Quote:
Originally posted by Undertoad
Do as I've done and adopt the Wild with our fellow 'sotans.
Although it looks like they used up all their goals in the last series and have none left for this one. But how this team has done it so far, you know they have the guts to come back now.
The Cech: saw Clarke on TV tonight, and he was indicating that Cech is demanding to be traded because, as was reported, he feels that the fans are down on him. I know goalies are headcases but Cech has had this kind of weird emotional reaction before and it just can't help. Maybe they will finally get that big name goalie in the free agent market.
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Clarke's job is to keep Roman Cechmanek happy. That's what he's there for; to get the best players in orange and black and keep them there. How that's done is open to debate; pay him what he deserves, massage his ego, take him out to Delilah's Den after games, whatever it takes. Cech's what they have; he's ALL they have.
I can't imagine WHY Cechmanek feels that people have turned on him. Maybe something having to do with getting one-goal-per-game support over two playoff series, having his teammates fire pucks at his head when the first one went badly and having his coach come out and say "Not to point fingers, but we can't have those soft goals." If his offense was putting ANY goals in the net -- soft, hard or squishy -- they'd be playing the Devils right now in the conference finals. Expecting Cech to have four shutouts against Ottawa is a bit much.
Are Philly fans notoriously fickle? Yup. Were they cheering him for six months and booing over the six-game wipeout, even though his own teammates were stepping up and saying "Roman's not the problem, this was a TEAM loss" repeatedly? Yup. But someone has to be blamed, and the goalie makes a convenient scapegoat. (Maybe the fans are just USED to watching Flyers forwards make opposing goalies look like Ken Dryden.) Clarke, of ANYONE, should know what Philly fans are like and be ready to help Cech deal with that, and stand behind him publically.
They have no replacement waiting in the wings. They had three solid young goaltenders and traded two, which is all the more reason to protect the third one as much as possible and give him a little freaking support (goal AND moral).
Even before this, I was already ready to bail on my Phantoms ticket plan and go watch the Royals play ECHL hockey down the road. They've decimated that team over the years, and apart from a few vets (Law, Little, Greig) and a young newcomer (Patrick Sharp), they're running on empty. Note to Clarke: that's your team's future. Notice that a team that was largely built from scratch (the Senators) has demolished your big-name free-agent NHL squad two years running... with ease. If Cechmanek walks, an out-of-the-playoffs season next year isn't out of the question, and I hope Clarke knows that it's HIS ass out the door if that happens.
As for the Wild, they're interesting to watch, and they do have Richard Park. I'm not actively rooting for either team in that series, though I hope the winner wins the Cup. I'll review my options in the off-season and see who's out there to be adopted.