Panic Button?

[rocketlauncher]

I realize this is a discussion board and is meant for people to express their opinion, but we can;t press the panic button every time we lose. There were 3 wins in a row before the loss yesterday. We can't expect the team to win every game every night.

Walker is the team leader, and has played very hard this season and will have an off night now and again, but hes still one of the dominant players in this league.

Morrison also plays very hard, but we have to realize there are finesse players and there are grinders, and Morrison is a finesse player, and is not the type of guy to get his nose dirty often, but he has a lotof strengths.

Doyle is probably as unhappy about his play as everyone else is, but hes still making huge 17 year old contributions, and he is learning. I remember watching him last year and he was much softer corner battles than this year, and e will continue to get better because he wants to become a pro...bad.

It appears to me that the team is divided into 3 seperate entities right now. Forwards, defence and goaltending. Forwards are lacking on their defensive roles, defense are struggling with their containment and breakout pases, and goalies are feeling like they are on their own.

Personally I think the forwards and the goalies blame the defense for all their problems, and I think the defense blame the goalies and the forwards to an extent. If Guy can get all players to take ownership of their own roles, and to me that means forwards taking more responsibility for the defensive zone, and the defense bearing down on making clean breakout passes, and the goalies forgetting about what the D are doing and just worrry about stopping the puck despite the mistakes in front of them, the Rocket would be much better off. If Rocket players take responsibility for thier own job and that only, and the players and us as the fans stop playing the blame game, then maybe they will become for of a unified team rather than 3 seperate ones.

Do we have holes in our talent? Absolutely!! But even with the corps we have we can be much better if the guys become more unified as a group.

I don't know if the Rocket will be buyers or sellers at Christmas. I guess that depends on what happens between now and then. If they become buyers|, they still need to gel as a team to go anywhere, and if they become sellers, its up to us as fans to put on our best face and trust Chouinard will make this a contender in a year.

[coreyapple]

rocketlauncher said:

I realize this is a discussion board and is meant for people to express their opinion, but we can;t press the panic button every time we lose. There were 3 wins in a row before the loss yesterday. We can't expect the team to win every game every night.

Walker is the team leader, and has played very hard this season and will have an off night now and again, but hes still one of the dominant players in this league.

Morrison also plays very hard, but we have to realize there are finesse players and there are grinders, and Morrison is a finesse player, and is not the type of guy to get his nose dirty often, but he has a lotof strengths.

Doyle is probably as unhappy about his play as everyone else is, but hes still making huge 17 year old contributions, and he is learning. I remember watching him last year and he was much softer corner battles than this year, and e will continue to get better because he wants to become a pro...bad.

It appears to me that the team is divided into 3 seperate entities right now. Forwards, defence and goaltending. Forwards are lacking on their defensive roles, defense are struggling with their containment and breakout pases, and goalies are feeling like they are on their own.

Personally I think the forwards and the goalies blame the defense for all their problems, and I think the defense blame the goalies and the forwards to an extent. If Guy can get all players to take ownership of their own roles, and to me that means forwards taking more responsibility for the defensive zone, and the defense bearing down on making clean breakout passes, and the goalies forgetting about what the D are doing and just worrry about stopping the puck despite the mistakes in front of them, the Rocket would be much better off. If Rocket players take responsibility for thier own job and that only, and the players and us as the fans stop playing the blame game, then maybe they will become for of a unified team rather than 3 seperate ones.

Do we have holes in our talent? Absolutely!! But even with the corps we have we can be much better if the guys become more unified as a group.

I don't know if the Rocket will be buyers or sellers at Christmas. I guess that depends on what happens between now and then. If they become buyers|, they still need to gel as a team to go anywhere, and if they become sellers, its up to us as fans to put on our best face and trust Chouinard will make this a contender in a year.

Excellent, well said!

My nomination for post of the month.

Or at least a VIP - Very Intelligent Post.

[North Shore]

I agree its not time to push the "Panic Button" when you lose one game in your last 4 outings while you are going through a major over haul this early in the season.

