Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
Is it any surprise the team is playing it's best hockey after the shakeup of bringing up energetic youth to replace dead weight? The team started the season wasting roster spots on AHL quality vets like Bartkowski, Lack, Glass, F. Hamilton when younger and better players were already in the system. Sometimes I wonder about the archaic culture amongst NHL GM's and coaches and the over reliance on over the hill veteran players and reluctance to play younger players that are faster and more skilled and carry the only downside of possibly making a few more mistakes as they progress. I really hope this team is finished with the experiment of brining in cheap veteran junk to fill holes that should be filled from within.
As for the coach. I still wouldn't change my vote as a five game winning streak is nice but if it's followed by .500 hockey it wont matter. It's not the winning streaks that have been his problem it's the play of the team when they aren't on a winning streak where the team plays long stretches of .500 or below that's the issue. He needs to make the playoffs to keep his job.
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This has been said many times, but none of those younger players (outside of Jankowski) earned a roster spot ahead of those veterans that you are disparaging. Say what you will, but Glass had a strong camp, and then looked positively lackluster once the season began. THAT's when he was sent down, not directly after looking much more effective than the youngsters everyone loved. Jankowski was sent down only because they wanted to continue Bennett at center and there was no room for Janko at center yet. Once Bennett moved to wing, Jankowski was brought up (after 8 whole games) and hasn't looked back. Management even commented on the fact that they knew he was an NHLer, and they just had to make a roster move to get him up permanently.
And then, we have to take into consideration that some of those players needed the kick in the pants of being sent down to energize them again (Hathaway being the most notable). On top of that, you need to create a base level of competition for those prospects. By having guys like Glass and Bartkowski who are, as you say accurately, AHL level competition, those players need to prove they are better than the bare minimum of passable NHL play to earn a job. I see nothing wrong with having stop gaps until the kids are ready, and now it appears that they are ready for the most part after a little further seasoning in the AHL. I'm not sure they would be this effective if they started in the NHL and they were still working on their game or looking to regain their form.
As for Gulutzan, it's amazing what a difference a week can make, especially when the goalie starts playing really well and the top line catches fire. I give GG some credit for keeping this team from going on an extended losing streak when both of those things mentioned in the last sentence were not happening. I'll take .500 hockey when the team isn't playing anywhere near its best. What you can't afford is prolonged losing streaks. Go look at the snake thread and compare to last year. While this team has been working out the kinks, they've not lost many games back to back or had losing streaks longer than 3 games. That will always keep you in the hunt over the course of a very long season.
Now that they're playing a strong and confident game (especially defensively), they look like serious contenders in the West.