66 have played more. Caps 58, Preds 55, then it starts to drop with Ducks on 44 3 etc.
- Second in playoff wins with 36, Pens are best with 39. Caps 32, Preds 30, Ducks 24 etc

One Stanley Cup final, two conference finals in four seasons, only missing out when we didn't make it to the playoffs last season.

With the parity in the league that is damn good, only the Pens are better than us in that regard. Of course we would have liked to win a cup, getting close several times but I don't think people always understand how difficult it is. You need to find that momentum, you need luck, those bounces, that go in the team.

Last season was obviously a big disappointment but we bounced back, breaking a lot of records in the history of this club.

Looking at the options out there, I cannot say there is any coach I would like to take and replace Cooper with, maybe with the exception of Gallant but I really want to see how he does over a longer stretch.

There is no way Yzerman fires Cooper based on all this and it would be the wrong thing to do, we are still bound for greatness with this team!

 

[These Are The Days]

Coop isn't being fired, our roster will be the exact same next year.

Should have gotten Karlsson when we had the chance!!

 

[Stormbreaker]

 

[MattM92]

No words for this...

 

[Fabiobest]

It's very hard winning in these conditions...

 

[The Macho King]

It's very hard winning in these conditions...

Maybe don't play the guy with a shoulder injury that requires surgery 15 minutes a night?

 

[Kakko Schmakko]

One thing is sure I think: our head coach, during the 2018/2019 season will be Jon Cooper.

wow, I guess the Rangers won't be getting that conditional 1st round pick next year. Only chance Cooper wins is that all teams he faces in the playoffs are CLEARLY inferior teams. Because if they are just inferior and have a better coach they beat him.

 

[The Macho King]

Those theories go out the window.