GDT: Game 38: Coyotes @ Canucks - 8PM - FSAZ

[KG]

Smith is totally an armchair quarterback. He's full of crap and it's depressing he's considered one of the leaders in the locker room.

If GMDM should have been fired for anything it should have been for signing Smith to that anchor of a contract.

 

[_Del_]

I thought the only problem was Domingue. A parade of excuses is the only consistent thing about this team.

 

[Matias Maccete]

Depressed and starting to blame each other. This isn't a good environment.

Yikes.

 

[Lyotes]

Is Smith wrong? I completely agree with him. Look at the quality of shots he faces from other teams and look at the soft balls from the boards the yotes shoot....that's if they even hit the net or get more than 2 shots in a period.

Maybe it would have been better not to call out the team to the media but I'm sure he's frustrated.

 

[HerrDonut]

Maybe it would have been better not to call out the team to the media but I'm sure he's frustrated.

It's Smith, we can't be surprised he's the one talking like that. Dude is emotional to a fault. I'm certain that he's bad for the environment, as suggested a few posts ago.

 

[GiveAFlyingPuck]

After 38 games we have 27 points. After 38 games in the 2014-15 season we had 34 points.

 

[MIGs Dog]

If the media asked any of the skaters about the game would they say things like "goalie needs to track the puck better", "too many rebounds", etc.

Completely out of line for the goaltender to critique the skaters. He could be 100% right, but he's not the coach. Those types of comments do not breed team unity.

I seriously think Smith should be traded if possible, but we're probably stuck with him.

 

[Spirit of Lindgren]

As a non-"nuanced" (Craig Morgan's article) fan who devoted over 40 years to another sport and who became a Coyote fan late in life, I don't feel qualified to comment on personnel matters BUT, as a 20 year veteran, I know there is a time where the boss has to step up and make a comment.
Maybe reassure the "fan base" that something is being done and they are in control of the situation.
The only thing that Ive seen so far is that Mr. Leblanc took himself off twitter.
I don't care about firings or anything else. I do want to know that someone is in charge and working on the problem.

 

[WJF]

I feel bad for Chayka. You know the young man wants to do everything in his power to succeed and is being subjected to this spectacle by a senile old fossil.

 

[cobra427]

Smith is totally an armchair quarterback. He's full of crap and it's depressing he's considered one of the leaders in the locker room.

If GMDM should have been fired for anything it should have been for signing Smith to that anchor of a contract.

Smith is our best player this year and its not even close. Good for him for speaking up. What other vets are going to do it? Tough love

 

[RemoAZ]

As a non-"nuanced" (Craig Morgan's article) fan who devoted over 40 years to another sport and who became a Coyote fan late in life, I don't feel qualified to comment on personnel matters BUT, as a 20 year veteran, I know there is a time where the boss has to step up and make a comment.
Maybe reassure the "fan base" that something is being done and they are in control of the situation.
The only thing that Ive seen so far is that Mr. Leblanc took himself off twitter.
I don't care about firings or anything else. I do want to know that someone is in charge and working on the problem.

Leblanc is off Twitter? Anybody know why? I wonder if that means decisions are going to be made he doesn't want to be questioned about. The relocation stuff coming up again? Egg on his face concerning a new stadium? Swallowing his pride and accepting a new deal from CoG? Selling the team?

 

[BUX7PHX]

Per usual, the coach's comments are usually spot on.

Lacked execution? Yep - perfect example was that Duclair break-away opportunity. Not a player within 15 feet of him at the blue line and he misses the pass. Execution means performing all the necessary steps, starting with getting the pass. I get that sometimes the puck takes a "bad bounce" but the players performance is tied to doing the fundamentals.

Chasing the game and the puck? You betcha. Go back and watch the first shift or two after the penalty shot goal. We actually had the appropriate response and got a little desperate. But we were desperate enough to force our way out of position. There was a 50/50 puck at goal line extended, and we had three players at the circles or lower. A fourth player moves too close to goal line extended and winds up getting slightly out of position. That turned into a 3-on-1 the other way for the Canucks.

