Quote:
Originally Posted by monkeyman
Confidence comes from preparation, fortitude comes from knowing and believing you have a plan, strength comes from everyone being on the same page and rowing in the same direction.
This team seems to be lacking in all those categories. This is a good team and talent alone will guarantee you some level of success, but their ceiling lies in the coach, and I don't think it's any higher than we're seeing in the last year and a half, which is pretty middle of the road.
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Well put. This is the difference between mediocrity and high-level teams in almost any team sport. I would wager the majority of CP would be in agreement that the Flames have an above average talented roster this year. So why would anyone deny that it's fair to point the finger squarely at the coaching staff at this point? It is their jobs, after all, to get the most out of said roster. As it stands, this year has been a tire fire aside from that 8 game stretch that is now a distant memory.
If the Flames are ever going to get back to a level where they are contending each and every year, they're going to need a coaching staff in place that are willing to push buttons and show emotion more than once or twice a season. The Babcock's and Quenville's of the league are certainly not going bizerk behind the bench every night, but they are geniuses at reading their teams and know when to apply emotion, calm, call a timeout and yank a bloody goalie from the game. They also have the innate ability to adjust line combinations and make them work beyond trying Troy Brouwer with just about every two-some on the roster and expecting different results.