Mike Cammalleri is apparently unhappy. In French too! Even though he said he was happy just before, and brushed off his projected 15-goal season as nothing to worry about.
You know I love this guy, but even I'm upset with him. I was raising an eyebrow last season, basically lumping it all under the "well he has two shoulders injured and all", but right now it's full blown stfu. If you're upset with your ice time, why don't you do something about it to show the coach you won't whiff on a shot only to not give a fuck about coming back and cover the trailer like you were supposed to?
When was the last time we saw his trademark on-bended-knee shot? Last night he was standing point blank to the net and missed every time. And about that ice time? He wasn't doing anything even when Martin kept putting him out there while other players were showing more and deserved more. The coaches are trusting you to do your job and score goals but this Dany Heatley attitude is seriously disturbing for a guy who's barely keeping pace with Travis Moen in the goal scoring department.
Imagine if Cammy's name were Mikhail Kammisenkov?
So tell me about this "loser attitude"... I could see it in Jacques Martin's game plan, but Cunney's been trying to enforce accountability with an aggressive play on the ice to set up a two-man forecheck, to keep the pressure on, utilize their speed, to cycle, activate the D from the back end, and score on the rush all while not forgetting to take care of your own zone with takeaways and active sticks. This doesn't look like "loser mentality" to me. Martin's counter-attack wait and watch system was that. Cunney's asking them to push the issue, take charge of their rink. It's KINDA hard to do when your top line is totally not doing anything to help, and KINDA falls on Cammy's plate because unlike Pleky, he doesn't do everything.
Put it this way: Who exactly has the loser attitude? The 6-million-dollar sniper bitching how his low ice time was the cause of him not giving much of a care to skate back and cover the trailer after he whiffed on the puck? Or...
- Price, who says this situation is eating away at him as the standings are directly across from his locker? He goes out nightly to do his job, stands on his head for this team and still gets the short end of the stick. But he keeps working.
- Gorges, who's trying to get this team to bring some energy and cheerleads to get guys going? He goes out and puts his body on the line nightly.
- PK, who regardless of the errors he commits will always be accountable for his actions by his own admission? Who tries to create something out of nothing while hoping the forwards will either tip a shot in or grab the rebound?
- Eller, who takes losing personally and wants nothing more than to work hard to be the best? He never said a word when Martin routinely threw him under the bus for whatever reason, rather worked harder to regain his trust. His line has quickly become the team's best line with aggressive forecheck and solid defence, and they put up points fairly often.
- Desharnais, who might be the smallest guy on the ice every night? He goes out with a burr in his saddle and doesn't care how big you are, he'll still go through you. Because he continues to want to prove the pundits wrong about him, and frankly he's been this team's best center on it's most productive line.
- Patches, who nearly died last year? Nothing makes him angrier than failure.
- Plekanec, who only does everything? Martin might have already exhausted him, and we're pretty sure he's playing injured.
- Cole, who after Martin seemed to have something against him, has exploded into a fantastic signing and a big body guy who just blows through anyone in his way?
- Moen, a hard worker who was once actually leading the team in goals scored? He has a Cup ring already, if you want he could smack you in the face with it.
- Kostitsyn, who regardless of what the media says, only wants to score goals? People don't see the drive in this guy's face. When he misses the net, he's very angry with himself.
- Blunden, who may not have an ounce of talent in a finger let alone his whole body? He'll go out and contribute in his own way, crashing and banging, and still has half the notion to go to the net to flip a dirty little backhander over a goalie.
- Gionta, who might be done for the season right now? Being injured angers him so much, it's pretty much why he plays with injuries.
- Or how about the new coach? He didn't spend 20 years in the NHL floating around. He earned every inch of ice he got without any baggage.
I can go on.
Pro-athletes have a whole different level of pride in them, but you don't need to be a pro to recognize hard work or effort. And if Cammy has any pride, he won't blame the coach or the ice time he hasn't earned. He'll look in the mirror and says "I have to do better" and not tag on that little shot at bench management (which seems to be the opposite of the general consensus). Instead of bitching to the media how he's skating extra before practice because of his lack of ice time, he should dump a bucket of pucks on the ice and shoot non-stop the way he did when he first came here. How about not missing optionals pretty much every time? You would have to be blind to not see what's happening out there. The minute his line is out on the ice, the momentum tends to die or the puck ends up in the back of their own net. Usually it's because he's floating around or losing a board battle that requires getting a little dirty while not contributing to the team in any way positively.
In hard times, players get frustrated. It's not uncommon to hear guys call others out. Usually there's meat to the argument. Not this time.
You want to earn ice time? How about instead of using your stick to tickle David Perron's nose you show us that competitive fire that still burns in pretty much all your teammates regardless? In other words: score some fucking goals. Because right now, with the injuries, it'll be hard to bench him.