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Phil should have started the season in the AHL, like Tage and Mitts.

Whatever we may think, in real hockey culture my guess is the captain means a bit more than the guy who can talk to the refs and lead the practices. I think the captain does set the tone of the locker room which, in my opinion and certainly not verified by any metric, affects the play on the ice. It is ridiculous to think that the captain can "carry a team" all by his lonesome and certainly I haven't suggested that. Assuming that I, or anyone else who talks about it, believe that's what a captain is supposed to do is as insulting as thinking every religious person believes God is some dude actually wearing robes, actually sitting in the clouds. None the less, as stated above, I do think the captain sets the tone for the team and that translates across the roster. Some players buy in to the captain and side with him, look to him for direction and leadership, maybe others don't like him and therefore are surly toward the idea of the person who is the captain actually being the captain. Whatever realistic human drama you can conceive of is likely within the dynamic inside the team. So what if Jack is feeling overwhelmed by being "the face of the team", the focal point? If he's out there, distracted, unfocused, how do you think that might affect someone like Dahlin? I dislike making overly long posts because I dislike reading them, so hopefully I can finish my point succinctly. We've seen the argument "they get paid enough, they should be self-motivated" applied to how players respond to coaches. The argument against this is that a good coach ought to be able to reach/inspire/focus his team. Fine, but if it's acceptable reasoning that a good coach should be able to get a response from the team, then it's also acceptable to consider that the team's own leader, the captain, should be able to get a response from the team as well. You can argue the degrees to which this might have an impact, either coach or captain, but we're not talking robots here, it likely does have an effect. Just like a good teacher versus a poor teacher attempting to reach kids with the same material. The talent of the roster is another story and, really, this roster hasn't changed much since the 10 game streak. I contend that, while of course the streak was beyond sustainable, the team that made that happen is still there and they should be able to get more wins of that ilk than they have been getting lately. In other words, I think they're playing below, maybe well below, the cumulative talent level of the team and that is because it lacks the type of leadership that reinforces on-ice discipline and in-game engagement. Who leads the list of people responsible for that? The coach and the captain in my book.

I suppose you see the captain's role as on-ice liaison, team administrator, and nothing more.

You know who else looked horrible, and I hate to say this, but Dahlin was not sharp at all. Add Samson. Samson was nearly ghastly. I'm this -> <- close to starting the Trade-Samson-While-He-Still-Has-Perceived-Value train again. Eichel needs to be stripped of the C. Leading this team is clearly above his ability. He needs to be left alone to be Eichel and nothing else.

You're right on both points.

Pilut looked okay tonight. I had no issue with his game. FWIW.

Okay, I guess I can see where you're coming from. I still wouldn't call it "identity", but I do indeed get what you're trying to convey by using that word, and I don't disagree with that.

Dude, Hutton looked horrible. Like something happened at home and he couldn't shake it.

No, not me. They looked leaderless out there. They had no direction...or director. No one was seizing control of the group and getting them to snap into shape. If Risto wanted to do that, I think he could. Definitely has that presence. ERod and Risto were the only two...ONLY TWO...players out there who looked like they didn't need to be led.

As much as I like Phil's system, I have to say if he can't be a general to these men and lead...like a solid alpha male (love that)...then he'll get nothing accomplished with this team.

I think this absolutely correct. They need an alpha male. Perfect terminology for what they need. Disagree. They were able to muster up enough focus and discipline then to get them through. Just enough. Now, they can't do that. It wasn't bounces, it was being engaged.

It was very clear to me at the game that these guys were not mentally sharp...at all. I actually think that the roster as it is has enough talent to make it into the playoffs. Just by seeing the few moments where they were focused in the offensive zone. However nearly every one of them was a space cadet. You could have easily added 10 more shots to the shot tally if they would have taken advantage of their position and motion in the offensive zone and just shot it instead of attempting a pass. Unbelievable, really. This team could actually be really good as is. We've seen that. As this season has wore on something has taken away the focus they had around the period of the 10 game streak.

Wow, they won the crowd back, for now, at least.

The perfect donut?

On a positive note, the 4G signal in the building is vastly improved. Vastly.

Hutton's should not play the third if they want to win.

So, from my vantage point up here in the 300's, Risto is the closest thing to a natural leader out there. And Erod is the hardest worker.

There is no leadership out there.

These guys are not mentally engaged at all. Hutton's mind is on another planet.

They've been pretty dominate. The lack of shots (despite what the shot count says) and some truly lazy plays is the difference.

Totally Samson's fault.

It's on obvious here up in the 300's the wasted shot opportunities.

Sheary is as much a disappointment live as he is on TV.

Yeah, but, I'm not beyond begging for one.

Uhm. Does this mean Sheary-like, or strictly Sheary-level? Because...