Tortorella drama: going or staying?

So, what are we to make of the drama that erupted Wednesday concerning coach John Tortorella? Seems the coach in his postseason meeting with general manager Jay Feaster, said perhaps it was time, after seven seasons, he step down. But in a subsequent meeting with feaster, Tortorella told the GM, he wants to stay.

"I want to stay here and fight and try to make this team better with the new ownership group and Jay Feaster,'' Tortorella said. "I want to be part of the retooling.''

But the dynamic has turned interesting. An ownership change from absentee Palace Sports & Entertainment to ultra hands-on Oren Koules seems inevitable, and neither has commented on Tortorella's job status. And a statement by president Ron Campbell was not a ringing endorsement. And Tortorella and Feaster, who always had worked so well, strongly disagreed on how Tortorella handled situations with Andre Roy and Shane O'Brien.

Roy was suspended three games by the league and then scratched for 12 after an incident in Philadelphia. O'Brien was scratched for the final seven games, apparently for poor play.

"I'm embarrassed that it's turned into this," Tortorella said. "The whole situation as far as my meeting with Jay and now it's coming out; this is my fault how this has happened. I have to give a bunch of skin for the season. It starts with me. I'm not afraid of that."

On the other hand, he added, I don't want to give in. I believe Jay Feaster and I can work with the new ownership coming in. We can turn this around. We're not far away."

Read the entire story in Thursday's paper.

Comments

[Leanmean43]

If Vinny and Marty want Tortorella stay, then obviously he hasn't lost the team,and they clearly believe in his abilities to get this team back on the winning track. I just hope Oren Koules doesn't come in here and clean house. Just give Feaster the money to spend and let him bring in free agents, and let Torts coach the team how he sees fit. Feaster and Torts brought stability and accountability to the organization, I don't want some owner to come in here and mess up the Lightning. The Lightning would have never won the Stanley Cup without Torts and Feaster changing the attitude and culture of the organization. Ownership is the only thing that has held the team back the last few years.

[Lisa]

The last thing the team needs is more drama. They need to get this sale taken care of, and then they need to have the plan of action outlined and followed so that some stability is returned to the whole organization.

A plan needs to be instituted in order to proceed with the draft as well as with free agent signings. We need to get Vinny to extend his contract, and I am sure he would want to see some order restored and a plan of action being followed for him to agree to sign a long term extension. If UFA see that happen, they will also be more willing to sign on here: if there is no real resolution or obvious game plan, don't expect many top line free agents to consider signing here (even if money is available).

[Leanmean43]

Another thing, those of you who want Tortorella and Feaster gone are idiots. The only reason Vinny and Marty want to stay in Tampa is because of them. I guarantee if they are canned Vinny will not resign, and Boyle and Marty will not want to stay either. Vinny is probably going tell Koules if Torts and Feaster go, he goes.

[Lisa]

Leanmean43: I agree to a point that if the core players want Tortorella back that the new owners need to take that into account. However, I think that Tortorella became very negative toward the second half of the season (understandably) and I think that negativity affected the players as well: negativity breeds negativity. I know that Vinny played injured the second half, but the difference between his play (and Marty's) at the beginning of the season and toward the end of the season was obvious.

When the team is losing, it is hard not to become negative, but if the coach is spewing such negativity, it will reflect on the players. The fact that Tortorella went in and basically offered to leave at the end of the season shows what his state of mind was at the time. That is what the players had to deal with, as well. If he can't turn that attitude around, then you certainly don't want him back next season.

[Voice of the Turtle]

Leanmean43 seems to know the players and their intentions very well. If this is so, he/she is better informed than the rest of us about the implications of keeping or disposing of Feaster and Tortorella, who, in Leanmean43's judgment have "brought stability and accountability to the organization."

I guess Leanmean43 and I would tend to define "stability" and "accountability" in different ways because, arguably, one could make a strong case for those particular elements lie, in fact, at the root of the Lightning's problems.

John Tortorella has obviously experienced ambivalent feelings about the retention of his job. His pride speaks to the desire to remain at the coaching helm of the team. Most probably, his inner voice has prodded him to accept the fact that the team has been declining in its competitiveness over the last three years resulting, finally, in this season's abject debacle. Can he not, in all reason, accept some responsibility for that?

Since Tortorella did not likely discuss his comments to Feaster with others, one must assume that his thinking, as expressed in the meeting, was revealed by the GM. My guess is that those feelings were very personal and stated by Tortorella to Jay in confidence. If so, that confidence was violated by his boss.

It is so difficult for one to understand, given the laundry list of mistakes made by the GM since 2004 (both in terms of actions taken and opportunities missed), how some people retain confidence in him. Other GMs in the league have lost positions during Jay's tenure while producing far better results than Tampa Bay.

I expect that Oren Koules will be inclined to clean house if and when his acquisition is finalized. Perhaps his lack of working capital taken together with the inherited contractual obligations to Tortorella and Feaster could keep the two in their jobs for yet another year. Who knows?

Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, and Dan Boyle are in no position to dictate to owners who should serve as general manager and/or coach. They have contracts that include well-articulated rights and obligations. They are earning a living in a business where people act in their own self interest. They understand the rules, the pecking orders, and the fact that money does the talking. If they forget these things, their agents will certainly remind them.

As said earlier, Leanmean43 may be privy to information from the players that contradict my assumptions, but, then again, he/she might just be trying to sound authoritative by pretending to enjoy knowledge unavailable to others. Sadly, that would not be a peculiarly unusual happening on this site.

[GP]

Leanmean43,

"Ownership is the only thing that has held the team back the last few years."

Please say you are joking or just simply mis-stated this point. I assume you mean that not spedning to the cap is the root of all evil in Lightning land. Samsonite ..... I was way off! Did the lack of salary cap impact the lack of forsight in the scouting department to not have any draft picks contributing or even on the way? That is where cost certainty comes from. You fill in with UFA but your draft picks are your money makers. Feaster and his lame duck scouting department are to blame. You can't buy every player on your team. There is a reason other teams don't sign them first.

I suggest you read VOTT's post, re-read, and then take notes on index cards to review at a later date. He broke it out for you in Hockeys for Dummies. Good job VOTT.

[Elwood]

Sorry Fonz, you're history. Literally.

Don't try to schmooze us now. You should have come up for air back in November and assessed the sucking chest wound.
Many of us were jumpy coming out the gate in October.

The idiot shrink said wait 20 games and you made that schmuck look smart.
Not cool Fonzie, not cool at all.

Your macabre misuse of 'meritology' is a blueprint on how to get fired, everywhere else in the League except here.
That is patently bizarre.

[boltflasher]

If Burns comes here, does "the Trap" come with him? and with that, a very boring brand of hockey? I think we all see some of Torts weaknesses as the head coach. Anybody else brought in will have their unique abilities and inabilities as well. Yes, Torts coached this team to Cup 4 years ago. Neither they or any of the teams that won after the Bolts has won a subsequent round in the playoffs. Neither team from the year before last, EDM and CAROLINA, even made the playoffs this year. Some regression from the Cup year is expected. However, the question being begged is not whether or not Torts can coach a team to a Cup, he's proven he can, but whether he is still effective here. Feaster and Torts both share in the catastrophe of a season this past year and the progressive slide downward. Torts can't be blamed for the roster handed him this year. I think the number of minutes being pushed on Vinny and Marty (and Brad) was to hide the lack of talent on the other lines. However, even with those guys this team struggled on the power play and with penalty killing most of the season and that is more of an indicator of coaching (both areas were improved by end of the season, and Torts gave credit to Sully, but why did it take all season?). Why is it that Hitchcock's teams are always good in those areas no matter how bad the team is? The players opinions of the coach, just like with employees and their boss, usually only becomes important with management only when managment has already made a decision and those players/employees opinions then support management's decision..."well, the players/employees did not like him either".

