It is true that saku has been in a funk lately and his numbers have been declining, but is it fair to blame him for the teams funk. Absolutely not. You guys actually think a player can effect the whole team into playing bad. NO. Its a collectivity of bad attitudes and slacking. I repeat there is only soo much a captsin can do. Ofcourse he has to deliver a message to his players and motivate the team, but in the end it is up to the team to play. In addition all of u who are suddenly critiquing Koivu are hypocrites. Its enough with the bashing and bashing we get the point. However when he was playing good in the beginning of the season he was playin well and everybody praised him etc. Now a man that is at the bottom, should be supported and encouraged by his fans rather than criticsed and insulted. We are all habs fans. But the authenticity of the fans are shown when the team is in a slump. Critcizing here and there. We are delivering the wrong message to our fans. In the end like I said and I stress we shoukld support the players in these times where we are playing badly. The reason why we are losing is because of a collective defficiency rather than a single individual who is in a slump.
P.S. Slumps are common in sports, many players have been in slumps, its part of the game.
I think it's Ironic (or should I say Irnoic) that someone with the words "The Critic" in his name is giving us all a discourse on how to be a fan and what constitutes a proper level and target for criticism.
It is true that saku has been in a funk lately and his numbers have been declining, but is it fair to blame him for the teams funk. Absolutely not. You guys actually think a player can effect the whole team into playing bad. NO. Its a collectivity of bad attitudes and slacking. I repeat there is only soo much a captsin can do. Ofcourse he has to deliver a message to his players and motivate the team, but in the end it is up to the team to play. In addition all of u who are suddenly critiquing Koivu are hypocrites. Its enough with the bashing and bashing we get the point. However when he was playing good in the beginning of the season he was playin well and everybody praised him etc. Now a man that is at the bottom, should be supported and encouraged by his fans rather than criticsed and insulted. We are all habs fans. But the authenticity of the fans are shown when the team is in a slump. Critcizing here and there. We are delivering the wrong message to our fans. In the end like I said and I stress we shoukld support the players in these times where we are playing badly. The reason why we are losing is because of a collective defficiency rather than a single individual who is in a slump. P.S. Slumps are common in sports, many players have been in slumps, its part of the game.
Frank you are not a critic, you're a knowledgable person who just wrote the best post in a week...and all you wrote was common sense.
I just think that many of the posts that bash are captain lately are due to anger and dissapointment. The fans are pissed and who better to piss on than our Captain. IT's EASIER. It's like when you have 4 kids and they're screaming and creating chaos, who do you blame? The oldest child right? Well, that's a ridiculous way of looking at sports and life.
all i am sg is for u guys to support ur team in times of this trouble. And don't give me that about im not knowledgeable and so forth. I may be a Newbie here but i've been not only a fan for the past decades but have also played the game and understand the dynamics of it. Don't get me wrong im not trying to dictate what types of fans to be howver remain consistent with ur criticsm because i know when habs make the playoffs, and they will and koivu starts playin good then u guys will change ur decision. And that somethink that me and Nil D agree upon.
i have to disagree. Since we are in the "per example" mode, i ll give you one: To those of us who have younger or older brothers, growing up playing and doing the same things as our brothers did was a must. To those who had older brothers, What did you always do when your brother did something "cool"?? You always did the same thing right? Exactly alike!! Pretty much looked up to the big brother thinking the world of him!! Take Koivu for example. Guy has been in the league for a good while...won Junior and olympic championships early in the carrer, won scoring Titles in the finnish league..highly touted before NHL and few years ago was chosen as the one to lead Montreal to the promise land. As one leads by example all the other "younger brothers" follow. So when you do lead by example, Your younger brothers will admire you and strive to do the same thing because they want to feel and get the same recognition as the leader of the pack. Our leader has not led, and our leader really has not been a leader. Its not all Koivu's fault, But He has majority of the Blame.
