Quote:
Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache
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
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Hartley had the team motivated until he didn't, the year he got fired. GG ahd them motivated his first year, then he didn't and he got fired. Peters had the team motivated last year and this year he didn't before he got fired for other reasons. They came out hard for Ward right after the switch and then they didn't. Recently they got up for big games against Toronto, St. Louis and Edmonton and sucked against teams like Ottawa. Was Ward a good motivator for some games but not others? At some point it's not the coach.
I've got no issue with replacing Ward with a known successful coach, but I think this team's motivational problems are not on him.