I think quite a few people doubted the recruitment including myself at times but I should have had more faith. It took me a while to see what Lord saw in McMonagle and Jardine. Its just the last few games that I have started to appreciate Jardine but Mcmonagle has really has been playing great for quite a while now. He has become a pivotal player particularly on the powerplay.
I think the defence took a lot of stick for the losses but the forwards were often not supporting them. What we saw again and again in the Belfast game was the D man taking the body and the forwards picking up the puck. It was a cracking defensive performance by the whole team.
I think a lot of the criticism in the bad patch was fair but like Rich I too thought some comments were over the top. It can't be nice for a player reading a forum to see fans calling for him to be sacked. We don't know what is going on in that players life.
In the 30 years I have followed hockey I have seen players form drop for so many reasons , (injuries, mental health problems, addictions, marital problems etc). So I try to remember that they are fallible human beings like us. Therefore I try to criticise the team or the players performance rather than attack the individual personally or ask for him to be sacked.