Nashville GM Barry Trotz is known as an outspoken man and he opened his verbal casket already after 12 matches earlier in the fall. Nashville had won only four of the matches when the club boss’s snarky comments spread to the North American media. In them, this threatened to start a so-called reconstruction project, if the direction did not change.
In practice, the statement was understood as a threat to start selling key players.
Heitto could already be regarded as special even when he was fresh, because in the summer the boss of the sports side had put another hundred million dollars into the fire when acquiring a veteran-aged team By Steven Stamkos, Of Johathan Marchessault mixed Brady Skjein such meritorious, but also aging stars.
– Those comments didn’t quite reach my ears, like the media did. Trotz is a bit like that, who shoots things quite straight, while some others might keep their cards hidden. The message seems to be more that if things don’t work, young people are given more opportunities, Juuse Saros to clarify for Urheilu.
Nashville has many big star player contracts to the extent that Saros, Roman Josin, by Filip Forsberg and like the new stars mentioned earlier, that starting a rebuilding project in the middle of the season isn’t even realistic.
– It is difficult to shred every big contract. Can’t do that.
Trotz’s ukase didn’t work as expected, on the contrary. Nashville has lost seven games in a row and is the second worst team in the entire NHL.
Even the boss’s direct speech to the team had little effect. The situation is catastrophic after the summer investments.
– It’s been 2-3 weeks since he came to talk to us. For a moment, it did wake us up and Winnipeg was immediately defeated, but it didn’t quite lead to an 18-game point streak like last season this time, Saros laughs.
“Just not enough”
Nashville had a tough time last season as well. The club management had seen enough when the team lost 2-9 at home to Dallas in February. The bosses canceled the U2 concert night planned for the team’s trip to Las Vegas. The canceled concert was followed by an 18-game point streak.
The club management sought a similar effect when giving feedback to the group both publicly and directly face-to-face.
However, the Nashville season can practically be packed by the Christmas break at the latest. The team is second last in the Western Conference, already 12 points away from the playoff line. Moneypuck gives Nashville a five percent chance of making the playoffs.
– It was difficult for us last season as well, but we played really well then. To be honest, we’re far worse now. If something similar is searched for, no chain compositions have been found again. It seems that the chains change for every game.
Little has been said about the importance of coaching to the fiasco at hand. The head coach Andrew Brunette has not made a red thread visible in the team’s game and has not brought any kind of stability and peace to the composition. As a result, scoring has become a tar fight.
Nashville has scored the fewest goals in the series.
– The biggest difference from last season is that we are cursed with goal scoring. However, I have an understanding for new guys. They have played such a different way of playing before that it is not always easy to jump into a new one. Hockey is not played on paper, even though everyone was excited in the summer, Saros reminds.
– We simply weren’t good enough and didn’t deserve more. It’s just not enough, Saros insists coldly.
Tragicomic
What’s also special is that in the middle of it all, Juuse Saros himself is having a downright excellent season. For the goalkeeper of a disaster team that always loses, his statistics are great. Two of the six wins have come with a clean sheet, the save percentage is 91 and the average number of goals conceded is only 2.66.
Syvädata says that Saros saved 6.5 goals more than expected goals. The reading is among the elite of the series.
One can only imagine the mess Nashville would be in if Saros had sunk to the level of the rest of the team.
– It’s a little tragic that my own game feels almost the best it’s ever felt. It seems a bit stupid to say that you feel better than ever and the team feels worse than ever.
Coincidentally, Saros is not playing well.
– After last season, we had a long meeting with the goalkeeper coach and watched a lot of videos. We started to change my playing a bit. No fumbling around and more reading of the game because that’s what it is these days. There will be more cross passes and games to the back post and less direct shots.
The changes have helped the goalkeeper from Hämeenlinna to enjoy the games, even though as a team the results have been left behind.
– The players are so skilled these days that you have to be able to read the game and stretch in a slightly different way. A few years ago I used to play like this and it’s like now I’m back to my old self. I believed in this process from the beginning and right from the training season I felt that this could easily be transferred to the games. I have really enjoyed playing.
Fuel from professional pride
Saros will also need the ability to enjoy playing in the future. Everything points to the fact that in the spring season, Nashville is only playing for its professional pride. Saros recognizes the situation himself – the season will soon be over.
– Of course, it’s in the back of your mind if you look at the league table. Understands that these are pretty critical moments at hand. And we can’t always rely on a 20-game winning streak. Sports are like this. It still manages to surprise even at this age, that there are different situations and seasons. On the other hand, it is also the salt of the matter, Saros concludes.
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