Stickytape said:
Corn Flake said:
Well, for example, I think keeping Orr and McLaren on most nights counts as choosing goons over skill.
I hear what you are saying but I don't expect my 4th line to deliver skill. I want my 4th line either capable of either playing highly physical, causing havoc and distracting the other team, or they should be defensively sound enough to be put out vs. secondary scoring lines and not get killed. We had the former last year but that same group doesn't have it this year
I also don't like that stretch-pass-chip-and-chase is basically the go-to play. Watching a guy like Gardiner try to make a 2-line pass from behind his own hash marks so that Kessel/Bozak/JVR can tip it into the zone and chase it makes me facepalm - especially since they seem to ice it about a third of the time.
I really don't see that as something Carlyle wants to happen. I think it's something he is trying to stop them from doing. No coach in their right mind builds a breakout plan around stretch passes. They often resort to it because the fowards are too far up or they get into trouble in their own zone (on the off the glass/chip out plays)
As for the lack of adaptation, I think we're seeing some of that now. The Leafs' last regulation win was November 19th. What has Carlyle really done to adapt his game to get the team out of this slump? Even within individual games, there have been times where he could have done something to try to change the momentum - call a time-out, pull Reims before it's 5-0, or at least say something to anyone - but he won't. Then in post-game interviews he only seems to know what went wrong, not why. The answer is always "work harder".
I will agree with you on some of the in-game choices he could make but as far as what he says post game, I don't put a lot of weight on his quotes to the media being what he's saying to the players in the room.
Work harder? Well from what I've seen, effort has been the problem for several games.. maybe a good portion of the season and they only got away with it earlier on. They aren't getting away with it now. The whole Columbus game, 2/3 of the Pitts game, about half the Mtl game, and 1/3 of the Sharks game.
Work harder means freaking execute the plays the way we have been practicing at a speed that works at the NHL level. Effort isn't just about moving your feet... it's about doing all the things you should be doing as a player.
I fault the players for not executing on the ice and putting in 60 mins of properly "working" to execute as they should be. I fault Carlyle if he cannot get them to listen, which if things don't change in the next 2 games I will pretty much conclude they have tuned him out.
