Goal-starved Predators drop shootout to Rangers

But I’ve never seen anything positive come out of harping on the negatives and choose to look for solutions that make sense without scuttling years of planning and hard work.

First, I think you are hellbent on putting words into my mouth. By saying that Wilson should be sent to Milwaukee to continue developing if he is not getting consistent minutes with a scoring line in Nashville right now is “condoning” him getting limited minutes is as far a jump as I’ve seen in a long time. I believe Colin Wilson has a bright future ahead as a scoring line forward. I do not believe his development is anywhere close to being complete. I believe he should be put in the best position to succeed as possible and don’t believe that’s getting bounced around in the bottom six of a franchise that’s struggling to score and win right now.

By insisting that Colin Wilson is being misused you agree with me. Where we differ though is that you believe he is a big part of the solution to our problems and I do not believe that he should be thrust into that capacity at this point in his development and instead should be focused on developing with larger minutes in a developmental league than getting limited minutes at the NHL level where he isn’t being given enough of an opportunity in a game to develop.

Colin Wilson was paired with Matthew Lombardi through most of the training camp once rosters were paired down. On Opening Night he was on the second scoring line with Lombardi at center and Martin Erat on the far wing. Clearly Trotz did not pair him with “muckers and grinders” until injuries struck with both linemates going down to injury by the end of the first period of the second game. Unless you are an established star player, when that happens you slide down the lineup as whole lines jump up the depth chart until you settle in elsewhere or until your linemates return from injury to reform the line. As I wrote yesterday in my article, Colin Wilson has been the Predator most affected by injuries this season despite not being injured himself. The team kept scoring when his linemates went out, it wasn’t until Goc and then Legwand were injured that the team stopped scoring.

As for Lundmark, I grew up in Hartford as a Whalers fan and then at the age of 15 worked my tail off the whole summer to buy 2 full-season tickets to the Wolf*Pack when they came to town. Since the Wolf*Pack are the Rangers affiliate I followed their organization, although I was more of a hockey fan than any team fan at that point since my Whalers left, and got a front row seat to Lundmark’s development. As a FSTH for the Wolf*Pack I also happened to luck into sitting next to all of the scratched players and got to know several of them and team and league executives throughout the years. The Rangers were well known for doing a poor job developing their prospects and I believe Lundmark could have been a more successful player in a different organization. As it is, Lundmark has etched out a career for himself in much the same role that Vern Fiddler has. In my “creative writing” that’s who I compared him to and believe that Fiddler has been a player the team has missed in the past two years, although I like Lundmark’s offensive skill set better. Fiddler scored a career high 32 points three seasons ago and scored 30 last year in Phoenix. He was named an alternate captain in Phoenix this season and was a key cog here as well. Never have I called Lundmark an offensive savior.

This team is built to play team hockey. They defend as a team and they score as a team. Without the ability to roll three two-way scoring lines, too much pressure is placed on the top-six to score and unfortunately at the NHL level most teams can shutdown two lines which is why we were far more successful when we had the ability to roll three (3.1 GPG in 10 games) and four lines (3.5 GPG in 2 games) than when we’ve been forced by injury to roll with just two lines (1.5 GPG in 12 games).

I’ve never said I know more than anyone in the organization, nor would I. I have a background in coaching and team organization at an amateur level and would never compare that to working for an NHL or professional franchise. Unfortunately, again this is simply a case of you trying to put words into my mouth.

If you care to re-read my “creative writing” I called for “change” and admitted that my form of change likely wouldn’t appeal to those that have called for “major change” in the form of the hiring/firing of coaches or a major player trade.

Obviously we disagree on another point. I see what this team is capable of, Cigarran himself admitted he sees what this team is capable of (in an interview on NP.com yesterday), and I know that the players, coaches, and management staff know what this team is capable of. They are close to turning the corner and appeasing even our harshest critics, but we’ve hit a stumbling block right now. A major change is not necessary right now when it is clear that this issue is caused by injuries more than anything else. Wings fans were calling for Mike Babcock’s head last season when the Wings struggled early in the year with injury after injury, but they stuck together and made it through to the playoffs. It’s understandable especially with a coach that’s been here for so long, but people that know better than you and me will likely stick it out knowing what the plan is and doing their best to plug the holes and see it through.

I don’t see how any of Arnott, Peverley, Santorelli, or Jones plays into our current situation. It was in the best interests for all involved to move on when they did and all have been replaced in the system. Cal O’Reilly was a player many (including me) thought was going to only succeed after getting claimed on waivers, but he worked his tail off late last year when he was scratched game after game and obviously continued to work out throughout the summer and put himself into position to take advantage of and excel when given a shot in training camp this year. That has more to do with the player than anything else IMO.

Lastly as for changing the system to fit the players a coach has…Trotz has done that this year and he has done it multiple times in the past. We were a much more aggressive team earlier this season and changed to a more defensive oriented team when suddenly our centers became O’Reilly, Legwand/Goc, Smithson, Spaling. You say we have no defense. Stats seem to show that the Predators are ranked 11th in fewest goals against. The problem is offense and I’ve shown you where we excelled earlier in the season and why we have struggled since time and time again.

I’m tired, I’m going to bed. I’ll agree to disagree if you will, just stop trying to attack me by putting words in my mouth and distorting my thoughts and writings. We’ve each called for change. You are in the “major change is needed” club and I’m in the “let’s try to make some minor changes and see if things won’t work out” club. Neither side is necessarily right and both of us can dig our heels in all we want. Ultimately, we aren’t the ones making the decisions and I don’t think either or us would want the pressure that comes with making those decisions either…