That Hitchcock has lost the room.

Hitchcock is not the problem. Being down in this series is on the players, imo. I'm not going to make excuses for this "core" anymore.

Doug Glatt wrote:Hitchcock is not the problem. Being down in this series is on the players, imo. I'm not going to make excuses for this "core" anymore.

this. they've burnt through three coaches with the same whine. fuck each and every one of them.

BlueinNy wrote:That Hitchcock has lost the room.

Maybe he lost them in that massive 12 course dinner he has every night!

I wish I could blame the players, but the entire system the team is playing against the Wild makes no sense. Either the team is literally not doing a single thing the coaches are saying, or the coaches aren't adjusting to Minnesota's rush game.

They've either lost the room, or they are coaching poorly. Either way, one would think that, if this train wreck doesn't get fixed in the next few games, you've got to make changes. I think some of the team leadership and the coaching need to be adjusted if they keep this collapse up.

One thing is certainly clear... Stastny has been a waste of money up to this point.

You can blame coaching and scheme, but I find it hard to believe that Hitch and Co. don't have a plan to deal with the Wild's transition game. We saw it executed pretty well in game 2 and early in game 3. This is 100% on the players. Christ, what does coaching have to do with three Blues surrounding Parise and not one of them taking the body on that 2nd goal? Minnesota wants it, the Blues don't.

These guys are killing me. Absolutely freaking killing me. Paulie Playoffs has been a huge flop. He fits right in with Backes, Oshie and Jaybo as playoff no-shows. Big changes are coming. They'd better be anyway.

Not giving Hitch a free pass but the reason the Blues are losing is their complete lack of effort and intensity. That is not Hitch's fault. When the Blues show consistent effort and intensity then we can fairly judge the system and coach. Until that point the players are responsible for these loses in my opinion.

TR-USA wrote:Not giving Hitch a free pass but the reason the Blues are losing is their complete lack of effort and intensity. That is not Hitch's fault. When the Blues show consistent effort and intensity then we can fairly judge the system and coach. Until that point the players are responsible for these loses in my opinion.

No doubt. If you're going to bag on Hitch it's with these ridiculous lines. Reaves with Backes and Oshie? Ott with Backes and Steen? WTF is that shit? That's not going to get it done.

Hell, they might as well get Fabbri in there for some extra speed at this point. When they're bad this team looks super slow. Oshie is skating in mud. Not that they're speed demons anyway, but they're not this slow.

I blame the players and Hitch. The whole dump it in their end scheme is Hitch...and when it wasn't working last night it seemed like they decided to try and dump it more. I blame the players for not finding a way to fight to the net and all of the stupid schtick after the whistle.

Man in the box wrote:You can blame coaching and scheme

VIVA LA SCHEME!!!

This mess is on both players and Hitch.

There is no will or compete in 90% of this roster and they will realistically be lucky to win one more game this series. Their confidence is at zero and they don't look like they are willing to put in the effort to fight for the puck, sustain pressure and all the little things it takes to win a game.

Hitch doesn't make many adjustments through the course of the game and just looks like he is set in his ways. If they players look like shit and can't get a puck into the offensive zone to save their life, you might want to try a different approach. Minnesota knows exactly what we are going to do and they are completely out working the Blues. Something has to change and I think that is the part that is on the coach.

I find it beyond frustrating to watch this team shoot 80% of their shots into the shin pads and a mile wide. Instead of trying quick puck movement and throwing as much on net that they can when they have an open shot, they continually cycle the puck to get a shot from the point that is subsequently blocked or they rush into the zone, cut to the middle into a collapsing defense and back checking offense, and either shoot wide, turn it over, or the wonderful shot off shin pad.

Rinse repeat

If the fix is Reaves backes oshie ,then I gotta believe hitch is out of a job. Don't get me wrong I live breath and eat blues hockey, but for the life of me I can't imagine why you would break up Steen,backes, and oshie. Or Vladimir,letehra,and Schwartz .look back through out the year,what was one of the most productive lines in nhl? And I can see everyone's point with stasny ,but look how Jaskin looked mid year,STUD in the making. So what does this idiot fucking do he breaks all line chemistry up,BRILLIANT!!!! It almost looks like sabotage, a long drawn out plot by Hitchcock. What other excuse could he have for this lunacy? Mark my words he will put the lines back when it's too late and come up with a BS excuse about the players coming on board with the game plan. OK ,I feel better,carry on.

The Jaskin, Stastny, Berglund line was really strong.

BlueinNy wrote:If the fix is Reaves backes oshie ,then I gotta believe hitch is out of a job. Don't get me wrong I live breath and eat blues hockey, but for the life of me I can't imagine why you would break up Steen,backes, and oshie. Or Vladimir,letehra,and Schwartz .look back through out the year,what was one of the most productive lines in nhl? And I can see everyone's point with stasny ,but look how Jaskin looked mid year,STUD in the making. So what does this idiot fucking do he breaks all line chemistry up,BRILLIANT!!!! It almost looks like sabotage, a long drawn out plot by Hitchcock. What other excuse could he have for this lunacy? Mark my words he will put the lines back when it's too late and come up with a BS excuse about the players coming on board with the game plan. OK ,I feel better,carry on.

