Or Smithson. Trotz should have been fired solely for that.
Tortorella was not happy with his team after the first period, and he sat Nik Zherdev (who turned the puck over in the neutral zone that led to the first goal) and gave an apparently powerful speech in the first intermission. It worked.
Hmm, sitting an established player in an effort to motivate your team? Preposterous!
Torts was so inspiring to the 07/08 Lightning, that they won the draft! Man, we can't win anything!
Torts was so inspiring to the 07/08 Lightning, that they won the draft lottery! Man, we can't win anything!
It's not his fault he didn't have a defense or goaltender or forwards that could play defense or, really, anything of value beyond his first four forwards and half a season of Dan Boyle.
It's not his fault he didn't have a defense or goaltender or forwards that could play defense or, really, anything of value beyond his first four forwards and half a season of Dan Boyle.
I can't believe how hypocritical that post is...
Do you honestly think Trotz has been blessed with a roster of offensive talent? How many games have we lost when we've held our opposition to 2 goals or less this season?
You blast Trotz in one post and then immediately turn around and then make excuses for Tortorella in another...
It's not his fault he didn't have a defense or goaltender or forwards that could play defense or, really, anything of value beyond his first four forwards and half a season of Dan Boyle.
replace Dan Boyle with Shea Weber you just described the 07/08 Nashville Predators
replace Dan Boyle with Shea Weber you just described the 07/08 Nashville Predators
Not hardly. The Predators had superior goaltending to Tampa Bay's Johan Holmqvist despite playing musical goalies with an uncomfortable frequency. They had Martin Erat and Vernon Fiddler on their second line, compared to Michel Ouellet and a floundering Jan Hlavac (just 22 points) on Tampa Bay's. Two of those four players aren't even in the NHL right now (although, admittedly, Hlavac chose to return to Europe). Our third line of Gelinas-Nichol-Tootoo outproduced their third line of Darche-Gratton-Jason Ward. It was Darche's only season as an NHL regular, and Ward cleared waivers earlier this season. He has 9 points in 21 AHL games.
I would venture to say that Weber and Boyle cancel each other out: similar offensive numbers (albeit with a discrepancy in games played) and similar overall seasons. Ranger, Kuba, and O'Brien (their top 3 for much of the season) could hardly be considered superior to Hamhuis, Zidlicky, and Suter with their play last season, particularly O'Brien, who was a walking penalty magnet. Lukowich and De Vries were/are about on par with one another. Zanon is better than Lundin. I would dare to say that Koistinen is at least as good as, if not superior to Doug Janik.
Outside of the clubs' respective first scoring units, 07/08 Nashville was a superior team to 07/08 Tampa Bay. The forwards were by and large defensively capable, the defensemen were defensively capable (Suter did battle consistency issues early in the year but really came around as the season progressed), and Ellis and Mason were far better than Holmqvist and Ramo, respectively.
Wfome the argument that Tampa's talent was so inferior to Nashville's last year that you can justify Tampa winning the draft as apposed Nashville competing in the playoffs is at best laughable.
Not hardly. The Predators had superior goaltending to Tampa Bay's Johan Holmqvist despite playing musical goalies with an uncomfortable frequency. They had Martin Erat and Vernon Fiddler on their second line, compared to Michel Ouellet and a floundering Jan Hlavac (just 22 points) on Tampa Bay's. Two of those four players aren't even in the NHL right now (although, admittedly, Hlavac chose to return to Europe). Our third line of Gelinas-Nichol-Tootoo outproduced their third line of Darche-Gratton-Jason Ward. It was Darche's only season as an NHL regular, and Ward cleared waivers earlier this season. He has 9 points in 21 AHL games.
I would venture to say that Weber and Boyle cancel each other out: similar offensive numbers (albeit with a discrepancy in games played) and similar overall seasons. Ranger, Kuba, and O'Brien (their top 3 for much of the season) could hardly be considered superior to Hamhuis, Zidlicky, and Suter with their play last season, particularly O'Brien, who was a walking penalty magnet. Lukowich and De Vries were/are about on par with one another. Zanon is better than Lundin. I would dare to say that Koistinen is at least as good as, if not superior to Doug Janik.
Outside of the clubs' respective first scoring units, 07/08 Nashville was a superior team to 07/08 Tampa Bay. The forwards were by and large defensively capable, the defensemen were defensively capable (Suter did battle consistency issues early in the year but really came around as the season progressed), and Ellis and Mason were far better than Holmqvist and Ramo, respectively.
I was half joking when I said that. Of course they are not word-for-word the same team. I'd be interested to hear your response to SLake's post, though.
