Good questions, but to the wrong people. Schenn leads D-men in hits, and routinely has fought players much tougher than he is. He is not the problem.
Gustavsson, the guy has had a tough transition to the NA game, losing his parents, heart problems, and repeatedly being hung out to dry in the NHL. Emotional problems aside, I'm not sure very many goalies in this league would be able to get rolling, with this team in front of you.
Gardiner - 1st year player, has played over and beyond what was ever expected of him.
Kessel + Phaneuf - They do deserve to shoulder this load, both aren't good enough Defensively, and don't show up often enough... neither are really capable Leaders.
Still the man who needs to be answering these questions is Brian Burke, this team lacks real leadership, this isn't Phaneuf's fault, he didn't have a clause in being traded to Toronto, saying he won't accept the trade unless being granted the C.
Problem is the last time Brian Burke was held accountable by a Reporter, he called the guy a bad word, and unprofessional, before hanging up on him.
I like Burke, I think he's got passion, and can put this team in the right direction, he just has made a few glaring errors. BUT when the team was winning, his voice is constantly heard and he boasts, when he's losing though.... he disappears, and doesn't want to talk about how bad his team is, or hold himself accountable. Instead he repeatedly says that he'd do his trades over again, if given a chance.
If Burke didn't acquire Kessel... or refuse to tank (example signing Gerber) this teams future would be as bright as any other, L.Schenn, E.Kane, Seguin, Hamilton, Knight (or someone other), and yet another high pick this year.
Thanks for pointing this out. I didn't really realize this but you're dead on. He was all types of available when things were going swimmingly.
It's seriously such a joke how people want Phaneuf to take the entire blame on himself..and if he did so in this clip it wouldn't change anything nor impact his leadership qualities. I think more people would look at such a baseless comment as cliched and even somewhat detouring of the actual issues..he is not to blame entirely and wanting him to step up and put it on himself only fits your subjective notion of what a leader is - in no way does it reflect the sheer truth of the situation
He is the damn captain. His answer might as well have come out of Gardiner or Carters mouth. Everybody on the face of the earth knows he is not 100% to blame for the teams shortcomings, but when the reporter asked him how he felt about his personal play and leadership, he could've said somehting along the lines of "We weren't good enough as a team, and I was not good enough as the captain". Maybe that doesn't change a thing, but how could it get any worse?
He is the damn captain. His answer might as well have come out of Gardiner or Carters mouth. Everybody on the face of the earth knows he is not 100% to blame for the teams shortcomings, but when the reporter asked him how he felt about his personal play and leadership, he could've said somehting along the lines of "We weren't good enough as a team, and I was not good enough as the captain". Maybe that doesn't change a thing, but how could it get any worse?
Perhaps if the reporter didn't attack him but instead ask him what he thought went wrong Dion wouldn't feel so defensive. The fact he didn't tell the reporter to go **** himself is pretty impressive.
Not really sure how a reporter asking questions - any questions - can add to the embarrassment of being the only team to not make the playoffs since the lockout.
I'm not understanding the implication here. I'm ignoring the bombardment that the players took that should have gone to the GM?
You agreed with the guy saying Burke goes into hiding during the bad times. He had an interview right in the middle of this slide right after he fired Wilson and he took some responsibility for the situation during the Carlyle press conference. The infamous 'phone hang-up' was right after firing Wilson. Are you just choosing to ignore this?
I think what he did was fine. The team sucks, has sucked for a long time, and has no real reason to think it will stop sucking any time soon.
The players need to get their heads out of their a**es. They don't seem to be sad about their collapse at all, topped off with Phaneuf struggling to answer and then throwing his teammates under the bus rather than admitting he might not have been doing a great job as captain. Top that off with "Haha, I don't know" by their best player on why he hasn't been playing well, and this reporter did his job, exposing them.
As a wise man once said "A lots of guy don't care, I am dissapoint".
As a city and fanbase that often refer to themselves as the most loyal, center of the hockey universe, etc, they really don't deserve this, and you could see the anger of the reporter after yet another crap season.
