Loss against Dallas was super rough. Not only did they beat us in the playoffs, we play them in the winter classic in half a month and they just killed us. There is an article out today about how the Preds used to be the team that would out hustle the other team, work harder, dig out the dirty pucks, win despite talent, etc. The article says we finally saw that again this past Saturday, unfortunately it was Dallas playing like that. We now have the talent and skill we should be able to go out and dominate based on those talents but somehow we can't figure out how to do that and we lost the drive to work harder. We are caught in the middle somewhere and have no identity.
Honestly, I have felt like that the past couple years. Used to be, we would play the same type of game the other team wanted to play and try and win. If they wanted to go slow, things would go real slow and we would try and outwork the other team. If they wanted to go fast we would go fast. If they wanted to play rough and goon it up, we would do that. There has to come a point in time where you have the dominant level of talent where you can say "No, we are going to play our style and you can't stop it. You will need to adjust your play style to try." Unfortunately, we never get there. It seems to be the coach's plan to always change how we play based on our opponent which in general causes you to play down to your opponent's level instead of playing above your opponent's level and dominating them. I wouldn't be shocked if the Preds don't have a new coach before next season if this continues. The GM has spent to win now. We have the talent. If the current coaching staff can't even get us into the playoffs with this roster, then it is time for a change. Our GM is good. Just depends whether he sees us pulling out of this and getting in to the playoffs this year or not. If not, the change could come soon. You get into the playoffs and anything can happen but right now we are below the line. The other problem is, none of the available coaches out there are what we would want either in my opinion. I would much rather bring in some new blood but that rarely happens in the NHL. We got the coach from the Spokane minor league team to help with our power play but a minor league coach or even college that is going to bring some fresh ideas and be able to adapt to today's style of hockey would be nice but I am not a GM.
Sorry, long rant but that is what you get when you are supposed to be good and suck.
The truth of the matter is the NHL generally speaking has teams that are all competive.
When a team wins & the other team losses the sports guys have their spin.
If there's a win the story goes ....they played great. Defense offence goaltending....
If there's a loss it's ....they played lousy. Defense offence & goaltending only par average....effort.
When in fact we played great but the other team played very good too.
But there are times ....your so right. It's other team played great & we played lousy.
Is it lack of effort or is it mental & physical tiredness?
Think Nashville is playing 3 games in 4 nights against good skating teams. If they win 2 out of 3 they will have done good.
Elvis was known to go on a concert tour that took him to 14 dif. cities in 14 days !!!
No wonder the guy was on uppers/downers.
Too much workload.
Can a NHL team play 80 plus games & then play far into the playoffs ...
Does the best team win or is it the most durable team win
Good skating skilled team like the Maple Leafs would be Stanley Cup Champions again but their players wear down & cannot give it their all when it matters.
Boston would of won last year but the Blues were just more durable while Boston had lower energy in game 7. Mind said do this & that but their body said "No" .
Nashville team needs more time to physically & mentally to recover. That's why they are an up & down team.
No erase all above ideas.
Some teams the players are just happy they have nice cheques. Let's just cruise along & not bust our butts off. We get paid the same.
Then fans & sports media get on their butts so the team says " Well boys guess we better suck it up & play hard & get a win to satisfy our fans & put out the negative media stories.
No erase all above ideas...let's go with an idea I read recently.
Nashville must play their game & get an identity. Not adjust their game to who they play against.
If results do not come ...make a head coach change.
TNA for head coach of the Predators !!!
Author
Topic: 2019-2020 NHL Hockey season (Read 242853 times)