GDT: Game 5: Anaheim Ducks vs Los Angeles Kings, 5pm PT

[GermanRocket7]

Soooo, what's Bruce Boudreau up to these days? I imagine he would at least kiss some life into our forward group and get the defense from abysmal to below average within a month or two.

 

[HanSolo]

We’ve lost to the teams that are better than us and beat the teams we could realistically be better than. Hard for me to be too upset about this start of the season

We barely beat San Jose without their best player. If it weren't for the fact that San Jose is a disaster of a hockey team, that was a performance we'd lose to most of the league with. Our only good, even passable game so far was against Utah.

 

[anezthes]

Pathetic.

Gauthier/Zellweger --> SD.
Cronin/Clune --> moon.

The PP is somehow even worse than it was last year. Dare I say it's "cluneless."

 

[Terry Yake]

Soooo, what's Bruce Boudreau up to these days? I imagine he would at least kiss some life into our forward group and get the defense from abysmal to below average within a month or two.

he's old and done coaching, at least at the nhl level. he's also not someone you hire to coach a rebuilding team

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

For all the crap ive been giving him last year... Terry has come to play at least this year. Hes the only one constantly hustling out there.. Rest of the guys need to step the fk up

 

[Terry Yake]

where's mctavish been so far this season?

 

[Hockey Duckie]

where's mctavish been so far this season?

Still in the gym. Coaches need to get his mind on the ice.

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

where's mctavish been so far this season?

Dont get me started on him... Sometimes I feel like his Hockey IQ is way below than where it should be..

 

[Kalv]

I want to hope that there is some more flu going on the team which is why we have looked so bad the past 2 games. But at the same time looking back at how clueless our coaching was last year, the Lyubushins comments – it's a bit doomy feeling about where we're at as a franchise. Surely, some of the blame should also be on the players, but I don't feel they should be the first on the line when looking at where we are...

 

[Kalv]

Cronin blames lack of urgency, slowness:

I hope he's not bag skating the guys
He looks frustrated too

 

[70sSanO]

It is really simple, if you can’t get young players motivated to play at the start of a season, it is the coach’s/organization’s fault.

If you blame the kids, they will go somewhere else.

John

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

Cronin blames lack of urgency, slowness:

I hope he's not bag skating the guys
He looks frustrated too

He’s not sure of this.. not sure of that. Another gem of a presser.

This is where the problem is two-fold: if he’s saying the team doesn’t skate (and by the tone it sounds like it’s been apparent for a long while), then Verbeek should’ve signed more ‘quicker’ FAs if there were any. The roster is nearly the same and the clueless fundamentals are still being shown.

 

[AngelDuck]

The Killorn contract is just absolutely terrible. He looks completely cooked and we have him signed at 6.8 million per year through the 2026-2027 season

 

[Dryish]

where's mctavish been so far this season?

I have an unpleasant feeling that McTavish will become the biggest blemish on Madden's drafting record. I just don't see how he'll become anything deserving his draft spot.

He has a shot, but he doesn't use it. He has a frame, but he's not aware enough to use that to generate offense. He's not a good enough passer or a good enough skater. That's not a top six player unless he really starts developing by leaps and bounds. They're counting on him becoming a ROR type player, but I'm not sure he has it in him.

 

[Masch78]

The point when you start to miss Dallas Eakins ...

 

[gilfaizon]

Leo looks like our only real star up front. The rest just can't get seperation to make plays. Granted, the Kings did a great job of swarming us upon entry to the zone. The powerplay looked especially bad with pressure applied.

 

[mightyquack]

I have an unpleasant feeling that McTavish will become the biggest blemish on Madden's drafting record. I just don't see how he'll become anything deserving his draft spot.

He has a shot, but he doesn't use it. He has a frame, but he's not aware enough to use that to generate offense. He's not a good enough passer or a good enough skater. That's not a top six player unless he really starts developing by leaps and bounds. They're counting on him becoming a ROR type player, but I'm not sure he has it in him.

He's a top 6 player if he gets played as a winger IMO. I don't think he has 'it' to be the main player on his line (which is what you expect from your centre).

I said it last week but right now he's being asked to play a game which basically exploits all his weaknesses and minimises his strength, it's terrible coaching.

