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2017-18 Miscellaneous Canes News Thread

That was one of many instances where I wondered if Darling has either failing vision or just horrible reaction time because his effort to stop that shot was terrible. McGinn busted his ass trying to get to McAvoy, Justin Faulk actually directed traffic and was in position to clearly force shot, and it still didn't matter because Darling just flat out wasn't good enough.
 
That was one of many instances where I wondered if Darling has either failing vision or just horrible reaction time because his effort to stop that shot was terrible. McGinn busted his ass trying to get to McAvoy, Justin Faulk actually directed traffic and was in position to clearly force shot, and it still didn't matter because Darling just flat out wasn't good enough.

By that point of the season he was so far up his own butt that there's nothing to learn from video. He was guessing, his technique was terrible, his confidence was gone and his teammates didn't trust him. All of which makes for utterly predictable outcomes.

EARLY in the season ... that was when you saw Darling playing with confidence but being betrayed by mental errors and fatigue. To me, that backs up the information we got later from Waddell that he showed up for camp out of shape and unprepared.
 

Welp. There's the fleshed out version of "he showed up out of shape and never got in shape." And honestly, while I still feel for Darling and have plenty of experience dealing with serious anxiety disorders in my own family, THIS is why you do your homework on guys BEFORE you acquire them. I know we've got some sort of issue around here with speaking ill of the departed, but Ron Francis impresses me less and less as a GM the more information I get about his tenure. Even Rutherford trying to lure back one of his man crushes wouldn't have played it that fast and loose. If you bring in a guy with known substance and mental health issues you CANNOT just let the guy float in sight unseen for camp hoping for the best. Especially if you're expecting that guy to be your starting freaking goaltender. God help us, but that's irresponsible to the point of that word being inadequate.

The other bomb in that piece was that Carolina DID have an offer to trade Darling this summer but decided to see how his attempt to rebuild his body and game this summer went instead. I mean ... OK. Not how I would have played it, but it's not my butt on the line.
 
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No where to go but up I guess for Darling and his game. Not sure why he never felt the need to put in the commitment last summer but it seems at the very least things have changed this summer for the guy. It will take quite a bit of time and a string of strong and consistent games for both the team and the fans to start believing in Darling as the #1 guy, but the leash sounds short and anything close to the same bad habits will likely see him banished to Charlotte quickly. No way Brindy and/or Dundon are going to let a repeat of last year happen if his play is not up to snuff.
 
I wonder what killed the deal. Did the Canes think they were not going to find anyone in free agency? Was the trade killed because we couldn't acquire Grubauer?

Step one: dump Darling
Step Two: Was this the problem? We could not find another goalie? Anywhere?
 
I wonder what killed the deal. Did the Canes think they were not going to find anyone in free agency? Was the trade killed because we couldn't acquire Grubauer?

Step one: dump Darling
Step Two: Was this the problem? We could not find another goalie? Anywhere?

I bet it was because the team willing to take him on wanted the moon and stars with young Canes players in a package with Darling...
 
We all hope that the work and attention Darling is putting into the offseason is enough to get him back to being the goalie we thought we were getting. The Canes obviously saw enough of a commitment from him to give him another chance to fight his way back into a job. The pressure is going to be even higher on Darling this coming season after what happened last season. I do hope it all works out (both for Darling's sake and for the Canes sake).

--edit after reading JB's take--

I completely agree with you JB. Do we not have our trainers check in on newly signed players at all? We don't reach out to them with some sort of game plan for the offseason in terms of training or fitness? I know Cam Ward has worked with Bill Burniston for years in the offseason (apparently he is still doing so) as have several other players (Gleason was a Burniston gym rat). Did we check with Darling at all to make sure that he was staying mentally and physically healthy in preparation for the step up to trying to be a #1 NHL goalie at any point in the offseason after we signed him? Seems we just trusted that he was? I guess I don't know all of the dynamics of how players and team communicate in the offseason. I understand that many players go off on their own to various locales and seriously bust their asses in the summer, so "out of sight" is acceptable.

Maybe coming into camp Woefully out of shape is 100% on Darling, but I would like to think that we would have been on top of him about being ready to be a #1 goalie and our expectations here in term of physical fitness. Apparently not. I'm also a bit confused about Justin Williams' comment that "we didn't really know him...what was normal for him...what was odd.... Yeah, new first year player, I get that. But TVR, Kruger, Nordstrom and Teravainen were all here. TVR and Kruger just played a full season with Darling. Ok they are not team leadership, but you would think they would have had some insight on Darling if that was important at some point in the season when the wheels were coming off.
 
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Burniston was on the David Glenn Show with Mike Maniscalco pinch hitting this afternoon. He said they design a plan for the out of town guys and prefer that they hire a trainer instead of just going to the gym on their own. But it didn’t sound like there was any follow-up, that neither Burniston or his assistants visited anyone over the summer.
 
For clarity ... I'm NOT suggesting that the Canes have some sort of obligation to babysit the training regimens of every single player in the off season. But a guy you just handed the starting goaltending job to, who happens to have a well known anxiety disorder and a history of substance abuse? Yeah. THAT guy, you danged well keep tabs on. Honestly ... I'm still boiling after reading that several hours ago.
 
yes that trade deal was probably very one sided against the Canes. probably had to add players and picks.

article says his GF moved in with him, I thought he was married. But I see now the sara person on twitter says she is not his mother or wife. She is just a fan. I thought that was his wife :)
 
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yes that trade deal was probably very one sided against the Canes. probably had to add players and picks.

article says his GF moved in with him, I thought he was married. But I see now the sara person on twitter says she is not his mother or wife. She is just a fan. I thought that was his wife :)

I thought she was his sister.
 
That was a pretty good Darling article. I actually feel a little better heading into this year with him as the starting goalie. Like others have said he has nowhere to go but up and at least being in better shape should make him closer to at least average as an NHL goalie. I am feeling optomistic.

I think the reason the Canes didn't trade him, if they really had a chance to, over the summer is there was no one better to bring in on paper. I have a feeling Darling will be serviceable this year (at a minimum) and there were no better options available once Grubauer was traded and off the market. Darling WILL be better this year as he couldn't get worse, the only question is how much better.
 
Years ago, twind worked with several hurricanes in the off season. One she worked with over Skype.
 
I think the reason the Canes didn't trade him, if they really had a chance to, over the summer is there was no one better to bring in on paper. I have a feeling Darling will be serviceable this year (at a minimum) and there were no better options available once Grubauer was traded and off the market. Darling WILL be better this year as he couldn't get worse, the only question is how much better.

Seems like a lot of good reasons to keep him combined to make it a pretty logical call:

1. High cost of trading him - in terms of retained salary and assets going with him.
2. If conditioning was a significant part of the issue and they expect that will be resolved.
3. Lack of other good options to bring in via FA.
 
My understanding is that the offer Carolina had for Darling was indeed from Chicago. That probably means that it would have been tied up in a scheme to dump Hossa's salary, so it's not likely Carolina would have gotten much if anything back in terms of assets. If so, then we would have been paying for nothing one way or the other and I completely understand the reluctance to do that.

And look. If Darling follows the conditioning program, comes into camp in great physical and mental health and THEN bombs again ... fine. You figure out Plan B, bury him in the minors and buy him out next summer. At least then you've exhausted your options to avoid dead money, which is a thing any savvy businessman will tell you is to be avoided like the plague. I'm good with that. I just wish we could have brought in a better goalie to challenge him on the ice than Mrazek. One reclamation project at a time, please.
 
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