Bryan Murray not pleased... sends message to team

Cap'n Clutch wrote:It appears to me that a big shakeup is in order. If you look back, this team has been playing poorly since this time last year with no real end in site. I don't think switching out a couple 3rd and 4th line guys is going to help.

So what does that entail though? People say they want a shake up or want this team to change, so what's it going to take... unless you split up this forever cursed "cash line", i just don't see anything changing. I just feel that the only thing that is cursing us is putting those three up as our last resort. Oh, if everything fails, then we can turn to those three... we can split them up during the game, but when there's 5 minutes left, lets get them together and see if they can produce anything cuz we're losing and we need to get some points up there. But it's just not happening.. my whole point about this rant is that who are we prepared to get rid of.. I don't see any changes happening in this team until a big move is made, meaning one of those 3 gone... which could happen alot of ways.. trade spezza, or even alfie retires, but that's at least 4 years away now and i sure as Dung dont want to trade Heatley...

Cap'n Clutch wrote:If not a shakeup, at least start putting your money where your mouth is. We can't afford to cut icetime from the top players?? Are you kidding me? What are they doing for us now? I say at least start there.

Seriously...I'd bench Spezza and Heater...both in the same game...why not?

Zubov is up...call up Bass...and/or Z.Smith...

Next game...sit Fisher...and Phillips...

Is anyone else finding it weird that D is an issue on this team, and by D I mean defensive play, considering how many defensive minded players we have on the roster.

Alfredsson, Fisher, Vermette, Kelly, McAmmond, Donovan, Phillips, Volchenkov, Smith, Schubert, Ruutu, and even Heatley to an extent 'gets it' on the defensive side of the puck.

That thought has crossed my mind.

PKC wrote:Is anyone else finding it weird that D is an issue on this team, and by D I mean defensive play, considering how many defensive minded players we have on the roster.

Alfredsson, Fisher, Vermette, Kelly, McAmmond, Donovan, Phillips, Volchenkov, Smith, Schubert, Ruutu, and even Heatley to an extent 'gets it' on the defensive side of the puck.

Does that suggest they are not buying into Hartsburg's system?

I hope not. How many coaches can we fire here before they "buy in" to a system?

Wasn't it only three to five years ago that this team was both the highest scoring and most stingy defensively? (or damn close)

We have lost:
Redden (not a big loss near the end, but good mostly)
Chara (definitely loss of a "fear factor" as well as the defensive aspect)
Mez (ok - not the best in his 2nd year, but rookie year, he was quite effective)

All three had offensive flair, as well as defensive skill. Since the decline of Redden, the loss of Chara, and the "return to earth" of Mez, the offense has had to spend more time on defense, and I wonder if that has pulled them off their game. It certainly has killed the transition game, which had always been one of the strong points.

The team has also gone through multiple coaches and styles - the "high-flying" Sens, to the "high-powered but defensively skilled" under Murray, then the "random line-arrangement of the period style" of Paddock, followed by corrective measures from Murray, and now Hartsburgh's more defensive, hard-hitting style.

Imagine being a 20 to 25-year old kid, trying to grow-up in the modern NHL, with the demands placed on you changing on a regular basis. How long would it be before you start tuning out, assuming that it won't be long before there will be someone new coming along to tell you to do something different (again)?

Think back to high-school, when you had a teacher out sick for a week or so. If you had a different supply teacher every day, did you pay attention much?

PKC wrote:Is anyone else finding it weird that D is an issue on this team, and by D I mean defensive play, considering how many defensive minded players we have on the roster.

Alfredsson, Fisher, Vermette, Kelly, McAmmond, Donovan, Phillips, Volchenkov, Smith, Schubert, Ruutu, and even Heatley to an extent 'gets it' on the defensive side of the puck.

At the same time, these guys can`t put a puck in the net to save their lives right now. I think if they were to light the lamp a little more often, they`d be fine defensively.

504Heater wrote:

PKC wrote:Is anyone else finding it weird that D is an issue on this team, and by D I mean defensive play, considering how many defensive minded players we have on the roster.

Alfredsson, Fisher, Vermette, Kelly, McAmmond, Donovan, Phillips, Volchenkov, Smith, Schubert, Ruutu, and even Heatley to an extent 'gets it' on the defensive side of the puck.

At the same time, these guys can`t put a puck in the net to save their lives right now. I think if they were to light the lamp a little more often, they`d be fine defensively.

Our biggest problem defensively is our team speed. We have become one of the slowest teams in the league. Having to overcompensate for that is tough. It's not just getting beat by speedy forwards on the rush either, it's smaller things like recovering to get back in postion when they need to. This team needs to get quicker in all areas, plain and simple.

hemlock34 wrote:Our biggest problem defensively is our team speed. We have become one of the slowest teams in the league. Having to overcompensate for that is tough. It's not just getting beat by speedy forwards on the rush either, it's smaller things like recovering to get back in postion when they need to. This team needs to get quicker in all areas, plain and simple.

You won`t hear me arguing with that. Although, the forwards we can get away with, but the D is sooooo slow. Ba-arf.

On that note, they actually played half-way decently tonight. It wasn`t the arse kicking I thought it would be.

Nope it wasn't. But something tells me we aren't getting a win this week

hemlock34 wrote:Nope it wasn't. But something tells me we aren't getting a win this week

The Rangers are not as good as their record. There are scrapping out wins, are an extremely soft team and come playoff time, they will be bounced. Not impressed with them at all.

Depending what happens Thurs, I think Sat we will win that game.

Well I hope so. I just think it's going to get darker before it gets bright again. This isn't a funk or a bad stretch of games. I don't need to tell you that. lol

hemlock34 wrote:Well I hope so. I just think it's going to get darker before it gets bright again. This isn't a funk or a bad stretch of games. I don't need to tell you that. lol

Oh, Im defently the last person you need to tell that too. Sad tonight that Eastwood and some others were comparing some guys on the Sens to Penner saying they just arnt competitive and dont know how or posess the things you need to win.

Sad but true, its more than 1 guy for sure.

Neely: I know you have been saying for a while, that they won't re-unite the Pizza line and then they go and do it last night. What is your take on that? I personally see it as a desperation move.

It was a definite desperation move, but to be honest, I really liked the lines last night... Until Fisher was out, and given the fact that Neil was out- I think we might have something here-

Alf-Spezz-Heatley
Vermette-Kelly-Winchester
Foligno-Fisher-Ruutu
Donovan-Bass-Neil


In my opinion, Bass should be here instead of Zubov. I know Ilya has been killing it in the minors, but he's not the type of player we need right now. We need two lines that are a scoring threat (the top two- how dangerous was that Vermette line last night??), and then two lines that beat the hell out of the opposition. I might flip flop Donovan and Ruutu on those third and fourth lines... Can we stop playing Dean McAmmond though... I love the guy, he just again doesnt seem to fit the mold of what we need right now.

Well, perhaps with Fisher out for who knows HOW long, Murray may have to make a move a little sooner than he thought.

Maybe Vermette is on the verge of getting ready to explode...
Here's my prediction: If Vermette doesn't turn his game around in the 3-5 games TOPS, he'll be gone...

As for your lines Jordo, I like them, but now one has to wonder, how long is Neil out and with Fisher down, should we expect a few more call-ups?

I don't mind keeping Zubov and then calling up Bass as well.

Alfie---Spezza----Heatley

Vermette---Kelly----Winchester

Foligno-----Zubov----Ruutu

Donovan----Bass------McAmmond