Five things: Hmmmmmmm
By Ryan Lambert
10 years ago
1.
An acknowledgement, with a caveat
Bob
Hartley spoke with the media the other day and said that while the
team has seen a number of positives over the course of the year, it
has largely been a “failure.”
Hartley spoke with the media the other day and said that while the
team has seen a number of positives over the course of the year, it
has largely been a “failure.”
Yes,
Bob. We agree. An unmitigated disaster from start to finish. Total
failure. This team failed in its primary goal to… what was that?
You weren’t done?
Bob. We agree. An unmitigated disaster from start to finish. Total
failure. This team failed in its primary goal to… what was that?
You weren’t done?
“In
my book, if you’re not a playoff team, you don’t have much. … In
the NHL it’s the final result. … We need to find a way to get
better because it’s still not good enough.”
my book, if you’re not a playoff team, you don’t have much. … In
the NHL it’s the final result. … We need to find a way to get
better because it’s still not good enough.”
Oh
it’s a failure because the team didn’t make the playoffs. I hate to
break it to you, Robert, but this team was never ever ever going to
make the playoffs. Not if you ran them out in a billion seasons
exactly like this one in a row.
it’s a failure because the team didn’t make the playoffs. I hate to
break it to you, Robert, but this team was never ever ever going to
make the playoffs. Not if you ran them out in a billion seasons
exactly like this one in a row.
The
reason this season is a failure is that the team was actually too
good. Didn’t we see throughout most of the late 90s and early 2000s
what being a borderline playoff team gets you? Miserable “prospects”
and no playoffs, and the former means little hope of the latter any
time soon. If you’re going to bomb out of the playoffs, you might as
well do it spectacularly, rather than valiantly going down swinging,
as the Flames have in winning five of seven down the stretch here.
Great, you’re 26th instead of 28th. How is that good, again?
reason this season is a failure is that the team was actually too
good. Didn’t we see throughout most of the late 90s and early 2000s
what being a borderline playoff team gets you? Miserable “prospects”
and no playoffs, and the former means little hope of the latter any
time soon. If you’re going to bomb out of the playoffs, you might as
well do it spectacularly, rather than valiantly going down swinging,
as the Flames have in winning five of seven down the stretch here.
Great, you’re 26th instead of 28th. How is that good, again?
2.
With that having been said…
It
sure was hilarious to see this team hang eight on Edmonton to really
drive home how awful they’ve been this year. The Oilers should
absolutely serve as a cautionary tale for Calgary insofar as this is
what a team being run by a moron throughout several years of a
rebuild looks like. Kevin Lowe is directly responsible for how bad
they’ve been forever. His drafting has often made little sense, but
at least the Oilers seem to finally be moving in the right direction.
sure was hilarious to see this team hang eight on Edmonton to really
drive home how awful they’ve been this year. The Oilers should
absolutely serve as a cautionary tale for Calgary insofar as this is
what a team being run by a moron throughout several years of a
rebuild looks like. Kevin Lowe is directly responsible for how bad
they’ve been forever. His drafting has often made little sense, but
at least the Oilers seem to finally be moving in the right direction.
Their
new GM seems smart and pretty savvy at his job so far. Their new
coach seems to be able to keep things kosher and handle problems well
in a town that feeds on negativity. Their best players are very much
top-end. They just don’t have the personnel (namely a few top-pairing
defensemen and a top-six forward) to be in any way competitive, but I
also don’t believe they’re all that far away.
new GM seems smart and pretty savvy at his job so far. Their new
coach seems to be able to keep things kosher and handle problems well
in a town that feeds on negativity. Their best players are very much
top-end. They just don’t have the personnel (namely a few top-pairing
defensemen and a top-six forward) to be in any way competitive, but I
also don’t believe they’re all that far away.
Doesn’t
mean seeing not one, not two, but three jerseys thrown on the ice as
things go from bad to worse isn’t hilarious. Because it is. It
really, really is.
mean seeing not one, not two, but three jerseys thrown on the ice as
things go from bad to worse isn’t hilarious. Because it is. It
really, really is.
