For anyone checking in late on yesterday's game blog it is still there and active, but since there is a lot to talk about in Canes country these days, I figured I would write a separate blog about what I would try (if I were king for a day) to help the situation.
First, let's be clear. In no way am I qualified for this job. And by no means am I jumping off the bandwagon on any of the Canes leadership. Every single person in the organization has a part in the current struggles on the ice, so I do not completely exempt Coach Laviolette, Rod BrindAmour, GM Jim Rutherford or any of the players from their fair share of the heat right now. But personally I am quitting on exactly none of those people and think some of the overzealousness singling out Staal or BrindAmour or Laviolette or whoever is short-sighted and even to some degree disrespectful after what they did last season. In my book, for what he did last season, I am a BrindAmour fan until he hangs up his jersey and it goes in the RBC Center rafters on Rod BrindAmour night. Will I point it out if he stinks in any given game? Sure. That's what we hockey nuts do. But let's not get that confused with going over the deep end and suggesting silly trades or in the case of BrindAmour questioning the leadership ability that we have seen clearly for multiple years now. And as for Laviolette, I figure he gets 3 horrible seasons before I start thinking about our next coach. Sure he is part of the problem like everyone else now, but comments I see here and there about him losing the team, not being the right guy or whatever are crazy. Is it possible he just got lucky last season? I guess there is some chance of that. But I have watched enough hockey seasons to appreciate how nearly impossible it is to win a Stanley Cup in any given season. Watch the President's trophy winner go down about every year in recent times early in the playoffs. Watch the Red Wings dominate the regular season the last couple years only to be golfing by May. Simple math suggests that we might have to wait a long time before Coach Laviolette finds the Stanley Cup magic again, but he is capable, and I am waiting. Etc., etc.
So with the disclaimer of my lack of qualifications clearly stated and with it made clear that I am in no way throwing the Canes' leadership under the bus, I will throw out my 2 cents on what I would do if I were in charge of it all only because as a die-hard Canes fan who lives and breathes with the team, that is what I enjoy doing.
So here goes...
On the ice coaching (Laviolette):
1) Set a clear tone at the drop of the puck every single game until it becomes clear that everyone gets it. We have about a 50% hit rate of not sleepwalking through 1st periods. Beginning Saturday, I start the game with the energy guys for the opening faceoff and run 3-4 shifts deep before anyone else sees the ice. Ladd/Belanger/Walker start the game with instructions to skate like their hair is on fire and blow up everything they can. Next goes CAdams/Letowski (if in lineup)/Larose with the same instructions. Then at least a 2nd time around for Ladd/Belanger/Larose. Mix in some Commodore and Gleason types on defense with clear instructions to play a clean brand of very physical. The risk is that you give up an early goal with an undermanned matchup, but I take my chances at this point.
2) The powerplay. I do 2 basic things here:
-1- Go back to the roles that make most sense long-term rather than looking for some new magic. I am starting to think that we are getting wrapped around the axle trying a bunch of unconventional things trying to catch some brand of unlikely magic. BrindAmour is your faceoff guy and a lunchpailer who is best down low fighting for pucks behind the net and ugly goals around the crease. He is playing the point of late. Whitney has made a living for years as a point man on the powerplay. He is good at this. He thrived in this role last season before this season saw him subbing on the halfboards for Stillman. He mostly shows up as a low forward these days. Similarly, Stillman has been a powerplay producer as a playmaker forward with various sets of partners. Staal and Williams are the best we have in terms of shooting the puck. Put each in places where they can get shots and have them fire away.
-2- Simplify. There is no need for a white board and complex discussions. When not occupied with winning control of the puck or having it on their stick, tell the 3 forwards to go to the net. At any point where a player with the puck on his stick can count 2 Canes within 15-feet of the goalie and can find any kind of shooting lane, throw the puck in there. The way out of a powerplay slump is almost always ugly goals not pretty ones. The pretty ones tend to come with things are going well. In Ladd, BrindAmour, Walker, Williams, etc. we have enough guys capable of scoring the ugly goals. They need to spend more time where this happens to do so.
