I am personally not too bothered by the team last night. It was just further confirmation of what I have been seeing unravelling here for them this season. The more they played, the more disorganized and confused they look out there.
I argue that most of the players are giving an effort out there. Confusion can be misinterpreted as effort in my opinion. When you don't know where to go or what exactly to do, you hesitate, you hold onto pucks a bit too long when you shouldn't, and then you panic and get rid of them too quickly before you made a good decision. From the top down, this team just seems like a confused and rattled mess, and they have been getting worse.
That's poor coaching.
Does Ottawa look confused out there? At times they do when the pressure is on (and that's what pressure is supposed to do - create breakdowns in the other team's system). Last night they looked like the more veteran team out there. Calgary was more rattled.
Nobody on the Flames had a strong night. Lots of players had strong moments for sure, but nobody last night had a consistently strong game. Markstrom was solid in net, terrible with his adventures out of the net. Bennett looked terrible to start, but then came on strong. Valimaki made some great plays, and sometimes looked weak out there. I thought Giordano was mostly strong, but he missed stuff out there too.
This is why Ward was fired. This team's performance. It wasn't just the win/loss record. 2 weeks before he ended up getting fired I felt it was time to do so as there weren't any fixes being implemented. The team looked confused. That's how Lebrun characterized Montreal this year - confused players out there. That's how I characterize the players here in Calgary - confused. The coach was fired, and they are still uncomfortable out there not knowing what to do all the time, and having about 4 kernels of confidence to spread among themselves.
Chapter is officially turned now. That era is over. I don't think it is a time for wholesale trades, to blow things up - I don't think there is any other moves to be made right now. Everyone gets a fresh sheet of paper. Every single player on the team are getting new beds starting Thursday, because every single player on this team has shat their own bed at various times this season.
Yesterday's game no longer means anything to me except that they got a point. I don't think that this team needs to trade any of their players, nor do I think this team has to keep any of their players. This is a complete blank slate for me. I want to see what Darryl does. I want to see who buys in and who fits where, and then judge how they are doing at their respective roles as it unfolds.
Some players might surprise you with how much more they have to give. I think Hartley made Backlund, in a way. When Backlund first joined the league, he was going to be this 'offensive centre'. When that didn't happen right away, Brent Sutter caged him up and told him he was going to be a defensive centre. Gave him one job only - to stop goals. Brent was a terrible coach. When Hartley came on, he told Backlund that being just that isn't good enough, and he challenged Backlund to be both. He screamed at Backlund when Backlund cheated on defensive coverage. He made Backlund accountable, and I would say Backlund really came into his own at that time.
Darryl is a good coach. He will get the most out of this roster. This roster will work hard, they will stop being confused, and they will start playing as a team. He will fix all the locker room issues (his teams are always close).
The pieces that don't fit? Well, that's what the trade deadline is for, and what the off-season is for. Right now, every single player is going to wake up on Thursday morning to a brand new bed with brand new sheets. That's how I look at it.
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