However most of us feel compelled to comment on our perception of what is happening and given that 2 of the the last 3 wins were on the road many of us did not have the benefit of seeing how the team played those games.

On Sunday we saw a lack luster first period followed by a total 5 goal collapse, including 4 unanswered goals in 10 minutes capped off by giving up a bad goal while on a power play. After that goal I think more than a few fans were reaching for the panic button or at least wondering if they'd stick around for the third period.

From my perspective I was very happy to see the guys work to get back into the game and not give up. They showed they have the desire to win and worked right to the dying seconds.

We are beginning to see better puck movement in our own end and better puck support from the forwards on the transition out of our end. The guys are getting over the style of simply chipping the puck out to center ice and trying to pick it up.

Defensively we still have a long way to go. With 4 17's in development we're going to see miscues and guys getting out muscled. We need a solid positional defense man to be a "teacher", more than we need a QB on defense. I'm sure our young guys dominated on defense before moving up to the Q but players are faster and stronger than what they may be used to and to combat that they have to be smart, get good position and force the opposition to make great plays to get good opportunities.

The opposition is getting too many freebies because we fail to force the play and forwards are not picking up an open man when the D are working the corner or behind the net. On that note, without mentioning names, I'm don't know how you can help your D when you're standing on the center line like a statue?

Anyway, at Christmas we could go either way as buyers or sellers depending on the whether the organization's objective is to get deeper into the playoffs and re-build fan support or look to next year. Either way I think we now have the benefit of an experienced coach and we are going to see a more entertaining team as the season progresses than we've had for the past three.

[bois]

Agree with rktfan

I also don't think anyone was pressing any panic button.. usually when assessing the general consensus of the fans I take into consideration how the knowedgeable fans react to the games.. by talking with them at the game or reading their posts on here.. the posters who generally have very little to say except so and so sucks or we need a goalie.. I put no stock in their comments

It is not unusual for the rash fans to react negatively after a disheartening loss.... a few weeks ago when we were playing like shit and still had doodledum behind the bench the overwhelming feeling of panic was setting in by everyone.. that's when I was concerned

I see great improvement from the first games after Guy took over to now.... lots of work still to do and will be done.. I am not worried

[wallee]

no need to push any panic button at all. everyone but one will make the playoffs right? so u just need to win 5 games in the year and u r in, lol.

that being said, does it really matter, even if we win a few and make the playoffs it is not going to matter. we will be first round exiters, thats basic reality.

what we need to be looking for is to truely trying to build this team for the future, i.e 2 years from now.

imo

[coreyapple]

After years of accumulated frustration, Rocket fans tend to overreact after a bad game, or even one or two bad periods - it's understandable.

I think the tendency to heap blame on the top line, Morrison especially, is unfair - Mo is still our best player, by far.

The changes with Chouinard at the helm can't be judged now, nor in January, and possibly not even at the end of this season.

It's a long-term thing - new outlook, new coaching philosophy, more maturity, and the emphasis on player development.

Let's face it, gang - whether we care to admit it or not, we're in a rebuilding mode, and it began 4 weeks ago today with the guy behind the bench....the rest will follow in the next 12 months or so.

I expect the Rocket to be more sellers than buyers at Christmas time, and come January, the team will be even younger than it is now.

Till then, let's just show some patience and enjoy the games for what they are - very entertaining Major Junior hockey, which would be God-awful to lose!

[mboyan]

From the time Chouinard was hired, I said that I'd give time....and I will. Reality tells me it takes time to implement a new system, and that, even with good stretches where the new system is played, and working, habit causes us to fall back in to the old ways, sometimes. It may take longer than most think for Chouinard to fully implement his system. I'm more than willing to give him that time.

And I can understand fans frustrations. After winning three in a row, some may see that as turning the corner, and I suppose, to some degree, it may be.

What I see is better defensive play, with improvement over the last 6 or 7 games. Still a lot of work to be done, but improvement is encouraging to me, as a fan.

Offensively, improvement, while certainly nice, is not, and should not, be the focus right now. Our first line is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing, and while Latal may be in a slump right now, it's not like he hasn't had his chances. Let him work through it, and he'll be fine.

