Quote:
Originally Posted by Blaster86
They weren't keeping Horvat and Hronek has been wonderful.
For me it was bringing in Tocchet. His mismanagement of personnel on and off the ice has directly led to a lot of this. The more we found out as the season went on just blew my mind. Him having Miller go after Pettersson to motivate him (despite them having a history) then singling out Miller for his attitude over his demeanor with Pettersson. Regularly complaining to the media that players are not doing the things he is asking them to do or are outright defying his game plan... while changing nothing with those players and then punishing young players who attempt to do different things. Trying to change Pettersson's play style to something he is obviously uncomfortable with. Demanding a large blueline even at the expense of puck movement and skating ability then creating an offensive system that plays through the back end with only two players capable of doing it because four players are big and not much else.
In the end, he was brought in by head office because he was cheap and known to them. He's everything I was worried he was going to be outside of a 6 month period from the end of his first year and February of his second year. Since then he has been the same coach he was in Tampa and Phoenix. Boring, uninspired and unprepared to coach in the modern NHL, relying on strategies and a style of play that hasn't worked since Tocchet was a player.
The team's success hinges on Pettersson, as right now the difference in this team making and missing the play-offs is his production and to a lesser extent Demko's health assuming Lankinen turns back into a pumpkin. If this team is going to be so dependent on Petey, the coach needs a plan that uses him effectively or the team needs a coach that is willing to use him effectively. Tocchet is giving massive Tortorella "Sedins need to block shots" vibes with what he is trying to do with Petey.
The expectation is Tocchet is going to be re-signed shortly, and I am just not interested in watching more of this. Losing is fine. Being boring is a cardinal sin in entertainment. Being boring and losing is going to free up a lot of season tickets, as it should. I sincerely hope they take the obvious failures from the system and personnel from this season and make adjustments but Tocchet failed to do that at every one of his stops as a head coach and I assume this will be no different.
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Other than the cheap part, this sounds too much like the old school and mind game crap that Sutter was pulling in Calgary, with similar hatred amongst the players at the end of the season.