Post-Game Talk: We suck (Well, the Players, coaches, management, Ice Caretakers)

[Boom Boom Apathy]

The problem is not that these guys are bad, the problem is that they are all slotted one line/pairing too high. We lack top end talent. If we had a first line, then the TSA line becomes a brilliant 2nd line.

I hope Dundon and Francis can buy some talent in free agency, because we aren't going to get it in trade and we aren't bad enough to get it in the draft.

Yeah, I wasn't trying to say they are bad or good. More trying to highlight that there are a number of guys who either have taken a step back and/or aren't meeting expectations. 23G/48 points is horrible for Skinner. 44 points is a bit of a step back for Lindholm. 31 points for Rask is complete unacceptable. Faulk, Slavin and Pesce have all taken a step back.

A lot of guys seemingly having off years all at once, no?

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Without a doubt we don't know what was said and by whom, but when Peters references the "room" convos, it just feels like it is a little more pointed....maybe not at one guy, but it felt like to me, it's a targeted few.

Meh, they use the word "room" as the team in general quite often, particularly after a game when the guys are, well, in the room. I think you guys are reading too much into it. To me, he was saying very clearly the team has a whole didn't come to play and guys that you count on to contribute were a big piece of it. It's not rocket science here. Other than Aho, the team can't score goals. Other than McGinn, the team shows no spark. He basically came out and said that Aho and McGinn were the only two guys showing any fight.

I think kev said it best. While we'd all like to see Peters bench one of our better players to send a message, what we really need is those better players (all of them) play like they are better players. Faulk, Skinner, Lindholm, Rask, Slavin, Pesce, Hanifin, Williams need to step up on a consistent basis, period.

To me, his comments are aimed at all of them.

Will be interesting to see who he singles out though. My guess is Lindholm, Stempniak and Fleury will be the guys sitting and he'll put PDG, Jooris and Dhalbeck in. Woohoo!

 

[tarheelhockey]

WRT Peters comments, you have to think these guys have had this homestand circled on the calendar since the schedule was released. It’s such an obvious “**** or get off the pot” moment relative to a playoff run. And then you add in the energy of a new owner who specifically goes out of his way to hype this stretch of games. And then you add in the fact that they are RIGHT on the playoff bubble going into this weekend.

Even without insider info, it seems obvious that at some point late last week, the whole team would have openly discussed how these weekend games were the moment to shine, how everyone needed to pull together and give their best effort and make this the moment they get over the hump as a group. It seems rather likely that it was more than just Peters chattering about it, but rather something that would have involved a really clear and focused team dialogue.

So to come off of that kind of speculative-but-likely dynamic, and just go out and play like total ass and get pushed around... to me that’s how you get a coach saying “they let each other down on the ice and in the room”.

If it’s something more than that, Peters can see himself to the parking lot because nobody wants a coach who airs personal drama to the press.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Would you take Montreal's center group for ours, straight up? I wouldn't.

Montreal has that weird thing with Drouin playing center and Galchenyuk at wing, so I’m not even sure who I’d be getting in that trade anymore.

But as a whole, I don’t see our group being markedly better than theirs. Would seem like an even swap to me, with one B-level player (Staal/Plek) plus one mediocre depth player (Rask/Galch) going each way along with spare parts.

 

[Breakdowns]

Just for reference, here's the goals/point projections for each player if they remain on the same pace they've been on.

Teuvo Teravainen	20	63
Sebastian Aho	30	64
Justin Williams	14	51
Jordan Staal	22	50
Jeff Skinner	23	48
Elias Lindholm	22	44
Derek Ryan	17	41
Noah Hanifin	11	39
Victor Rask	19	31
Brock McGinn	12	30
Justin Faulk	6	28
Jaccob Slavin	6	20
Brett Pesce	2	16
Trevor van Riemsdyk	2	14
Josh Jooris	6	12
Haydn Fleury	0	10
Marcus Kruger	2	10
Lee Stempniak	4	16
Joakim Nordstrom	3	6

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Right here you can see the real problem, we have no real top end talent who can drag us into the playoffs, and no depth.
As much as I like Nordy, it looks like he needs to leave as well. In modern NHL all 4 lines should contribute. We have no 4th line.

I also agree that we have a dreadful center depth, we have to get better centers- Necas next year can be one, but we need another center, preferably 1st line C with a 1st line ability(that's hard to make happen).

IMO we should get rid of Nordy, Kruger, Jooris, Ryan, Stempniak and call up young guns. We could have a better chance to make playoffs with them.

