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Too bad - this guy has been a good coach for a long time now, but he just never seems to be able to last long in one place. He did well in LA for a bit, when there were no expectations for the team, but look at this situation now. Maybe this guy ius jsut destined to be a national coach. He can bring teams together in a hurry - its KEEPING them together that seems to be his issue. Put him in as coach for the World Championships, and he'll have that team firing on all cylinders. The Worlds, or the Spengler, and if he's as good at it as I expect, give him the Olympics, which he can concentrate on solely, unlike a coach who is active in the league. If he gets fired, and nobody else in the league wants him, he'll be safe to get a job in Europe either way. This guy will be making money in the hockey industry for years to come

Well, if he does lose his job, he can always be a double for Willem Defoe in his next movie.

hahaha...never saw it before now

This is a shame. The Blues responded to well to Murray when he came in last year....it's too bad the season has regressed to this for them.

The last 3 years Murray has coached an NHL team, the team ranks among the bottom of the NHL in power play standing. The defense and goaltending isn't the problem, its the offense and when you don't score and you keep changing lines so there is little to no cohesiveness, this is bound to happen. I like Murray, he's a good coach with a good philosophy but at some point the philosophy has to yield results...

This cracks me up, the Blues over-achieve all year and now that they are coming back to earth, they are in 'crises' mode. This team is still fresh off their rebuilding run, so let's just cool our jets before we fire everyone here.

Plus, Tkachuk is a coach killer. He's a cancer in any dressing room he has ever been in, and that can't be evidenced any more strongly than by the fact that he has never been on a winning team. You get players like him who feel they are bigger than their coach, and you are just asking for players to stop listening

I was going to say that GoCanada. Tkachuk had the same effect in Pheonix and I believe that is one of the reasons they traded him. Murray will find another home if he is fired, you can count on that!

Thats not a truely fair assessment of Walt. Thats like saying Borque was a cancer in Boston until they moved him to Colorado to win a cup. Is JR a cancer since he's never won a cup? The best way to look at Tkachuk and players like him is that his contract is a product of past achievements and it stops management from spending on other players during FA since they
have so much money invested in him.

He is only 7 goals away from 500, which is an achievement that only certain types of NHL players hit. If there is any player in the locker room that buys into Murray's system it is Walt, he's having success that he hasn't had in years. The problem is, like Bostongm stated, the top line stopped producing. They jumbled things around to get the other lines going but its not working.

Kariya and MacDonald are the same type of player, small fast and love to pass, and they generally have those two on the same line now. It doesn't make for much of an offense. Lee Stempniak has basically disappeared from the 27 goal player he was last year to someone ineffective. Jackman is having his worst season yet.

Highlights are: Erik Johnson is having a stable, healthy and productive rookie season. David Perron adds skill when he's in the lineup. Manny Legace keeps them in games until the team lets him down. The best farm system in the league is getting stocked with good players.

The point is, they never came out and said the rebuilding is over. Far from it actually, there are some good points to the lineup and organization. Whats needed is to get some good younger players in who can produce and getting rid of some bad contracts, like Martin Rucinsky, Dan Hinote, and getting some cheaper yet more effective role players.


Murray isn't going anywhere and if he does, i'll print this entire page up and eat the paper.
/End rant

Well stated, Jables. Totally agree with the Stempniak comment, and I was disappointed that they re-upped with Jackman. I think he has just regressed since his Calder year. My only real criticism of Murray is that Perron should be getting more ice time, particularly with a team struggling mightily to score goals.

Bourque went to the finals - twice - only to lose to the powerhouse Oilers both times. Can't blame a guy for not beating the Oil in the '80s, I can tell you that much.

JR has always been a me-first personality, but he also left it all on the ice, every game, so nothing real bad can be said on his end. He HAS been a regular in the playoffs, in years past, however. How many seasons has Tkachuk made the playoffs in HIS career? 3, maybe? Back with the Jets?

When Tkachuk showed up to camp 30 lbs overweight last year, it should have told you what he is all about. He's a slacker, and a punk. He trashed the hotel room in Nagano after the '98 Olympics, like a child. He whined his way and tanked his way out of Phoenix. He destroyed the team chemistry that was working in Atlanta last year, resulting in a sweep to the Rangers (not that they were going much further, but I digress). I'll say it again, he's a coach killer, and he buries teams with his attitude and poor work ethic. You can bet that when his current contract is up, there won't be teams knocking down his door for his services. Roenick got a courtesy out of San Jose this year, when they signed him out of respect for what he has done in the league and the effort he is known to put into the game. Tkachuk will get no such offer, and will have to not only take the league minimum, but BEG teams to take him...unless Davidson wants to keep throwing ridiculous sums of money at washed up American players that is (Tkachuk, Weight, both brutal signings this past off season)

So shy do you suppose then, that the Blues wanted Tkachuk back after trading him last spring? If he is such a cancer, wouldn't the Blues and Murray know that better than anyone?

Perhaps a good old bear hug will do the trick!!!

I guess Kariya can't handle it, he should have never left AQnaheim, but hey my Ducks still won a Stanley Cup without him. Myself attending the whole Anaheim's playoff run last year.

Nothing can be said about JR? Did you read any of the news in Phoenix last year? It was problem after problem with him. He has found some sort of solace in San Jose and i'm glad because he is great for the fans. He was just in St. Louis and during warm ups he was tossing pucks to kids in the stands for a good 5 minutes.

Every player can't be perfect, and i agree that the year Walt reported to camp overweight was disappointing. He has been, however, playing great this year (compared to previous years). To tell you the truth, i didn't expect him to hit 20 goals this season.

Resigning Walt and Weight at the salaries they were were not fantastic but St. Louis has been disenfranchised with the sport since right after the lockout season. We traded our captain Chris Pronger to shed payroll, (to make the team more viable for selling we were told) for 3 guys, one of them being Eric Brewer. We had no-one as far as "big-name" players that weren't under contract besides those two guys and those two were our most marketable guys. Signing anyone right after the lockout was impossible due to the owners abruptly announcing the sale of the team after the CBA was announced.

The new management is doing what they can, and thats whats sparked a 50% increase in attendance this year compared to last year. We have a great ownership and a great farm set up. The future is looking brighter than it has in the past, i'm not making excuses for the lack of offense but if they "tune" Murray back in, they are as tough as they come in the league.

just curious - what's with the "Walt" nickname? never heard it before...

The nickname comes from Walt Tkaczuk, who was a forward for the Rangers in the '70s......