Last night’s Carolina Hurricanes loss to the Buffalo Sabres was a good indication for what the team needs for true success in the future. An ass-kicking from their Dad.
Please don’t get me wrong. I LOVE this team, LOVE this coaching staff and their system, and LOVE having Ron Francis in charge of our future talent. The future is looking bright for the Carolina Hurricanes, and I’m very excited about what’s to come. In fact I wrote about exactly that just a little while ago…and I meant every word.
This team has all the talent and skill to make a lot of noise and have a lot of success in the NHL. Jeff Skinner, Jordan Staal and Justin Faulk all have tremendous futures in the league and hopefully with the Canes for their whole careers.
The Young Guns we have are incredible to watch, and will be even better when they fill out and get the hang of the speed of an NHL game. Our prospect pool of young talent is the envy of general managers around the league, and Francis has more draft picks than Bruce Wayne has dollars.
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All the pieces in the front office, behind the bench, and on the ice look awesome. We’re all very happy and excited. So what happened last night when we had a lead in the third period against a bottom-feeding Buffalo Sabres?
There was no one sitting in the locker room or on the bench to kick these very talented young men in the ass.
The Hurricanes meltdown and collapse last night was because they don’t have a grown up around when the kids get fired up and stupid.
There was no Ron Francis, Rod Brind’Amour or Glen Wesley sitting beside them on the bench or in the dressing room telling them to “settle the hell down and play your game” or “that was the dumbest #@$%&$ thing I’ve ever seen, and do it again and you’ll be doing line sprints with me next practice” or “hey kid, get your head out of your ass before I take it off your shoulders”.
Editors note – those were all direct quotes from former Captains on hockey teams I’ve played on. And yes, they were all directed at me.
The problem comes down to veteran leadership in the locker room and on the bench. You can have the best general manager and coaching staff in the league, which I believe we do, but if you don’t have some veteran leadership in the dressing room and on the ice you are not going to be truly successful.
Carolina Hurricanes
The coaching staff and general manager can only do so much. They are like the teachers and principals at school. They can yell, they can give you detention, they can make you do extra laps and they can expel you. But at the end of the day you end up hanging out with your friends and either complaining about or laughing at what Mr. Smith or Ms. Jones just did to you. The lesson isn’t truly learned.
The real learnin’ happens when your family members, like father and older brothers, hear about your behavior. That’s when the true lessons happen.
When your coach tells you all day that you need to put more effort into your shifts, you listen and try and do better.
When you’re popular older brother hears that you got detention for doing something stupid at school, and it’s going to reflect badly on him, he doesn’t shake a finger at you and tell you to do better next time, does he?
The Carolina Hurricanes haven’t had that kind of “family love” for many years. We all loved having Eric Staal as a Hurricane, and the players loved him as a teammate. A real stand up guy that everyone liked. But he wasn’t the Dad or big brother that this young team needs. He was made Captain largely by default when Brind’Amour retired.
To use my family metaphor, it was like your Dad and older brothers all moved out of the house when you’re in your teens and the only ‘adult’ left to be in charge is your nice cousin who’s a lot of fun to be around. There’s not going to be a ton of discipline and life lessons learned in that situation, and that’s where our Hurricanes are right now.
The mistakes made in last night’s game, whether it was Skinner yapping at the referees and getting an extra ten minutes, or Brad Malone trying to be the tough guy and costing the Canes a four minute penalty kill, the team was missing that key piece on the bench.
They really needed a teammate and family member sitting beside them and letting them know that the ride home was not going to be pleasant, and they just got some new chores added to their weekend to do list.
Next: What is the best goalie option for the Hurricanes?
I’ll stake a year’s salary that Jeff Skinner and Brad Malone lived through that experience long before they ever put on a Carolina Hurricanes jersey. The team needs that for next season.