The Dynasty is Done

After years of making the playoffs-the thrill of Kaleb Toth's game winning goal, squeaking it out in Albany, winning at Blue Cross, or dismantling the Sting at the ACC, the Rock will not live to see the 2nd season this year. Who's fault is that? Somebody behind me at the arena today said it was Bob Watson's fault-referring to him getting pulled in Buffalo (even though that was Poulin) and not winning any other games this year. We all know this is wrong. Watson was incredible and still deserves an MVP shot for keeping the Rock alive this year, but as we know Iannucci will get it. Other people say Blaine Manning. This is easy to refute, because, as anybody who saw a Rock game this year would know, Manning was often the only consistent scoring threat and was somebody who could have had 45 goals if not for posts. What about Lewis Ratcliff? The Rock never won a game with him in the lineup, and although he took some wildly questionable shots down the stretch, he was still better than most of the forwards (aside from Manning). Ryan Benesch? An alright player who I, and many others, have rightfully given the challenge of replacing Colin Doyle (2 G and 7 A vs Colorado on Saturday btw), but shouldn't be blamed entirely for the crappy season. Jim Veltman worked his tail off in his last year (more on that tomorrow), but just couldn't carry the team like before.

So the real onus for the 7-9 season (better than last year, but not good enough) falls on the wide, flabby shoulders of Mike Kloepfer. Kloepfer failed to properly rebuild a fine team from 2006, and has instead put together a team that has no future (no Veltman anymore, Watson getting old), and only Blaine Manning and possibly Lewis Ratcliff to build around. The team has traded away draft picks for marginal talent (Beirnes) and given playing time to questionable talents (Chris Stewart). If Kloepfer had properly set the team up for the future, I'd be willing to give him more time, but the truth is, this isn't Junior B, and building a contender is not something that should be trusted to this guy.

I'll vent more later, I am tired right now. Also, Jim Veltman tribute coming up.

Weekend Update

Lack of posts lately, but here is the recap from Chicago on Saturday.

The team actually scored a lot of goals. However, in order for the Rock to win, the goaltending has to be outstanding. Mike Poulin was OK Saturday, but not at Bob Watson's level. Is it Mike Kloepfer's fault for having Watson injured during the game? No, its not. It is his fault that he couldn't get Glenn Clark a good backup goalie to have just in case that Watson may be out at some point. Anybody who watched, listened to, or pointstreaked the game at HSBC Arena would know.

Back to the goals. It was great to see some offence, but there were a ton of missed opportunities. I counted about 5 posts. Somebody correct me if I am wrong. Matt Roik was good, but there was also a certain luck factor involved. Also, when we needed a big goal with about a minute left to give us a win, we had nobody. Remember a couple of years ago against Philadelphia, when Colin Doyle put the team on his back and took them on an amazing comeback? I know that players who score more in normal situations also score more in "pressure situations", but Doyle scored way more. He is missed not only for his usual production, but for those big goals he scores. Thanks Mike.

It sucked too that Brad Self came back in hockey just in time to try to put us out the of playoffs.

Having said that, there is still a chance. The Rock need some help. Calgary is winnable, but Philly will be a challenge. Hopefully the team comes out motivated for that one. I'm sure they don't need to know it could be Jim Veltman's last game ever.

Clark to Run Offence

OK. I loved Glenn Clark as a player. He shut down the opposing offence more often then not, scored some goals, got some loose balls and had an intangible factor of +3.7 (for being a teacher, for being Canadian, but loses some points for being kind of tall and not stout).

But why the hell is he running the offence? The guy played defence for most of his career. I am not saying that defencemen don't know the offensive side of the ball, but lets be honest, at this point in the season, there is not time for Clark to implement new systems. Even with Ratcliff and the Rock's shitty performance this past weekend. Will Bob Watson have to hold Chicago to 3 goals for the win on Saturday?

The only positive out of this is that Mike Kloepfer didn't make himself offensive coordinator. That would have been a huge fucking disaster. Not only would the Rock's offence struggle to score even more, the structural integrity of the ACC's home bench would be compromised.

