Kucherov sounds off on Lightning

[JagrBomb]

Callahan and Killorn no doubt.

[CascadeFilly]

but one wonders how much could/should stay behind closed doors.

This should all have been kept in the locker room and/or behind closed doors with the coach/GM. This isn't leadership, it's a garbage distraction that can do nothing positive.

[rataylor22]

This should all have been kept in the locker room and/or behind closed doors with the coach/GM. This isn't leadership, it's a garbage distraction that can do nothing positive.

It's not a distraction if the team is eliminated, the players in question will most likely be gone, and it's true. It will be all blown over by next season, and the players he's talking about will know it's them when they look in the mirror.

Players get crucified for cookie cutter answers in interviews, and then crucified for not giving cookie cutter answers in interviews. No wonder hockey players are so god damn boring all the time.

True leadership is not giving those guys a free pass and calling them out, which is exactly what he's doing. I'd take a guy like Kucherov who clearly gives a shit and wants to win any day, thanks.

[CascadeFilly]

It's not a distraction if the team is eliminated, the players in question will most likely be gone, and it's true. It will be all blown over by next season, and the players he's talking about will know it's them when they look in the mirror.

Players get crucified for cookie cutter answers in interviews, and then crucified for not giving cookie cutter answers in interviews. No wonder hockey players are so god damn boring all the time.

True leadership is not giving those guys a free pass and calling them out, which is exactly what he's doing. I'd take a guy like Kucherov who clearly gives a shit and wants to win any day, thanks.

I don't know, no one likes 'that guy' who complains when someone flubs on a nice pass. Everyone makes mistakes, and it's too easy to point the finger. Talking holds a lot more weight when it's face-to-face, and in front of the rest of the guys in the locker room. This doesn't need to get aired out in front of everyone. Just my opinion. There've been a lot of great, great leaders in hockey who didn't/don't flap their gums to the media about their beefs with teammates.

[rataylor22]

I don't know, no one likes 'that guy' who complains when someone flubs on a nice pass. Everyone makes mistakes, and it's too easy to point the finger. Talking holds a lot more weight when it's face-to-face, and in front of the rest of the guys in the locker room. This doesn't need to get aired out in front of everyone. Just my opinion. There've been a lot of great, great leaders in hockey who didn't/don't flap their gums to the media about their beefs with teammates.

That's just not really what he did. He more than carried his own weight, and he's not calling people out for being bad at hockey, he's calling people out for getting paid and not working hard/caring anymore. Being in a locker room with someone for 8 months straight, you'd be able to know if that was a fair criticism or not. Also Kucherov isn't a captain or an assistant. He's a superstar who carried his team, gave Tampa a team discount to help the cap situation, and watched other players taking his money and not earning it. I'd be pissed too.

[hockeyrobot]

Interesting thoughts for sure....but polar opposite scenario to what you'd think! Russian player calling out work ethic of someone else? Unheard of...

[StuntMan12]

callahan and johnson are my guesses. That Would be frustrating seeing some teamates mail it in when u got a chance to make playoffs

[2014olympicgold]

I'd be pissed too if people mailed it in and I took a big pay cut so the team can do well. Especially if it was the players needing new contracts soon and I let bucks on the table so the team could resign them.

[ericdaoust]

It sounds like he's targeting the guys that got pay raises but if I wonder if the translation is perfect. If you think more broadly any player on a one-way deal "gets his money" even if he stops working.

[Instant Karma]

I heard about this... but I heard it was in Russian... so who translated it and was it translated accurately? I am always nervous to believe things when they are translated... translation could lead to things being taken out of context.

I expect there are enough people in the West who are fluent in Russian that it's been translated correctly enough. If not, then the translator is instantly going to get called out with "What? That's not what he said at all!"

It's not as if he was speaking in Aramaic or something.

[Pengwin7]

Ooooooo drama.
I'll speculate.

