Nah. Huala is a good player, especially around the crease, but they generated almost too many chances last night so it wasn't about him. Aho between Necas and Dzingle was an exceptional line in the 3rd. I'd like to see more of that.
GDT: Canes v. Rangers 11/7 7:00
- Thread starter andyt
- Start date
Elsker
Well-known member
I'm more than just a little bit grumpy about this one.
Too busy this afternoon to list all their sins, but there are a lot of them.
And I'm not giving them a "hot goalie" pass on this one. Lundqvist got a good look at everything that came at him as we did NO screening in front of him nor any really valid attempts to deflect other than Hamilton's goal.
We got exactly what we deserved and it stunk up the place.
Lack of leadership is really showing as someone other than coach needed to be kicking their collective butts during the intermissions and I don't think there is such a person with Williams gone and Martinook out (if he's even that guy). It sure as heck isn't going to come from Staal as he's one of the butts that needs to be kicked.
Too busy this afternoon to list all their sins, but there are a lot of them.
And I'm not giving them a "hot goalie" pass on this one. Lundqvist got a good look at everything that came at him as we did NO screening in front of him nor any really valid attempts to deflect other than Hamilton's goal.
We got exactly what we deserved and it stunk up the place.
Lack of leadership is really showing as someone other than coach needed to be kicking their collective butts during the intermissions and I don't think there is such a person with Williams gone and Martinook out (if he's even that guy). It sure as heck isn't going to come from Staal as he's one of the butts that needs to be kicked.
I think Staal kicks his own butt enough. I think he gets down on his own contribution and internalizes - so he’s not leading when he’s not successful/producing on ice. Willy would be SCREAMING at them to communicate more. I think that’s lacking with these guys. I think 11 tries to put his head down and grind his way through his troubles but he can’t be the leader they need that way. I rarely see any games when Jordan doesn’t put in 100%.
To be fair I thought the effort was there last night. I think the concentration and focus and communication is lacking.
To be fair I thought the effort was there last night. I think the concentration and focus and communication is lacking.
Could we please not do that thing where we psychoanalyze the Captain when things aren't going well. Nobody did that to Williams last year and there were PLENTY of rough patches for the Canes. I'm happy enough leaving that rabbit hole to the Canes Facebook page comments section.
Fine ... then may I simply ask that we not dump that entire burden on Jordan Staal simply because he changed letters? He is after all the exact same human being who was part of the leadership group last year when things went well.
I'm pretty stuck on this. I think people see that C and project all sorts of issues (both good and bad) on to that one guy. Or they see the letter wearers as a group and do the same. When in truth and fact, no team gets 100% of its leadership from three guys and no amount of leadership can make up for some kinds of issues. The team has sucked hard for a couple of weeks now. I think there's plenty enough blame to go around.
SlapShots
Well-known member
I've been out of town for several weeks and the Rangers game was the first one I'd been to in weeks. I couldn't fathom how they weren't beating Lunquist as they always seemed to have the puck. All the shots looked like they were aiming at the crest or 5-hole. I consider that one of those games you move on from. On the other hand, that Sens game Saturday night was a pure trainwreck-- that was bad!
JFG
Well-known member
Absolutely, it's not all on Jordan. The mark of a good team is when they run into a rough patch, the leaders lead they way out of it. Maybe Martinook is the straw that stirs this team's drink. And if so, place the "C" on his sweater please.
AH and I were talking about this last night. Remember the insane OT in Florida last year? Mrazek makes a ridiculous poke check and Williams shouts “this game is ours!”? Staal is not the kind of guy who would say that, he’s more of a leader by example and not a rah-rah guy. So maybe Martinook is the emotional support the team needs. That doesn’t make him the best choice for captain. He’s this team’s Ray Whitney, who was only an alternate A, behind Stillman and Wesley.
JFG
Well-known member
Good point. We really need a vocal bench leader that leads by emotion. It's just not in Staal's nature. Oh well. It is what it is and it's not changing, so we move on ...