We have a number of people on this board who insist that Peter Laviolette is not the problem… Well, let me explain something to you when you give up a goal in the first two minutes of a hockey game routinely that’s on the head coach.
His team is unprepared he’s unprepared. You could see it in his face..
I agree to an extent. But this team, comprised of the same guilty players, did the same under Quinn and Gallant. This group starts games flat and unprepared for years. If the players simply WON’T come ready to play what can the coach do? It isn’t the kids. They’re showing up - maybe that’s the coach getting through to the ones who are WILLING to listen. The Zibanejad, Kreider, Panarin, Fox, Lindgren, Trouba, Miller, Lafreniere, Shesterkin crew is the group that routinely shows up looking hungover or like they’re out for a Sunday stroll and they’ve been doing that long before Laviolette took over. The culture the vets have propagated is the problem, IMO. I would still want a new coach next year, but only if he’s getting a roster that’s been purged of the bad influences and lazy “leaders”. Otherwise, I don’t think 20 coaching changes would make a difference.