Quote:
Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina
I thought their points were valid. If, at this stage of the season, the coach is having to remind players not to try and beat guys 1:1 at the end of a shift, but to rather get the puck deep, VERY basic stuff, is that the coach's fault or the players' fault?
And moreover, the premise was that not enough of these players are willing to pay the price.
How many guys on the team can you say HATE to lose? The guys they named were Gio, Smith, Tkachuk and Johnny (in his own way - their words not mine).
I would probably add Hamonic to that list.
The rest of the team? They don't seem committed enough.
Why isn't everyone willing to block shots? Sidney Crosby will do ANYTHING to win. He is above nothing.
So why are our best players not like that?
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The team led the league in blocked shots when Hartley coached and we complained they blocked too many shots instead of being in position. A lot of Kings forwards are having much better seasons under a new coach. Was Sutter telling guys like Brown and Kopitar not to score? Of course not but it goes to show that a lot can change from coach to coach. This team did not have confidence issues under Hartley nor did they have commitment issues as they competed to the last seconds of games. Not advocating that Hartley should be coaching the team but these confidence and commitment issues came with Gulutzan.