Off the ice (Rutherford):
First, as I stated in my previous blog, I completely agree that the bigger problem is the attitude, effort, cohesion, etc. 1 or 2 trades cannot fix this. But despite the ditch this team is stuck in right now, I just refuse to believe that they are that far from being a Stanley Cup contender. There are too many key pieces still in the locker room that was good enough last season. Might they never find the same magic? That seems to be the most likely answer right now. But is this a team that has zero potential to find it when it matters most (if they get there) and go deep in the playoffs again? No way.
So maybe Jim Rutherford can help a tiny bit with the on-ice problems if he shows up in the locker room, gets a little irate and tells the team that he cannot bring in some hockey messiah to suddenly make 15-16 players better. But I think Rutherford's only choice is to try to sort through the fog of a struggling team and analyze/address personnel issues that will hopefully become a factor at some point only after the mojo is fixed.
When I look at personnel, I do the following:
1) I said awhile back that we needed to do something at center. Some of the best hockey Belanger has played this season was the stretch where he was paired with grinders CAdams and Larose in early November. During that stretch Whitney/BrindAmour/Williams were clicking, and we were getting enough sporadic scoring from Walker/Staal/Cole that lack of scoring from the 3rd line was bearable. But during this stretch of good hockey (for Belanger and the team), he played the chameleon proving to be a player with some skill/scoring who was very capable of adjusting his game to a solid, low-offense grinding and cycling game to match his linemates. The problem is that this makes for a great 4th line that you can skate regular minutes, but the lack of production just does not cut it as the productive 3rd line needed to get balanced scoring in crunch time in February/March and hopefully the playoffs. Belanger aside, we just need more depth at center anyway. An injury to BrindAmour or Staal forces 30-point pace Belanger onto a scoring line for 20 minutes/night. The 2 games we saw minus BrindAmour in November were enough to see how that ends. And maybe even worse is that we now need 15-16 minutes at center on a line that needs to produce from Letowski or Larose. I am on record as liking Forsberg but not if it turns into a crazy bidding war that requires more than draft picks and depth defensemen (meaning no way does Ladd go for a rental), but something smaller like Smolinski or Perreault would be fine. A 3rd line center helps scoring depth and makes Belanger a very solid 4th line center.
2) Then shop for cheap depth rentals (the kind you can buy for a mid-round draft pick) with resume requirements of being the fire and brimstone type. Just maybe the arrival of an energy type who has not been worn down by the albatross of the 06-07 Carolina Hurricanes struggles can help the rest of the guys find the energy that was clearly there in 05-06 but just cannot seem to be summoned this season. Roberts is interesting as is Gelinas from Florida. Both could probably be had for a mid-round pick. Jason Blake is maybe most intriguing because he brings a lot more than a battle-worn face and needed intensity. He is a new NHL scorer who can play in any situation. There are a bunch of other rental options at left wing that help the personnel but do not so much take a random shot at helping the intensity issues. Any of Nagy, Kapanen or York bring something at left wing if Rutherford/Laviolette think Ladd is still a year away from claiming a permanent top 9 spot.
The locker room (BrindAmour and other veteran leaders):
I really have very little to add here, as motivation/effort issues are complicated and even more so when it involves players who do generally care. As much as anything this team seems like it needs something to play for. It seems right now it is as simple as being regular NHL hockey players, not defending champions, and simplifying the goal to play to make the playoffs like they have all done many times before. I know this will probably start a tirade of comments about how they make a fortune and should just show up every night already, but the human psyche and motivation is more complicated.
And that is my 2 cents...Everyone else have at it. You are no more qualified than I am but as a passionate fan and because of the internet you are entitled to submit your backseat driver opinion just like me.
Go Canes!
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