For those who want to say the Bolts only missed the playoffs for one freakin' year, the problem is a bit worse than that. I saw a lot of games this year that they looked terrible.
Feaster and Torts have deserved a chance to fix the ship because the past Cup win indicates that they have been able to do it. The question is when is enuff, enuff? With free agents and several new players expected in the fall, all of which will have to have some time to learn "the system", I am not expecting an immediate turn around...the question is can the team and new managment afford to wait to see if it is going to be turned around anytime soon? If it doesn't turnaround how will that affect Vinny still wanting to stay? If they do get off to a quick start, will it last after they "learn the system"? Does the system even work with the new rules? Other teams have copied the Bolts system to a degree, is only a few tweaks needed or a major overhaul?Difficult decisions ahead and whatever they are will not please all the fans...

[Michael]

Boltflasher, while I agree that the penalty kill wasnt good for most of the year, that can be explained two ways, which I will get to in a minute. The power play did have a bad stretch or two, but a they were still like 6th or 7th at the end of the season, so they couldnt have been that bad. But the reasons for the bad penalty kill were poor goaltending, and the fact that the Lightning take very few penalties, so a power play goal hurts the kill percentage drops more when you allow a goal. For example, if the Lightning take 10 penalties over the course of a game, and give up 1 power play goal, they have an 90% kill percentage. But if they only take 4 in a game, and give up a goal, then they only have a 75% killing percentage. While you may have thought of this, I know there are some people out their that haven't.

[boltflasher]

Michael, Torts admitted the PK was not good. The numbers and the play on the PK improved quite a bit over the last month and a half after Sully practiced the team on it so the final numbers reflected the late season work they put in on that and as I said, Torts gave credit for that to Sully,...for quite awhile they were dead last in PK and not just because they had few PKs, it really stunk... My question was why did it take so long to work on it?

[Nan]

I had always been a supporter of Torts until he became very much more negative behind the bench. How can this not affect the players? It must be interesting (to say the least) to hear all that profanity when you are on the bench either directed at you or one of the refs. He made a bad situation worse by his behavior. I did notice a change in his behavior however after the trades occured late February. He seemed less abusive. If he maintains that slightly more positive attitude, then I say give him a chance this year.

Of course if the players want him back, that should have some bearing on management's decision to keep him. Ultimately the decision will be based on how effective Torts was in his job last year and if he was ineffective, can he be effective next season. Now that we are looking at rebuilding and aiming for a Cup a few years down the road, this I think is more to Torts liking.

[matt]

The whole point of any of this coming out is Tortorella's way of getting "his side" of the story out before he gets canned. He is using the media( like always) to rip the organization and make it seem like it wasn't at all his fault. Listening to Duemig yesterday it was very clear he was speaking directly for Tortorella. And blaming Feaster and the new ownership for it in the process. I see no quotes from any players wanting him to stay, just hear say. I guess he had to complain to the media one last time. Have fun in Atl....

[Lisa]

I don't think the players want to get caught in any crossfire, so they are keeping quiet (good, smart choice). However, it was very telling the interview that Richards did after the trade. I don't know if the rest of the team (especially the core, long term members) feel the same way, but if they do, then I think it needs to be taken into consideration.

Whether or not Feaster and Tortorella stay should really depend on whether Tortorella lost the locker room and whether key people believe he has what it takes to turn things around.

The last 6 Cup winners have not advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs. Until this year, the team was still making the playoffs, even if they had not succeeded. They need to decide if this year was an aberration due to all the uncertainty and stress everyone associated with the team was under, or if it was a sign of things to come.

[Mike13]

I'm more than a little concerned about the new ownership. If they are stuggling so badly just to get the financing to buy the team, how in the heck are they going to come up with an operating budget?

Another year with a low budget = another painfully long season in the cellar. Which means that Torts will continue to be the way he was this year. Which will lead to his departure.

On the upside, at least we'll have a shot at landing Tavares at tnext year's draft. For those who don't know, look him up. The kid tried to get the NHL to change their drafting rules so he could be picked first overall this year.

[Another Joe]

I think Torts was just fustrated as we all were. Give him the chance to turn this team around and if he doesnt then he will be gone.

I also agree with the way he handled Obrien and Roy. I like Roy as much as anyone but his penalties killed us at times this year.

Also Obrien stunk the 2nd half of this year. He was probably the worst on our blue line!

[JoeG]

If Torts and Feaster stay, we are looking at a mediocre year at best next season.With all the young blood on our team you need a coach and staff that can teach,a skill Torts does not have.

[Lisa]

Actually, Tortorella did real well coaching a young team: remember the young team that won the Cup? Unfortunatly, it looks like he might have more difficulties coaching grown men.

Forgotten in all this miasma is the injury express, the crazy train the Lightning rode all season long with seemingly every name on the roster out of action at some point--some for months on end. Remove any team's top Dman plus one of the only forwards who'll consistently stand in front of the net and score goals--that'll put a dent in any team's season, whether in Hockey Town or Hockey Bay, Hockey Lake or wherever. Take the game's top player, have him play half the season with a wrist injury (and yet he STILL scored over 40!). Blame the coach & GM if you want, no mgmt team would have been able to overcome that.

At every single level of hockey John Tortorella has coached, he has won championships. If Koules is as smart as we have reason to believe he is, he won't be paying the man over a MILLION DOLLARS to NOT coach the Lightning. So players with a brain in their have already been in full-on maniacal training mode for two weeks, readying themselves for the nightmare that is Camp Torturella.

His comments are born of understandable frustration...IMO he wants to stay.

[TroyB]

Lightning doubled my lower level season ticket price which pisses me off considering all the BS. If Torts is let go I will not renew.

[Tackleberry]

Another possibility for Torts is to have a long heart-to-heart with Koules. Almost putting him on probation, for a lack of better terms. IF Torts were to tone-down his antics/tyrades significantly, that would pay some dividends.

IF he starts doing the same as before, send him to Norfolk. Hey, leadership by example. He could turn around that team and help create good seeds for the Bolts.

I've said it since I started blogging here that Feaster needs to go. If you were to look all of Feaster's trades/picks etc. How many have been bad choices? How many good? Evaluate that percentage. I am guessing around 20% good? NOW, if a coach had a 20% win record with any team (football, baseball, basketball, soccer or even waterpolo) how long would it be before he was canned? His track record over the past 3 seasons speaks for itself. They have only been bad choices/management. He is ranked 30th among all GMs.

Oren has a very messy house to clean. I hope he surrounds himself with GOOD people.

