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Monday, October 31, 2005
Thrashers must learn how to win
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
The fact that reality often doesn’t match expectations in sports really hasn’t been an issue with the Thrashers before, because they never were built for expectations. Unless you count losing as an expectation.
But when a coach who has won a Stanley Cup is given a roster that includes players who have won Stanley Cups, you expect more.
You don’t expect two wins in the first three games, then only one in the next eight. You don’t expect to see a team with veterans blow a 4-0 lead to an opponent (Pittsburgh) that hadn’t won a game in nine tries. Or losses of 9-1, 5-1 and 6-0 in succession. Reality was not supposed to be 3-8. Not this team. Not in this season. Not again.
Bob Hartley knows that. When he is asked if he takes it personally, he responds quickly.
“Of course I do. I’m the leader of this group.”
Well then. This should make it easy to point a finger. This time it’s not about a thin payroll or a surplus of fourth-line players. This time it’s about talented players who have yet to be brought together and pointed in the right direction by their leader.
Right now, Hartley’s team is tied for the worst record in the NHL. There have been some signs of improvement of late. But dreaded expressions like “heart-breaking loss” are creeping into the equation.
Good teams either win or lose. They don’t make excuses. There have been issues with injuries and keeping goaltenders upright, but the fact is, goaltending usually hasn’t been the biggest problem. There was a four-game span in which the team scored twice, moving Hartley to comment: “We could have taped Jacques Plante and Patrick Roy together — even with the old pads — and we wouldn’t have won more.”
The real difference has been intelligence, discipline and resolve. Or lack thereof. Good teams play through adversity. They don’t float in the neutral zone or the ozone and take stupid penalties. They don’t sigh and wallow in self-pity about having a deciding goal bounce in off a defenseman.
“We still have a long way to go in terms of learning how to win — let’s not kid ourselves,” center Bobby Holik said Monday. He then referenced a 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay when the deciding goal was inadvertently knocked in by defenseman Niclas Havelid.
“We’re too good to say, ‘We should’ve won.’ That goal doesn’t matter if we play better. It shouldn’t be a game-breaker. If we’re playing better, maybe we’re still ahead or tied. But to say, ‘Oh, bad luck.’ Bad luck? If you work harder and smarter, those things won’t matter as much.”
Hartley knows it’s on him. Publicly, he has remained positive and kept his temper reasonably in check. “I’m not the kind of guy who throws garbage cans,” he said.
Thrown anything?
“Never.”
Kicked anything?
“I kicked a fan once. I got my foot stuck.”
He’s been through this before. In his first season in Colorado (1998-99), the Avalanche started 0-4 and didn’t climb above the .500 mark and stay there until game 43 (20-19-4). That season, the Avalanche reached the seventh game of the Western Conference finals.
But the core of that Colorado team had already won a Cup (under a previous coach). The Thrashers have never made the playoffs. So it’s only natural to wonder if the big problems — coverage, chemistry, penalties, penalty killing — will improve.
They have allowed a league-high 23 power play goals. The most recent came against Tampa after a 2-0 lead had evaporated and Serge Aubin boarded the Lightning’s Rob DiMaio with the game tied in the third period.
“There’s a huge difference in knowing how to play and knowing how to win,” Hartley said. “Serge tries to go for the big hit on DiMaio rather than just finish him off, and we open the door to the power play. That’s a part of knowing how to win. But winning comes in waves.”
Tonight is game 12 of 82. Time isn’t an issue yet, and waves may yet develop. But 3-8 wasn’t the expectation. And the reality of 3-8 has long since been old.
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