media roundtable

[grainbear]

:clap:

Perhaps the best show ever tonight!

I do not often agree with everything the media said tonight I have to . The hit the nail on the head when they said we need to have 4 lines rolling and they should have had younger players in the line up.Whether Preston can learn this after this year, I hope other wise he will not be here at the end of next season we need a coach who rolls everyone, inspires and motivates youngsters not sure if he has that in him. I will be patient and hope that he has learned his lesson and once again wait , this town needs it

[canes77]

:clap:

Perhaps the best show ever tonight!

I do not often agree with everything the media said tonight I have to . The hit the nail on the head when they said we need to have 4 lines rolling and they should have had younger players in the line up.Whether Preston can learn this after this year, I hope other wise he will not be here at the end of next season we need a coach who rolls everyone, inspires and motivates youngsters not sure if he has that in him. I will be patient and hope that he has learned his lesson and once again wait , this town needs it

I agree!! :clap:
It was a great show to listen to! Could listen to those four every week, except Global and the Herald might not allow it...

It's strange that most of us posters on here as well as the four likable media members ALL agreed on what needed to be done since September yet the 70's style GM/Coach never changed or improved all season! Remember when the Canes were 4th in the Conference in November?!

It was troubling to hear Dylan and Paul say they asked Preston about the poor effort after MANY games this season... and my guess is they kept getting the same old childish response... "oh ya, it wasn't good, it has to get better!" Preston must think he'll still have his job when his high 2010 and 2011 draft picks become WHL stars...

And the media table was right on Jim Bradley - he is a GREAT asset to the Canes organization and even the city/region! Ever since he greeted each fan at the door in September's exhibition game (a very pleasant shock/surprise), he has continued to impress! Almost like I'll renew our season tickets to support him rather than the team itself!

[HURRICANE'S ROCK]

I agree!! It's strange that most of us posters on here as well as the four likable media members ALL agreed on what needed to be done since September yet the 70's style GM/Coach never changed or improved all season! Remember when the Canes were 4th in the Conference in November?!

It was troubling to hear Dylan and Paul say they asked Preston about the poor effort after MANY games this season... and my guess is they kept getting the same old childish response... "oh ya, it wasn't good, it has to get better!" !

The most dissapointing thing about this team was the wild swings in the effort they put forth. Sometimes for one game or for a period or 2 they looked like they really wanted to win and could play with almost any team in the WHL. However, for the majority of the games their effort and results were bad, if not horrible. To me, this reflects the level of coaching the Canes recieved this year. In my opinion Preston is probably a poor motivator. Nothing personal, but for me, he does not instill any confidence that he can be the leader a team of young kids needs.
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We had virtually the same team this year as last, so every player, and therefor the teams results, should have been far better this year. Whether players improve or not has almost everything to do with getting the proper instruction and guidance from their coaches. Helping players to improve is maybe the most important aspect of coaching young hockey players. I think it is safe to say the players and team actually regressed as the year went on. That is a stinging indictment on the coaching they recieved!
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As canes77 points out in his post, we were in 4th place at one time. Here are the standings as of Nov 14 2010:
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1 Red Deer Rebels .......... 22 14 6 1 1 30
2 Saskatoon Blades ........ 20 14 5 0 1 29
3 Kootenay Ice ............. 19 13 4 0 2 28
4 Lethbridge Hurricanes .. 20 10 6 1 3 24
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From that point on this team really fell apart. [B]From Nov 14 to the end of the season the Canes had the second worst record in the league @ 13-30-4-5. Pretty brutal results for a fairly veteran laden team. Here are the winning (points earned) percentages since Nov 14 for the 5 worst teams in the league:
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REGINA - - - - .394%
SEATTLE - - - .380%
CALGARY - - - .340%
CANES - - - - .337%
SWIFTY - - - .320%
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The only team worse than us was Swift Current. Even Calgary , while enduring maybe their worst season ever, played better than the Canes during the last 4 months of the season. Pretty pathetic numbers to say the least. The Canes only beat out Swift Current in winning (points earned) percentage thanks to our 9 OT / SO points. As far as actual wins go since Nov 14, we were dead last!.
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REGINA - - - - - 17 wins
CALGARY - - - - 16 wins
SWIFTY - - - - 15 wins
CANES - - - - - 13 wins
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Another damning stat as far as Preston's results go is over these last 4 months, the Canes record was virtually identical to last years very weak team.
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2010-11 CANES - - - .337% . . (Since Nov 14)
2009-10 CANES - - - .333%
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I am usually a fairly positive poster when it comes to the Canes, but their record is just not acceptable, period. Maybe a few of the Board members (who I never bash personally) will see this and have second thoughts about the direction the team is headed.
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Preston should stay on as GM but I feel a new head coach is needed. After all, it can't get any worse eh.
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[Stuck in the Penalty Box]

Stats can be misleading at times, but for sure the stats you have shown certainly give testimony to the fact that this team has not improved over the last two years.

I must agree with you MOON that the club would be better served with Preston staying on as the GM (I like what he has done thus far) and giving up the coaching role to a younger, experience WHL assistant coach who has worked with one of the top notch WHL coaches or someone with a great deal of experience and success from the BCHL, AJHL or SJHL. I really think that MK has not shown much success in bringing on the defense which is his responsibility. Also between Rich and Matt the power play has been horrible and the discipline virtually non exsistant.

Afterall, in last night's Media Panel Show, it was brought out that the team would be younger again next season. Time for a younger head coach.

:soapbox:

[ZAMBONI-PHONEY]

DITTO!

I know that there are a couple of board members that are on here on rare occassions. Suggesting to Preston that he consider giving up the coaching chores might be .....might be an issue in itself.