[ajax]

The beauty of the world is how one situation can be looked at so fervently, yet differently by all. I read the article in the paper this morning and couldn't wait to read the blogs. Many people, WOW, defended Torts, WOW. I interpreted the column to be exactly what I have been saying for months. He is an egotistic spoiled little man. My way or the highway and if you don't do what I say I will make life miserable for all. The stars will play 27 minutes a night and if they cheat me out of one second I will call them out in the paper. Then I read our blog and saw 50% defending Johnny, mainly because we won a cup 4 years ago. This morning, John Tortorella knows he went to far with his me me me attitude. He is a little embarassed and should be. The damage is done for one reason. You need calmer heads running the war room. Time after time he has proven to just go nuts and everyone in his path is hurt. Thanks for the memories, now go and make someone else miserable. Gang, so many have written and slammed any of us that were negative about the Lightning this year. We were branded "not true fans" How do you describe a coach who wants to get off the bandwagon because of poor play?? Talk about jumping ship?? But he is paid millions to be the ultimate team player, not the ultimate "solo" act. Not exactly the leader I want running the ship. Maybe someone should mention to him, any coach can coach a stud team, it takes a real coach(and person) to pull together a group that isn't the "best" He failed miserably at this.
By the way the few blogs that touch on the fact that it "IS" a miserable team because of Jay, you have hit on the real cause of this mess, believe me. When you go into a summer three years in a row and have no minors what so ever and your only hope is to spend to fix, you always have problems. That is Jay's fault. The biggest reason I wanted owners with deep pockets was to fire both of them and eat their contracts. I will have to settle for one(Torts) but Feaster has single handedly destroyed this team thru a zillion mistakes at every level.

[Tackleberry]

Amen Ajax.

[Tackleberry]

Ajax,

Has Oren called you about a possible future opening in the GM position?

[Nan]

Well said Ajax! Torts stuck his foot in his mouth and now is trying to pull it back out. How many times have we seen him do something and then later try to correct it? A calmer, more positive approach I think is needed here. Whether or not, Torts can provide it is the question.

If he can turn himself around first, maybe he can turn the team around too. I hope he acquired some humiliation there in having a dead last team for a change and has realized that he is not the best coach out there right now and that he needs to work to earn that back. Sounds like he wants the chance.

[Sean]

For the record, I think it would be a big mistake to let Torts go. The man brought us a cup and coached a team last year that was made up of guys that should have been playing in the AHL. O'Brien looked terrible and deserved to get benched. Roy lets his emotions get the better of him and at times is uncontrollable on the ice. We are just a few offseason moves away from being a competitive team in the east next year & Torts should be given the chance to coach.

[Tackleberry]

Sean,
Torts has done great things whith the cards he has been dealt. BUT, he has let his emotions take over (in a bad way). He may have lost control of some of the players.

Hmmm. The winningest US-born coach ever, Stanley Cup in 04, and will lead the US team. No one will ever argue those accomplishments.

It would be hard to let him go, but his MOUTH has caused the fans and possibly ownership, to strongly consider letting him go.

I think this will be the TOUGHEST call for Oren. I hope that Torts will take a good self-eval in the off season. He cannot continue to errupt all the time. He needs to look at how he can best connect to the players for maximum output.

[ajax]

I do not think for one second that Torts would be back peddling if the "deal" wouldn't of been announced. He now realizes he might have some owners who actually won't tolerate his "style" and is back peddling. Hard to go looking for another coaching job when you have to look them in the eye and say, "yep, I didn't want to coach their anymore" Like all loud mouths eventually the foot doesn't fit anymore.

Below is an interesting article from "Hockey's Future" ranking all NHL organizations. Tampa is 29th. Just wonder if Oren will address the issues of Norfolk after the Bolts' house is cleaned. I dont see much emphasis going towards Norfolk.

This brings up a point of our scouts. I hope they will be on the road constantly over the next 5 months.

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/nhl_organisation_rankings/?start=24

"Strengths: Goaltending is a clear strength to their prospect pool. Karri Ramo and Riku Helenius are potential NHL starters and if only one of the two develops into Tampa Bay's starter for the foreseeable future, it will be a tremendous success. Blair Jones, Luca Cunti and Dana Tyrell are intriguing prospects, but are a long way from being top prospects, while Matt Smaby is a maybe. Weaknesses: Outside of possibly Ramo and Helenius, none are potential NHL stars. Developing top-end talent is only one criterion for analyzing a prospect pool, but it is a very important criterion. Tampa Bay has solid depth in second and third-tier prospects, but the overall depth is average relative to other organizations. Top five prospects: 1. Karri Ramo (G), 2. Riku Helenius (G), 3. Matt Smaby (D), 4. Dana Tyrell (C), 5. Blair Jones (C). Key graduates: none."

[Tackleberry]

The above post was mine.

[shane]

NONE OF THEM HAVE MOHAWKS!!

[léo]

How-come everything is crossed out?

If you get a mohawk, the lines go away!

[léo]

Too late, We've shaved Our heads!
Except Kovy, the vain bast***.
10min!
I'm in so much angst! That's right, angst.
Nevermind how your fate-ridden, future pick turns out as a consequence, why don't you all hop on the Bandwagon?
I mean, Sidney? He'll get his chance again and again, methinks. (sorry for plagiarizin' ya, Casper) Let him learn to lose before he learns to win.
NY? Screw NY, NHL's teacher's pet. Like the Toranna Leaves and the NY Yankees, they think BUYING a championship is as valorous as WORKING for it. They don't DESERVE it.
Philly? *snort*
Detroit? Ok, but do they have the Grit?
Dallas? Besides your love/hate angle vs Richards which is a whole bowl of noodles, think Turco will Hold? Ribeiro, can he sustain Punishment? Are they REALLY fast enough?
San José? Folks, I KNOW Joe Thornton. We've seen him with OUR OWN EYES. Push'im. Push'im. Push'impush'impush'impush'im,keep pushingpushingpushingpushingpushing. And he'll Break. Not only that, he'll drag the whole team down with him. With Our own eyes. Twice. You know this is true.
Colorado? Hey, if they can take out the RedWings (which I know they can do), We'll be pleased but sooner or later, their age will appear, their defense will crumble and so will Théo. You know this.
It's all up for grabs. No betting the farm on anything. So since this is going on now and the draft is months away, why not take pleasure in this great game of hockey while it's in its most interesting phase? Glorious entertainment.
Question is,
Who gives the best Show?
You know who.
Let's get it on!
12 to 25
sff

[Leanmean43]

Hey Turtle,
I'm getting my information from 620 WDAE, Duemig said that he called Tortorella on the phone and talked with him. Torts told Feaster that he was thinking about resigning. The players and coaches got upset that he might quit, and the Core players of the team and the coaching staff talked him out of it. I didn't make up this information.

In addition, when Richards got traded, judging by his comments he said that Ownership has held them back the past few years and Tortorella and Feaster shouldn't be blamed for the teams shortcomings. Richards also said he was upset that the new owners were trying to come in and mess up what Torts and Feaster had established. This Article was in the Tribune and the St. Pete Times by the way.

[bear]

Tortsie has squeezed every drop out of the lemon here and vastly overachieved in the big picture. He hasn't had the benefit of a goalie in three years.

Strong vibe that Ottawa grabs him in a second if he comes to market. Perfect spot for him.

[Steve]

Agreed, he would be great in Ottawa. Every coach, even the great ones, wear out there welcome eventually, even Scotty Bowman. I would agree that he has been hurt by poor drafting, bad trades, and ownership not willing to spend, but I still think his time is up. He has too many issues with too many players.

[boltflasher]

He'd probably get his pick between ATL, OTT, StL, FLA

[GP]

Let him go to STL so he get forever get lost in mediocrity.

