TL;DR: Fire everyone, this is a cancer from the very top to the bottom
Timo Meier is not working out on the LW side. Dawson Mercer has struggled all season and has been playing RW. That nobody had the spark to say "hey, let's swap them!" is insane. Holtz definitely needed some tough love to remind him of responsible play and positioning earlier in the season, especially after scoring where he'd revert a little, but he's also one of the best scorers 5v5 and /60 on the team, and when we've struggled, he's been buried on the 4th line getting under 8 minutes a game. It's insanity that he still has a shot at a 20 goal season despite such low ice time and scrub linemates.
I want Lindy Ruff and Travis Green fired ASAP - I never wanted Travis Green on the staff, it's such a huge downgrade from Brunette I'm not even sure how to put it into words because English despite its excellence at specificity STILL doesn't have the specifics enough to describe that gap. But I want Rogalski gone - it's baloney that every single one of the 327 goalies that have suited up for the New Jersey Devils over the last 3 years are trash. And have their worst seasons here. Our system is antiquated and one dimensional (Jon Cooper, who I'd love to hire here, called that), and that's a major problem especially when you have 3 starters with fewer games under their belt than a single full season like we had. But it's also goaltending coaching.
I also want the health staff replaced. It's an indictment of incompetence when we keep throwing players back on the ice after injuries that the Bad News Bears would say "you know what, maybe sit out the rest and ice it". We get injuries compounded all the time and now we have players playing with chronic issues. How many times do we have to have head injuries more than once in a game? How long before a player sues this franchise (and I'll be rooting them on)?
Some players have not really pushed hard. Some players need to be pulled aside and told we need to see more dedication to their craft. You don't get millions to play a child's pond activity to spend time before your folks call you in for dinner in winter and not be expected to treat it like any other profession.
@My3Sons would get his license revoked if he just turned up in court without any preparation, if he filed paperwork incorrectly. Same here.
Finally, I despise this ownership. Sure they have stable money unlike Vanderbeek. JV was a fan, at least. These guys just count cash and treat the fans so poorly - reading the ticket thread it is astonishing how crappy they treat season ticket holders, and then an egregious 9% fee rise for a terrible product? We don't even win at home. The building kind of sucks. Walking through Pru center - it's so bland, grey, boring, lifeless. It's 99% big name companies - beer, food, whatever - and all of very low quality at ridiculous prices. $25 for a macro brew when I could buy a case of it for that, should I want to reduce myself to that. Featured new food items present only at one or two stands. PNC Arena here in Raleigh kicks Prudential Center's ass in all ways and it's an older barn. But it celebrates Raleigh - several food stands are partnerships with local restaurants. No fewer than 5 or 6 local breweries have beers sold. Stands/kiosks featuring regional foods. Also expensive, but it's higher quality by far. And the atmosphere is better, warmer, friendlier. And it shows because there's a frigging list for season tickets. Despite their fans being some of the worst in the league (I shake my head and even sometimes cannot contain myself when they just don't know hockey or act ridiculously boorish) it's a great place to take in a game. Prudential Center? Meh. And despite being further north why does our ice always seem crap? I've been posting that I miss John McMullen - that guy loved Jersey and wanted a team for us here, not teams like the NFL Giants and Jets and the MLS MetroStars/Red Bull using NY despite playing here for the majority of or all of their existence.
Sorry for the long post.
