A Tired Team Loses 4 - 2 to the Hurricanes

“We wanna win hockey games.” Jack told the few reporters in the post game that were able to show up due to the weather.

And he does. That has been the objective the entire season. You can hear it from Garth Snow as well during his pre-game interview with Howie Rose.


But they aren't winning. They have lost some tough fought games and Jack is not happy about it at all. Breakdowns, lapses of judgment and from what Jack said post game, being just plain tired and not playing smart did them in.

The most surprising portion of the post game interview was Capuano calling some team members “selfish.” Whoa there! The team that is a close knit family just called out by their coach?

“I thought tonight that there were some guys that were selfish for the first time and they didn’t’ play within the team concept and they left our goalie hanging out to dry on a few occasions and that is disturbing.”

He never named them, but he has a mental list. And those will be the ones who see their ice-time diminish or worse. Jack said he’d be discussing things with Garth for changes after the All-Star break.

Whether it’s the number of games played in too few nights or the mental fatigue of losing, the All Star break is coming at a good time. They can use the time off, but they know there is work to be done in the second half of the season. “ I sent them off to have a relaxed mind but when they come back it’s back to business.” He told them “Keep in mind when you get back ,we’ve got to get back to business. Could be a different line up. We’re not going to go through losing games and guys getting rewarded who shouldn’t be rewarded.”

If that wasn’t a wake up call, I don’t know what is.

“Costly mistakes can hurt you.” Jack said about the game. But it goes beyond that. I can hurt you in the wallet when it comes to contracts. Many of them will be looking for new ones pretty soon.

So Jack left his players with a lot to think about over this extended break. There will be a lot of soul-searching before hitting the ice again. For Jack Capuano and Garth Snow, there will be a lot of discussions.


Speaking of Garth Snow and discussions, I’m not going to go over his extended interview with Howie Rose last night pre-game. The link is here and you can draw your own judgment on the Nabokov situation. If you haven’t read JT Bourne’s article in DeadSpin about it, do so. It’s hysterical and well written even with the blue language.

The only other thing I will say about last night’s game that was once again attended by few due to inclement weather conditions here on Long Island is: Howie Rose keeps digging his own grave.

When Rick DiPietro decided to bat a puck out of his zone, Howie decided to deliver a little inside information he felt compared to share. “Rick once told me if he had to do it all over again, he’d chose baseball.”

Great. Just what we all needed to hear about our 15-year, struggling for wins, goalie. Thanks. Dearest Howie: WE DIDN’T NEED TO KNOW THAT!!! Also, by the way, Pitchers and Catchers report in 19 days. I’m sure you’re getting ready.