 

[Dryish]

He's a top 6 player if he gets played as a winger IMO. I don't think he has 'it' to be the main player on his line (which is what you expect from your centre).

I said it last week but right now he's being asked to play a game which basically exploits all his weaknesses and minimises his strength, it's terrible coaching.

You have to wonder if flipping the C responsibilities between Z and McT would help him find his stride. I am not sold on Z being a natural center, as I have said before elsewhere, but McT as the line driver is clearly not doing him any favours.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

It’s the coaches job to make them work hard?

A coach can set expectations but at the end of the day it’s up to the players to put the effort in. Cronin can’t play the game for them.

I may be in the minority here but I really don’t think the issues tonight were a coaching thing. You can’t give a 80% effort level and expect to win in this league.

I feel like the special teams is 100% coaching…. I think the players constantly looking lost or not knowing what to do is 100% coaching.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

At this point winning is pointless…. Culture still sucks thought gudas being captain would help that a bit but havnt seen it.

Leadership and accountability are fails , unless your name is zegras then you are held accountable

Coaching is a major issue, head coach and assistants all need to get the axe…. Nhl powerplay looking like it has so far this season is 100% unacceptable.

I’m about ready to say this season is a loss, and hope for a top 5 pick…. We’re not going to be attractive to free agents until our young guys start producing, and they arnt going to with Cronin at the helm

 

[FlyingV09]

I feel like the special teams is 100% coaching…. I think the players constantly looking lost or not knowing what to do is 100% coaching.

I would agree but not working hard and inability to make a tape to tape pass is not. At some point motivation has to come from within.

 

[Static]

The Killorn contract is just absolutely terrible. He looks completely cooked and we have him signed at 6.8 million per year through the 2026-2027 season

The money doesn't hurt us. Hopefully he gets going soon like last year.

 

[Leonardo87]

Connor McDavid would struggle to produce on this team.

 

[HanSolo]

I would agree but not working hard and inability to make a tape to tape pass is not. At some point motivation has to come from within.

Part of a coach's job is being a motivator. Having a good captain helps with this, but the head colach is the primary guy directing messaging to his players.

I keep going back to the inaugural VGK team at my own risk knowing full well they're a hated rival, but that was a team that-yes, was a better set of individuals than people gave credit for. And yes that was a team filled with guys dead set on proving that they, as individuals, deserved better than being cast aside by their former teams. But they also bought into their coach's plan for every game and were one of the top performers in the league because they outskated and outworked their opposition almost every night. When Gallant took his foot of the gas and publicly admitted he was letting the players take accountability for themselves and put trust in them to play their game, that same team stopped skating as hard, stopped outworking their opponents, and saw their fitness tank. And the coach was eventually fired because he couldn't get the group back on target.

As for passing, I refuse to believe that this group of players fundamentally do not know how to pass the puck. They wouldn't have made it this far if that were the case. I mean watch some of the best NHL teams' fourth lines and see how they pass the puck relative to our top 6 if you don't believe me. Execution of core hockey skills at an NHL level comes down to ability, quality of game preparation (e.g. drilling fundamentals and game scenarios at practice), and chemistry between players. The lack of chemistry can explain some of the problem currently facing this team and sometimes a coach can't help that. But this team also fundamentally struggles to make proper passes when faced with the most simple defensive pressure and that comes from poor drilling. They panic in the face of this kind of defensive pressure because they aren't being properly prepared for how to deal with such pressure in a game scenario and the guys without the puck are not getting open.

I kept seeing takes like this in defense of Carlyle before he was fired. Anyone who has played a team sport knows that unless your team is just head and shoulders above the field in terms of ability, the coach's ability to prepare a team in practice is the most important element for success. Their job involves a lot more than simply instructing on what is expected on the ice and running line changes. If a team isn't ready to play at least competent hockey any given night, that's a failure in coaching.

 

[70sSanO]

You have to wonder if flipping the C responsibilities between Z and McT would help him find his stride. I am not sold on Z being a natural center, as I have said before elsewhere, but McT as the line driver is clearly not doing him any favours.

Zegras is a natural center, maybe not enough 2 way, but McTavish is hardly a defensive stalwart.

Flipping Z and Mac is such a no brainer at this time.

John

Connor McDavid would struggle to produce on this team.

Maybe not at wing.

John