Becanic's Take on Tip's Play

The Seattle Times ran a story earlier today on the struggling Tip's play this season.

As usual, Coach Becanic has his finger on the pulse of the situation when he said, "I'd categorize our play as inconsistent." Well, Scotty Bowman move over.

I mean this is the understatement of the year as far as I'm concerned. I'm willing to forgive the fact that he gave this interview from his cell phone at the mall (he needed his Venti Chai Gingerbread Starbucks after all), but then he lists a litany of excuses that I think aren't fair to the great players he is coaching now...who deserve a chance to shine.

He says that the Tips are getting twice as many offensive chances but just aren't closing the deal due to losses of players like Mueller, Gutierrez, and Fiala.

Look, those were great players (Mueller probably one of the great talents we're likely to see at the WHL level for a long, long time) but that's no excuse for sloppy play. And with players like Hamill, Beach, Gendur, Harty, Crowley, Irving, and motivated youngsters like Karamnov and Burt, he's got a talent pool that is VERY deep!

Becanic says that we didn't have an offensive system last year and that the Tips used player instincts to create offense. Anyone who watched a Tips game last year knows that isn't true. Constantine had a strategy for success based on hard work and fundamental hockey. The funny thing is that Becanic himself confirmed this for all of us in a news story last year!

Go ahead and re-read that story from last season when Becanic first got the job. It's a great primer on what was promised at the time and what has actually been delivered. Here's a great quote:

"Wide open doesn't win. That's the reality. I think the players may feel more free to do things because of the relationship they have with me, but that doesn't mean we're going to be giving up two-on-ones all night."

Well, that's what we've seen a lot of. And I'd be happy to return to the "boring" hockey of old where we played tough defense, too.

But don't despair, Tips Fans. We've got a little break from hockey right now, but we'll be back right after Christmas. And .500 hockey is NOT good enough for this team! We'll be all over the opponents when they come visit the Everett Events Center. And we'll keep pushing this coach until he gets the inspired play we know this team can deliver. Go Tips!