Tkachuk to me really helps highlight the problems with this team, and they are major. I view him as kind of a JJ Watt light in that he is an energy guy, a guy who wants to mix it up to get himself going. Young. Emotional. Fiery. Inevitably, some guys get tired of that shtick (I'm not passing judgment - it's just how I think some guys perceive it) and you need culture and leadership in the room that either makes guys who play like Tkachuk the way that the whole team plays, or at least a room that is strong enough to absorb Tkachuk and all that comes with him. There's a whole identity needed for it to work, but if that identify is there it is a special thing.
This team has no identity. This team lacks leadership. Geoff Ward from everything I can see (which is admittedly only a fan's perspective) doesn't hold the respect of the players, plays hunches wrong the majority of the time (many others have spotlighted his questionable line combinations in crucial moments, I won't go into that here), and overall appears in over his head.
This team has no leadership. Giordano I must believe is a leader off the ice, and I'm sure his fitness regimen and experience in the league are big reasons why. But on the ice he doesn't drive guys like you want your captain to do. He's almost always reliable in his own end and plays smart hockey, but I question whether the young guys respect him because of who he is and what he's done, or whether they respect him so much that they don't want to let him down with lackluster effort. I suspect it's the former, and the latter is why this team is so damned inconsistent. The effort is not there night in and night out, and Tkachuk's abundance of of effort is annoying as a teammate when you're not putting it in yourself.
The team needs an overhaul at the top with a coach that players will be afraid to disappoint, either out of a respect or fear of losing their jobs. Ward inspires neither. If that happens and the effort and consistency don't come with it, then you blow up the core and decide whether inconsistent albeit talented players like Gaudreau or intense albeit emotional players like Tkachuk are going to form what you want your team to be, and build from there.
What I can't handle is more of the status quo; you will have a team that largely doesn't play for each other each night that is talented enough to be an early-bounced playoff team year after year. You'll have players like Tkachuk who are driven to compete leave when the culture of the organization doesn't rise to meet them.
Think about the last time this team was really successful and made you believe they had something special; for me it was the Hartley era Flames. That was a team that worked. That was their identity. You got consistent effort. Guys bought in. MUCH less talented than today's Flames. But better.
For the record, I am obviously a HUGE Tkachuk guy. I think the guy is a winner and a competitor who gives what he has every night (for the most part) and then gets frustrated when others don't match his level of intensity. I also love Giordano - but I think he leads by example much more than by his voice, and this is a group that I believe needs to get their asses kicked by someone they respect on a regular basis. I don't think Giordano is that guy, and I am almost certain that the players haven't had a coach that they really respected since Hartley.
Finally, think for a moment what Tkachuk would look like on a team with a culture that could absorb him. How would he be in Boston? Chicago? Tampa? He'd be outstanding there, and his team would feed on that and become better. That's a culture we don't have, and until we do we will not compete.
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