Perhaps if the reporter didn't attack him but instead ask him what he thought went wrong Dion wouldn't feel so defensive. The fact he didn't tell the reporter to go **** himself is pretty impressive.
He attacked him? He did ask him a question. A good one at that. He's the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He should be expecting worse then "what do you have to say for yourself?" after they have a 30 game meltdown.
Reporter trying to make a name for himself at the expense of the Leafs. Phaneuf should've told him to go **** himself.
Pretty much how I feel.
These weren't "hard hitting questions", they were stupid questions with attractive buzzwords ("$450 tickets!" "Why did it fail? Why?!?") to make sure people would talk about them on message boards and at the office the next day. So job well done in that regard I guess but I wouldn't hold my breath for the Pulitzer.
And I thought all the players handled the questions as well as they could have been expected to.
Good questions, but to the wrong people. Schenn leads D-men in hits, and routinely has fought players much tougher than he is. He is not the problem.
Gustavsson, the guy has had a tough transition to the NA game, losing his parents, heart problems, and repeatedly being hung out to dry in the NHL. Emotional problems aside, I'm not sure very many goalies in this league would be able to get rolling, with this team in front of you.
Gardiner - 1st year player, has played over and beyond what was ever expected of him.
Kessel + Phaneuf - They do deserve to shoulder this load, both aren't good enough Defensively, and don't show up often enough... neither are really capable Leaders.
Still the man who needs to be answering these questions is Brian Burke, this team lacks real leadership, this isn't Phaneuf's fault, he didn't have a clause in being traded to Toronto, saying he won't accept the trade unless being granted the C.
Problem is the last time Brian Burke was held accountable by a Reporter, he called the guy a bad word, and unprofessional, before hanging up on him.
I like Burke, I think he's got passion, and can put this team in the right direction, he just has made a few glaring errors. BUT when the team was winning, his voice is constantly heard and he boasts, when he's losing though.... he disappears, and doesn't want to talk about how bad his team is, or hold himself accountable. Instead he repeatedly says that he'd do his trades over again, if given a chance.
If Burke didn't acquire Kessel... or refuse to tank (example signing Gerber) this teams future would be as bright as any other, L.Schenn, E.Kane, Seguin, Hamilton, Knight (or someone other), and yet another high pick this year.
He is the damn captain. His answer might as well have come out of Gardiner or Carters mouth. Everybody on the face of the earth knows he is not 100% to blame for the teams shortcomings, but when the reporter asked him how he felt about his personal play and leadership, he could've said somehting along the lines of "We weren't good enough as a team, and I was not good enough as the captain". Maybe that doesn't change a thing, but how could it get any worse?
edit: I'll also mention that I think it's telling that some people in this thread seem to think the reporter was out of line. He was asking tough questions, which is what journalists are supposed to do. The men and women who write about NHL teams on a daily basis are most definitely not journalists. I think that's the source of the confusion.
He attacked him? He did ask him a question. A good one at that. He's the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He should be expecting worse then "what do you have to say for yourself?" after they have a 30 game meltdown.
And actually, it isn't that impressive.
He basically told Dion he was a bad captain of course he should told him to go **** himself.
And to those saying a lot of these guys have only been there a couple of years:
It seems as though a losing culture has developed in Toronto, and the new guys are adopting what they see from the vets of the team, which is this generally losing attitude. They need to collectively start caring more.
These weren't "hard hitting questions", they were stupid questions with attractive buzzwords ("$450 tickets!" "Why did it fail? Why?!?") to make sure people would talk about them on message boards and at the office the next day. So job well done in that regard I guess but I wouldn't hold my breath for the Pulitzer.
And I thought all the players handled the questions as well as they could have been expected to.
Buzz words? Haha. I think they were hard hitting questions. What do you think makes a question hard hitting? Relating it to the realities of life
Buzz words? Reporter out to make a name for himself? C'mon. If I were a Leafs fan, I'd want to ask all those exact questions asked and answered. This guy just had the balls to do it. Good on him.
