That wasn’t exactly fun to watch.
I think we all know that the constituent parts of this team aren’t good enough to win a league title.
It doesn’t mean that we have to throw everything in the bin, but certain things need to be accepted to build for next season:
1. Certain Brits aren’t what they were. We moved Myers on, and from a purely hockey perspective that might have been right. I think there are 2 who are on the chopping block, but it could be 1 or 3. It cannot be 0, as that would be a tacit acceptance of the drop in performances.
2. I would suggest that 7 of the 12 forwards are ok moving forward (CCS, Martin, 4th line). If we retain CCS they should go back to being a line, with a line centred around Martin with decent players. I’m afraid there are far too many forwards who offer absolutely nothing.
3. The D this year just aren’t good enough as a unit. The first time round Jardine was part of a core that had Fournier, McMonagle, and Morrisonn. Unfortunately, Big Lou seems to have gone over his peak and the others aren’t as good as those they’ve replaced from recent successful years.
4. The overall quality needs to improve. In 19/20 our roster had 487 NHL games and 2180 AHL games (with experience across a lot of top leagues). The current roster has 0 NHL games and 645 AHL games. Now, obviously experience in big leagues isn’t the be all and end all, but it indicates that the quality of player has lessened over time. This could be for a myriad of reasons, but I think the drop in levels is also obvious to those of us watching.
I’m not defending the coaching. The powerplay is a disgrace. But when you look at the drop in player experience and the implied drop in quality then I imagine it would be very difficult to achieve. Lordo was a very good coach, but he also had better tools to work with.
If we are sticking with Dupont, the. He needs to be given the right tools.
I think we all know that the constituent parts of this team aren’t good enough to win a league title.
It doesn’t mean that we have to throw everything in the bin, but certain things need to be accepted to build for next season:
1. Certain Brits aren’t what they were. We moved Myers on, and from a purely hockey perspective that might have been right. I think there are 2 who are on the chopping block, but it could be 1 or 3. It cannot be 0, as that would be a tacit acceptance of the drop in performances.
2. I would suggest that 7 of the 12 forwards are ok moving forward (CCS, Martin, 4th line). If we retain CCS they should go back to being a line, with a line centred around Martin with decent players. I’m afraid there are far too many forwards who offer absolutely nothing.
3. The D this year just aren’t good enough as a unit. The first time round Jardine was part of a core that had Fournier, McMonagle, and Morrisonn. Unfortunately, Big Lou seems to have gone over his peak and the others aren’t as good as those they’ve replaced from recent successful years.
4. The overall quality needs to improve. In 19/20 our roster had 487 NHL games and 2180 AHL games (with experience across a lot of top leagues). The current roster has 0 NHL games and 645 AHL games. Now, obviously experience in big leagues isn’t the be all and end all, but it indicates that the quality of player has lessened over time. This could be for a myriad of reasons, but I think the drop in levels is also obvious to those of us watching.
I’m not defending the coaching. The powerplay is a disgrace. But when you look at the drop in player experience and the implied drop in quality then I imagine it would be very difficult to achieve. Lordo was a very good coach, but he also had better tools to work with.
If we are sticking with Dupont, the. He needs to be given the right tools.
