Friedman 30 thoughts - some tidbits on Detroit

[Frk It]

Holland is not ready to step down after his contract is up:

11. Ken Holland is 61. He’s got one more year left on his contract. Is there any chance Detroit's executive vice president and GM would step down, hand someone else the keys to the car? “You know what, I’ve been pretty lucky in my career,†he said last week. “Since I retired and became a scout, I’ve only had to live in two places (Medicine Hat and Detroit). I got to be the general manager of a team that was already a Stanley Cup champion and then was able to win more. But I don’t want to step down. I was here during the good times and I want to get us back there.â€

Thinks Blashill will return:

14. Holland backed his coach, Jeff Blashill. “He went to the USHL and won a championship. He went to an NCAA program (Western Michigan) and revived it. He won the Calder Cup in the AHL, and other teams were starting to take notice. His resume indicates he will be successful.â€

Expect Blashill to return.

On Larkin:

15. Holland also used the resumé example with Dylan Larkin. “Everywhere he’s gone, he’s been an important player. He came to the NHL and was successful right away. What happens is that a good player arrives and the league adjusts to you. He’s got great speed, and other teams have figured out how to close the gap on him. Now, he’s got to adjust back. We’ve moved him around, but we see him as a centre. And we see him trying some different things. In the last couple of games, he’s pulled up as he crosses the blueline, not simply driving wide and around the net. That’s good. That’s him making adjustments, making it harder for other teams to defend him. Again, his resumé shows he’s going to be successful.â€

Full article here: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/30-thoughts-russian-nhlers-bolt-khl-olympics-decision/

Click to read more...

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

In other words, Keeping it at status quo here.

 

[Tatar]

In other words, Keeping it at status quo here.

Rebuild on the fly.

 

[Red Stanley]

Will be an interesting season or two for sure. Jury's still out on how well/poorly he's going to rebuild post-streak. The Blashill thing is understandable. He's not going to blast him publicly, just fire him at some point. Another coach isn't going to improve the team significantly or at all. Let's see what Blash can do without the pressure of making the POs. Things go well: maybe he's OK after all. Things go badly: eh, whatever, another high draft pick. There's still a chance he'll be gone before the season starts.

 

[Ezekial]

Yea, if i coulda put money on Holland getting an extension after 17-18 or Blash being the coach next season I woulda bet it all.

 

[Reddwit]

Just because he wants to come back doesn't mean he's going to be offered the position Its not like Mike Illitch didn't already approach Holland about moving up to President (or whatever it was) to allow Yzerman to stay on as manager.

As long as Chris Illitch and co. have a GM target or two in mind to replace him, there's no guarantee he's re-signed as GM. And Jimmy D is 74. Maybe he retires, Holland is offered Jimmy D's position, and the Wings move on.

Holland didn't exactly do anything to benefit the team last year. This off-season and the next year could easily be his undoing.

 

[DATS-O-MATIC]

In other words, Keeping it at status quo here.

where's that gif of Kenny & the boys riding in the jeep with ***** eating grins, laughing...it was a few years back with Babs in the passenger seat & Cleary & Quincey in the back.

my nomination for one of the funniest gif's ever, along with the nightclub dance moves one with Franzen, Kronner, Legwand, Nike, Tatar & Howard...Nike doing his moves

 

[Reddwit]

Will be an interesting season or two for sure. Jury's still out on how well/poorly he's going to rebuild post-streak. The Blashill thing is understandable. He's not going to blast him publicly, just fire him at some point. Another coach isn't going to improve the team significantly or at all. Let's see what Blash can do without the pressure of making the POs. Things go well: maybe he's OK after all. Things go badly: eh, whatever, another high draft pick. There's still a chance he'll be gone before the season starts.

Yeah - Blashill will stay on, and if the Wings are poised to miss the playoffs again before next season ends, Holland can deflect the blame on to Blashill.

Not sure if Nelson's contract is up this year, but if it isn't, and Holland doesn't let Nelson speak to other GMs, then it'll be very telling. Nelson could be their insurance policy. If he can move on, then there's always Torchetti who's had the interim experience.

 

[Wyzer Plan]

Finally, I asked about Niklas Kronwall. Kronwall has two years left on his contract, but the actual cash drops and he’s got a partial no-trade. Limited to 54 games, he’s been a model Red Wing, given the organization everything he has, and his body is breaking down. Will he be back? “He has earned the right to sit in my office and discuss what he wants to do. Even if he is injured, we see a lot of value in his attitude and what he brings.â€

This is the reason we are where we are. Kronwall was a hell of a player but if he isn't serviceable than you have to make the call. The NHL is a business there is no room for this level of indentured loyalty.

 

[ricky0034]

14. Holland backed his coach, Jeff Blashill. “He went to the USHL and won a championship. He went to an NCAA program (Western Michigan) and revived it. He won the Calder Cup in the AHL, and other teams were starting to take notice. His resume indicates he will be successful.”

Expect Blashill to return.

this right here's a moment to remember a few years down the line when Larkin and/or Mantha are having disappointment of a career and are one of those guys that everyone complains about

if Blashill gets another year to "coach" these guys he's gonna ruin somebody,i'd bet on that

 

[HisNoodliness]

So we're keeping Blashill...I guess Holland has chosen the actively tank route.

 

[Big Ed]

So we're keeping Blashill...I guess Holland has chosen the actively tank route.

Something this forum has wanted for year, but now everyone's angry?

 

[Reddwit]

This is the reason we are where we are. Kronwall was a hell of a player but if he isn't serviceable than you have to make the call. The NHL is a business there is no room for this level of indentured loyalty.

