The Toronto Maple Leafs have lost 12 of their last 13 games, and their latest result had head coach Peter Horachek -- how should we put this? -- unhappy with his team’s effort.
The Leafs, finally victorious Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers, lost by a final score of 5-4 to the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
“It starts with the whole give-a-(expletive) meter has to be higher. Can I say that here? I just did, right? Yeah,” said Horachek, as per Stephen Whyno of The Canadian Press.
Phil Kessel was a minus-four in this game and played only five shifts in the second period.
Horachek on Kessel: "We’ve got to expect more out of his line, out of him, out of the rest of the players."
— Jonas Siegel (@jonassiegel) February 11, 2015
What does this mean for Toronto’s lineup going forward?
Does someone else get relegated to a seat in the press box? Will David Clarkson, who had a well-documented animated discussion with Horachek, get back into the lineup?
The Leafs are on the road Thursday. They’ll play the New York Islanders. We’ll find out soon enough.