I'm not sure I agree with you that scoring for this team is a lack of confidence, Mondi. I can't remember the last time we blew a team out of the water on the scoreboard. Our scoring woes in big games goes all the way back to the Finals against the Bruins and it seems to have reared it's ugly head again over the last 3 months.Mondi wrote: I agree. And the cause of that is an odd lack of confidence.
We just disagree about the solution. You say rebuild, I say something more akin to brining in guys who don't get rattled (i.e. Cup winners) so easily.
You say, we replaced Glass with Kassian, but unfortunately we gave up our 2nd Unit PP Centre and 3rd line scoring centre for a player who is replacing Glass? Not a good thing.
We miss Torres and his cannonball style to bump guys off pucks and keep D-men honest.
And we seriously, seriously, seriously miss Erhoff. Who is huge on the PP, our current nemesis. This is where I get irritated with Gillis, has nothing to do with Grabner, Howden, I just like to be a jackass about those two. Mind you, wouldn't mind Grabner's speed and scoring. He took on a contract in Ballard which hampered his inability to sign Erhoff. And I hate the crap about not wanting pay Erhoff more than what Gillis considered his top players, he doesn't seem to mind paying guys who produce way less than Burrows more money than what Burrows gets.
Regardless of the fact that Samuelsson and Hodgson didn't play in last years Finals, maybe had something to do with why we only scored 8 goals in 7 games in that final, but I'm sure they'd be helping us out a little bit more on the scoreboard than this group.
I think those are 4 key decisions that Gillis made that has hurt this club. I know all of you love Gillis, but he was handed a team on the verge, he has made decent moves in Hamhius, the Erhoff trade, the CoHo draft, Tanev signing. Lapierre and Higgins are not putting us over the edge, they are replace-able, seriously. Those players are a dime a dozen. I liked his aquisitions of Hamhius, Erhoff, CoHo and Tanev, but two of those guys are gone now and one we didn't replace cause Gillis put himself in a position to where he couldn't afford to sign him and was traded for a project that may or may not turn out, doesn't make sense to trade a player who gave us 16 goals in his rookie year for an AHL project. As for Drafting, Gillis in his 4 years, outside of CoHo, has nothing to show for in that department. Two Big Thumbs down in that department.
Bob Mackenzie has just said that the Canucks will not beat Jonathon Quick and the L.A. Kings cause we can't score. Thinks series will be over in 5. Lack of Confidence? I don't think so, this has been a problem for a while with this team and especially in big games when teams play us hard. Hey Shut Down Hockey is great when you can score, but what fucking good is it when 3/4's of your forwards only know how to check and not score?
But I still think we should blame Mason Raymond, trade him for a Jay McLement or a Chris Thorburn.