Quote:
Originally Posted by Locke
I'm going to disagree. He had no idea what his ideal lineup was on opening night, slotting in guys like Grossman, who was subsequently bounced out of the league, and mixing his lines all over the place and constantly changing his defensive pairings.
This was due in part to not adequately using his pre-season opportunities to hone both his roster and his systems.
And further, your example of the Pittsburgh Penguins? Not even remotely the same thing, Mike Johnston was fired after 28 games and replaced by Mike Sullivan and then there was an almost immediate and meteoric improvement.
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How about Trotz as an example? A clearly acknowledged good coach, it took him at least 20 games to get the Caps playing his way.
GG was hampered by not having his star player in camp at all, and having Monahan out for a good chunk as well. Elliott didn't play well off the bat, which wasn't a bonus for sure (and there was every reason at the beginning of the season to play Elliott over Johnson, who'd had a pretty mediocre preseason).