3.
A delightful headline, and horrifying quote
Anyway,
you read through that article and you end up down near the bottom,
and Brian Burke winds up talking about the way the Flames approach
drafting (emphasis mine).
you read through that article and you end up down near the bottom,
and Brian Burke winds up talking about the way the Flames approach
drafting (emphasis mine).
“We
place great value and great pride on researching a player’s
character work ethic, accountability, empathy and coachabilty,”
said Burke. “We
have a list of adjectives on the list and I think there are about 20
and I think ‘work ethic’ appears four times out of that 20. We
try to research the kids, at least in the top-three rounds where we
have the assets to do it, we make mistakes like everybody, but we try
our best. We
don’t draft based on skill, that’s the second thing to us.
We think you have a better chance of succeeding if you bring in
character people than if you don’t.
“So
that’s a priority for us. We do have a DND list, Do Not Draft. Some
teams will evaluate a guy and say ‘He has NHL skills, but he’s
a head case, so put him in the second round.’ To me, he’s still a
head case in the second round, so we just take him off the list.”
Boy
oh boy, Brian. Boy oh boy. What else is there to say? You know
“intensity” is on that list of adjectives. You know, also, that
it is not an adjective.
oh boy, Brian. Boy oh boy. What else is there to say? You know
“intensity” is on that list of adjectives. You know, also, that
it is not an adjective.
Burke has an horrific draft record. That’s the important thing to keep in mind here. You have to wonder if he took Tyler Biggs over Brandon Saad, for example, because he liked his character more. Biggs is a regular scratch for an AHL team, while Saad is a regular contributor for one of the best hockey teams on the planet.
Even if you think I’m too negative about this team and its management and future, that quote should give you a season’s worth of pause. If it doesn’t, you have something seriously wrong with you.
4.
A look at the Friars
Last
week in this space I promised that I would provide a brief scouting
report of Providence College from my first viewing in a few months.
Jon Gillies had been playing exceptionally well after a bout of
subpar hockey following World Juniors, and Mark Jankowski seemed to
have turned things around and had been producing at a very
respectable rate.
week in this space I promised that I would provide a brief scouting
report of Providence College from my first viewing in a few months.
Jon Gillies had been playing exceptionally well after a bout of
subpar hockey following World Juniors, and Mark Jankowski seemed to
have turned things around and had been producing at a very
respectable rate.
I
can say now, that having watched them play UNH in the Hockey East
semifinals, that I have nothing good to report. Put simply, the
Wildcats bossed the Friars around basically from front to back and
went on to win 3-1. The Friars had just five shots In the first
period, conceded three goals in the second, and only mounted a
comeback when the game was, for all intents and purposes, over.
can say now, that having watched them play UNH in the Hockey East
semifinals, that I have nothing good to report. Put simply, the
Wildcats bossed the Friars around basically from front to back and
went on to win 3-1. The Friars had just five shots In the first
period, conceded three goals in the second, and only mounted a
comeback when the game was, for all intents and purposes, over.
Of
the three goals UNH scored, you could really only say one was in no
way Gillies’ fault, as it was a point shot that hit a defenseman’s
knee and went in far-side. That happens. The other two were garbage
goals scored on wraparounds on which Gillies, shall we say, did not
acquit himself well. The first was a shortie on which Kevin Goumas
blew the doors off a defenseman and went around the net, and Gillies
overcommitted to the shot attempt from the near side and couldn’t get
over. The second, he just quit on the play as the seconds wound down
in the period and didn’t even really seem to realize another Goumas
wraparound was being attempted, until it was too late. You can see
all the goals in this video. They’re not pretty:
the three goals UNH scored, you could really only say one was in no
way Gillies’ fault, as it was a point shot that hit a defenseman’s
knee and went in far-side. That happens. The other two were garbage
goals scored on wraparounds on which Gillies, shall we say, did not
acquit himself well. The first was a shortie on which Kevin Goumas
blew the doors off a defenseman and went around the net, and Gillies
overcommitted to the shot attempt from the near side and couldn’t get
over. The second, he just quit on the play as the seconds wound down
in the period and didn’t even really seem to realize another Goumas
wraparound was being attempted, until it was too late. You can see
all the goals in this video. They’re not pretty:
As
far as Jankowski goes, I’m not sure what happened to the guy who was
playing extremely well at both ends of the ice. He was on the ice for
the first and second goal against, and on the latter he wasn’t
covering anyone in particular. He also finished the game with just
one shot on goal. I would categorize him as being largely, umm,
ineffective. But not outright bad. Again, this was a team overwhelmed
by a club with a far more talented top line.
