All over twitter fans were calling for Mike Smith's head on a platter. Then Greiss put in an awful performance and you started to see people blame the defense. I even saw a few random tweets wondering about Tippett and Maloney. I think I saw one lone tweet (besides my own) wondering about offense from the forwards.
We all know the Coyotes are struggling. That much is obvious. Many people have been blaming one or two players when in reality this is a team sport and everyone shares in part of the blame. Especially on this team lately. There has been few bright spots, few that stand out as playing well. Sure, someone might have a good game one day but they disappear the next.
Tuesday nights game against the Blues was a much better indication of what the Coyotes can do. Was the Jets game rock bottom? Are we turning the ship around? Or was this a one or two game reaction spark?
With that said, how do the Coyotes fix this? How do they get out of this slump and return to form?
A call up from Portland isn't going to fix this. The players that have been up have, for the most part, done a decent job. Young, inexperienced guys are not what we need. The call ups have a bright future but they aren't going to be the spark that ignites this time.
A trade? A good trade for some more veteran talent would certainly help but we aren't going to see that anytime soon (see Craig Morgan's interview with Don Maloney here). And who would we get Erat? Meh. Kane? Head case. A few other names have bounces around with maybe one or two being a good idea/fit. And then it comes down to, what do we give up? With Erat I saw Klesla's name. With Z out you don't want to give up your only stay at home, shot blocking, defensive zone responsable dman. He took his demotion seriously and has come back to play like the old Klesla.
Is the coaching staff doing enough to inspire the players to be motivated? You can only motivate yourself but the coaches can do things to help players find their motivation. Are they giving consequences for poor play? Are player's being sat a game if not up to par? Is there a Herb Brooks scene playing out at Jobing.com? Please say yes, please say yes! Again! *whistle* Again! *whistle* (I like to think I'd be a little like Herb if I was a coach).
Having Z back on the blue line could help. He would add one more stable, stay at home dman, until he got injured again.
All players need to step up but especially those with a C or A on the front. Doan is out there taking the brunt of it and also calling out everyone. Yandle has been interviewed and said leader type things. But where is Marty? I do not recall any quotes from him or seeing any type of leadership. Does his A need to go to someone else? Who would be more deserving? Who else is leading this eam or would do well as a leader?
Yes, the goalies have let in soft goals but most goals have been a result of defensive breakdowns and/or turnovers. Lets work on those before we crucify every goalie we throw in front of a net.
And honestly it doesn’t matter if Mike Smith lets in 1,295 goals as long as our forwards and sometimes the D step up and score 1,296 goals. You just need one more than the other team. One more. So where is the offense? OEL has scored the last two goals in the last two games. Hello, forwards… where you at?
This is not a single player's fault. This is not a single position's fault. This is a team where everyone decided to suck at the same time. The question remains: how to fix this for good? How do we get points and play in the post season?
The Canucks are most likely going to be hungry for a win. They were embarrased last night. The Coyotes need to be prepared for a fight. Play hard, take shots, control the puck.
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