All he's saying is that Kronwall can decide whether he wants to continue, retire, or LTIRetire - He's not saying he can dictate how much he can play and where he is slotted in the lineup.

He's already played the 3rd most TOI this year, and a lot of that has to do with Ericsson being out and Smith being traded. If we had another veteran back there, he's probably 4th in TOI (and he's only 10 seconds away from 4th, which is Ericsson). He's nice to have in a bottom-pairing role and a leader in the dressing room. We seem kind of low on natural leaders right now anyway.

 

[Reddwit]

Something this forum has wanted for year, but now everyone's angry?

I know! Its crazy how changed conditions create changed opinions!!

 

[Big Ed]

I know! Its crazy how changed conditions create changed opinions!!

What changed conditions? Our best player retiring and our other best player growing old and declining? There's never been a better time to tank than now. Limping into the playoffs with mediocre players isn't going to do anything for us.

 

[ricky0034]

i'm all for tanking but Jeff Blashill is definitely not the guy to do it

he's more of an Eakins type,sure you'll suck and lose some games but he's so incompetent that he's also gonna flat out ruin some of your players's development along the way

 

[Reddwit]

What changed conditions? Our best player retiring and our other best player growing old and declining? There's never been a better time to tank than now. Limping into the playoffs with mediocre players isn't going to do anything for us.

Oops, sorry. Thought you meant having Blashill stay on as coach - not the tanking thing. My bad!

 

[Big Ed]

i'm all for tanking but Jeff Blashill is definitely not the guy to do it

he's more of an Eakins type,sure you'll suck and lose some games but he's so incompetent that he's also gonna flat out ruin some of your players's development along the way

You've got to be careful with who you replace him with. I'd argue the revolving door of coaches that Edmonton had was probably as harmful as Eakins himself was.

 

[ricky0034]

You've got to be careful with who you replace him with. I'd argue the revolving door of coaches that Edmonton had was probably as harmful as Eakins himself was.

tell that to Nail Yakupov

revolving doors are bad and all but sometimes you just need to get rid of the poison as soon as possible,the amount of damage a truly awful coach can do to a young players development is no joke

 

[Bench]

Something this forum has wanted for year, but now everyone's angry?

There's a difference between deliberately building for the future vs. falling on your face unintentionally.

You can't sign a bunch of 5-7 year contracts, max out the cap, then suddenly pivot that this was anything but a massive blunder. It matters how we get to this stage because it speaks to the competency of management.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

tell that to Nail Yakupov

revolving doors are bad and all but sometimes you just need to get rid of the poison as soon as possible,the amount of damage a truly awful coach can do to a young players development is no joke

Nail Yakupov isn't a very good hockey player, we know that whether Eakins is there or not. To blame his failings on Eakins is pretty generous. He was labelled a one trick pony with questionable hockey IQ by people during his draft buildup. There were more flags around Yakupov than many care to admit all these years on. Remember being considerably higher on both Murray and Gally in his draft year.

I think Jeff Blashill is Peter Deboer, not Dallas Eakins as many of you like to compare him to. What Holland said there isn't inaccurate it is a bunch of facts... But people are going to hate away at this point and I get that.

 

[Winger98]

You've got to be careful with who you replace him with. I'd argue the revolving door of coaches that Edmonton had was probably as harmful as Eakins himself was.

To build off this a bit I'm not sure why people are so ready to ditch Blashill and hitch the Wings to Nelson or Torchetti. They've both been pretty good at their jobs over the years, but neither has any sort of significant NHL track record. We could easily just be getting another mediocre coach we'll be itching to replace again in another two years.

If we were bringing in Julien or Tippet or McLellen, I could get behind ditching Blashill pretty quickly. I don't feel a great need to rush Blashill out the door just to roll the dice again, though.

Nail Yakupov isn't a very good hockey player, we know that whether Eakins is there or not. To blame his failings on Eakins is pretty generous. He was labelled a one trick pony with questionable hockey IQ by people during his draft buildup. There were more flags around Yakupov than many care to admit all these years on. Remember being considerably higher on both Murray and Gally in his draft year.

I think Jeff Blashill is Peter Deboer, not Dallas Eakins as many of you like to compare him to. What Holland said there isn't inaccurate it is a bunch of facts... But people are going to hate away at this point and I get that.

Considering this board still blasts Dave Lewis as if he was god's plague on hockey I'm not sure there is going to be an accurate appreciation for how horrible Eakins was.

 

[Bench]

I don't feel a great need to rush Blashill out the door just to roll the dice again, though.

Sunk cost fallacy?

We already know Blashill isn't getting much from this team. Is it really "rolling the dice" if you acquire any other coach? I'd say the bigger gamble appears to be doing nothing and expecting more.

 

[Syckle78]

Dear God, tippet would be the worst possible move to make. If half of what yotes fans say he's the antithesis of what you want in a coach for a team full of young players.

 

[Syckle78]

Sunk cost fallacy?

We already know Blashill isn't getting much from this team. Is it really "rolling the dice" if you acquire any other coach? I'd say the bigger gamble appears to be doing nothing and expecting more.

I don't,man. I just don't know if there's even a point in a coaching change. The only thing that matters in regards to coaching right now is how they develop young players and ,just my own pure speculation, I don't think blash has the reigns fully in that regard. IMO it's an organizational thing and unless you get some older established coach who gets full say it's not going to change much. Then if we get that coach and it's a tippet or hitch or whoever they're going to be all hard ass defensive system blah blah instead of letting them learn and make mistakes because those guys are going to try to win. In other words it's q clown show right now and the coach is the least of my concerns until there's a change in ring leader.