I have kept quiet because I don't want to be the party pooper when so many posters are celebrating the future coach of the year.
There is a probability rule saying that the longer you stay on the bottom the better are the chances that you surface for a while, and it always happens sooner or later.
I know that speculating, guessing and often being sure without actually having a clue is part of the game on a forum, but when it comes to making statements about a person, and one who is not know for being a bad or stupid person, I think some caution is required and it is better to ask.
While many people's enthusiasm is commensurate with the number of wins, I like a team as much as I like the people on it. I it sound a bit corny, but I like seeing real student on my team, and I a told that someone is working heard and having a great attitude, it goes against my values that the same person is fooled by those who are supposed the teach the values.
This is not about bickering about a third string goalie; my point is not only about ravn; that is just the way I see the it, and most team have a mission statement which says more or less the same (indeed, to have mission statement, you need to have some values). Is that ok with you ?
Frankly, I resent reading people saying about players "if they are not happy, they can go somewhere else and prove themselves". My opinion is that the coach has the right to make mistakes, but also has the duty to correct it, or to live with it.
May be you will have less wins, but then you just go and find a coach who makes less mistakes, or is better at addressing them properly. Cutting cornrs should not be accepted.
What most people seem to overlook is that ravn is one of the few being a real student i.e attending a demanding and consistent program (not a taylor made puzzle just to keep the guys busy and get better grades than they ever had before). He is studying engineering (roque says he is a great student
for what it's worth) and it would be unwise for him to another place and scrap his studies for good now he know how risky the hockey environment can be.
I like seeing great players having a great academic background, not because of some stupid elitism, but because it is a bigger challenge than the be the best a video games outside the ice.
In an interview ravn said he was not here to be a practice goalie and roque confirmed (are you kidding, he was in Ottawa and is from Montreal, he culd be a practice goalie there).
Beside the ravn's former credentials and the fact that he was actually the only goalie who visited the school during the season 2009, I is noteworthy that Roque escapes any question about him (Crawford tried several times).
Now, I know that ravn was ignored throughout last year and was not informed about murdock before he was told by some teammates after the season, and I know that roque and metro were questionning players to find out whether he was returning this season, without asking him directly (actually, they should know since they made him drop studies to join the Lakers).
That really doesn't suggest a healthy environment and has a damaging effect on the whole team, specially if you consider that the teammates like him (the questioned teammates where very upset and embarassed). I find it pathetic, and that goes beyond ravn's problem. Are you with me ?
Whether he is living up to expectation on the ice is another story. It would be almost irrelevant in my opinion as the circumstances would probably affect the mental and performance of any player (when a coach is supposed to build trust and self confidence).
However, one reason why ravn made the trip to Alabama is because several key players considered that he had done better than murdock on most fields so far, that's it.
The only comment from roque about that is that he didn't bring murdock because he felt Murdock wasn’t competing hard enough in practice.
Why not just mention that ravn deserved it more ? That would be the normal attitude of someone who wants to keep his whole team equally motivated ...
I won't make any comment on how roque controls his network and assistant coaches, and how it goes when he considers that they do not serve his decisions properly.
That was just the thoughts of someone who sees beyond the number of wins. It is so cool when you can be proud of the people representing the school,and great when they are successful.
I hope there will be a few agreeing with me, and that the others won't feel offended.
Sorry for interrupting the party; don't worry, the circumstances are favorable and there will be a lot of more wins until the end of the (6 years) cycle.