[matt]

The GM of the US team is the GM of Atl. Anyone thinking he's not in Tort's ear is fooling themselves. Torts is using the media once again, by making it seem as the new owners are out to get him. Even though he knows he probably doesn't want to be here. If he gets fired he can go to any team he wants, if he quits the Bolts control his rights for one more year.

[Nate Dogg]

Some of these terms that are being thrown around to describe John Tortorella seem rather vague.

Someone please describe and define how he's "negative". Also, it would be great if someone could explain how he's "selfish".

Give examples. Be specific. It's easy to use adjectives and not give specific examples to back it up. (Grammer will be graded as well :-D )

Listen, I know negative isn't that far of a stretch to call him. I just think it's easy to confuse negativity with passion... I mean really... how many coaches, who are even close to matching Torts' level of passion(for the game of hockey, the tampa bay area, and his players-no matter who they are- that bust their butts and are team-first), would be "positive" and peachey during this whole season? No offense to some bloggers, but I don't think you understand coaching. Not HOCKEY, but just coaching. It would be different if your job title was "Player's Friend", but it's not. It's "COACH"...which means trying to get the best/most out of his players...by any means necessary.

A perfect example: Vincent Lecavalier.

Last time I checked, he and Torts aren't exactly best friends. And last time I checked, before they butted heads, Vinny wasn't even close to being as good of an overall player as he is now (bringing physicality, body positioning, offensive AND defensive awareness). But Torts' "negativity" brought out the best in Vinny and I, for one, don't think Vinny would be where he is today if it wasn't for Torts.

Sometimes motivating certain (keep in mind CERTAIN) players isn't as easy as shooting them a rainbow-filled smile when they're not playing up their personal best.

I commend Torts for the way he handled Roy and O'Brien. Both need to understand that you never have a guaranteed spot in the line-up, whether you're a fan favorite who plays 3.5 mins a night as a loose cannon, or a defensemen who was traded for a first round pick. (So what if you were traded for a first round pick? Get over it...honestly, the man played like we picked him off of waivers as the end of the season!) OB has MUCH better hockey in him than that

These coaches aren't idiots. And I just think Torts (and Sully) deserve some defending.

Who was calling Torts "negative" or "selfish" when we won the cup?

...exactly. Nobody. It's easy to use Torts as a scapegoat for the inevitable fall of our Stanley Cup Team Empire.

PEACE!

[GP]

Nate Dogg,

Good post.

I for one was not calling Torts "negative" & "selfish" when they won the cup. I lived in Philly during that time so I was calling him mFer and sob. Along with the ... "my god he looks like Fonzi. I wonder if he has a tattoo of Roy Orbison on his a##." ;)

Seriously though, he is no doubt a very good coach. My opinion in all of this is that it is just time to bring in a new crew (GM & Coach). Changing some things up can do a lot of good. I would get rid of Feaster before Torts but I think they go as a package deal.

Torts will be ok. Just as Scotty Bowman, Jacques Lemaire, Michel Therrien ... it all worked for them and countless others.

[ajax]

It is late so excuse the grammer(even early, my grammer ain't to good)
Here is my explanation for slamming Torts as I am sure I am one of the unnamed above. So, I will give it a shot. It is the constant (nagative, humiliating) voice thru the papers. Always always always blasting players thru the paper. His constant degrading of every goalie we ever had. Like the goalies or hate them, coach made it much worse by feeding the fire to the press every chance he could. Talk about poor handling of a situation. Ever heard of win as a team, lose as a team?? I wonder if Grahame, Perrin and Prospal just to name a few would have good words on Torts. Oh yeah, he couldn't let Perrin leave without one last dig to the paper. It is the infamous Torts doghouse (he added on an addition this year as it got quite crowded) You talk of Vinny, and Torts making him. I think Torts lit the fire but please, all the hard work was not done by Torts. And that was 2-3 years ago. It is this last 2years or so that Torts wore out the welcome mat. He verbally insulted Vinny twice in the last three weeks of a meaningless season. Never called him by name just told the paper that the leaders needed to play every shift. Can anyone defend playing Vinny Marty and Danny 25-27- and 30 minutes in game 79 of the season??? No sanity what so ever to his anger. And make no mistake it was anger that drove him to snap just a tad(tongue in cheek) His self centeredness hit bottom when he asked out. Are you saying he offered to quit for the better of the team? No way, I will never buy that. He gave up!! He kept telling the papers that the players needed to set the tone for next year, that is why everyone needed to still be accountable and then he does 100% the opposite of what he is preaching and ASKS OUT!!!! The thing he preached so hard to all of his loser players is exactly what he did. HE QUIT. And please don't excuse his rant of "if they don't like the way I am doing things they can ask me to leave" Torts couldn't handle the losing!!! He was the fricking coach and he turned the tables on everyone and blamed them and his "standards" were being compromised. That is selfish. He is management. He is suppose to lead by example. He did alot of good and we all loved him when the stars were bright. But, he is the one who turned on everyone when things got tight.
Nate Dogg, you ever have a parent or a boss who constantly embarassed you in front of everyone? Who made sure everyone knew that they just were not going to tolerate you unless you shaped up?? Tortorella made a horrible habit of humiliating the players to the papers. He did a good job of it with management this year. Does anyone go to their lunch room and slam management?? Torts does it to the papers. To be a good leader I think you definitely need people skills, for me, it was clear Torts was a runaway train the past two years. To say the least he could of handled his frustrations a tad better. Someone once said you are usually measured not by how you handle good fortune but how you handle adversity. Torts failed miserably under those rules. Anyway, I think he needs a new city and I think we need a new coach. It might not be fair (Jay Feaster is much more to blame) but it is reality. Just my quick thoughts, pithy of me.

[Hockey Chic]

Okay guys and gals if grammar is going to be graded I am transferring out of this class as English is or was not my forte. Can you tell?

Anyway on the the Torts deal, I do not think anyone is saying he is a bad coach. Or that he has not been successful at the levels he has coached.

Leading the team to the cup was was a great example of what can be done. I think what everyone witmesses last season was an example of how everything can go wrong at once.

The injuries, the lack of a deal with ownership, the in fighting, the new additions to the team, and the lack of a solid farm club to rely on all added to the misery of last season.

To fix it one would hope that the new ownership spends some solid time with the "core" players as Torts likes to call it and see what they say. However, it should be duly noted that Torts needs a change of attitude. I think he should spend some solid time talkting to Tom Coughlin and see if they can share notes. Coughlin reminds me so much of Torts it is insane.

If Tommy can change so can Johnny...

I want nothing but the best for this team. Camp Torterlla or not. Lets find out what went wrong, fix it, build on it and make this team the championship callaber we have all seen in the past and John it starts with you. You stand or fall together as a TEAM.

GO BOLTS!

