Monday, April 21, 2008
Not Enough New Blood
Helene Elliot blames Scott Niedermayer and Mathieu Schneider.
See, Niedermayer's holdout forced Burker to get Schneider whom she says is "incurbaly soft" (??) and then forced him to get rid of Andy McDonald to bring him back, when he should have traded Schneider.
I think the Niedermayer affair was part of the problem, but I think the fact that everyone on the team had a cup except some of the bit players and Todd Bertuzzi was a motivational issue. Doug Weight won with Carolina in 2006. Schneider won with Montreal in 1993.
I also think Giguere was subpar.
This is a classic example of why you cannot predict playoff success on regular season performance. The Ducks were doing great at the end of the season, and Dallas was not.
UPDATE:
Detroit looks vulnerable. I know Nashville was number 8, but until Arnott went out, they were in the series. Postmorteming Nashville, I'm not sure what to recommend from them. They should probably get an arena lease or finish that up or whatever, and then see how it goes.
The Wild. I wonder if Jacques Lemaire's time there is over, and whether LA is interested. He seems to have lost control of the team and half their team is seemingly UFA or RFA. They've been like the Lemaire Devils without the grit and the star defensemen.
The Devils just don't have the depth, and the players they rely to play key roles aren't getting it done. Patrik Elias appears to have lost his touch. John Madden, an excellent defensive forward, had to contribute much more than his fair share of offense to keep the team in as long as they stayed. Brian Gionta has either been figured out or has also peaked. And even a team with three Selke-caliber defensive forwards and a hall of game goalie isn't going to be able to keep pucks out of the net with that defense. Looking at their obligations doesn't give me much hope. The players they need to keep are signed, and the ones they should trade are overpaid, and there are some that they need to resign as well.
See, Niedermayer's holdout forced Burker to get Schneider whom she says is "incurbaly soft" (??) and then forced him to get rid of Andy McDonald to bring him back, when he should have traded Schneider.
I think the Niedermayer affair was part of the problem, but I think the fact that everyone on the team had a cup except some of the bit players and Todd Bertuzzi was a motivational issue. Doug Weight won with Carolina in 2006. Schneider won with Montreal in 1993.
I also think Giguere was subpar.
This is a classic example of why you cannot predict playoff success on regular season performance. The Ducks were doing great at the end of the season, and Dallas was not.
UPDATE:
Detroit looks vulnerable. I know Nashville was number 8, but until Arnott went out, they were in the series. Postmorteming Nashville, I'm not sure what to recommend from them. They should probably get an arena lease or finish that up or whatever, and then see how it goes.
The Wild. I wonder if Jacques Lemaire's time there is over, and whether LA is interested. He seems to have lost control of the team and half their team is seemingly UFA or RFA. They've been like the Lemaire Devils without the grit and the star defensemen.
The Devils just don't have the depth, and the players they rely to play key roles aren't getting it done. Patrik Elias appears to have lost his touch. John Madden, an excellent defensive forward, had to contribute much more than his fair share of offense to keep the team in as long as they stayed. Brian Gionta has either been figured out or has also peaked. And even a team with three Selke-caliber defensive forwards and a hall of game goalie isn't going to be able to keep pucks out of the net with that defense. Looking at their obligations doesn't give me much hope. The players they need to keep are signed, and the ones they should trade are overpaid, and there are some that they need to resign as well.
// posted by Rick @ 10:08 AM 
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