Well, I guess tonight is a lesson in what a team should do vs what the Cougars are doing.
Portland guts their lineup of alot of it's older players in order to start
focussing on its younger players and have now won 4 or 5 of their last 7.
Cougars on the other hand give little ice to thier 16 and 17yr olds,
(except Connelly deservedly so)and play thier 19 and 20yr olds ad nauseum
and lose 4-1 anyways.
As a new fan of the Cougars I am now beginning to see what it is
that you older fans have been living with.
This coaching staff needs to be held accountable for inexplicably playing major minutes
to constant minus 19 and 20yr old players over and above thier younger players.
The younger players are just as capable of making the same mistakes over and over again,
like the 19 and 20yr olds, but they may just learn from their mistakes and stop making them!!
What is the thought process...
It is better to lose by 3 goals than 5 goals??
These older players have had 20+ games and this team is losing with them.
Let the younger players learn ( they did beat Red Deer with 4- 16yr olds dressed
and all their 17yr olds dressed except for Regier...
so the sun can shine on a dog's ass sometimes)and after Christmas the
team may find an identity and some consistency. It cant be any worse.
Suggestions
1. Now is time to move Tyrel to the eastern conference ( he will miss pieces of the
next month and a half with Team canada anyways) and not because he is not a great player....
but because the team needs to move forward and it cant if the entire team is forced,
by the coaches, to sit on the bench to wait for Dana to win the game for them.
They are not a team, they are one line and a hot goalie (on some nights), and in the
last 16 games it is 3-12-0-1.
A young forward, an 18yr old defenceman, and a #1 for Tyrell from a team like Lethbridge would be a start, Calgary also has assets it could move too. Damn, if you have to trade him to a team like Vancouver, we are not going to catch the giants anyways but they have some talented depth they could move.
2. Trade Cepek to Regina - why? cause your losing with him anyways and why should a 20yr old take minutes from young developing defenseman like Bidlevski. Get a solid 18yr old defenseman back.
Release or trade Scherger, Brkich and Jackson --why? becasue they team is not winning with them.
Then you go with Hobbs,your two new 18yr olds, Regier, Bidlevksi, Cummings, and McDonald. Suffer the growing pains and let them play...teach, teach, teach and come Christmas they might just have a solid young defense for the next 2-4yrs.
Oh and on the powerplay maybe a young forward could man the point as quaterback, like Connelly? What the hell is with Poulter on the point? If they love Maylan so much then give him the #1 centre spot and leave him there with Connelly and Stanfield.
3. Get three lines and 3 sets of defence playing regular minutes every night- 4th line an energy line with Fraser, Halliday and whomever. Get 2 powerplay units, 2 penalty kill units, play them equally. Develop a TEAM ethos.
If the coaches cant do that then replace them with a set of coaches who will. This club could have been a real TEAM if the coaches had not panicked on the road trip and played, basically only 1 line and 3 defenseman. In order to win long term teams must develop their youth and lose in the short term and over time good things happen. Right now there is no developing and they are losing anyways. IT'S NOT WORKING.
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