Confirmed with Link: Sens Hire Le Chiffre aka Guy Boucher, brings the Crawdaddy with him

[BonkTastic]

Minny is screwed as long as Suter and Parise are there. No coach will save them.

Man, who would have thought that 4 years ago?

 

[FlyingJ]

Ahh Corey "the Honey Badger" Conacher. Those were the days.

Weren't they just? Another one of those "try hard" kinda guys who just couldn't produce. Though IIRC at least his underlying numbers were decent, even if he was money for taking stupid retaliation penalties because he was an agitator and needed to prove it.

 

[Viletho]

Any guesses on how Boucher will help our defensive structure?

I can't say what he would bring in term of strategy. But for what i feel, this team is going to play a tight 5 man unit in all 3 zone. That's what i feel.

There is one thing that was bugging me last year. It seems, there was no communication between player. It wasn't rare to see 2 on the same guy multiple time in the same game. A team with good communication don't make those mistake again and again.

I team who speak, at some point, doesn't need to speak. They know each other. They know what their partners think. Communication is the Key in a team sport.

It's going to be a very important point from Boucher. That could make a lot of difference.

 

[Tuna99]

Man, who would have thought that 4 years ago?

what were they thinking giving Vanek that type of money and term after watching him totally float in the playoffs with Montreal. Vanek was not just bad, he straight up did not care at all.

They are almost trying to hard to win if such a thing is possible. And the Pommenville contract, he was clearly in decline (a bit of foresight into what Bobby Ryan might become at 33)

 

[Icelevel]

Still very excited to see what this team can do with the new coaches. I got good feelings about this.
After all the disappointment about BB it does look like Boucher could be the perfect coach for this group. Of course it's still a wait and see but I'm happy so far.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I can't say what he would bring in term of strategy. But for what i feel, this team is going to play a tight 5 man unit in all 3 zone. That's what i feel.

There is one thing that was bugging me last year. It seems, there was no communication between player. It wasn't rare to see 2 on the same guy multiple time in the same game. A team with good communication don't make those mistake again and again.

I team who speak, at some point, doesn't need to speak. They know each other. They know what their partners think. Communication is the Key in a team sport.

It's going to be a very important point from Boucher. That could make a lot of difference.

We did hear quite a few times, over the course of the season, about how the Senators are not a very vocal team on the bench.

Not necessarily a bad thing but when the team is this young and having that bad a year, I think it's a problem for sure.

 

[Tuna99]

Still very excited to see what this team can do with the new coaches. I got good feelings about this.
After all the disappointment about BB it does look like Boucher could be the perfect coach for this group. Of course it's still a wait and see but I'm happy so far.

at least we can enjoy the summer. These hires totally rejuvenated the fanbase, you can feel the fans are pumped up to see what this staff can do

 

[Icelevel]

at least we can enjoy the summer. These hires totally rejuvenated the fanbase, you can feel the fans are pumped up to see what this staff can do

And I have new motivation to live another 20 years. I want to see that email!

 

[Wondercarrot]

It sort of kind of almost feels like we may be assembling a professional coaching staff!
I can be easily convinced that this was the best option for us.

 

[Tuna99]

And I have new motivation to live another 20 years. I want to see that email!

and buy the book too- "How to Win at Hockey"

#1 - Draft Erik Karlsson
#2 - Hire Guy Boucher
#3 - Enjoy

 

[GWNR]

I'm sure you guys already discussed this, but seeing his Boucher's comments on Hoffman were pretty cool.

“Does he have things he can improve? Of course, but I’m so excited to be coaching him again. I know him,†Boucher said.

“I know what to do with this guy and I know how to surround him.

“The questions that are asked are definitely on the negative side. I can see there’s some question marks about Mike. I just know in the past we’ve had a great relationship. Yeah, I pushed him, but I pushed him with respect because I cared like I did with all the other players and it turned out to be something good.â€

Hoffman had 52 with Drummondville in the 08-09 season.

Definitely increases the chances Hoffman comes back

 

[Samsquanch]

The ability of so many of you people to selectively pick and choose what exactly you believe - from the same interview and press conference - astounds me.

Boudreau basically said 'here's what I got from Minnesota'.

Dorion did not want to commit to 4 years at ~3 million.

Told Boudreau to take the Minnesota offer.

There's no conspiracy. This board is so amateur hour it's unbelievable.

"WELL THERE WAS NO FORMAL CONTRACT OFFER". LOL. Amateur hour.
Did Murray formally offer Clarkson a contract a few years ago? Did Edmonton? I doubt it. They just 'talked numbers'. I guess Ottawa and Edmonton weren't involved at all in the Clarkson sweepstakes.

Like how ridiculous is the idea that if Boudreau really was our #1 target, that we didnt at least try and offer him the best contract that we could afford?

Why would we not at least see if he was willing to take 3 years in order to be close to his family? Ottawa definitely sounded like his preferred destination. There is nothing lost if we offered Bruce a contract and he said no.

That literally makes no sense, and it boggles my mind that anyone still can question that logic at this point. You are correct that Dorion did not want to commit to 4 years at 3 million to the coach he didn’t prefer. Would you buckle to public pressure and do it anyways?

If you disagree with his decision, fine, that’s another matter. But Boucher was Dorion’s #1 guy,

I was front seat on the Dorian/Melynk hate bus when the news came out that we lost out on Boudreau due to money, and not wanting to commit to the 4th year. But we didnt lose out on him because of money. We didnt even bother making him a firm offer, and thats because we weren't hoping that he softens his demands and chose Ottawa despite the smaller contract, its because we had Guy Boucher as our top pick.

Its sad that some poeple can’t get over their bruised egos, and need to resort to calling everyone else pathetic or amateurs.

