you sound like Sully here, I will agree if you explain to me what does it mean being overconfident and the famous one: puck management, Is overconfident, I will show up and will put 20% of effort needed to win the game and the opponent will just let me do it? If yes what the f*** is coach doing, why is he playing overconfident players, and why is he not telling them not to be overconfident...and puck management...I understand what puck management but how do one goes from managing the puck to not managing the puck? Do they need to practice shorter passes and skating closer to each other to support, and if they some of them are not doing why not? Is Sully going to teach them how to manage the puck. I don't think they show up on ice and say: Tonight I will not manage the puck. would be really curious to hear what you think?
as much as you want to think people don't have off days, they do. athletes get overconfident just like everyone else. I'm not talking about Sullivan or how he can or can't fix issues, as that has been beaten to death. I'm just describing what I think is going on. there's no comparison between the laser-like focus this team had in the first three games and what's going on now. yes, managing the puck is about staying close together on the ice and making high-percentage plays instead of hope plays. it's about dumping it in instead of trying behind the back no look bank passes off the boards as you enter the zone. when rookies are trying stuff like this, it tells me the entire team's focus is off.
playing the way we did in the first three games requires a lot of discipline and focus. with our older team, it's more important than ever. we just don't have the wheels or the talent across the lineup to screw around like we are now. You can blame coaches and they certainly have tools to bench guys who aren't playing right, but this is something the team is going to have to fix.
People pining for ZAR and trying to blame the roster are just trying to find reasons why we look like shit IMO. This is a good roster. Tired of the players talking to the media about '60 minute games', like f*** off already lol. We heard that all last year and the year before. I'm done hearing that shit. Listen to anything Crosby said and you can copy paste from 2021 and 2020 and 2019. Enough is enough. The team needs to show it on the ice.
Hextall is right. You don't always have to have your A game, that is not possible. But you can't look the way we have looked for entire periods this year game after game. Pros don't let that happen. Better fix it