[léo]

Nate Dogg,
I thought you're post was absolutely brilliant. Extremely well thought out and every point brought home with unerring logic, not to mention the spacing (huh-hmm!ajax) which made it clear to read, therefor mnemonically easy to assimilate. Great post. (Especially since I've been defending Tortie all year with the roster at his disposal.)
However,
Ajax's rebuttal nails the "truth of things" on the head. A coach's job is everything you said it is, but he nevertheless MISHANDLED his team when times were rough. Doesn't matter what reasons you have, destroying your team's morale is ALWAYS a mistake (like we were sayin' fer Keenan). Tortie is a good coach, but no longer a good coach for TB.
GP,
So? I notice that you do not bring up a certain subject...
11 to 25
sff

[ajax]

Montreal game: His stick hits the puck and then hits the top of the net. 1+1=2. Don't need to be an Einstein to figure out where he hit the puck. (above the crossbar, dah!!) The NHL review system is horrible because the league is to cheap to invest in technology. Embarassment to the league not to get calls right. And that penalty?? at that time of the game?? On a play that had no effect on the game?? Someone (in stripes) was very determined. Leo, I think your equation when signing off should be 6+2 > 6. And Leo lay off the grammer; punctuation/ sentence: angle, yer killing me, ye of never finishing a sentence!!! I have to read your blogs three times to figure out when one thought ends and another starts. Jeeeeeeeepers me!!! GBA (God Bless Ya)

[Casper]

I'm not offended, nor feel a need to explain my take on The Downturn of John Tortorella, failing to rise as a coach though his operating pieces dropped. Any flunkie such as myself or Nate Dogg could have coached a talent laden club as the '04 Cup Dancers. Especially if Captain David Andreychuk were banging his stick on the ice and the locker room floor.

Success bred overblown self worth and ultimately contempt, in some slight form or another. Been there, done that. My teams were proud of the champion moniker, but never again took up for each other as much as they took up for themselves. I, as a coach, wanted to use the same formula for continued success and failed. I see it again and speak up about it (uh, '05-'06 and '06-'07). Now I am fed up and cut loose my support of the current coach(es).

An open window will affort fresh air on the situation, and flight to those lacking the intestinal fortitude to do the ascent all over again. It will be different this time, who among the current cast of Bolts has what it takes to adjust, and make it happen?

Go Bolts!

[Casper]

Oh, and Chic, excellent analogy and compasison to Tom Coughlin.

[Casper]

Oh, and Chic, excellent analogy and comparison to Tom Coughlin.

[Nate Dogg]

Senor Ajax and Co.,

I can't refute what you're saying. You all make great points.

Does he go to the press about calling out players? Yes. It's been seen and heard time and time.

However, like I said before CERTAIN players. IMO as well, I thought all of those players could've taken their game to a whole new level. Whether he spoke to those players beforehand in person before going to the media or didn't, I haven't a clue. Quite frankly put...it shouldn't matter! It's all about motivating! You spoke about winning and losing as a team...and I agree...that's 100% the way it should be in professional sports (or life for that matter...anywho...) However, I can't recall any times where Tortorella flat out said specifically (or hinted) that a win or loss came in the hands of individuals.

On the whole selfish/anger matter: i suppose it's come to the point of 'agree to disagree'. You say anger, I say passion. You say tahmayto, I say timahto. I couldn't (nor would I want to) prove anything to say he's more passionate than angry, because let's face it, it could be argued that they can go hand in hand at times. So, it's just down to subjective differences.

Personally, I don't think Torts wants out. I don't think "quit" is in his personal vocabulary. He and his family have been woven into this community. His daughter, Britney, goes to my school, UT (and even lived in my dorm freshman year). To say he wants to leave for "greener" pastures is a little too much...IMO.

So now, I think the conversation comes to the point of the Tampa Bay franchise being better off with a new figure head. A fresh breath of air. A new mentality....and sadly, I do agree with it. Perhaps it is for best interests of both the Lightning and Tortorella to have fresh starts.

However, the new coach will basically inherit the same problems we've dealt with this last year: cheap ownership, lack of depth, and a young blueline core (and two unproven goalies-as full time starters).

The new theoretical coach WILL, however, inherit no freak accidents to Danny Boyle, the full time benefits of the Richards/Prospel trades, Senor Stamkos, and a free copy of the Saw quadrilogy (is that the right word for a 4 movie series set?).

Fresh breath of air? More than likely.

Same major problems killing our franchise? You bet...not to mention another diminishing identity to our Stanley Cup team. (unless that new coach is Andreychuk, of course :) )

Thank you for your compliments/responses and replies. Much appreciated.

Go Lightning!

[Nate Dogg]

Lastly, I know it's always inevitable to compare coaching to "the office", but they're oranges and apples.

Yes, I have been belittled and/or called out by teachers, bosses, and coaches...just not to the national media :). However, at the same time, I've never really been at liberty to curse openly, spit, or even celebrate at any of those places by drinking 89723498723 litres of wine after performing really well (winning stanley cup).

Similar? Yes.

But they are different environments on the whole

[Nate Dogg]

Chic,

That's not a bad idea. Or maybe Torts will follow the advice of another successful coach...

Bobby Knight.

[léo]

Sorry Ajax, but you are sorely mistaken.
While the tip of his stick hit the top of the cross-bar, the HEEL of the stick is what made CONTACT with the puck BENEATH the cross-bar.
"That Kovalev did not illegally high-stick the puck out of the air, into the back of the net; that, according to the league's Web site explanation, 'Video review was conclusive that it was not struck with a high stick.'"
Back to the call on the ice: GOAL.
Anti-Hab bias should not prevent you from having your eyes open and a fair understanding of the rules of Hockey, Ajax. CONTACT, not positioning, Ajax. You can overhead chop a puck if you want and if CONTACT is beneath the cross-bar? Guess what? GOAL.
Now consider that out've the Flyers 3 goals, they actually only scored one. We scored one for them and another went off a Flyer's leg at the side of the net while he had his finger up his nose and no clue what was going on.
We had 2 inside posts and 2 open nets where the puck hopped over the stick.
Flyers have NOTHING. We beat them WITHOUT EVEN TRYING. Flyers are dishonoring the Bruins who gave an exceptional display of Heart and Grit. They're finished.
I hope they offer more of a challenge next game cuz We shoulda won this one 7 to 1 instead of 4 to 3 in overtime.
Our best players were better than their best players by a loooong shot, WITHOUT EVEN TRYING.
Lucky? Ha! We're the Montreal Canadiens.
Winning is what We do.
Aaaaaall too easy.
11 to 25
sff

[Tackleberry]

Nate,
I agree, he has been dealt a poo poo sandwich. I am on the fence about Torts leaving. Even though my earlier post today, said there is an opening for Torts in Norfolk. Thats just my sarcasm.

The biggest problem to fix in the WHOLE world of the Lightning is the GM. No pun intended. ;)

Lets say (hypothetical) that Torts moves to another team. A new coach would come in and be given the same poo poo sandwich.

Ya, there is new ownership, a few new players, one may be Stamkos, but, the overall mismanagement is still there. We will still see bad trades and some players being overpaid (ie Richards).

Maybe torts should be put on a probationary status. It seems the players are sticking up for him. So, lets see if he can control his antics and be a COACH! Keep him away from the press.

Get a spokesman (idea: Phil Esposito) to speak at press conferences. Keeps Torts out of the hotseat and allows him to concentrate on the players. The spokesman has to be involved with the games, practices, issues, etc..

[Nate Dogg]

TB,

I have to admit I was |---| thiiis close to responding to your Norfolk comment earlier. hahaha.

And it would be quite entertaining to have Espo be our official spokesman. I mean it's entertaining just listening to the man do color commentary on 620 while he's absolutely hammered. A couple of martini's and a press conference for Espo would be a much greater solution to Torts' media problems.

