There was a coaching change in the NHL yesterday and it was not really a surprise. Ottawa Senators Coach DJ Smith was released from his Coaching duties. It has been five years since Smith took over the Club and they have not made the playoffs in those five years. As a matter of fact the Club really has not done much during that time. Smith is partially responsible because he has not Coached this Club very well for a number of reasons. They relied too much on young talent that was under developed and not ready to play in the National Hockey League. He did as best as he could with the resources that he had. Ownership and management rushed young talent even though they said they had a development plan for them. Clearly, the plan was poorly conceived. It is very hard to name a top six or nine player on today’s Senators roster that was developed in Belleville. The name only that comes to mind is Drake Batherson. A player with a high skill level whose game processing does not match his skill level.
It appears that the Senators past management team thought that training and preparation should transfer to performance. This just in, nothing could be further than the truth. Hockey is a played sport, which means there are a lot of variables going on. The past management team was trying to merge all three instead of recognising how different all three are. Now with Smith released of his duties the new management team can implement their plan.
Tiger Woods focused on three keys when he played. No drives out of bounds, no three putts, and getting the ball up and down from simple situations. He won a few tournaments using this plan! For the Senators it is no turning pucks over at the offensive and defensive blue lines, manage the puck better, put the puck where it fits, not where it doesn’t fit. Finally, defence first in all three zones and by doing so you get the puck back. If they do these three things it will become clear what is happening in the game and they will be able to move their development plan forward and allow them to be more successful.
Time for the players to roll with changes, if not it will be the same old story.
Until next time!
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