After watching the first ten games of this season, it is abundantly clear to me on a few key things:
1.) This team is tissue soft - no physicality of any sort. No willingness to go the hard and greasy areas, now hard forecheck or physical defence. Hit someone for gawd's sake! Make teams pay for being in front of our net or entering our zone. Be hard on the opposing D in the offensive zone...
2.) This team is too worried about making the pretty play than just grinding it out to get to the finish line - too much selfishness. Look at Tkatchuk - love his grit and the crap he starts but he is too busy trying to make highlight reel shots and passes then play with purpose or make the smart play.
3.) This team makes bad passes and decisions and holds the puck too long in the neutral zone. Watch Gio for example - how many passes does he make that hit the opposing player in the skates or get blocked because he waits too long? The giveaways are brutal and killing this team.
4.) This team can't hit the side of a barn when shooting. Its ridiculous how many shot attempts miss wide or high - they need to practice precision shooting. Watch other teams - how many shots go wide or miss? Far less than this team.
5.) Why are guys like Simon and Leivo not being sat for other options or other guys (Like Bennett) to play on the top three lines. This team needs playoff Bennett, but with consistency. I get he is not consistent but he's far better than Simon and Leivo. I'll take Bennett and his inconsistency and bad penalties over these two all day, every day.
At the end of the day it does come down to coaching and line up decisions. Simon, Leivo need to be spare parts - not top line players. Coaches need to make tough calls and have the guts to do it. Backlund makes a bad decision and giveaway that costs the team, bench him. Lucic is not being physical - bench him. Bennett is playing unengaged, bench him. Tkatchuk is being too selfish, bench him - send the message and be the coach, not the good guy.
Just my take...
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