I've always been something of a Bob Murray defender, and my take on past events is often quite different from that of most people here. I'm not going to rehash what those events were, nor seek to change anyone's perception. But the way this season has unfolded, and especially the events of the past few days, are extremely troubling. It's also an extension of troubles that go back to the latter portion of BB's tenure here.
Take Henrique; throughout his career he has always been a reliable, consistent 40-50 point player, with a knack for scoring goals. He was that last year, and it was enough to lead the team in scoring (ugh). Then this year something happened that threw him into a funk, and he starts mailing it in. A good, consistent player doesn't suddenly become terrible unless something serious happens. Some have suggested that the was miffed at being asked for his list; I can appreciate that, but I also would like to think he was enough of a pro that he wouldn't just give up over it. It may be too, that his refusal to go to Columbus (which was his right) put the kibosh on a deal that BM thought he could swing for PLD. From there it escalates on both sides, and Rico gets singled out to pay the price for not only his own shortcomings, but those of others as well.
And there ARE others - both Bob and DE have said it. We can see it. And it's almost exclusively the veterans. People will always find excuses for their favorite players, but the fact is that of the returning veterans, ALL of them are struggling and playing worse than they did last year, with the exceptions of Rakell (who's not scoring goals yet but working his tail off) and Lindholm, but he's been out for a bit too. Shattenkirk looked great for two games and then started falling down the hill. One wonders if he feels like he's been sold a bill of goods. The kids on the other hand are doing better (especially Comtois). This I attribute to the internal competition and their desire to secure their spots. It's the vets that are bringing the malaise, and if not corrected, will spill over onto the kids.
The "shot across the bow" that Murray fired has NOT had the desired effect; we were as lackluster last night as we've ever been. And over the last several years we've had multiple periods of lackluster play, interspersed with periods when we look like we can play with anybody and win. Every team has some ups and downs, but not like us. Two seasons ago was the first time Bob spoke openly about complacency and a willingness to accept losing. It's been going on for longer than that. This has become a pattern over at least the last 3 years, and I don't know why, and therefore I don't know how it can be fixed.
But the fact that Bob's warning shot fell on deaf ears suggests to me that the veteran core no longer has faith in the organization. We don't have bad players; we have players who've lost the desire to give it all and win. I don't know if a management shakeup will correct that, but it seems the time has come to try.