[Nate Dogg]

By the way, I have a question for you fellow bloggers. By show of hands (or mouses...or just "yes" or "no" would simply do..), do you really think Tortorella is a goalie killer?

Granted, Khabibulan and he weren't exactly homies. Unlike Lecavalier and Torts, they didn't even have mutual respect for each other. Their butting of heads was well documented, but who else didn't he got along with (goalie wise)?

Let's go down the list, shall we?...

Graham- soon to be out of the NHL. (I think Carolina figured that out right around March). Highly immature person who loved living the High Life in Tampa, rather than reviving his career that he lost up in Boston. "Hitting up the bars and picking up young girls" > "The Lightning"

Burke- uhh...next...(solid, solid NHL career...his days playing for TB aren't even worth documenting)

Denis- ...again, next goalie...(i don't see Torts being a main cause to his disappointing play)

Holmer- bargain bin find. Did well considering. Again, I know Torts went out to the media a couple of times and said he wasn't playing to his best, but who knows...maybe he saw that he had an elite level of play in him. Either way, I don't think Torts hurt his level of play.

Ramo/Smith- too early in the storyline.

But, again, I ask you all...(yes or no), is Tortorella a goalie's worse nightmare?

[ajax]

Leo, sir, I talked to numerous hockey people today, and all of us thought the puck was hit high. We are all Lightning fans and probably see it a tad clearer than you(red and blue eyes!!!). Well one guy does hate the Habs, he calls them the biggest divers he's ever seen. In a recent Google poll 77.58% said it was a high stick.
Bigg Dogg Nate, the only thing I have to say in finale' is this, weather kindergarten, college, work or professional sports, public floggings/humiliation are never a good motivator. Never once.
Also, new coach would have same doodoo, Yes I agree(we all do),but "respect" for your players should be a given no matter win or lose. I don't think John has that for any of them. Playing franchise players until they can't move is the ultimate disrespect to them and the game, and he has made it clear, "This is not a popularity contest, and if they don't like what the hell I am doing, then they can get me out of here" My gut, tells me they will take him up on his rant.
Oops sorry, I didn't write paragraphs again. GBY

[Casper]

Yes to mis-handling goalies, No to being a de facto goalie killer.

His 'up tempo system' demands competence and focus. The 'Usual Suspects' have been a melange of one OR the other, not both. Despite his gifts, Khabby wasn't exactly 'low maintenance'.

Given the un-checked changes in Tort's system and personna, I'd worry a great deal about our 'diamonds in the rough'; Smith, Ramo, Boutin, Munce, Helenius, etc..

There may be a (Devil) ray of hope for change in Tortorella, and I'm hoping for substantial defensive coaching to alight here. This would be the greatest thing, ya' think?

[Nate Dogg]

Ajax, monamee...

playing the line of Ward/Karlsson/Tarnasky for 30 minutes a game would be disrespectful to the fans, players, and anything hockey in this universe. Playing the "big 4" like he did this last year is just him trying to make margaritas out of the lemons that were handed to him.

I'm sure you recall after a humbling/awful loss in 08' (can't remember the opponent...Colorado, maybe?), Torts made them skate their rears off the next morning at 8am...and what did he say after the practice?

"This isn't about disrespecting the players"

Agreed...embarrassment is never a conducive tool as a leader. In my opinion, I just don't see Torts embarrassing his players.

Does anyone have any anti-adhesives? My lips seem to be glued to the backside of the Fonz...

[léo]

What are you talking about, Ajax?!
That was a great paragraphed post.
You're quite right that "mes yeux sont bleus-blancs-rouges". But from an OBJECTIVE perspective, had I been in the booth, I could not have CONCLUSIVELY proved the ref's call was WRONG. Could you?
The call on the ice was GOAL. With ALL the angles at your disposal, can you PROVE that he hit the PUCK over the cross-bar, whether his stick hit it or not?
On the other hand, had the call been NO GOAL, I don't think the contrary could have been proven either. Fair enough?
Who cares what Google says? I know hockey; it don't. GOAL.
Besides, even had We lost, I wouldn't be worried at all. Even while sleeping, My team was Far Superior than Philly's, (who, granted, might've been sleeping too).
However, keep in mind that it all transpired as forseen: Biron, feh.
Their D (who played very well, mind you) are inevitably exposed as Our odd-man rush on PK goal proved.
Brière, terrified and disappeared (did anyone SEE him last night?).
Richards, cowered and afraid after Hamrlyk Slap.
Their coaching, stupid in line-opposition and ultimate Face-Off to drop Victory, and then defensive and blame-throwing after loss.
This is the THIRD time in these series that they've dropped a 2 - 0 lead for a loss, not to mention game7 against Wash which, (thankgosh or else it would've been NY) they managed to win.
That's not normal. They are WEAK and they are AFRAID. They CANNOT win.
And they won't.
I said 5 or 6. I'm leaning towards 5.
sff

[ajax]

Leo, you lost me with the broken thoughts, although it is unfair to expect everyone to write as buttfully as I.
I can't ever compare Khabby to anyone else for only one reason. Khabby played on a great team. At the end of the regular season, the year we won the cup, I thought we could beat anyone on any night. This year I thought if we played as hard as we could (30 minutes with the top 6 players) we could win 4-3 in OT. Khabby went to Chicago and was woeful for three years. This "team, this D" was a goalie Killer
Torts and his refusal to adapt at all didn't help matters. Asking Jason Ward to forecheck is like asking Pacman Jones to go to church. Pithy.

[léo]

He will go to the same church that Terrell did. Terrell found the Lord, why not the Pac-man?
Broken thoughts? Aw''ight.
I was sayin' the guys in orange can't beat My team cuz they can't score (We scored 2 of their 3 goals) and they can't stop us from scoring. Bing.
Privy.
sff

[David]

If only one half of Feasterella goes, it should be Feaster. But I do think both should go. Torts has shown that he will not adapt his system to the players he is given and his tough-love is a coaching style that wears out. Not to mention his press conferences are sometimes an embarrasment to the organization. You are supposed to be a professional, act like it, that means leave the temper tantrums(or "passion" as Nate Dogg calls it) in the dressing room.

I also have no problem with Roy and O'Brien and how they were handled. I'd rank Torterella as far superior in his position than Feaster in his. Torts can coach, but I don't think he can coach here anymore.

I think OK would be a better GM than Feaster. I think OK has greater hockey knowledge than Feaster will ever have. I am not recommending OK be owner/GM, just saying that he would be a better GM than the disaster of Feaster.

[Hockey Chic]

Ok Leo I am going to bite what do the numerals at the end of your posts mean?

I am thinking it is how many games you have to win to move on but I am not really sure.
Please enlighten the chic...:)))

Go Bolts!!

[GP]

Leo,

I told you before that I would not get in a pissing match going back and forth about each game. Based on your comments I will have a few thoughts.

Your ARROGANCE gets in the way of your message .... you should practice some HUMILITY and maybe more people would actually read you posts. This is coming from me ..... who actually reads your posts and ENGAGES in INTELLIGENT hockey talk with you ... not the BS you said earlier.

I agreed that I did not think the Flyers will win this series. I think they can surprise the Habs and you never know what happens in 7 games. What I also said is that I wanted "consistent" officiating so that it was a fair series. Didn't happen in game 1 so I can only hope the NHL gets the right officials in there for game 2.

