Oh trust me brother- that isn't lost on me AT ALL. I mentioned earlier that I think the roster- particularly the "leadership" (I use that term very lightly) has to undergo some changes. But Lemaire is part of the problem. The constant line-shuffling, failure to adjust when neccassary, and his sometimes just generally assanine decisions (like Fraser) have not contributed any good results.
Lemaire is a huge part of the problem, his "everything's peachy, peace out" attitude and his random-line generator (hit the button and see who you're playing with next shift) make me insane. But the main problem over the last several years is that Lou never filled the holes in either defence when the Scotts left or getting tha 2nd line center we needed so desperately. I still remember reading an article at the time of Stevens retirement ceremony where Lou was asked what he was going to do about the D now that Stevens and Dano retired and Nieds already left and his reply was "our defense is just fine." Even though we still had Raffi at that time, I thought Lou lost it then. Nothing has really been done to improve the D and each year we all beg for that 2nd line center, to no avail.
I truly hope we have a new coach next year, although I thought JL had a 2-year contract (please correct me if I'm wrong). So I hope he has some "personal" issues he needs to take care of and can't fulfill his contract and we get a more offensive-minded coach and some younger, hungrier players who want a real shot at the Cup. And I'm not blaming Kovy for any of this mess, I think we (meaning the coaches and mgmt) took a guy who was used to playing a certain way and tried to fit him into a drastically different system and expected him to adapt in 2 months. I keep hearing the "round peg, square hole" metaphor and it seems to be accurate. I give Kovy credit for even trying, he sounded like he really wanted to win with this team.
Oh and I hope JVB burns Lou's roladex, we don't need any more retreads or relatives of past players who no other team wants to sign.