Chivas

Small players have to play smart and make plays. I haven't seen enough of that when the puck has been on his stick. Who knows he could evolve, but I've seen very little to suggest it might at the NHL level.

I didn't like the hiring of Torts, but gave him the benefit of the doubt. Things didn't start too badly for him until the injuries mounted, then he made the huge mistake of running his top lines into the ground. That mistake cost him his job. He tried to win every battle at all costs, without any long term strategy to win the war. I had begun to like some of what Torts did, but he deserves to be fired, after those rookie mistakes. It may be that Torts was more concerned about his job, than the team, and made a gamble that didn't pay off. You need people that can see the big picture, and willing to make the necessary sacrifices, especially when they're not sure that management sees it the same way.

I didn't like the Torts signing in the first place, but thought he did a decent job cleaning up his act, until the Calgary meltdown. His defense system didn't seem to work that well either, but the players can take their share of the blame for that. Injuries and ref's made it very difficult to produce wins, but overplaying the top six, put the last nail in the coffin. Torts can't see the big picture, and had a win at all costs attitude with each game. For that reason alone they should find a new coach. I usually don't like to see people fired, but Tort's will still be paid enough for me not to feel sorry for him.

Totally Obvious HeadShot. I haven't had much faith in the Ref's since Burrows called one out, but Shanahan's call takes the cake. The whole League is starting to suck. I've played and followed Hockey closely for Sixty years, and I've never seen such blatant miss calls, and decisions. Ref's can hide behind a number of factors, like the action being so quick its easy to to get a call wrong, but Shanahan gets to make his decision after seeing it in super slow motion. Total BS.