Post-Game Talk: #75 | Rangers 3 at FLYERS 4 | Thu., Mar. 22, 2018, 7:00 pm ET

[flyers0909]

Why is it so much more important to protect a lead rather than extend it? If you have players who score more often than they let up goals, why wouldn't you just let them play their game?

Konecny might make a mistake that leads to a goal, but he's more likely to produce a goal when he's on the ice, why the hell would you give up that advantage?

 

[Ruck Over]

...why the hell would you give up that advantage?

I hate when coaches let other teams dictate play style. Every once in a while, it just makes sense to adapt and play to exploit the other team in some manner. Turtling and allowing a barrage of shots against, seldom attacking the opponent, is not a play style that exploits the opponent.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[Magua]

I didn't see the rest of Hakstol's complete quote about Konecny from last night – thank you for this, BillM!! – that was uplifting ... until the soul-crushing last sentence.

His tone of voice struck me as odd though. He was saying some praiseworthy things, but his tone and body language was a little more agitated/bothered IMO than it appears on paper. Maybe he just didn’t want to talk about it because he knew what the reaction would be to benching him. And he snuck in backhanded compliments.

Of course, as Meltzer said, immediately going from blunt to massaging Manning’s ego is a jolt.

 

[deadhead]

Guys like Matt Read who Hakstol sent to the AHL for 3/4 of the season because he wasn't getting the job done. Got it.

And boy oh boy Hak praising his work ethic must really grind the gears of posters who were claiming he's being benched for not putting in the work during games.

Hakstol is now the GM? When was Ron fired?

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

The culture in hockey is god awful. Almost everything they do is done because well that’s the way it’s always been done regardless if makes sense or not. It’s not going to change any time soon giving the hiring structure in the league either. A lot of media & fans hold these guys water as is if they have some extraordinary set of skills & no one but them can do the job. Even though there’s enough evidence out there to prove the contrary if you’re actually willing to challenge someone on something & step outside of the narratives.

Not the other three major sports leagues here in NA don’t have their cases of Old Boys Club stuck in the past mentality but the NHL is by far the worst abuser of it.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Hakstol is now the GM? When was Ron fired?

If Hak had played Read he wouldn't be sent down. These are easy concepts, follow along, and don't blame Hextall for Hak's decisions.


How much does it bother you that your argument that TK is lazy defensively has been directly rebutted by Hakstol? You've yet to disagree with him, so it must be hard when he throws you under the bus like this.

 

[deadhead]

How could Hakstol play Read if Hextall sends him down?

The idea that Hakstol bucks Hextall is laughable, I mean if you had Hextall staring at you across the table, then eying his old hockey stick which is on his wall, would you cross him?

Anyone who watched Ron play knows to stay out of the blue paint, literally or figuratively.

 

[Striiker]

TK doesn't do anything like that at all. The guy is all hustle all the time. When the other team has the puck, he wants it.


Hakstol is inventing things to justify his terrible decisions.

Right. Guy scores two goals and hustles all the time but the coach “benched” him because he has something against him.

Ludicrous.

Yikes!

Once again Hakstol himself destroys the pathetic arguments of the Pro-Hak Hivemind!

In his own words:

There is never a lack of [work ethic] and we love that. I love that about TK

Damn, that's gotta hurt...

 

[Ghosts Beer]

Playkilling turnovers were part of what got Read sent down to begin with, and he has also had turnovers leading the other way. You can't ignore that, either.


There simple is no justification for what Hakstol is doing. It makes winning harder. The team is better overall at driving possession in the offensive zone consistently when TK is on the ice, much better than Read. That's far more advantageous overall even accounting for a few outlier plays.

Read has 2 registered giveaways in 12 games.
Konecny 35 in 74 games.

Last season, Konecny had 28 in 70; Read had 18 in 63.

And I can remember numerous times Konecny made bad turnovers leading to odd man rushes. As recently as the Detroit game. I really can’t recall many by Read; I think you’re imagining that he had a problem with bad turnovers.

And driving possession is one thing, but it isn’t everything. What good is it to “drive possession” if you make bad turnovers that result in Grade A counterattacking scoring chances for the other team? (Not to mention Read actually has a better CF% than Konecny the last two seasons.)

I’ll reiterate that I personally would’ve played Konecny. But to act like Hakstol’s decision had absolutely no basis behind it at all is an exaggeration, IMO.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

I didn't see the rest of Hakstol's complete quote about Konecny from last night – thank you for this, BillM!! – that was uplifting ... until the soul-crushing last sentence.

So there you have it. They weren’t happy with Konecny’s decisionmaking last night. He’s young & they’re trying to teach him. Big deal.

 

[Striiker]

The big deal is it's a fabricated excuse by an incompetent coach who is inconsistent with his "discipline", which obviously hurts the team.