Those are perfect examples of where the issues lie. Poor execution by veterans and rookies alike. Whether it is a rookie or veteran, if one player gets themselves just slightly out of position, it winds up making a large difference for the other four players. Hence, chasing the puck and chasing the game.

The way we get confidence back isn't just to pick up a win, it is to start to make little plays within the gameflow to build some confidence and go from there. It sucks sometimes, but putting our young players against vastly more experienced won't get them those confidence building plays - quality zone starts and gaining experience against good matchups will.

 

[Matias Maccete]

After 38 games we have 27 points. After 38 games in the 2014-15 season we had 34 points.

Ugh. Make it stop.

 

[kihekah19*]

Per usual, the coach's comments are usually spot on.

Lacked execution? Yep - perfect example was that Duclair break-away opportunity. Not a player within 15 feet of him at the blue line and he misses the pass. Execution means performing all the necessary steps, starting with getting the pass. I get that sometimes the puck takes a "bad bounce" but the players performance is tied to doing the fundamentals.

Chasing the game and the puck? You betcha. Go back and watch the first shift or two after the penalty shot goal. We actually had the appropriate response and got a little desperate. But we were desperate enough to force our way out of position. There was a 50/50 puck at goal line extended, and we had three players at the circles or lower. A fourth player moves too close to goal line extended and winds up getting slightly out of position. That turned into a 3-on-1 the other way for the Canucks.

Those are perfect examples of where the issues lie. Poor execution by veterans and rookies alike. Whether it is a rookie or veteran, if one player gets themselves just slightly out of position, it winds up making a large difference for the other four players. Hence, chasing the puck and chasing the game.

The way we get confidence back isn't just to pick up a win, it is to start to make little plays within the gameflow to build some confidence and go from there. It sucks sometimes, but putting our young players against vastly more experienced won't get them those confidence building plays - quality zone starts and gaining experience against good matchups will.

Abso freaking lutely!

Buxy, you get my nod for poster that has never played (iirc), that has garnered great insight and posts accordingly.

We can only hope that those who are so very far off base in their opinions, due to obvious frustrations can heed your words.

 

[Scottyb123]

As an avid fan for the last for the last 12 years I haven't missed many games, and have for the most part enjoyed the ups and downs the team has had. While the future looks bright with the young guys we have, I have had to the towel this year. The games are just too late in the evening up here to stay up and watch this crap play.
I actually had hope going into the season, that while we probably won't be a playoff team, we would have an entertaining team to watch..

 

[SniperHF]

I mean, Smith is a toolbag but he's pretty much right

At least he's backing it up on the ice this season.

 

[roadrunner]

Everyone except Smith was terrible in that game, toolbag or not.

 

[Plub]

Per usual, the coach's comments are usually spot on.

Lacked execution? Yep - perfect example was that Duclair break-away opportunity. Not a player within 15 feet of him at the blue line and he misses the pass. Execution means performing all the necessary steps, starting with getting the pass. I get that sometimes the puck takes a "bad bounce" but the players performance is tied to doing the fundamentals.

Chasing the game and the puck? You betcha. Go back and watch the first shift or two after the penalty shot goal. We actually had the appropriate response and got a little desperate. But we were desperate enough to force our way out of position. There was a 50/50 puck at goal line extended, and we had three players at the circles or lower. A fourth player moves too close to goal line extended and winds up getting slightly out of position. That turned into a 3-on-1 the other way for the Canucks.

Those are perfect examples of where the issues lie. Poor execution by veterans and rookies alike. Whether it is a rookie or veteran, if one player gets themselves just slightly out of position, it winds up making a large difference for the other four players. Hence, chasing the puck and chasing the game.

The way we get confidence back isn't just to pick up a win, it is to start to make little plays within the gameflow to build some confidence and go from there. It sucks sometimes, but putting our young players against vastly more experienced won't get them those confidence building plays - quality zone starts and gaining experience against good matchups will.

Did he also mention the poor use of players? How constantly juggling the lines kills any chance of chemistry? How he has used the same system year after year and it fails each time? Did he touch on the players not listening to him anymore?

Did he question anything he has done, ever?

