The only thing that matters in this league is results. And the results aren't where they should be, given the talent on the team. Is that on the players? Yes, they have a job to do, and I don't think anyone could be happy with what we are seeing from them right now.
But it is also on the coaches and management. It is their job to make it work. And, without getting into the details of lineups and systems, there are two fundamental things that are pretty indisputable with the team right now, IMO:
1) the current style of play doesn't suit the personnel (other than Lucic and Mangiapane, who would probably look good in any system)
2) other teams are making adjustments to what the Flames are doing, but the Flames don't appear to be making adjustments of their own. The 3rd period line blender last night illustrates that the couching staff is just guessing at this point (so does the handling of Markstrom - my wife looked up and casually made the correct call and she wasn't even paying attention to the game)
I think those issues are pretty clear - we are seeing them both on a nightly basis. And for me, that alone is enough to say that changes have to be made.
This is speculation, but the players look like they don't believe, IMO.
|