When I wrote the recap for tonight's 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, I intentionally avoided both Tom Gulitti's and Rich Chere's blogs. I wanted to write what I saw and how I felt without any post-game quotes coloring my opinion. Normally, I just leave the recap up overnight and let the readers go through that through the morning. I'm making an exception tonight because of on what the captain, Jamie Langenbrunner told the media tonight. Reported here by Gulitti and here by Chere, Langenbrunner had this to say (I'm quoting Gulitti's post):
Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner believes general manager Lou Lamoriello will make a change with the struggling team, but stated strongly that it should be the players and not head coach John MacLean.
"That’s the furthest thing (that should happen)," Langenbrunner said after the Devils 2-1 loss to the Penguins tonight in Pittsburgh. "I would hope that it’s not the angle. That doesn’t deserve to happen. It’s in this room and it should be one of us."
That last quote should sound familiar. Incredibly familiar. In fact, he said something like that on October 27. As then reported by Rich Chere after a 5-2 loss to San Jose:
"I think all of us are frustrated. None of us is doing what we’re paid to do," the captain said. "(The coach) is not where the issue is. We have to find it in our locker room. The coach can only do so much."
I did an entire post on many of the post-game quotes by Langenbrunner a month ago, theorizing that since Langenbrunner kept saying many of the same things over and over without a change in results, then is anyone listening to him? A month later, and it's the same sentiment with the same lack of wins combined with Langenbrunner's own errors (e.g. standing around in his own zone whilst the other team plays and scores) out-shining what ever he contributes. Different day, an even worse record, and yet the same words. I can't agree with what he said after tonight's loss to Pittsburgh.
I don't have anything against the captain, but I personally think this is rather ridiculous. Since I know nothing about anything, I'll put it to a poll. Maybe I have it wrong. Do you agree with Jamie Langenbrunner's post-game quote after tonight's game? Please add any additional opinions in the comments. Thanks for reading.