Also, Rask, Faulk, Fleury, Ryan and Skinner could be trade bait.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Right tarheel, that's what I was trying to say as well.

 

[tarheelhockey]

By the by, has anyone even noticed Stempniak? I realize he’s in a difficult position with coming off an injury, but you could fool me that he’s playing 14+ minutes a night.

 

[Tryamw]

I have sort of.. He passes to skinner that leads to a turnover that goes in the back of the net. But mostly he's got the Ryan Bayda cloak.

 

[Tryamw]

And he started on the 4th line Sunday. He looked uncomfortable on that line. Then they swapped EL back to it.

 

[JCLA]

Thought he looked really good in his first 2-3 games back, but since then he's been invisible

 

[Unsustainable]

If we could get ROR or RNH, dump Rask.

That improves us a lot up front.

I don’t know what what magical dust fell off of the D though

 

[NotOpie]

Meh, they use the word "room" as the team in general quite often, particularly after a game when the guys are, well, in the room. I think you guys are reading too much into it. To me, he was saying very clearly the team has a whole didn't come to play and guys that you count on to contribute were a big piece of it. It's not rocket science here. Other than Aho, the team can't score goals. Other than McGinn, the team shows no spark. He basically came out and said that Aho and McGinn were the only two guys showing any fight.

Yeah, perhaps....and I think our difference of opinion is slight and covered by the "number" of guys he's referencing. In my model it's like 1/2 a dozen, in yours and Peters, it's the "royal we". Regardless, I still think it was Peters calling out guys in the room, whether some or all probably doesn't matter a great deal.

Even without insider info, it seems obvious that at some point late last week, the whole team would have openly discussed how these weekend games were the moment to shine, how everyone needed to pull together and give their best effort and make this the moment they get over the hump as a group. It seems rather likely that it was more than just Peters chattering about it, but rather something that would have involved a really clear and focused team dialogue.

So to come off of that kind of speculative-but-likely dynamic, and just go out and play like total ass and get pushed around... to me that’s how you get a coach saying “they let each other down on the ice and in the room”.

If it’s something more than that, Peters can see himself to the parking lot because nobody wants a coach who airs personal drama to the press.

I'd say that's cogent analysis and observation....especially the last sentence. My read on Peters comments were as much a reflection of confusion as they were frustration.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Would you take Montreal's center group for ours, straight up? I wouldn't.

I made a thread on the trade board to see how Habs (and neutral) fans perceive our group against theirs: http://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/montreals-centers-for-carolinas-centers.2444501/

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Could Peters actually be sitting Derek Ryan? Nah..has to be promoting Ryan and sitting Rask.

 

[JCLA]

That line combo sounds like a cry for help

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Or a realization of how bad Rask, Ryan and Kruger have been and how bad the Stemp/Ryan/Skinner line has been, so he has to try something different.

 

[JCLA]

So a cry for help

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

So a cry for help

That's not what I'd consider a cry for help, but whatever.

If Peters went with Ryan, Rask and Kruger again, this board would be up in arms. A couple of posters actually called for him to try Lindholm, a natural center, back in the middle during the last GDT. Now that he's doing that, it's a cry for help? I'm not seeing that.

 

[Joe McGrath]

I can’t tell if Peters likes Lindholm because he’s a Swiss Army knife of adequate hockey play at any position but never great, or if he hates him and just likes jerking him around.

 

[Stickpucker]

Luke not holding back.

This was the best quote from that article "When you build around players like that, as Francis has, this is what you get: a team that soils itself whenever it gets a sniff of the playoff bubble."

 

[MinJaBen]

I can’t tell if Peters likes Lindholm because he’s a Swiss Army knife of adequate hockey play at any position but never great, or if he hates him and just likes jerking him around.

Clearly, the answer is yes. Lindholm is Peters' version of Schrodinger's Cat: good enough to earn a forward spot, but not good enough so that you know what spot he earned.

 

[Svechhammer]

Thank goodness my ticket to the game tomorrow was a STH freebie. I would hate to have paid to go see the team as it looked the last couple nights. They just look disinterested

 

[JCLA]

 

[NotOpie]

Could Peters actually be sitting Derek Ryan? Nah..has to be promoting Ryan and sitting Rask.

Historically, PDG and Skinner have worked well together....it is one of the things that helps Jeff, having somebody who seems to tangle a bit.

I hear Kurt Russell yelling, "Again...."

 

[AD Skinner]

Zero fun sir