 

[_Del_]

Did he question anything he has done, ever?

You just have to be a good human being to other human beings and the winning comes naturally.

 

[BUX7PHX]

Did he also mention the poor use of players? How constantly juggling the lines kills any chance of chemistry? How he has used the same system year after year and it fails each time? Did he touch on the players not listening to him anymore?

Did he question anything he has done, ever?

Players whose talent is not comparable with their opposition are going to look poor regardless.

I feel as if though you are expecting Tippett to say - yep, it is my fault that Duclair missed that pass. I used my Dino Dave mind tricks to force him into doing so.

I've seen two different statements on his line usage - that he will always be the same and put the same players together, and how he constantly juggles lines. You can't say that he does both, since they are polar opposites. He is looking for as much of a spark as the players are. So while trying to play the best fits against certain lines, there may be times when he switches things up to see if something can get going.

When you are in the dressing room and reporting on the team, then you can tell me whether or not the players are listening to him or have tuned him out. I am certain that he questions a lot of things internally - same as any coach would do. I question things that I could have done better in coaching a team of 4th graders to play lacrosse. That doesn't mean I air out my failures to them and the parents. I maybe did that once in three years.

Obviously, different talent levels and sport , but the kids learned and got better and it paid off two years down the road when they were blowing other teams out of the water. We went from 3-9 to 7-5 to 12-0. Sometimes, I would have my best players together. Sometimes, I would rotate certain players whom I knew would play the right way and be better defensively. Sometimes, a play happened where I specifically wanted to talk to a player about it, and did so. The players that started to show progress earned their time, and usually those were the players that had an impact on the game. I never tried to put certain players in a situation to where they were so over-matched that they didn't want to even go on the playing surface. That is what coaches have to balance and any coach, whether Tippett, Playfair, Brown, or any other hockey coach will have to balance this. Either way, it won't be perfect, but you have to give it some time.

 

[HerrDonut]

Considering the current state of affairs - the team can't win a game, everybody up and down the roster is making mistakes - I would rather see the following:

Ice the younger players. Don't punish them for the mistakes they make - let them learn and grow as NHL players. The older guys, the veterans? They're pretty established in their ways, it's not so easy for the old dogs to learn new tricks, so to speak. Besides, those guys aren't the future of this team. Duclair, Dvorak, DeAngelo, Domi, etc. are the future ("we love that Doan guy, let's invest in last names that begin with the letter D").

Are the more established players more deserving of the minutes, do they make fewer mistakes and ultimately give us a better chance to win right now? Evidently not. (Also, at this point, caring about wins right now is pointless and possibly even detrimental to the team's future on-ice potential.)

So please, let's change up the f****** tactics.

 

[GiveAFlyingPuck]

The only thing that Ive seen so far is that Mr. Leblanc took himself off twitter.
I don't care about firings or anything else. I do want to know that someone is in charge and working on the problem.

Seems we need someone to "work the problem, people."

 

[BUX7PHX]

Considering the current state of affairs - the team can't win a game, everybody up and down the roster is making mistakes - I would rather see the following:

Ice the younger players. Don't punish them for the mistakes they make - let them learn and grow as NHL players. The older guys, the veterans? They're pretty established in their ways, it's not so easy for the old dogs to learn new tricks, so to speak. Besides, those guys aren't the future of this team. Duclair, Dvorak, DeAngelo, Domi, etc. are the future ("we love that Doan guy, let's invest in last names that begin with the letter D").

Are the more established players more deserving of the minutes, do they make fewer mistakes and ultimately give us a better chance to win right now? Evidently not. (Also, at this point, caring about wins right now is pointless and possibly even detrimental to the team's future on-ice potential.)

So please, let's change up the f****** tactics.

And this can be managed at a game-by-game situational level. If the opposition scores within the first minute, and then we spend the next 45 never being down by more than that one goal, does it make sense to play the rookies over the veterans? Probably not.

But the example of the game against Calgary - we get down four goals. Guess who was 5th amongst forwards in ice time? Dvorak. The 7 goal loss to PIT? Crouse received nearly 16 minutes. It is about that balance between winning and development on several ends.