The Thrashers returned to work on Monday after an embarrassing 8-2 loss at Buffalo on Saturday night that severely hurt the team’s playoff chances. Ten games remain in the regular season and the Thrashers are 12th in the Eastern Conference, seven points behind the Sabres for the final playoff spot.
Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay, who held individual player meetings on Monday, spoke to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution beat writer Chris Vivlamore about the loss and what’s next for the team.
Q. Did the day off Sunday change your take on what happened Saturday?
A. I think I have a little better perspective on it. It's still very difficult to understand. To give up a goal in (24) seconds happens. It certainly isn't right. It's not a way to start a big game, but we got it back. Here we have a chance. After that, we took silly penalties. We didn't compete at the top of our game, which was really a shock. We have 10 games left to compete at the top of our game each and every night. That's what we are trying to get through here today; to make sure they understand whatever has happened is gone. It's over. Our job is to compete like a team, look like a team, act like a team for the last 10 games.
Q. Are you speaking to the team individually?
A. Yes.
Q. How do you not let such a loss fester? With the NHL schedule you normally have a day or two between games. After this particularly bad loss you have five days before you play the Islanders on Thursday night.
A. That can make it much more difficult. As a coach you want to, perhaps, go out and skate them until, perhaps, they fall down. Or show video that is truly embarrassing. What I've tried to do is give them a good hard off-ice workout so I wasn't involved. We are having an individual meeting that is short. I want them to understand that their accountability is to themselves and to their teammates, not just to me as a coach or the coaching staff. They have to hold themselves to a higher standard. That has to come from them. You can point them in the right direction but at the end of the day it has to be a standard, a very high standard, that's within the dressing room.
Q. You were very candid after that loss with some pretty harsh words; were you trying to deliver a message or were you just speaking from the heart? What do you hope is the impact of those words?
A. You have to be very careful after a game, and you say things you don't mean, so I try not to. Certainly for me to go into Buffalo at this time of year with a score like that is pretty disheartening. But it's also something that you can build on. It's something that you can use. It's something that can be part of the growth of you as a person and you as a team. That you can take something that is a big negative and use it and understand it and grow with it.
Q. Do you get a sense that the players are angry?
A. I think they are embarrassed. In the short meetings we've had I think they understand what happened and understand that you can't allow that to happen. But it's vital for them to realize that it has to be eliminated inside the dressing room. It has to be eliminated by individuals. You can't think that's OK. We, as a team, must go out and attack and be the best team each and every night that we possibly can. That is only accomplished when you are the best player that you can be. Every player has an off night but you can't have most of your players have an off night. That's where you look for leadership in the dressing room. This guy is a leader, that guy is a leader, but we are the followers. On any given night it should be a different person stepping up to the plate. Some step up more often and have more ability but everybody can do it on a given night. Everybody who plays in the National Hockey League can be a leader, can be the best player on a given night. Then it's up to the rest to tag along.
Q. Is that an issue with your captain and/or your alternates?
A. With everyone. Everyone is involved in leadership. Leadership has to come from everybody. It isn't just from one single person. You don't look at a game and say, 'This guy did this,' or 'This guy cost us the game.' Everybody was involved. Everybody has to take charge of it. It's up to each player who plays to be the best player he can be.
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