Do you bring up Elliot?

Tukker wrote:I have to agree with N4L here. Management can do all they can to make a worse team this year, but they should never condone losing. Plus, remember last time we tried to blow the season?

asq2 wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:

asq2 wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:Well unlike the fans, Murray and Hartsberg want to win now, they are not trying to finish in last place. Yeah, thats what everyone wants knowing the Sens making the playoffs is a long shot, but thats not the way it works.

Elliott has been working for his shot, and now he finally gets it, this is the way things are supposed to go. I think its a bit early to do it personally, but they need results now. Now we find out if Elliott is a true number 1 goaltender in the making, we have to know before the year is up because you cant go into next year having a goaltending problem again!

They are starting to evaluate where the team and organization is at, this is basically throwing in the towel. This also allows Glass to get a bulk of starts and see what they have in him as well, maybe he can be the backup here, wouldnt count on it though.

Then it is in the interest of this hockey club that they be removed from their positions.

Well the idea is to win, not to lose, despite what fans want. You dont blow the rest of the season, sure you re-tool, you trade away current assets for future ones, but you dont blow the games.

Its not in the best intrest of the hockey club because creating an acceptable losing environment is worse than anything. I dont know how you can justify losing on purpose or not trying to better the club no matter the circumstances.

Because you can get a player around which you can build your franchise for the next 15 years.

"Re-tooling" and trying to improve a hopeless hockey club is exactly what the Quinn and JFJ Leafs did for years and all it did was prolong the agony of mediocrity.

Being terrible is much better than being mediocre, because mediocrity is a self-perpetuating cycle.

The idea is to win the Stanley Cup. That requires getting players that are capable of doing so. Drafting them is the best way to do this because you'll have them on rookie contracts.

Let me put it this way: there is no chance that we make the playoffs this season. Knowing this, it is not in our long-term interest to aim for 9th place when we could aim for 15th.

That's not to say that you tell your players to go out and lose. You just put together a roster than hopefully gives the young kids playing time and loses consistently. And we've got the losing part down cold.

If we give up guys like Erik Karlsson and this year's first rounder for some half-@$$ed attempt at 8th place, I will become a Chicago Blackhawks fan.

asq2 wrote:My concern is either that Elliott steps in and dominates and we start winning, or that we lose and he loses confidence.

I dunno. I'd rather save him 'til next year.

Neely4Life wrote:I really dont think he is the difference between a bottom 5 finish or not. I really dont think it matters who is inbetween the pipes.

cash wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:I really dont think he is the difference between a bottom 5 finish or not. I really dont think it matters who is inbetween the pipes.

So are you saying that you don't think he'll play well? Because the reality is that this team is forced into overcompensating for their lack of a true #1. As a result, they have no confidence in their ability to making the risk-reward type of play that successful teams make.
This team has tons of potential for success, but they do not have a goalie they can rely on. If that changes, the playoffs aren't out of the question.

hemlock wrote:I'll take all 3.

I'd also rather not expose Elliot to this environment. Let's see what happens on the trade front and how that affects the mood of the team. If the spirits improve, I'm all for giving him a few starts to see where his game is at. It's a real possibility that we are looking at an Elliott/Auld tandem next year anyway. That is of course unless we can somehow resign Gerber to a massive long term deal.