Pokecheque wrote:
Only way Calgary really gets out of this is if the CBA opt-out is used by either side this September and after the lockout new CBA is ratified they have another amnesty buyout period. Either that or he suddenly becomes allergic to the wood of the bench he'll be riding the remainder of his career and gets an all-expenses-paid vacation to Robidas Island.
Here's what I really find funny out of all this. Calgary has chased grit-and-toughness like some white whale for years and years now. And yet they still don't think they have enough. They tout Tkachuk but (and this is coming from someone else, not me) he's been accused of only being "tough" between the whistles. Same thing to a lesser degree with Hamonic. Bennett I suppose has the edge they like, but he lacks actual hockey ability. And now they have Looch, but y'know what? That dude's been known to disappear when bodies start flying around.
If there was one thing IMO that killed Calgary in the postseason, it was speed, especially up the middle. They just looked too damned slow. Looch is only going to make them slower, though it wasn't like Neal was zipping around out there.
I guess it got pretty bad in Calgary with Neal. He was reportedly in the far corner of the locker room and really didn't interact with anyone.
Burke moved aside over a year ago and while its well known that he valued truculence he wasn't making those moves towards the end. Does it have some lasting impact? Perhaps but not to the extent of chasing some magic white dinosaur.
Everyone in the NHL is tough between the whistles now.....no one is "tough" anymore. This new NHL is full of selling calls, blaming bad officiating, and empty chirping. Matthew Tchachuk is not tough....He's not even Dion tough. Hamonic and tough don't even occur to me. If tough is skating in to stick up for a teammate then we've certainly changed the definition. Sam Bennett has some piss and vinegar...and that seems to be the only part of his game that works anymore. But honestly I don't care about tough......To me new tough is coming together as a team and making the other team pay a price when they touch the puck...not one random running around throwing body or another "superstar" trying to carry the puck into the zone without his teammates (they can't all be MacKinnon).
I can't believe I am about to do this but I am actually going to defend Treliving somewhat. IMO it always been a dressing room issue in Calgary and a lack of heart/playing below potential. Treliving has been looking for Veteran leadership since I can remember and rolling the dice on bad decision after bad decision trying to motivate his young core. He's tried to fix things...shipping out Soft Dougie........bringing in a coach with a system. At the end of the day you can't fix a lack of desire within your core.
This latest installment in Neal was just a bust. Neal HAD to be moved (once again) for the sake of the dressing room. So you trade terrible decision for like. I don't think Lucic fits here or probably in the NHL anymore for that matter so Treliving sticks to his yeah he will help us in the grit department otherwise he opens a can of worms discussing how bad the Neal situation actually was on the team. Treliving backed himself into a corner here and will likely pay with his job at some point.
So yes tough may be something floated out there (they let Hathaway walk)...but I think if you peel back the layers on this team what Brad is looking for is leadership, accountability team cohesion and passion. And he may just have the wrong group for that. On the surface the trade has a clear winner, but IMO when I dig deeper I can somewhat understand why. This, to me, reeks of GM desperation and I would assume Treliving doesn't have many more kicks at the can..