But I agree with a couple of the posters, that it could be in the best interest of the club to have him release that job and find a younger "more-in-tune" coach.
:groovy:

[Richie69]

IF Preston DOES his job as GM, he HAS to fire the coach for performance issues... OTHERWISE, he fails in his GM role as well.

I am sure that the board must present Preston with at least an informal evaluation. The board has to remind Preston of his failure to deliver as coach. From there, Preston either fires himself as coach, or resigns from both positions.

[shushu]

and to say they nailed it on the head is an understatement...the fact is like my fellow canes fans said time for rich to step down as coach and TRY to bring in someone like clouston to turn things around for the better.....all i can say is if rich does not do this it will be out of sheer arrogance on his part...i love the point they made about why have kids here if they are not going to be use and why are certain players here if they dont belong..that pretty much sums up this year to a tee...keep preston as our gm, he has done a great job so far in that position but has been a total failure as a coach up to this point...... i also loved the way they said stay in Russia kuv unless preston promises you at least top 6 on next years team ....i might take flack for this but rich reminds me as a coach of stasiak as a gm, a bit of a bully towards the players, and as they say" you get alot more results from sugar than you do from sh@t".....................

[LethHnds]

The teachers at the WHL and pro levels are not the head coaches its the assistant coaches. They are the ones who work with individual players, set the practice and work out agenda's etc. The head coach is the disciplinarian and the assistants the motivators...who was the most successful coach in the NHL? Scotty Bowman who was hated by his players for the most part and always developed great young players because he always had a great assistant staff. The "associate coach in Lethbridge is a joke" Can't relate to the young kids, is neither a motivator or a teacher and I have heard this time and time again.....Brad Robson is really the de facto GM and one of the best in the WHL scouting talent....Preston needs to find a good former Junior A guy or a recent ex-NHL player who can relate teach and mentor young guys.
Also stop just looking around Lethbridge and southern Alberta for personnel solutions its a big province and a big country.....

[HURRICANE'S ROCK]

The teachers at the WHL and pro levels are not the head coaches its the assistant coaches. They are the ones who work with individual players, set the practice and work out agenda's etc. The head coach is the disciplinarian and the assistants the motivators...who was the most successful coach in the NHL? Scotty Bowman who was hated by his players for the most part and always developed great young players because he always had a great assistant staff. The "associate coach in Lethbridge is a joke" Can't relate to the young kids, is neither a motivator or a teacher and I have heard this time and time again.
Brad Robson is really the de facto GM and one of the best in the WHL scouting talent....

While you make some valid points, the bottom line is THE BUCK STOPS WITH THE HEAD COACH. If he is not motivating the team or motivating his assistants, he failed, period. I am pretty sure that with 99% of the teams it is the Head coach who tries to get the boys motivated before the game and between periods, with some help from his assistants and Captains etc.

Another stat that shows the Hurricane's futility is when combining the results for the last 2 years (both years with Preston as head coach) we have the 2nd worst record in the entire Dub.
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P.A. - - - - - .472%
SWIFTY - - - .462%
REGINA - - - .427%
EDM'T - - - - .396%
SEATTLE - - .396%
CANES - - - .372%
P.G. - - - - - .340%

Only Prince George's horrific record in 2009-10 kept the Canes from being dead last. ( Prince George Cougars 72 12 56 1 3 28 0.194 ) Also, at least P.G. improved by 42 points this year. What was the improvement for the Canes with a fairly veteran type team? 9 pts. Wow. So pretty much every statistical category I have presented has the Canes either 2nd from last or dead last.

Interesting that on the Hurricanes this week broadcast Preston twice stated, and I quote, "The Key is to keep improving-That's the bottom line". Lethbridge improved this year by 9 measly points year over year. However, I actually think the Canes were probably worse this year than last. Last year the Eastern Conference was quite a bit stronger than it was this year, and therefor it was easier to earn points this year. We had to play the best team in the league (Calgary), like 6 or 8 times this year and last, and this year the Hitmen were the worst team in the league. Those Hitmen games themselves could probably account for our entire improvement. If the 2 or 3 extra wins this year vs. 2 or 3 extra losses against Calgary last year account for the 9 point swing, then we must have done worse against the other teams, as it was an easier year. Last year the Eastern conference was hands down tougher than it was this year. I'm rambling but I think you get the point.

Just a comment on Brad Robson. I am not saying he is bad but what makes you think he is "one of the best scouts"? Robson has been the #1 guy, at least I think he was, for 2 or 3 years. Where is all, or even any of the talent he supposedly found for the Canes? I am pretty sure none of our top 5 picks from 2 years ago made any significant impact with the Canes team! Also none of the 17 year olds from the 2008 draft really show all that much promise.

ps If I am wrong about Robson being in charge for the 2008 or 2009 drafts I apologize
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[TooLoud]

Well fellas, I didn't get a chance to hear the show live, but after all the great comments, I downloaded the podcast...and....WOW! This is one of the few times when the gloves were off, and the guys told it like it was. I don't know if that performance by Pat and Fred is going to be appreciated by their employers as much as it was by the fans, but Bravo! It's funny how many of the things discussed on these forums was echoed by the roundtable, and how many of the "negative" posters on this site regularly get "poo-pooed" by the sunshine and daffodill crowd that hangs out here, but it is nice to hear the same sentiments being put out there by people who are probably far more involved with the Hurricanes then most of us are. I only hope that the Board, and the management of this team is listening...and is willing to get out of their comfort zone and do something about this situation. Sometimes, being a "Nattering Nabob of Negativism" is OK!

[Donkey22]

No first round pick,, Bennefield traded, Yakubowski and Henry show promise, Guiel lightning quick, Bilous/Blacklock BCHL??, Maxwell only roster player from draft, Harper/Chickin longshots??