Predators’ Brunette calls out team amidst four-game losing streak
Speaking to reporters following the Predators’ 4-1 defeat to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night, which extended their losing skid to four games, Brunette was transparent about his team’s struggles and specifically called out his veteran players.
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Nashville Predators coach Andrew Brunette acknowledges that it’s “really hard” for players to feel motivated at this point in the season when they have nothing to play for. However, he still expects better effort from his team than he’s seeing.
Speaking to reporters following the Predators’ 4-1 defeat to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night, which extended their losing skid to four games, Brunette was transparent about his team’s struggles and specifically called out his veteran players.
“It’s challenging. We’ve got a lot of guys that haven’t been in this situation, with our veteran guys, for a while,” said Brunette. “I think mentally it’s a drain. It’s hard. But they’re going to be here a long time, or they have a long time on their contracts.
“And I think for them, it’s important that they’re supposed to be our leaders. They have to set an example going a certain way, so our young guys see that we never want to be here again, but when we are here, we have to handle ourselves with a bit more professionalism than we are right now.”
Veteran centre Ryan O’Reilly acknowledged his team’s need to be better.
“We’re not really doing much out there,” the former Blues captain said. “For myself, I feel like I’m skating and not accomplishing anything. I know I definitely have to be a better leader, find a way to do something here. And I think the other leaders too, (the) group’s not gonna compete if we aren’t. Again, that’s a big onus on myself. It’s pretty pathetic.”
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The Predators (25-35-8) sit third-last in the Western Conference and second-last in the Central Division. It’s safe to say things haven’t gone as planned for an organization that took big swings before the season to improve its roster, landing Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei in free agency.
Along with team cornerstones O’Reilly, Juuse Saros, Roman Josi, Filip Forsberg and Gustav Nyquist, who was dealt to the Minnesota Wild at the trade deadline, it was thought the Predators had the pieces to reopen their Stanley Cup window.
Instead, Nashville is set to miss the post-season for the second time in three years. But despite the disappointment they’re experiencing, Brunette still wants his team to pull it together for their remaining 13 games.
“I knew it’d be difficult. Like the expectations were so big, and the finish line’s around the corner, and it’s hard. And I feel for the players, it’s not a fun time here to be playing when you have nothing to play for,” said the head coach.
“And in saying that, that’s not really an excuse to not find a little bit of energy and a little bit to finish things off. Everybody here has a little bit to play for. We have guys that aren’t having good years, older and younger, that these games are kind of what you go home in the summer with, and as our group, these games down the stretch is what you take home and how you’re going to build.
“And we got guys fighting for their lives, their NHL lives. They have a great opportunity. So we should have that energy. And I think we’re caught in between where we’re maybe not energetic, and we’re not grasping the moment. So you knew it was going to be a challenge, I know it’s going to be a challenge.
“We’ve just got to find a way to find a little bit of joy in what we’re doing. I think if we can do that through the stretch and find a piece of our identity, I know it’s too late in the season to find exactly who we are, but just a little piece is kind of all I’m asking for — or begging for — from our group.”
