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Originally Posted by Flames Fan, Ph.D.
I find it a bit strange reading people complaining about Ward. This team has consistently exhibited these no shows under multiple coaches. Do people really think Ward put a game plan on the blackboard and it strategically fell apart twice in the *first* minute? Not a chance. This is on the players and has been through multiple coaches now.
Biggest problem for me is that the young core of this team (outside of tkachuk) have just not managed to turn into *veteran* top line players. And by that, I mean the way that good players build on their years of experience and become smart and difficult to play against. Compare Monahan to Couturier or Barkov... 1 of those 3 has simply not developed the intelligence and savvy that 7 years in the league should bring.
The book seems to be out on Johnny: keep him to the perimeter and he'll wear himself out or commit to a low percentage shot from the goal line. He's not interested in working to get into the middle, and despite the years he and Mony have not figured out how to maintain possession in the zone (see kopitar / carter, perry / getzlaf, etc...).
I appreciate Gio as an on-ice player but as the undisputed top veteran on the team, the rest of the players don't play like a team that finds strength through the play of their captain.
Most of the second wave that was supposed to buttress mony and johnny has largely not panned out (Bennett, Jankowski) or isn't looking all that great (Dube, Kylington). This leaves Tkachuk as the stand-out with Andersson and Mangiapane looking solid but not outstanding.
Hard to see what Tre can do here. If I was another GM in this league, I'd be very leery of paying up to get my hands on a Monahan or a Gaudreau...
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The reason you talk about Ward is because if two main things you want coaches to do. Planning and motivating.
Johnny has skills. If “the book is out on him”, why isn’t the book “out” on guys like Patrick Kane and Mitch Marner? Is Johnny just too stupid to think of things on his own? Who watches video and gives the players advice about how to adjust their game? Who is directing Johnny’s linemates on where to go?
I can’t believe people have the coach a pass in the way you do. Paraphrasing, “The coach didn’t plan to have the team let in two quick goals”. Well, who teaches the team how to manage an aggressive forecheck? Under pressure, you sink to the level of your preparation.
Hartley with a garbage roster had the team well conditioned, and played with an incredibly quick transition. The D had the green light to join the rush creating a ton of outnumbered situations and goals for. They were relentless and rallied around an underdog identity.
Ward has the D wide and stationary a lot of the time. And no apparent identity to rally around.
When the team was outscoring their awful goaltending problems last year, they were moving the puck very quickly. Go back and watch some of the highlights from Gaudreau Monahan and Lindholm. Now the guys are sitting with the puck on their sticks for a couple of seconds and looking for safe plays, making it easier to defend. It’s like Gulutzan redux.
Hiring many crappy coaches in succession doesn’t all of a sudden make the coaches good and the players bad.
You have seen what the players are capable of, and the coaches are not getting it out of them. They need to identify how to emulate the way they play when they have a sense of urgency, more often. It’s with quick puck movement.
You know what we learned with the “my coach too” movement? A lot of coaches aren’t necessarily that smart.
No way you can just give the coach a pass when you can point out systemic issues and every player is underachieving, individually and collectively
I suspect he is doing what they used to do in Detroit. Tell guys he would rather see 60 points and a 200 foot game rather than 80 points. Because that’s how you win. And I suspect the players have adjusted their games to try and minimize risk and it has killed the parts that should work