Sorry for the lack posts. The guys on NLL Insider have been reasonable this week. I have also been quite busy. More to come in the next few days.

*Note: intangible factor completely made up

Thoughts on the Weekend

I analyzed the stats, I thought that the Ratcliff trade might have been good, but a combination of an out of sync Rock offence and a solid game from Pat O'Toole did the Rock in.

Ratcliff played OK, but he looked lost out there at times, and made a couple of terrible passes to the far side to Manning and Wilson. I didn't see the game last night in Philadelphia, but I can only assume that it was better. He (Ratcliff) has to get fucking better or this team will be on the outside looking in.

I know Sanderson didn't do too well in Calgary, but the offence was clicking with him in Buffalo and against Edmonton right before the trade. If the team fails to reach double digits against Chicago then there needs to be more changes coming.

Greg Van Sickle was let go. Looking back at NLL.com it is hard to tell if he was a Kloepfer hire, but I have to believe he was responsible for the move, trying to take blame off of himself and transferring it the coaching staff. Sorry Mike, but you're the one that tore apart one of the greatest offensive teams ever assembled in the league. We could still have Josh Sanderson and Colin Doyle, but instead we are stuck with Ryan Benesch and Lewis Ratcliff. Which two would you rather have? I'll give you a hint, their names rhyme with Manderson and Foyle. Figure it out yet?

All I can say is if the Rock do manage to get into the playoffs, and make no mistake, it is going to be a challenge, then all the credit can go to Bob Watson. Watson deserved to win Saturday, and from what I heard deserved one on Sunday as well. Iannucci may break Gait's record, but if Watson wasn't in net for Toronto this year, I would really, really hate to see where the Rock would be at. I'm assuming below Chicago.

All in all, it was a shitty weekend. Does anybody else get pissed off seeing Kloepfer sitting (or waddling) near the bench around each warmup smiling in that ridiculous leather jacket, presumably admiring the destruction he has done to tear apart a great dynasty? Seeing the tribute to Les Bartley on Saturday before the 2nd half, one of the greatest lacrosse architechts of all time, made me sad. Sad that we have to put up with this guy running our time after so many years of sound decisions from Bartley and then from Terry Sanderson. If Mike Kloepfer isn't fired after this season, something is seriously, seriously wrong.

Tutka with his top 20

Here is some analysis from Paul Tutka's top 20 rankings, with the first being on John Tavares:

Will JT have enough left in the tank to make a run past either guy above
him? Been there, done that and still had time to teach his kids about
fractions. He’s still that good.

OK. I get sick when I read these articles about NLL players and how their day jobs somehow make them better at their sport, as having time to teach kids about fractions does not make him good. Blaine Manning is fucking awesome because he can analyze the hell out of a bond transaction. Chris Gill was an amazing goal scorer because he puts out fires and saves people from burning buildings. Their day jobs have no bearing on how good he is on the floor. It makes for an interesting article, but not when analyzing performance.

This is why Tavares is awesome this year:
22 G, 67 PTS, a decent 17.2 shooting %, and a solid 13.9% goal contribution

Now on to Ryan Cousins:

Cousins is still playing solid ball, but just isn’t getting the same kinda
effort outta the boys at the other end of the court, which is affecting the
scoreboard.

As I said a couple of posts ago regarding Jordan Hall, team performance shouldn't have any bearing on these rankings. Cousins is still playing awesome. What Andy Secore did on Saturday should have no effect on where Cousins is ranked. The rest of the team's performance is irrelevant.

Finally, Matt Vinc

Like I said the other week, Vino is definitely a lot of people’s dark horse
pick for tender of the year, and if New York keeps piling up the results,
will be hard to deny him the nod.

If anybody picks Matt Vinc as goalie of the year, I will actually cry. Matt Vinc is a decent goalie, but unless Bob Watson has a monumental collapse over the final few weeks, then Watson is the goalie of the year.

Lets just look at the numbers:

Watson: 9.93 GAA, .790 SVP
Vinc: 12.34 GAA, .765 SVP

Also, there are a number of guys in between them. If somebody wants to use wins as a barometer, Watson has him beat there too, 7-5.

That is all for now. That website is starting to frustrate me.