Don't insult my team and I won't insult yours. I never want to hear about how "CIVIL" your great fans are. Let's go over the events that you termed as a few no-hockey fans.

1. Burn police cars and riots.
2. Take turns on bashing a car painted in orange and black with Briere's picture on it.
3. Dump a beer on Richards head in the penalty box.
4. Your PA announcer has to remind the fans to honor and respect the national anthems. How many American players do you have on your team? Your fans are disrespecting your own players.

Hmmmmm ... great civil fans you have. I never want to hear a comment on Philly fans again.

As for the crossbar? Are you kidding me? Ajax was right on ... if your stick hits the top of the cross bar it is a high stick. It does not matter if it hits the heel. A high stick is a high stick. If a player knocks down a puck in play and any part of his stick is above his shoulder, it's a high stick! I'll give it to you though bc you gave us one with the deflection but it was a BS call from Toronto. Can you say home country advantage?

Mike Richards penalty call was the first time in history I have seen a tripping/kneeing call when a player hits him with his shoulder. Last minute in the game? Give me a break. Flyers lost the 1st game last series too. Like you, I'm not worried .... both teams played like crap.

Lose the ARROGANCE and act like an intelligent hockey fan .... not a biased Canuck.

[léo]

You got it, Hockey Chic.
The number of Wins left for Our 25th Cup.
11 to 25
That's almost as good as Our motto:
The City is Hockey
sff

[léo]

I AM acting like an intelligent fan, GP. That's why I'm so arrogant in this case. Did you not see me turn humble vs Boston? I humbled, baby. I humbled and bumbled. Philly ain't Boston. This is perfect for Us. We KNOW you and we're gonna getcha. I don't think it'll go 7 games, GP, surprises included. Did any Flyer cause havoc last night? None. Nobody.
Is it insulting to say that I think your team is weak, compared to ours and afraid to step up against Us for fear of Crushing? If it is, I'm sorry; I'm not trying to offend you. It's my humble opinion as a hockey-fan.
And not one of the ret***s who were acting like animals. Few had hab-jerseys on, just hooligans who had planned for the occasion, you know that, GP, why bring it up again? That was terrible and on behalf of all Mtlers, I appologize again.
Cross-bar goal: You can be as adamant as you want but if you read the rule-book, you will find your answer.
Hometown advantage? You must be joking. Toranna just looooves Us, GP. Oh yeah, they'll help Us out whenever they can. *snort*
Richards penalty: Was it kneeing? No. Was it a penalty? Yes. Tripping. Did Kovy dive? No. He embellished. Still. Penalty.
Officiating? Perceptions vary according to outcome. I thought it quite competent.
Losing your 1st game to Wash? Well, We're just like Washington, aren't We? Yep. If you can beat them, you can beat Us, right?
Where was Upshall, Downie, Richards? Thought they were supposed to intimidate Us? 38 to 28 hits in Our favor. While sleeping.
Sorry GP, I've said it before: I hate the Flyers. All these other folks say they hate the Flyers but they don't hate'em as much as I do, tell ya that fer nuthin'.
You, GP, I love. Love our chats. You bring up great points and you've handed it to me on many occasions, gotta admit.
None of that changes the fact that I am Rejoicing to see your team GO DOWN.
We know your team, GP. Up and down and all around. We know they're scared of Us, so if we can score early to take you out or Punish you (like last night, the Hamrlyk shove on Upshall along the boards put the time of day in, zowie!), then you're finished, cuz your team has no Grit.
And that's it.
Sorry if that sounds arrogant.
11 to 25

[Hockey Chic]

Leo,

Thanks for the clarity I appreciate it. Not to be rude but obnoxious is the one word that came to mind when we visited Toronto and the hall of fame.

The fact that they had an entire locker room replical in another teams town says all. Habs have a great history and following.

I guess tonight will tell.

Go Bolts!!

[léo]

My pleasure, Hockey Chic.
You know that Toranna are a bunch of losers needing to appropriate Our glory to validate themselves.
I was pointing out to GP that T.O. is NEVER gonna do Us favors in the replay booth. The hometown country favoritism remark in that regard was completely off the mark.
There is no hometown country advantage; if there was, that Calgary goal would've been allowed in 2004, no?
Now imagine a city they Hate. Us. Favoritism, indeed.
Furthermore, the fans in Philly cause ruckus IN THE ARENA, while in MTL, it was outside and had nothing to do with the fans. That's the only thing I said about the fans in Philly. I never put them down; I got no problem with the Philly fans; never said I did.
It's Philly Management and Mentality I got a problem with. THEY'RE the ones who showed the Roy thing on the Jumbotron over and over again. No class. No honor. Nothing to do with the fans, that. We never do that in MTL.
What happened in MTL was the work of hooligans, not hockey fans.
The PA announcer? That's what SAVED Philly from a drubbing; took the fans right out of it. They got all quiet cuz they felt bad. Again, a few morons ruining it for everybody. It's real easy to hear a hundred people booing when 20 000 people are being quiet and respectful.
The morbid calm that settled after that announcement allowed the Flyers to ESCAPE the cacaphony of the crowd. They should THANK THEIR LUCKY STARS for that.
Either way, they're going DOWN.
Mwah-ha-ha!
11 to 25
sff

[BoltAction]

21,273 at the Bell Centre... 21,273 MORONS! Those friggin clowns aren't respectful EVEN IN THE LEAST! 21,273 fans booing the American anthem. Sure, only 1 threw beer on the penalized player at the end of the game, but that's because the 21,272 OTHER fans couldn't reach him.

21,273 douche bags.

[GP]

Leo,

I told you I'm not going to bite and go back and forth with you. You have a biased view and can't see through that. That's ok. It doesn't bother me.

Your fans booing the anthem? hmmmm ... I said it before ... how many players on the Candiens are American? How about the freakin owner? Enough said ... lack of class. You dishonor your own players.

We'll talk more after the series are over because I can't chat with an ARROGANT Habs fan who lets favoritism get in the way of honest hockey assessments. I'm as big of a FLyers fan as you are the Habs but I can still call a spade a spade.

Richards hit Kovalev with his shoulder .... not a penalty ... especially in the last minute of the game. Refs took the game in their hands. Toronto will show you favoritism because how long has it been since a team in Canada has won? Just like a spade .... a Canuck is a Canuck.

[BoltAction]

Sbah Kcus, that was just about the most ignorant thing I've ever read.

Just like statistics can be used to prove anything, so too can certain facts - and I do agree there are some facts in your post - when taken out of context.

Fortunately, however, I can now equate the ignorance of the Bell Centre fans to something. So... Thank you?

[léo]

Nice one, suck habs. (or child, yes folks, it's him)
GP, you concur?
All else aside GP, sorry for grandstanding, I mean you no disrespect, absolutely none; I understand I'm playing with your nerves and that I'm firing you up. If you want me to stop, I'll stop. You recognize my favoritism so you can also undertand my zeal.
Can't talk about the game cuz I didn't see it, know nothing about it, but know enough to congratulate you nonetheless. 1 -1 !
The Richards penalty and the Kovy goal have passed like rain on the mountain. Both replays AGREE with call on the ice EVEN IF you're right.
I still say PHI only scored 1 goal that game,we scoring your other 2, while we hit 2 inside posts and missed 2 open nets.
But GP, c'mon. Do you think 21 273 people were booing your anthem??? Or just the same amount of morons you find anywhere else. Personally, (I can't speak for others) I think it's abominable to boo ANYONE'S anthem; you're booing a culture as well as a country. When I have the luxury of assisting, it never crossed my mind to do something like that and I'm quite positive that many feel the way I do.
Feel as you will, GP.
sff

[GP]

Leo,

I agree with one part of his post. I do have a set. lol I fought alongside Canadians, Brits, and Aussies in Afghanistan so I have no complaints with those countries.

