If it’s going to be more than 2-3 weeks, because that means it’s likely 2-3 months as a minimum, then Doughty’s injury is going to cause some serious rethinking. Do they:
1. Stay the course and see who steps up.
2. Make a big move for a LHD early, knowing the price goes up significantly, in an attempt to save the season.
3. Tank now and hope they get a top 2 pick as reward for our bad luck.
For me it has to be number 1 as although we do have the assets to make a big move we aren’t filling a DD sized hole, no matter what. Tanking just hurts the development of players at this point of things IMO. That’s not to say I wouldn’t make a move if the right LHD becomes available at a sensible price but bringing in a quick fix usually just creates a new problem.
Injuries happen at any time and the young players need to be able to adapt and not crumble when a key player is lost. A real opportunity is now there for a new pecking order to be established on the right side with so much competition in the system. Strand is rightly recalled but Durzi and even Grans should at least have the mindset of trying to force and opportunity. Strand for example could make Roy expendable once DD is fit, that has to be his mentality.
The guys on the left hand side also have to step up and Björnfot has an opportunity to really show he can be a top pairing guy, it’s too early to expect him to show it nightly but he needs to really demonstrate that potential. Edler and Maata no longer needed to defer to DD and can show some real blue line leadership and extend their NHL careers. The defence have to take this opportunity and it will tell us all we need to know about the character of everyone in the system in LA and Ontario.
As for the response. Not acceptable. There is zero chance that having a tough team stops the bad hit as bad hits happened even when teams played Philadelphia in the 70’s. It’s a fallacy to claim fighting and tough guys stop anything. However, I expect that hit to generate an emotional response. I’ve seen Wayne f’ing Gretzky starts scrums for less. It doesn’t need a McDermid level fighter out there but we desperately need a Mike Richards, Robyn Regehr and a Matt Green. Something needs to spark and galvanize these guys, the response needs to be one of then running the opposition over.
I wouldn’t make a big trade but I would call up Turcotte in the near future to that end, once Lemieux and Andersson are ready to go, so we get an injection of attitude in one go. I’d tell them, with Strand that they need to inject some emotion and spark the team, accepting a few bad penalties along the way. I would also trade for someone else that can drop the mitts, not because I subscribe to it really being needed but because psychologically players think it protects them. It’s not an enforcer that brings team toughness it’s the Richards and Greens of this world, it’s heart and attitude that dictates it.
Forget big names, big trades etc. The most important thing for this team and it’s development right now is to find some heart and right now this is mostly on the players
In the end, no matter how you look at it, boring hockey aside, there are exciting aspects to the season and something interesting to keep your eye on... I neve thought I would say it but I do feel for TMac and Blake during this time...
