Just checked the standings for the first time and noticed that Carolina is ahead of only Toronto in the East. What the hell happened to the team that shocked their way to the Conference finals? What happened to Ward being the best goalie ever?
Age caught up to us and getting rid of Babchuk and Seidenberg...only to replace with Aaron Ward was a dumb move. We have no finishers...we get 35+ shots almost every game and we can't score...Our PP is the worst in the league.....so much wrong.
Oh and BTW none of this is Wards fault. Our best player...better then Staal.
If you want to create a thread to bash Ward, don't attempt to hide it by questioning the whole team. Ward's played fine thus far. He's one of the few players that's shown up for most of the games.
Regardless of how talented a goaltender is, no goalie is going to come out unscathed when it's 5-on-0.
Just checked the standings for the first time and noticed that Carolina is ahead of only Toronto in the East. What the hell happened to the team that shocked their way to the Conference finals? What happened to Ward being the best goalie ever?
What happened to Luongo being the best goalie ever?
Not even Luongo could carry Florida alone. Right now, we have a roster that is a year older in a bad way. Aaron Ward, Niclas Wallin, Ray Whitney, Rod Brind'Amour, Scott Walker, Stephane Yelle..... just a laundry list of guys that are 35+ and are playing every bit of their age. Pair that with Staal's traditional October sleep walk and you have a recipe for disaster. Plus, Erik Cole breaks his leg and Joni Pitkanen has a knee operation.
In a lot of ways, I think the wheels fell off of these veterans collectively at the same time.
Age caught up to us and getting rid of Babchuk and Seidenberg...only to replace with Aaron Ward was a dumb move. We have no finishers...we get 35+ shots almost every game and we can't score...Our PP is the worst in the league.....so much wrong.
Oh and BTW none of this is Wards fault. Our best player...better then Staal.
Based on the games I've seen, I'd agree with you about Ward. Can't put the blame on him for this start.
Leave out the shot at Ward and people might buy that this thread was actually created with curiosity in mind.
And what Glovesave said. They're the oldest team in the league, they lost mobility: the mobility from their blueline that was the key to their counterattacking game last season, and nobody is scoring.
I'll add in the coach factor. I honestly think the team has already tuned out Maurice again and couldn't give two craps about what he's saying, which is fairly evident by all the defensive zone breakdowns so far this year. They're playing like they're going through the motions rather then like they actually give a damn.
Ward has been the only player on the team that's playing well this year.
Eric Staal is massively overdue to start playing at a high level again. Without that, they're doomed to sub-mediocrity, borderline playoff contention given a consistently strong Ward.
Carolina has maybe 2 players that would appear on most other teams top 2 lines. That's a big problem. Age, is also big problem along with an unexplainable lack of urgency.....
Plus, no matter how good Ward is he can't stop Wallin. Man that guy (Wallin) sucks....
With regards to the age thing: Doesn't Carolina have a decent crop of prospects what with them missing the playoffs for a couple of years after their Stanley Cup win? Are none of them worth a damn? Or are they just not ready? Or is it because of salary cap reasons?
With regards to the age thing: Doesn't Carolina have a decent crop of prospects what with them missing the playoffs for a couple of years after their Stanley Cup win? Are none of them worth a damn? Or are they just not ready? Or is it because of salary cap reasons?
Bowman, Boychuk, Sutter, McBain, Murphy, Samson, Terry. All guys due next year or two years from now. Sutter is here this year but we do have some very nice forwards coming next year.
Yea really, I guess no offence. What happened to Staal, did he fall off the face of the earth or something I thought he was in the same league as Getzlaf and company?
Bowman, Boychuk, Sutter, McBain, Murphy, Samson, Terry. All guys due next year or two years from now. Sutter is here this year but we do have some very nice forwards coming next year.
So Carolina just doesn't have any prospects ready to step up this year to make a difference and infuse some energy into what appears to be a listless team?
Yea really, I guess no offence. What happened to Staal, did he fall off the face of the earth or something I thought he was in the same league as Getzlaf and company?
I don't know..it's not like one poor year is going to make him trash. The whole team is struggling, he can't rack up on points on the PP because our PP is ****.
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So Carolina just doesn't have any prospects ready to step up this year to make a difference and infuse some energy into what appears to be a listless team?
Sutter got our only goal today, Boychuk could be ready because he is doing very well in the AHL...in the coming weeks Sutter will prolly be moved up and replace someone to apply pressure on the older guys.
I don't know..it's not like one poor year is going to make him trash. The whole team is struggling, he can't rack up on points on the PP because our PP is ****.
Oh I know I wasn't trying to rag on him or anything I think he's a great player. I just haven't been able to see him play this year, so I was wondering what was going on with him?
Nothing is wrong. They're just not as good as people thought they were.
Remember, last year was the first time since winning the Cup that they made the playoffs. They finally ended a year hot and made it into the playoffs. They're a good playoff team, regular season not so much.
LOL last year people were trashing this guy, now he is a god after one 50 save game.
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Oh I know I wasn't trying to rag on him or anything I think he's a great player. I just haven't been able to see him play this year, so I was wondering what was going on with him?
I really don't know whats wrong...he just isn't scoring.