Focus here needs to be on the forwards defensive play in their own zone. Tighten that up, and the defence as a whole will get better.

And, as much as I'd like to see the forecheck more aggressive, I content myself with the fact that, at least now we have some sort of semblance of one, which is much better than what we had in the post Chouinard era.

The top three 17 yr olds in the Q right now, in scoring, are Knotek in Halifax, Tessier in Quebec, and Doyle, so I don't see why people are shitting on him. Knotek has 5 more points than Doyle, with 2 extra games played, while Tessier has 1 point more after the same amount of games as Doyle. I like his development, and look forward to seeing him progress as the year goes on.

[coreyapple]

That's a good point, the one about the Rocket forwards' defensive play, both on the forecheck and at their end of the ice.

This team needs better defence - from the defencemen AND from the forwards.

Not forechecking effectively, and still giving up way too many rebounds, and having difficulty clearing the zone - it's not often that the Rocket make a zone-clearing pass right onto a teammate's stick in the neutral zone....they're usually content with bouncing the puck along the boards and out of the zone.

These things take time, but I'm optimistic, with the new coach.

I'm almost at the point where I'm willing to reinvest in season tickets..........almost.

[North Shore]

coreyapple said:

... - new outlook, new coaching philosophy, more maturity, and the emphasis on player development.

Let's face it, gang - whether we care to admit it or not, we're in a rebuilding mode, and it began 4 weeks ago today with the guy behind the bench....the rest will follow in the next 12 months or so.

Till then, let's just show some patience and enjoy the games for what they are - very entertaining Major Junior hockey, which would be God-awful to lose!

Well said, the team just has to put a bow on it and sell it.

Come Saturday as fans we will will have a 27 day stretch with only 2 home games behind us and will be looking at 6 home games in 15 days. Its a great opportunity for the team to show some progress. If they are not putting up wins during this home stand Chouinard needs to be out front in the media pointing out the progress and sending the message that change takes time.

This rebuild is a potential gold mine to sell the team's Christmas ticket pack. A little creative marketing, say throw in a skate and Q & A with the new Coach to give fans a chance to hear first hand what he thinks of the players and a bit about his strategy over the second half of the season. Build a relationship with the fans and there is a better Chance they'll come out and support the team.

[Stuck in a Loop...]

gdc said:

coreyapple said:

... - new outlook, new coaching philosophy, more maturity, and the emphasis on player development.

Let's face it, gang - whether we care to admit it or not, we're in a rebuilding mode, and it began 4 weeks ago today with the guy behind the bench....the rest will follow in the next 12 months or so.

Till then, let's just show some patience and enjoy the games for what they are - very entertaining Major Junior hockey, which would be God-awful to lose!

Well said, the team just has to put a bow on it and sell it.

Come Saturday as fans we will will have a 27 day stretch with only 2 home games behind us and will be looking at 6 home games in 15 days. Its a great opportunity for the team to show some progress. If they are not putting up wins during this home stand Chouinard needs to be out front in the media pointing out the progress and sending the message that change takes time.

This rebuild is a potential gold mine to sell the team's Christmas ticket pack. A little creative marketing, say throw in a skate and Q & A with the new Coach to give fans a chance to hear first hand what he thinks of the players and a bit about his strategy over the second half of the season. Build a relationship with the fans and there is a better Chance they'll come out and support the team.

Rocket Throwing in Something Extra hahaha u had me almost fallin off the Chair there, no chance Rocket will ever do that for a Regular fan who dont have season tickets, hell the only thing u can win now at a rocket game if u dont have season tickets is the 50/50, But yes i do agree with ur idea as it would do some good.

[observer]

Boys are starting to play together. Still feel that Latal should be playing with Mo and Walker . Doyle with Kana and Lachaine/Locke. Finally kinda, sorta looking forward to a home game.

[coreyapple]

I'm very much looking forward to Saturday night's game.

Last year's home game against the Dragon Boats was the most exciting home game of the regular season, in my opinion.

Rocket play much better after a long rest, as do most teams, so it should be a good show.