Laziness is about leadership

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/hockey/2008/09/28/6908226-sun.html

"Everything is baby steps right now and you learn from your mistakes,"
Wilson said. "(But) the guys who don't learn from their mistakes by the end
of next week won't get a shot to open up (the regular season) in Detroit
(Oct. 9).

"That's the way I've always coached," he said. "If it's an honest (effort),
it should be applauded. If people don't do what they're supposed to do to
help the team win, they shouldn't play. And that's how I'm going to approach
this."

"Some rookies and some veterans are taking some bad penalties in some of
these situations and I told them: 'If it's a regular-season game, you take a
cheap hooking penalty in the first period, you won't play the rest of the
night.' That's the only way you can get that out of their system," Wilson
said.

*****
Kubina has been mentioned as a potential team captain, something that
grabbed my attention as being a little strange given the above attention to
penalties. When I think of a team captain, I think of a guy who personifies
the system he plays in, who steps up at the times that the team needs a hit,
or scoring, or to lead the team in a defensive posture. Maybe I'm wrong
here, but Kubina seems to be a guy who's more of a cowboy, penalty taker at
any time of the game, not a guy interested in shutting it down when the need
arises. Wilson is on record as being pretty high on Kubina, and to a lesser
extent Antropov (the Top 6 comment). It's interesting that alongside McCabe
and Tucker, those two players were some of the worst minor penalty offenders
on the Leafs over the past few seasons.

One of the reasons I agreed with Wilson in his "What leadership?" interview
centered around my perception that late penalties cost the Leafs a playoff
spot last season. When your big-minute guys are handing out so many power
plays to minor penalties, that is a leadership issue. Leadership wasn't
"The" reason, there were other factors, but it was a big factor, IMO.
Laziness was also a factor last season. Seeing key guys way out of
position, lunging at pucks with one arm, the gap between the forwards and D,
pinching in too hard... the basics. Getting the players onto one page in a
system is more than just coaching. Your big minute guys need to buy in.
IMO, that's a leadership issue.

If Wilson can correct that, this team has a much better shot of holding onto
leads IMO. I think the bigger problem when the real season starts will be
getting a lead, but that's another argument altogether.

Can I hear your side now Owl? You've made it clear that you think my take
is stupid... but you've never really countered with your argument. I'd like
to hear where you think it all went wrong.