And that worked out magnificently. Maybe something to learn is if you spread your offense too far then no line can produce. Instead of spreading out the offense he should focus it on two lines.
He tried it and it didn't work but there was no way of knowing that it wouldn't work before he tried it. And remember that until yesterday morning nobody knew if Bozak was even going to play in the game so Carlyle had to adjust his lines.
Yeah I'm sure free agents are thinking "wow money great, term great, team that can compete...oh wow wait, I think that fanbase is a little too intense for me." Fans everywhere overreact, welcome to the world of sports.
The fan and media pressure in Toronto is on another level compared to the vast majority of NHL cities. If you don't think that plays into player's decisions you're naive.
Carlyle made boneheaded decisions and it burned them tonight.
Things didn't work out but if they had won you'd be calling him a genius.
Played fighters when fighting almost doesn't exist in the playoffs
It does in the first round.
played Kostka at every opportunity even though his only advantage (playing in the AHL while most of the league was in offseason mode) had passed, and diffused his offense so much that no line was effective.
It didn't work but the theory was sound and there was no way to know it wasn't going to work until it had been tried.
If he can't learn from his mistakes then maybe he should get fired.
And you, with your vast NHL coaching experience and with your name on the Stanley Cup, have all the answers?
The bottom line is that this team wasn't even supposed to make the playoffs this season and the reality is that they do not have the talent to make a deep run. Every game right now is a bonus and is giving them experience on which to build next year and the year after when they will, hopefully, have more talent and be better positioned to make a run. For you to be calling for Carlyle to be fired is moronic.
