TAKE A STEP BACK

The coaching staff is not paying attention to the lines. What was working for the first four wins b4 de Hann returned has diminished. Since when does a player who was at an NHL camp become less prepared then a normal generals player who attend the regular camp. Does the NHL dumb them down or build them up, De Haan is making Junior Defense Mistakes maybe he should sit a game and watch how the team functions without him, because now he has no excuses like a deer in headlights what position is he supposed to play because he has been out of position. Seriously what team would trade for him right now, he is liability till he decides to play (not his injury holding him back). I could go on but whats the point. Let Cirella fix de Haan. Captain is supposed to instill leadership the biggest mistake Dips made was promoting de Haan and demoting Jenner without A. As far as I am concerned the only player who has earned the A is Thomas and he should be the captain. I think there some hurt feelings on the club that de Haan got the captaincy and who are the assistants way to early to make this call. George Burnett would not have rushed the Captaincy. Dips is starting his usuallly commentary garbage in write-ups and before games, at least Cirella doesn`t have his head in the clouds it is amazing to actually see a Defensive Coach talk to the players Dips had this role years ago and he blew it. The writing is on the wall, Joe Cirella mark my words will one day become the Head Coach and i`ll even stretch it the next GM. There is no excuse 3 games in three days why has Graves been given a diminshed role, clark is waste sure he is nice guy, but i would prefer a player who can put the puck in the net and drop the gloves.

Individual effort becomes apparent when the team is not playing well. Could you imagine this team without Thomas, you can`t he is the glue.

Bailie is not a back goalie, not a starter, a great door opener. Move on seriously!

This is my rant. constructive comments are welcomed.

Well said, now only we could pass this information on to the ones who need it. Hey play your 3rd and 4th line, maybe it will wake up the 1st and 2nd. Take a bad penalty...sit a few shifts. If you want to be an indivual and do things yourself..sit a few shift.When you are having your 1st & 2nd line playing like your last 2 lines, then you need to shake them up a bit. yes it's said there is NO "I" in TEAM, but the big heads see a "ME" in team.... need to play as a team and get a dam power play!

It takes three or four games for a player at NHL camp to adjust back to the OHL level. It's been three or four games. I expect within the next two or three games, we'll see an improvement in De Haan's timing. Anything beyond that and something's up.

hockeybeats wrote:It takes three or four games for a player at NHL camp to adjust back to the OHL level. It's been three or four games. I expect within the next two or three games, we'll see an improvement in De Haan's timing. Anything beyond that and something's up.

There must be something up. Dehaan has looked like his game is off bigtime. Thomas comes back from the Rangers and scores on the first shot of the game and had 13 points in his first 5 games. Valentine got 3 assists in his first game back. Maybe some players take time to readjust but a player of Dehaans status and junior experience, i would not think it would take this long to readjust. I hope your right beats, hope we see an improvement soon!

Take a deep breath people. We've got a pretty good team this year, but there will be weekends like the last one...

ohagan wrote:

hockeybeats wrote:It takes three or four games for a player at NHL camp to adjust back to the OHL level. It's been three or four games. I expect within the next two or three games, we'll see an improvement in De Haan's timing. Anything beyond that and something's up.

There must be something up. Dehaan has looked like his game is off bigtime. Thomas comes back from the Rangers and scores on the first shot of the game and had 13 points in his first 5 games. Valentine got 3 assists in his first game back. Maybe some players take time to readjust but a player of Dehaans status and junior experience, i would not think it would take this long to readjust. I hope your right beats, hope we see an improvement soon!

You are talking about a kid who missed a lot of time with the shoulder injury...

Just sayin

Ur rite Kevy, he has missed a lot of time but for a guy who got an extended look in the nhl training camp, he has been aweful, lol maybe his brain is connected to his shoulder, because he is making a lot of bad decisions on the ice

he could be still injured tho.

IMO we are now seeing a team coming down from the initial shot of adrenaline you get from the start of any season.....now the true color of players and coach come out.....
Why would Dips sit Graves (who has been scoring lately) against two teams that are playing well?

Why is he playing 2 of the 94 rookies on the fourth line with Clark who does nothing but look to fight *at times that don't even warrant it) how does this "develop" the younger players when the are yanked off after a 10 second shift..
and limits their shifts....prior to the weekend, these kids ranked 2nd and third for plus minus of 94 year players.....they must be doing something right out there.....

Almost everyone of these talented 1st and 2nd line players are playing an "all about me" game....no passing, stupid plays, etc....

Power Play????? really. I see Minor teams that have better command than this....

Common root of this problem is coaching....Dips plays his favorites and relies on them entirely too much.....they are not what they appear to be...mind you I am not talking about all players, however, there are quite a bit of self promoting Prima Donnas on this team......Talent ...maybe yes.....A Team attitude and Game,,,,,no.....all of this comes back to coaching......

Dips needs to Go and Go now!

I have posted about this before on a previous thread, and just about everyone jumped on my post about Dips coaching abilities.He is a successful junior B coach and he has built our team into a good model as a GM , but lots of coachs in hockey get promoted, but their systems dont always work in a different league

Lots of coaches also go 5-3 and finish the season pretty well. Especially when the two losses came against pretty top-notch teams. Niagara and Saginaw are extremely good teams. No shame in losing. I don't think there's any team in this league that would survive a 5-minute penalty kill against the Spirit. We'll get them next time.

Pucktopuck and Tapetotape.. I can't tell you twins apart.

Anyway I agree with you or both of you or whatever. I would like to see some of the younger guys - Payne, Graves and Sabourin need to get a chance for a regular shift. It may just wake up some of the ones who seem to be privileged on this team. Taking stupid penalties and they are back on the ice, long shifts, no backchecking... I have seen this movie too many times at the GM Centre over the past 2 seasons.

Also - if I was a rookie on this team, I would start shooting pucks at Lessio when he refuses to pick them up. PRIMA DONNA.

The first 4 games the coach is a genuis the 4 he is out of his element.

We must realize when you dreess 1/2 of your team (rookies) against the western teams you will have a learning experience - every game this year except Saginaw have been 1 goal losses.

We all know we must cut down on defense lapses at the beginning of the game. The last 2 games De Hart and Sullentrop were both undressed.

We all know we have sub par goaltending - and who wants to help you and not pay too high a price.

Most of you for good reason would like to see a total revamp - dress all rookies - BUT the price will be another 7-9th place finish.

WOW!!!
Perhaps Dips should turn the bench over to either Roger or Joe and sit in the stands for a couple of games to see what our posters see?

Sitting in the stands wouldnt be a bad idea....obviously he's too close to the trees to see the wood.....with all of the depth on the team, there should be no reason to come out flat against the tough teams.....these kids should be ready for these games, but when they don't, its his job to push the right buttons....and so far i havent seen that