If it was about sending a message then there's no reason Konecny is the only one being made an example of. He's far less mistake prone than many other players who don't get the same treatment.

Don't ignore logic in an effort to be a contrarian. It has the opposite effect of what you're aiming for.

 

[Beef Invictus]

How could Hakstol play Read if Hextall sends him down?

The idea that Hakstol bucks Hextall is laughable, I mean if you had Hextall staring at you across the table, then eying his old hockey stick which is on his wall, would you cross him?

Anyone who watched Ron play knows to stay out of the blue paint, literally or figuratively.

Read was sent down because Hak didn't want him on the team. His cap hit is too high to keep in the pressbox. This is a really, really, really, really, really, really simple concept.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Read has 2 registered giveaways in 12 games.
Konecny 35 in 74 games.

Last season, Konecny had 28 in 70; Read had 18 in 63.

And I can remember numerous times Konecny made bad turnovers leading to odd man rushes. As recently as the Detroit game. I really can’t recall many by Read; I think you’re imagining that he had a problem with bad turnovers.

And driving possession is one thing, but it isn’t everything. What good is it to “drive possession” if you make bad turnovers that result in Grade A counterattacking scoring chances for the other team? (Not to mention Read actually has a better CF% than Konecny the last two seasons.)

I’ll reiterate that I personally would’ve played Konecny. But to act like Hakstol’s decision had absolutely no basis behind it at all is an exaggeration, IMO.

As I've said, TK's turnovers are offset by the way he drives possession. Read doesn't do that. If he turns it over, the puck is far more likely to stay in his end than happens when TK is on the ice. There is no good reasoning behind Hak's decision.


How is TK going to learn by not playing? If not playing fixes ills in players, then why isn't the rest of the roster benched for their gaffes?

 

[Strawberry Fields]

This diagram originally made for Couturier helps explain it.

No beard on Couts, 0/10 drawing.

 

[Curufinwe]

Hextall picked the wrong vet to send down. It should have been Lehtera.

 

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

Hakstol is now the GM? When was Ron fired?

Do you not think the coach doesn't have a say on who is and isn't on the roster? Come on man. Hakstol might not be the GM, but let's not pretend he doesn't dictate who is and isn't on the bench

 

[deadhead]

Read was sent down because Hak didn't want him on the team. His cap hit is too high to keep in the pressbox. This is a really, really, really, really, really, really simple concept.

When did Hakstol say he didn't want him on the team?

Hextall is a control freak, if he wanted Read on the team, he'd be on the team.
Read came up because Leier and Weise were given a shot, and failed.

 

[deadhead]

Do you not think the coach doesn't have a say on who is and isn't on the roster? Come on man. Hakstol might not be the GM, but let's not pretend he doesn't dictate who is and isn't on the bench

Does he have a say? Sure. Hakstol talks to Ron all the time.
And I'm sure most of their decisions are consensus decisions, there's been no rumors of dissension.
But what about Ron Hextall makes you think that his isn't the final word on everything?

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Giroux & Filppula are the only forwards with NMC’s on the team. So that had nothing to do with Read’s demotion.

 

[Beef Invictus]

When did Hakstol say he didn't want him on the team?

Hextall is a control freak, if he wanted Read on the team, he'd be on the team.
Read came up because Leier and Weise were given a shot, and failed.

When Hak didn't want him on the final roster out of preseason.


Hextall is not a control freak. He is the opposite, actually. He's repeatedly stated that he lets Hak make the team's roster. Otherwise he'd have forced him to play Sanheim instead of sending him down when it was clear the coach wasn't going to play him because the coach is stupid.

 

[Striiker]

The desperate flailing and reaching, for any tiny shred of something to use as an excuse, to defend Hakstol and his failures is both pathetic and incredibly entertaining.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

He wasn't "benched" in some fictional way. He was benched.

And it is ludicrous. It's a big reason Hak has cost the team multiple points in the standings. His insistence on sitting several players who are vital to success in favor of players who bring failure is ludicrous and deeply detrimental.

You are throwing logic at an argument so dense it would turn a black hole green with envy, at a chasm of stupidity so vast in its depth and breadth that the Grand Canyon would dilate in jealousy.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Edit: Late to party, wanted to comment. Probably belongs in the fire Hakstol page, alas, here it is.

Every page is the "Fire Hakstok" page

 

[Embiid]

All this teeth gnashing about Hakstok's coaching competence...meanwhile the truth will enter the 3rd stage if the Flyers make the post-season. It will be patently self-evident that he sucks...

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Does he have a say? Sure. Hakstol talks to Ron all the time.
And I'm sure most of their decisions are consensus decisions, there's been no rumors of dissension.
But what about Ron Hextall makes you think that his isn't the final word on everything?

When you are talking to the voices in your head, does it ever feel like a tug-of-war where the seams of your sanity are stretched up to, and past, the breaking point? Asking for a friend.