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I'm not sure of how Arniel comes across in the room, whether he is a players coach or a coach that says, by god were going to do it my way, or I will staple your ass to the press box.
It seems he is a little of both from watching him in action at a couple of training camps, and seeing him in game action. Him telling Shawn Mitchell and Raffi 2 to go ask the players how they felt about the game is like Arniel saying, they won't do as I tell them, or no one is playing the way I want them to, or they won't listen to me.
It comes off as petty. It also comes off as not having things in control, which is bad for a pro coach.
I like Arniel. The players, not all of them, aren't playing the system the way it is intended. 2-1-2 is what I think Arny is after, and if the fore check isn't going full speed, breakouts are simple for the other team. More often than not instead of getting the puck deep from outside the blueline, the players are getting the puck taken away at or just inside the blueline.
I think Arniel better get a handle on this quickly. The freelance system the players are trying is getting shutdown pretty easily by other teams. The one on one play without using teammates, the cross ice passes and no look passes that get taken away continuously, the defensive zone breakdowns where defensemen are leaving their check chasing a puck, only to have the guy they left wide open for an easy goal.
Arniel may want to get back to a simpler 1-2-2. It seems like the team is trying too hard to make a pretty play, rather than simply gaining the zone, or getting the puck out, or getting a shot on net, where a rebound is as good as a pass.
This is Arniel's chance to basically save his job. The team isn't in sync with the way he has it aligned, and it is up to him to get it back on track.
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