From what I read, the fans were yelling Let's go Habs during the anthem. More than a few. Disrespectful nonetheless.

Biron played great last night and Briere did not seem afraid of MTL. He drove around a defensemen and around Price for a goal. Biron's new nickname will be Bironberg. ;)

The great things about hitting posts? It doesn't even count as a shot on goal. Not even worthy of talking about. Flyers hit two crossbars in the same game.

Now it is time to go to Philly and deal with the fans. I'm sure more than a few heard about the anthem and saw the beer poured on Richards. You may have awoken a beast. Good luck.

[léo]

Know why people chant Go Habs Go during the anthem? To cover up the booing of the morons.
Yes, we feel bad about it. We have to do something and overlapping the booing with Go Habs Go seems like the right thing to do. Disrespectful, yes (and I'm sorry about that) but not as bad as the booing. Forgive us.
Biron played fantastic, it seems. Stole a victory for his team. That being said, I also found out that we were much more dominating on offence, that twice we missed golden chances to tie the game (Plecanec, Higgins), and that the Priceberg would like 3 of the 4 he let in back.
You're abosolutely right about the posts that were hit; what's done is done. Same as the ref's calls, what say we agree on that?
Bottom line?
I ain't worried at all, just peeved that we dropped a game at home.
I wanted to sweep your team in 4, GP!
Is that too much to ask?
I wonder how many hab-jerseys we'll see in PHI?
Peace.
11 to 25
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[bear]

Don't say I didn't warn you L/

Game 3 will be a rockin affair and likely the trick o the tale for this series.

[BoltAction]

Habs'll take game 3. It's a character game. Get back home-ice advantage and show that you won't back down. Been the mantra all year from what I've seen.

('Bolts could use some of that if you ask me.)

But I take back what I said about the heart in PHI. They have just about zero skill, yet they took out WSH and are making a series of it with MTL. But I ain't takin' back anything I said about Clark. THAT guy's a douche.

[léo]

Right away coming in to game 2, Boston started scaring us. Even if we won that game. They scared us from game 2 to game 6. They were comin'. They weren't gonna get slapped down. You felt it.
You don't feel it with Philly. I'm not saying they CAN'T win, of course they CAN win.
But I don't think they can win, if that makes sense. They're not scary at all, as we saw last night when Kostopoulos wiped Timonen's smirk off his face at the end of the game. "What're YOU laughin' at, boy?" Nobody laughs at us, 'specially not some two-bit Flyboy. They just don't have the moxy to scare us.
It feels like we OWN them and that the only way they can beat us is if we help them. 36 to 23 the shots. (Biron WAS fantastic and the Priceberg made another gaffe) I don't see how the number of shots'll change in PHI, where we've played great for 2½ years.
The Kid'll be better (like always) and Biron won't. Last night was as good as he's ever been and we scored 2 beauties, missed a bunch more (a double-post!). Same number of shots will be a constant, I think, and that'll be that.
4 games or 7 games, I'm very confident.
Still,
Props to Philly for makin' it a series. I asked for a challenge and here we go!
11 to 25
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[GP]

Boltaction,

"have just about zero skill"

I know a lot of people hate the Flyers and I'm ok with that. I won't try to turn you all into Flyers fans like some other blogger I know trying to turn people into Habs fans. We have enough fans. However, no skill? They have 7 players who scored 20 goals this year. They almost had 4 with 30 goals. They have holes like every team but look past the pre-conceived notion that the Flyers are a bunch of goons. They also have the #1 and #3 playoff scorers. #1 plus minus and Marty Biron is tied for #1 with 5 wins. The only thing that matters is that you win 16 games in the playoffs. Any team can do that in any given year.

Leo,

I know you did not see the game but my god, I thought I was watching the Carolina Hurricanes the way your team was embellishing everything. Kovalev is a master at that. He's been doing it for years. A penalty is anything the ref calls so the Flyers need to adjust bc the Habs really move that puck on the PP. Very impressive.

Biron played huge for the Flyers. It's all about goaltending this time of year. The two goals you scored last night were not beauties. One was a simple wrap around after Koivu made a nice play and Markov's goals was a result of blown coverage. Not beauties. Briere outside speed and cut in front of Price for a backhand goal was a thing of beauty. Ohhhhh .... how much I'm sure that one hurt the home crowd. lol

I will say this, Price is very good with the puck. Makes forechecking tough. Quick stick ... slow glove.

Leo, I think you'd be confident that the Habs would win the handshake after they lost the series. I'm not worried either.

[léo]

Holy cow! I come to check and boom, 10 seconds later, there you are GP.
Quick joke, then I let it go: "No, no, no! OUR goals were things of beauty and the BRIÈRE goal was the simple result of blown defensive coverage."
But bottom line, I give it to you because you know I agree with you on that CRUCIAL point. Goaltending is everything. Last night, Biron came through like gangbusters and the Kid didn't. End of story. I congratulate him for his exceptional performance on the saves he managed to make.
What is sayin' is,
Don't think Biron, (or anyone else in orange for that matter), can do it 3 more times aginst us.
You say you're not worried? I sure was when I saw Boston bringing it on, tell ya that fer nuthin'. (All Passion, you shouda seen it!)
Now I can only imagine the state of abject resignation I would be in if I was facing a Far Superior team in ALL aspects of the game as the Flyers are right now. And I thought I had faith!
Cuz so far? Call it bias, favoritism or whatever, PHI ain't scaring me at all. Nothing. There's nothing. How can PHI say the same about Kovy? They can't even COVER him.
None of ya, except Biron (1 game), can stop us. We OCCUPY PHI's zone like imperialists of old. We DICTATE the flow of the game at will. Our faults were in the finishing and the capitalizing.
All we gotta do is finish! We take Biron outta the play and miss an open net! Just put it in! And that's it. get your shots on net, and that's it, round 3.
Thankfully, the guys on the team feel the same way. Big smiles on today, confident, saying they shoulda won 8 - 4, can't wait to get to PHI. I didn't see the game, so I can't say. But I believe'em. Cuz I saw the 1st game. I know what I saw!
I'm front and center Monday night and I can't wait to see it again. Total domination. Now put the puck in the net! Who cares if PHI scores 2 or 3; we can easily score 6.
Still, you never know...
Maybe Philly will pull one outta the hat!
Hey, maybe we will too!
Gooooooo everybody!!!
11 to 25
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[GP]

Leo,

I am not worried and niether are the Flyers because they have nothing to lose. That is what MTL should fear. Just like the Bruins .... the Flyers season was a success when they made the playoffs. They were the last place team the season before. Remember this from this season ... the Flyers were at one point 1st overall in the East and then went on a 10 game losing streak. They have it in them to play well.

As for the Flyers not being able to cover Kovalev? We couldn't cover Ovechkin, Federov, Green, Semin either .... but we WON.

[léo]

Excellent points, GP.
Fair enough.
sff