K-9

Head up his ass Eichel showed up so far. He needs to bear down and join rest of the team in a good effort to this point. Our PP is a momentum killer and the Leafs PK got their crowd into it. Like I was saying...

His Kracken?

No emails, but I have hundreds of messages chiseled in stone and hundreds more on papyrus scrolls. I am impressed with how important you folks are. I’ll betcha you were the first to get pagers back in the day.

Can you imagine Eichel paired with Hall and Skinner? I hope Risto isn’t traded as he is one of our few players with any amount of “jam” in his game. Granted, he’s a middle pair D man at best, but if he is traded it better be for what you said and no less. I trust Botterill will get a commensurate return.

Good article. He’s not the first prospect Edmonton has rushed and ruined in recent years. Given his defensive shortcomings, I can see why Hitchcock won’t give him meaningful minutes and a change of scenery is needed. I’m not sure he’s what we need at this time though as we have a similar prospect in Tage Thompson, imo.

Mitts belongs in this league. You’ll be singing a different tune in a couple years.

One of their best in a long, long while. Having November Hutton really helped.

That’s all anyone needs to know about Skinner. I have to change my choice to him over Panarin. Can’t coach what has got.

Love Skinner, but I’d rather have Panarin for his better playmaking ability.

We need 33 out of the remaining 44 points to equal Bylsma’s two year point total of 159. A .750 clip (stifled laughter). I’m gonna go out on a limb and predict Phil and the boys can’t do that.

Guess they aren’t happy with Mahomes.

Agree entirely. But Housley won’t be held accountable for anything by his boss. Because he “communicates with the players” and they “give effort” and they are “in games until the end.” But most of all it’s because they are “progressing.” Not sure how being the third worst team in the league since the streak adds up to “progress”, but that’s where we are. Seems to me that the players have bought into the front office idea that losing is ok as long as they try hard. I’ll just leave it at this: if anyone in that locker room, ANYONE, was happy with last night’s game, they should be cut immediately. Players like Drury wouldn’t tolerate that for a second. The losing culture is deeply ingrained in this team. Confusing effort with results is a disease.

Yep, they are pleased as punch, because they’ve established two low bar criteria for success: playing hard and staying in it to the end; the BARE Fing minimum for expectations. And losing. Again. Continuing to confuse effort with results. Not what a winning organization should espouse.

I’m sure Botterill and Housely are quite pleased with tonight’s game. It checked all their boxes for success: they gave effort, they were in it to the very end, and...well, that’s about it. Moral victories are for losers.

I agree about expecting turd sandwiches. Doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be called out when they do offer it up, though. Some turd sandwiches are more revealing than others. As such, I’m concerned about what Botterill considers progress and success.

I fully understand the position Botterill is in and I'd never suggest he throw Housley under the bus. I'd find that unprofessional and unacceptable. But I also cannot accept the turd sandwich he threw out there for our consumption yesterday. I had hoped he was smarter than that. Worse, he may actually believe that giving effort and playing hard is some sort of achievement, when it's the bare minimum requirement. No great shakes in that department and I give Housley no credit for that. Every team in the league plays hard most nights. Like I said, it sounds like Botterill and Co. are confusing effort with results. This team has been treading water, nothing more. And if Housley needs "his players" to implement "his system" and we need to wait years for that or we have to wait for a team full of All Stars before we can say he's a good coach or not is a crock, imo. Good coaches can exhibit good traits, regardless of the talent level on their team. They especially need show good coaching ability when the talent level isn't optimal. I've seen precious little of that from him so far. But I'm sure he'll be a great coach when he has that team of All Stars at his disposal.

OK, not only did Housley come close to replicating Bylsma's post All Star game pace of 96 points, he smashed it! In the first six weeks of the season. Because of a 10 game win streak. Isn't there an old sports adage about not where you start, but how you finish? Housley's been on a 67 point pace since December, and falling. And, even though they sit at one point better than last year's 62 points, they will be hard pressed to equal Bylsma's season worst of 78 points. Should have kept Rolston! Botterill can support his coach publicly without insulting the intelligence of long suffering fans by offering platitudes and cliches about effort. Or, maybe not.

Then by all means, Housley needs to be in the discussion for coach of the year! Bylsma’s pace may have been post All Star break, so it wouldn’t have been an even season split. Doesn’t matter. Seriously though, Housley leading them to a great record in the first half (actually first two months) has nothing to do with today. Nothing. It was ENTIRELY the result of a completely fluke 10 game win streak. Question: was it the great coaching or crappy players that brought us that streak? It’s been so long I can’t remember. What’s his pace since the streak ended? It was at 67 points going into the Panther game. Not much better than the 62 for last year’s season. And counting. Anyway, I found Botterill’s quotes lacking in a huge way. Especially that bull crap about how Housely and the staff do such a great job communicating with the players. Really? Because they look like nothing is sinking in. But hey, they compete hard, so yippee!

I’ve been a coach K fan since meeting him and Bobby Knight at West Point at a clinic when I was 10. Been a die hard Duke fan since he became their coach. And I agree entirely with your post. I give Carolina all the credit for taking the game to Duke the way they did. It was a great display of basketball the way the game should be played, imo. All credit to NC for the win. I was very impressed with Maye. He never stops moving on the floor and doesn’t seem to wear down, either. Not the norm for a big man.

Good luck with your wager. I think it it depends on our start because if the ‘Ning start hard and fast, I can see this team folding like the cheap tent they resemble. Then again, this fragile group doesn’t handle prosperity very well, either, as the season long let down of giving up quick goals after scoring continues as well. We’ve played them tough this season. But that was before the true nature of this team was revealed. If Housley doesn’t have answers for the Devils and Panthers of this league, I gotta think he’d be completely befuddled by the likes of Tampa Bay. Im sorry. I forgot. It’s ENTIRELY the players’ fault for any unsuccessful outcomes this year. The coach actually has little to do with it. Other than making sure they “compete” and are “in the game” late in the third. It’s almst like the quit job against the Blackhawks during the recent home stand never happened.

I didn’t hear the presser, but I just read a few of his comments. I now have concerns about Botterill as well. Not because he’s retaining Housley as I can understand that in his position as GM. Rather, it’s his hackneyed rhetoric about “being in games” that has me worried. This team has “been in games” and “competing” hard for years. They were “in games” last year and under Bylsma, too. Indeed, the second half of Bylsma’s first season saw the team play at a 96 point pace for an entire season. Something Housley hasn’t come close to replicating, even with much of the same team Bylsma team last year. “Being in games” and “competing” is the BARE minimum for admittance to the league and not some achievement to be celebrated. Every team competes hard on most nights over a long season.This idea of “being in games” and “competing” is a loser’s lament. A sign that the people in charge are confusing effort with results which is a huge cause for concern. It is also a huge slap in the face and an insult to the intelligence of the fan base. Lets see how patient Botterill remains if the season continues at the same 11-18-5 post streak pace to finish out the year.

Neither. It’s Maurice.

ERod did extremely well in the handful of games he played with Eichel and Reinhart last year. You’ll have to ask Housley why he broke them up. Regardless, it’s a good move. Pommers simply can’t skate with Eichel and Skinner for a whole game. A shift here and there, fine. Eichel should be seeing an occasional shift with the middle six as well.

He’s not a cerebral coach. We need Nelson back ASAP or any other RH Dman. It’s a disadvantage to have Dmen playing on their off hand.