Y’know… I really hate when I have a blog all written and ready to go, and I find that someone else has written it, and worse yet… wrote it better. The drumbeat for firing the Predators head coach is growing louder. I don’t think that is the solution, neither does Jim Diamond who lays the case out well…
Read his article here.
I get it… frustration is mounting in Pred Nation. The team is on a five game losing streak and has only picked up three points in their last six games and in the process, dropping to last in the division and ten points out of the last playoff position. This is not what Pred Nation expected coming into the season.
So… here it stands. Thirty games in, the Predators are at a less than a point per game pace with 29 points. The Western Conference is on a pace to need 99 points to get a Wild Card! That insane pace cannot keep up, but if it does, the Predators would need 70 points in 52 games to get there, having to post a record of something like 32-14-6 for the rest of the season. Does firing Barry Trotz at this point make that happen?
Nope. Does anyone really believe that coaching is the issue here? Really???
Let’s take a look at what has happened so far this season…
- Your major free agent acquisition goes down early in training camp, losing precious time to adapt to a new system and to a new team.
- You lose another scoring threat when Forsberg went down late in camp and again in mid-November, he is still on IR.
- Your number two blueliner goes on IR for 10 games.
- Your franchise goaltender, just as he is heating up, goes down with an infection in late October and the earliest you get him back is January…
- You lose a heart and soul player for seven total games in two stretches.
Over 60 man-games lost to injury in 30 games. Yup… I can see how you can blame that on the head coach.
Look, I’m not playing Pollyanna here, the team has not played well over the seven games or so. The gamble to go with an unproven backup seems to have blown up in the team’s face, only saved by an unexpected show from Marek Mazanec, but his glove has cracked over the past two games… proving that this team has no chance at all with mediocre goaltending.
The “Fire Trotz… and “Fire Poile… crowd has been around for awhile, and I get their take on it. I don’t entirely disagree with some of the reasoning I see laid out on different hockey boards. It’s a sign of a passionate fan base that doesn’t want to accept the mediocrity that we have seen over the past couple of weeks. Honest give and take between fans is a good thing. Again… it is a sign of a maturing market.
I guess, for me, it always come down to the answer to one question… who can we get that is better? Quite a few posters on different boards point to Peter Laviolette, and especially his Stanley Cup ring. I get that, but I also believe he caught lightning in a bottle in Carolina. Laviolette is a solid coach and he would be different… but I am not sure that different is better.
This team has shown maddening flashes of what it can be, unfortunately that has not been maintained on a consistent basis, leading to the drumbeat getting louder.
The next chance to break the losing streak is tomorrow night at the Garden.
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Random Notes
- Nice article in the Tennessean yesterday about the state to the Predators business… and the utter cluelessness of Forbes valuation of sports teams…
- After their loss to the Capitals on Sunday, the Rangers held a closed door meeting. Should make for an interesting Tuesday against the Preds.
- The Board of Governors Meeting is going on this week in California. Plenty to talk about…
- More stupidity on display over the weekend, Brooks Orpik’s hit on Loui Eriksson, Shawn Thorton’s subsequent hit on Orpik that resulted in Orpik being carted off the ice on a stretcher. Ascal Dupuis violent slash on Chris Kelly… and those were just in one game. And let’s not forget Dion Phaneuf’s hit from behind on Kevan Miller. Today should be a busy one for Brendan Shanahan.
- OT: How much fun was it to watch the snow games in the NFL yesterday?
- Four games tonight, 6:30pm starts – Flyers @ Senators, Blue Jackets @ Penguins. 9pm starts – Hurricanes @ Canucks, Islanders @ Ducks.
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