far as Jankowski goes, I’m not sure what happened to the guy who was
playing extremely well at both ends of the ice. He was on the ice for
the first and second goal against, and on the latter he wasn’t
covering anyone in particular. He also finished the game with just
one shot on goal. I would categorize him as being largely, umm,
ineffective. But not outright bad. Again, this was a team overwhelmed
by a club with a far more talented top line.
John
Gilmour, like Jankowski, finished minus-2 and with a single shot on
goal.
Gilmour, like Jankowski, finished minus-2 and with a single shot on
goal.
The
good news is this team’s season isn’t done, as it qualified for an
at-large NCAA tournament bid, and will face Quinnipiac on Friday
night. You’ll recall Quinnipiac as the team against which Jankowski
went without even a single shot attempt in late November (and against
which Gillies was ho-humly fabulous in earning a 3-all draw that his
team in no way deserved). It will be interesting to see what happens
this time around, with one hell of a lot more at stake.
good news is this team’s season isn’t done, as it qualified for an
at-large NCAA tournament bid, and will face Quinnipiac on Friday
night. You’ll recall Quinnipiac as the team against which Jankowski
went without even a single shot attempt in late November (and against
which Gillies was ho-humly fabulous in earning a 3-all draw that his
team in no way deserved). It will be interesting to see what happens
this time around, with one hell of a lot more at stake.
5.
More Gaudreau-type stuff
Johnny
Gadureau’s Boston College Eagles are also in the NCAA tournament,
obviously, as the top seed in their regional, and they play on
Saturday.
Gadureau’s Boston College Eagles are also in the NCAA tournament,
obviously, as the top seed in their regional, and they play on
Saturday.
But
before all that, the will-he/won’t-he drama about turning pro at the
end of the season continues to swirl. In a New York Times piece that
ran yesterday, Gaudreau made it seem like he might
not sign after all. The
money line, in the sixth paragraph from the bottom, reads thus:
before all that, the will-he/won’t-he drama about turning pro at the
end of the season continues to swirl. In a New York Times piece that
ran yesterday, Gaudreau made it seem like he might
not sign after all. The
money line, in the sixth paragraph from the bottom, reads thus:
“Gaudreau’s
mother would like to see her son finish college and graduate, and he
said his mother usually prevailed in these kinds of things.”
mother would like to see her son finish college and graduate, and he
said his mother usually prevailed in these kinds of things.”
I
dunno. Calgary’s almost certainly going to throw silly bonus money
and a chance to make the big club out of camp at him and he really
does have nothing left to prove in college hockey. The thing people
have been saying a lot is that this signing, or not signing, might
lean somewhat on whether BC wins a national title this year (a thing
I do not expect it to do). The thinking is that the chances he stays
in school for a final year increase significantly if they crash out
again.
dunno. Calgary’s almost certainly going to throw silly bonus money
and a chance to make the big club out of camp at him and he really
does have nothing left to prove in college hockey. The thing people
have been saying a lot is that this signing, or not signing, might
lean somewhat on whether BC wins a national title this year (a thing
I do not expect it to do). The thinking is that the chances he stays
in school for a final year increase significantly if they crash out
again.
I’m
not sure I buy it.
not sure I buy it.
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