Peter Laviolette lost the room

Peter Laviolette lost the room. It’s abundantly clear when you look at his postgame presser last night after yet another abysmal performance. One can look at the stat sheet and say the Rangers dominated, but they started the game in a 3-0 hole thanks to horrible defense. Tampa simply coasted from there. Score effects matter, and the Rangers may have outshot and outchanced the Lightning, but they were never truly in it.

It’s been clear Laviolette lost the room for a while, these comments last night just cement it. Lavi used to go into the locker room after the game, now he’s just given up. The team doesn’t listen to him, and it’s been obvious since about November when the Rangers stopped playing structured hockey.

Many blame the system, and it’s a fair and accurate discussion point. The defensive zone man/zone hybrid system simply doesn’t fit this roster. But that’s one zone of three. The defensive zone system does not account for zero forecheck, zero backcheck, a horrible powerplay, and a lack of effort to chase down pucks and battle along the boards. None of that is on Laviolette. That’s Hockey 101 that these millionaires are forgetting to do.

Laviolette lost the room, we know this. The defensive zone system is a problem. We know this too. But that’s about all that can reasonably be put on him. The rest is effort and execution. No amount of coaching, coddling, and tough love can get the guys to consistently do the little things that Stanley Cup teams do. No amount of coaching can get the guys to be where they need to be on the forecheck to slow the rush.

But perhaps most importantly, no NHL coach should need to remind his team that cross ice passes at the net mouth should be defended. That led to two goals against last night. No defensive system allows those passes to happen. Laviolette lost the room, but these basic hockey mistakes are on the players, not him.

That’s not to say he’s without blame. He had a real opportunity to rebuild the relationship with Kaapo Kakko. Instead he inexplicably scratched him over other veterans, despite Kakko being one of the better and more consistent players. There have been plenty of opportunities to send a message to the kids, that the veterans would also be held accountable for poor play. Instead, Kakko and Zac Jones continued to be scratched. Brett Berard is a recent member of this group, but at least his recent play somewhat matches what you’d expect of a scratch.

In the end, Laviolette will likely be the first scapegoat and the first domino to fall in the offseason. He’s mailing it in, and I think he knows the writing is on the wall. He only signed a three year contract, so it’s not a big divorce. The Rangers giving up wasn’t something I had accounted for, but Laviolette not lasting three years was always a possibility. He helmed the most frustrating Rangers team in a generation, and when that happens, heads roll.