Post-Game Talk: Sabres @ Predators 7:00

[Viqsi]

Hey we get it Viq, and as you are a Jackets fan, I think we doubly get it. Sometimes competence is an achievement in and of itself.

That said, A lot of us other fans, are tired of watching a bland, dump and chase hockey, that sees the team we have invested in get beat consistently in 7 game series. Being consistently average, slightly above or slightly below, means we are simply a mediocre team. Not everyone is okay with being mediocre for 15 years. Not everyone is okay with the notion that we are incapable of winning a series that has meaning.

Whether it is GM or coach or both, something has to change because the team as it is currently constructed has been washed, rinsed, repeated ad nauseam here in Nashville. Something new probably has a high likelihood of failing. True. It also shows that the team is trying to take the next step in the evolution of the franchise.

If the GM or coach as currently construed have a better idea, let's see it. Unfortunately, we HAVE seen what their approach was. "Let's get back to Predator hockey," "Entertainment tax." Etc.

^ This has failed spectacularly for 2 years. It cost us a series against Phoenix. It led us to blow a huge amount of free agency dollars and resources on bums. It Failed for 2 years Viq. This was their master plan, and it failed spectacularly. Many of us said at the start of the season that this was Trotz/Poile's end game. They were going all in on "the Predator way", and it has us fighting for 20th-25th overall. This isn't competent. It is a failure.

How many chances does this duo get? Where is the accountability for failure? What is the new plan?

I would like to hear it.

We have already seen David Poile hedge that free agents wouldn't come here, that he would need to look to the trade market, etc., etc. <--- The same thing we have heard for the last 15 years.

Is anyone in Nashville willing to sell this city, sell this team, be proactive, create a new vision, or are we admitting that the only thing this team is ever capable of is playing dump/chase, grind it out, matchup based hockey with inferior offensive talent every year???

/end rant

Sorry that I used your post as a springboard. I respect your opinion tremendously and I look forward to reading your posts. However, I disagree that we should stand pat, again, this offseason in regards to upper level management. This team needs a new infusion of vision. Whether that be via replacing coach/gm/etc., it needs to happen.

My counterpoint to this is that I would hesitate to dump them unless there's a clear pattern of regression going on. I'm not blind to what's happened the last two seasons; it's got me worried as well. Believe it or not, I'm actually on the fence w/r/t keeping Poile and Trotz! The problem, though, is that the debate here isn't about "oh dear, we could be in trouble", it's been dominated by "FIRE EVERYBODY NOW" and the like. Makes it difficult to have rational conversation.

Once is chance, twice is coincidence, three times is a pattern. I'm worried, but I'm not leaping to conclusions yet. It seems, though, like quite a few people are doing so already, and that because they've decided that lack of progression is the same as regression. Which is not the case IMO.


EDIT: I suppose if someone like, say, Babcock was on the market for a job, I'd be somewhat more enthusiastic about the prospect of a new hire. But there's no slam-dunk choices like that out there. Just more gambling. Accordingly, I'm not about to gamble unless my "sure thing" is no longer sure.