1. He mentions no competition for "position". To me, this is targeting a defenseman. TB has lots of forward depth, we see Point & Drouin emerging. For those that have played, you go into a losing streak and when fingers get pointed, its often across the table. And positions blame the other positions. Forwards blame the D. D blame the forwards. And if the G makes blame, its usually towards D for giving up big opportunities. Most skaters don't harp on the G, because they can't even conceptualize what its like to be in that position.

2. Look at key losses, key losing streaks. Who stunk, didn't pull their weight? TB was in the running until they lost three straight in late March: 5-0 to TOR, 5-3 to WAS, 5-3 to ARI. All at home. There's your sour taste right there. They were in the thick of playoff qualifying until that losing streak. They came up 1pt short.

3. Who? Jason Garrison. -1, -1, -1 those three games. 2, 1, 2 for shots on goal. I can't see Kuch ragging on Hedman or Stralman. My other guess is Braydon Coburn. That's basically their D3 & D4. Sustr & Witkoswski, I think, are considered well below these guys and TB traded AWAY the 24-year old Russian Nikita Nesterov. I speculate, generally, that some hockey guys mostly hang out with their countrymen. So I'm speculating that Nesterov & Kucherov & Namestnikov all may have been buddies. In January, TB traded away Nesterov (which I thought was an odd trade). Did this hurt Kucherov's enjoyment of the lockerroom and make it easier for him to criticize somebody. ???



That's my theory... that it's really just one (Garrison) or maybe two (Garrison & Coburn) guys.
Kucherov may simply be pluralizing it to avoid giving too big a hint.

Jason Garrison: 70gp, 1g, 8a, 9pts, -8, 96sog.
Nine points.
Nine?
Shit, you step on the ice for 70gp with just about any NHL club and you'll get 9 token points for touching the puck.
Garrison has just 20pts in his last two NHL seasons of 142gp.
He scored about 30pts prior to that in his first year with TB - Year 3 of his 6-yr contract.
He's also on the final years of declining-per-year contract that paid him $5.5m, $6.5m, $5m, $4.5m, $3.6m... and $2.5m next year.
Oh - and he's already collected his four bonuses.
Some guys - when they get this structure... might feel like "Hey, I'm earning less this year... I can be crappier this year."
It's him.
http://www.espn.com/nhl/player/stats...jason-garrison

Of note: If you look at Garrison's game log, his last three FULL games were those three losses above.
He got injured March 23rd vs. Boston, then came back on April 2nd vs. Dallas and got re-injured.
So... lots of non-Garrison game time to stew about how bad they are when he plays... and how they are just find with him out of line-up.

[2014olympicgold]

Polak had 11 and Hunwick had 19 to prove the token 9pts. Marincin had 7 in 25games…

[SeaDawg]

I like the comments. I know it isn't common for NHL players (or professional athletes in general) to complain to the media about their team-mates or coaches, but I think this shows how much Kucherov cares about winning. I mean, he took significantly less money that he deserved, and then followed that up by being the best forward on the team. He works hard every shift even though he is underpaid, while others on the team are overpaid and underachieved. I'm sure Yzerman and Cooper won't like the comments, but I have no problem with him saying this. I wish there was more accountability among professional athletes. Too many are overpaid for what they contribute.

[Jouko-Pouko]

For Tampa fans, Team Russia had an interesting forward line playing together today at the Euro Hockey Tour: it was Gusev-Namestnikov-Kucherov. It will be interesting to see if they get to play more games together. Looks like Kucherov has no problems playing with Namestnikov at least.

[Pengwin7]

Bumping this thread...
I remember discussing this and I speculated that Jason Garrison was "the dog".
Wondering if the TAKE HIM that TB made to Vegas is evidence that he was a cancer to Kucherov & maybe others.
But also interesting that Gusev was moved out in same deal.

Wondering if Stevie was like "Oh, you got a problem Kuch... OK, I'll move out two guys - the one that bugs you AND one you like."
https://www.rawcharge.com/2017/6/21/...-gusev-yzerman

The other possibility is maybe it was Drouin that wasn't seen positively by TB brass/members. (???)
Though I don't think Kucherov's statement of "They got the money and stopped working" could apply to Drouin & his ELC.