The only logic I can see in putting Reaves with Oshie and Backes is if Hitch is acknowledging to himself that 42 and 74 are completely useless on the offensive side and that hopefully that line will check and ware down the opponent. I almost feel like it isn't that bad of a switch up, but that's because I have just come to accept that Oshie and Backes will not be factors on the score sheet.

The game was slowing down for jaskin you could just see the progression , it was inspiring to witness.

On the broadcast last night, Kerbs talked about losing 9 straight playoff games and suggested that it had to be more than just bad luck. He said there must be something fundamentally wrong in their approach. Chase was quick to disagree and said that can't be the case because it's a different group of players every year. I wanted to point out to Chase that there was one particularly large constant throughout the entire stretch.

For anyone who says it's the players and not the coach, I would like to know what it looks like when it is the coach's fault. What are the indicators of bad coaching as opposed to personnel issues? I'm not saying the people who say this are wrong. I would legitimately like to know.

It's not a case of either/or but a combination of both. Like I said above, in my opinion it is a piss poor game plan that makes no adjustments and has been completely predictable for years. Every team knows what we are going to do and they defend it. I can't figure out why we are successful in the regular season and not the post season though. That is where I think it falls on the players.

The system has shown to work, evidence of the regular season success, but they can't get it done the post season. They have got to be willing to find that extra gear and out work the other team. They are not doing that.

Hitch needs to make changes to the systematic approach to the game since the personnel isn't executing his game plan.

insideout wrote:On the broadcast last night, Kerbs talked about losing 9 straight playoff games and suggested that it had to be more than just bad luck. He said there must be something fundamentally wrong in their approach. Chase was quick to disagree and said that can't be the case because it's a different group of players every year. I wanted to point out to Chase that there was one particularly large constant throughout the entire stretch.

For anyone who says it's the players and not the coach, I would like to know what it looks like when it is the coach's fault. What are the indicators of bad coaching as opposed to personnel issues? I'm not saying the people who say this are wrong. I would legitimately like to know.

When I see poor effort and no urgency, then I blame the players. The Jekyll and Hyde act is really getting old. Compare game 3 to game 2. It was a totally different effort level with the same game plan. That tells me most of the blame should be put on the players. In the end they are the ones playing the game. Hitch isn't out there. Really a coach can only do so much, and I think often in hockey they become the scapegoat because it is easier to fire one guy then blow up a team.

Backes, Oshie and Stastny have ZERO points through 3 games this playoffs. These are supposed to be our warriors. I'd look at those three before Hitch.

Doug Glatt wrote:

insideout wrote:On the broadcast last night, Kerbs talked about losing 9 straight playoff games and suggested that it had to be more than just bad luck. He said there must be something fundamentally wrong in their approach. Chase was quick to disagree and said that can't be the case because it's a different group of players every year. I wanted to point out to Chase that there was one particularly large constant throughout the entire stretch.

For anyone who says it's the players and not the coach, I would like to know what it looks like when it is the coach's fault. What are the indicators of bad coaching as opposed to personnel issues? I'm not saying the people who say this are wrong. I would legitimately like to know.

When I see poor effort and no urgency, then I blame the players. The Jekyll and Hyde act is really getting old. Compare game 3 to game 2. It was a totally different effort level with the same game plan. That tells me most of the blame should be put on the players. In the end they are the ones playing the game. Hitch isn't out there. Really a coach can only do so much, and I think often in hockey they become the scapegoat because it is easier to fire one guy then blow up a team.

Backes, Oshie and Stastny have ZERO points through 3 games this playoffs. These are supposed to be our warriors. I'd look at those three before Hitch.

You are so right.

What a shame. So much talent going to waste.

Plenty of blame to go around.

kitchen, murray, payne, hitch playoff records - miss, swept, miss, loss. four coaches, same core players, same result. we've been messing with one of the variables (coach) and have been building our team around a core that has been the constant between them all.

The ire of the hockey world would be upon Hitchcock if he started healthy scratching Backes, Oshie,or Stastny, but if thats the best ya got maybe jokinen rattie and fabbri will want it more. Play hard all 60 and not schedule tee times in between periods.

I'd agree with playing Fabbri, but I don't want all this playoff ineffectiveness infecting him for the future. It's already starting to rub off on Schwartz.

T.C. wrote:kitchen, murray, payne, hitch playoff records - miss, swept, miss, loss. four coaches, same core players, same result. we've been messing with one of the variables (coach) and have been building our team around a core that has been the constant between them all.

So you say get rid of the core if they fail again?

yes.