I agrre with you however ther are other "older brothers" on the team such as kovalev, Rivet even Bonk. The thing is Koivu has the C but the other two have the A and have to reinforce what the Captain says. But everybody is playing with individuality rather than collectively.
i have to disagree. Since we are in the "per example" mode, i ll give you one: To those of us who have younger or older brothers, growing up playing and doing the same things as our brothers did was a must. To those who had older brothers, What did you always do when your brother did something "cool"?? You always did the same thing right? Exactly alike!! Pretty much looked up to the big brother thinking the world of him!! Take Koivu for example. Guy has been in the league for a good while...won Junior and olympic championships early in the carrer, won scoring Titles in the finnish league..highly touted before NHL and few years ago was chosen as the one to lead Montreal to the promise land. As one leads by example all the other "younger brothers" follow. So when you do lead by example, Your younger brothers will admire you and strive to do the same thing because they want to feel and get the same recognition as the leader of the pack. Our leader has not led, and our leader really has not been a leader. Its not all Koivu's fault, But He has majority of the Blame. i hope most of you understand my analogy
So when you do lead by example, Your younger brothers will admire you and strive to do the same thing because they want to feel and get the same recognition as the leader of the pack. Our leader has not led, and our leader really has not been a leader. Its not all Koivu's fault, But He has majority of the Blame. i hope most of you understand my analogy
Oh, THAT is why we passed on Miko Koivu...
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"To you with falling hands we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high."
It is true that saku has been in a funk lately and his numbers have been declining, but is it fair to blame him for the teams funk. Absolutely not. You guys actually think a player can effect the whole team into playing bad. NO. Its a collectivity of bad attitudes and slacking. I repeat there is only soo much a captsin can do. Ofcourse he has to deliver a message to his players and motivate the team, but in the end it is up to the team to play. In addition all of u who are suddenly critiquing Koivu are hypocrites. Its enough with the bashing and bashing we get the point. However when he was playing good in the beginning of the season he was playin well and everybody praised him etc. Now a man that is at the bottom, should be supported and encouraged by his fans rather than criticsed and insulted. We are all habs fans. But the authenticity of the fans are shown when the team is in a slump. Critcizing here and there. We are delivering the wrong message to our fans. In the end like I said and I stress we shoukld support the players in these times where we are playing badly. The reason why we are losing is because of a collective defficiency rather than a single individual who is in a slump. P.S. Slumps are common in sports, many players have been in slumps, its part of the game.
What if Koivu's sick again? I don't want to jinx him or anything, but look at what the man went through before. With Cancer, it could always come back & sometimes even in a different form.
I'm not saying that this is the reason for his (or anyone else's) lackluster performance, but ya never know. Does anyone else here think that this is a possibility? I certainly hope this isn't the case.
I dont thunk he's sick it would have been announced.
Maybe, but I'm not so sure about that. There could be a few reasons why it wasn't announced.
Look @ Michael J Fox, he was sick for 2 years before he went public & many celeb's in Hollywood already knew, but out of respect for the man... they kept their lips buttoned until he was ready to tell for himself. or Think about this... He may not know himself. Lot's of people live their lives everyday feeling a little more sluggish than usual, maybe a little sicker, or have a constant headache etc. & think that it is just normal "cold / flu season" stuff or "heatstroke" or ??????? whatever. Then later on they find out that it was something more severe. It doesn't come back like a punch in the face, it slowly creeps in when you least expect it.
Look, the NHL is not about being "fair". Was it "fair" that Julien got fired? No. But the team was faltering and someone had to pay the price, right or wrong. Now we have a new coach and the team is still playing poorly. So who do we blame next? The team leaders. The bottom line is that we need him and we expect MORE of him than what he has given this year. And I am sorry, but when you sign a big contract with ethe security of a no trade clause, then those expectations get elevated just a bit more. Fair? Perhaps not. But reality, yes.
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I'm as confused as a starving baby in a topless bar!
Andy wrote: Barry you and CJ should get a room. Get over it , this guy got fired two months ago. Wow, Barry was nice enough to be supportive of one of your first (and still few) posts. Plus he's a personal friend of the guy... Like school in summer... No class!!
I agree that remark was uncalled for, however, how much more can one hear about Claude? He's gone, it's history. He has nothing to do with the team anymore.
I personally had no problems with CJ, he was no worse than BG is now. It's like Theo.... no longer an issue, so why keep bringing it up?