 

[Icelevel]

I'm sure you guys already discussed this, but seeing his Boucher's comments on Hoffman were pretty cool.

“Does he have things he can improve? Of course, but I’m so excited to be coaching him again. I know him,†Boucher said.

“I know what to do with this guy and I know how to surround him.

“The questions that are asked are definitely on the negative side. I can see there’s some question marks about Mike. I just know in the past we’ve had a great relationship. Yeah, I pushed him, but I pushed him with respect because I cared like I did with all the other players and it turned out to be something good.â€

Hoffman had 52 with Drummondville in the 08-09 season.

Definitely increases the chances Hoffman comes back

Just about everything GB says is a little exciting. I posted I got giddy when he started talking about the pp plans he has during the press conference. Can barely wait to see it by the middle of the season.

 

[Tragedy]

Like how ridiculous is the idea that if Boudreau really was our #1 target, that we didnt at least try and offer him the best contract that we could afford?

Why would we not at least see if he was willing to take 3 years in order to be close to his family? Ottawa definitely sounded like his preferred destination. There is nothing lost if we offered Bruce a contract and he said no.

That literally makes no sense, and it boggles my mind that anyone still can question that logic at this point. You are correct that Dorion did not want to commit to 4 years at 3 million to the coach he didn’t prefer. Would you buckle to public pressure and do it anyways?

If you disagree with his decision, fine, that’s another matter. But Boucher was Dorion’s #1 guy,

I was front seat on the Dorian/Melynk hate bus when the news came out that we lost out on Boudreau due to money, and not wanting to commit to the 4th year. But we didnt lose out on him because of money. We didnt even bother making him a firm offer, and thats because we weren't hoping that he softens his demands and chose Ottawa despite the smaller contract, its because we had Guy Boucher as our top pick.

Its sad that some poeple can’t get over their bruised egos, and need to resort to calling everyone else pathetic or amateurs.

Classic conspiracy theory behaviour. Jet fuel can't melt steel memes

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Classic conspiracy theory behaviour. Jet fuel can't melt steel memes

It was definitely an inside job

 

[Engineer]

Like how ridiculous is the idea that if Boudreau really was our #1 target, that we didnt at least try and offer him the best contract that we could afford?

Why would we not at least see if he was willing to take 3 years in order to be close to his family? Ottawa definitely sounded like his preferred destination. There is nothing lost if we offered Bruce a contract and he said no.

That literally makes no sense, and it boggles my mind that anyone still can question that logic at this point. You are correct that Dorion did not want to commit to 4 years at 3 million to the coach he didn’t prefer. Would you buckle to public pressure and do it anyways?

If you disagree with his decision, fine, that’s another matter. But Boucher was Dorion’s #1 guy,

I was front seat on the Dorian/Melynk hate bus when the news came out that we lost out on Boudreau due to money, and not wanting to commit to the 4th year. But we didnt lose out on him because of money. We didnt even bother making him a firm offer, and thats because we weren't hoping that he softens his demands and chose Ottawa despite the smaller contract, its because we had Guy Boucher as our top pick.

Its sad that some poeple can’t get over their bruised egos, and need to resort to calling everyone else pathetic or amateurs.

Well said.

 

[starling]

Like how ridiculous is the idea that if Boudreau really was our #1 target, that we didnt at least try and offer him the best contract that we could afford?

Why would we not at least see if he was willing to take 3 years in order to be close to his family? Ottawa definitely sounded like his preferred destination. There is nothing lost if we offered Bruce a contract and he said no.

That literally makes no sense, and it boggles my mind that anyone still can question that logic at this point. You are correct that Dorion did not want to commit to 4 years at 3 million to the coach he didn’t prefer. Would you buckle to public pressure and do it anyways?

If you disagree with his decision, fine, that’s another matter. But Boucher was Dorion’s #1 guy,

I was front seat on the Dorian/Melynk hate bus when the news came out that we lost out on Boudreau due to money, and not wanting to commit to the 4th year. But we didnt lose out on him because of money. We didnt even bother making him a firm offer, and thats because we weren't hoping that he softens his demands and chose Ottawa despite the smaller contract, its because we had Guy Boucher as our top pick.

Its sad that some poeple can’t get over their bruised egos, and need to resort to calling everyone else pathetic or amateurs.

We could afford any contract.
But the trade-off would be less money for the FAs. Melnyk said that on record 1 month ago.
Dorion decided that having some extra payroll money is more important than the difference between BB and GB and that's where we are at.

 

[Flamingo]

We could afford any contract.
But the trade-off would be less money for the FAs. Melnyk said that on record 1 month ago.
Dorion decided that having some extra payroll money is more important than the difference between BB and GB and that's where we are at.

You assume BB > GB.

BB's record is incontrovertible. He's a winner. Almost to a man, every HF poster would have picked BB over GB. But maybe Dorion valued GB over BB.

 

[benjiv1]

We could afford any contract.
But the trade-off would be less money for the FAs. Melnyk said that on record 1 month ago.
Dorion decided that having some extra payroll money is more important than the difference between BB and GB and that's where we are at.

Hmm, I wonder if anything significant happened between when that statement was made, and when a coach was hired. Can't put my finger on it.

Dorion talked contracts with all of the finalists, and ended up hiring his #1 choice.
Done and done.

 

[Micklebot]

We could afford any contract.
But the trade-off would be less money for the FAs. Melnyk said that on record 1 month ago.
Dorion decided that having some extra payroll money is more important than the difference between BB and GB and that's where we are at.

That doesn't really explain the theory that we were offering 3 years, but wouldn't budge on 4. That logic really only works if it was dollars not term.

I mean, that might still have gone into the decision making process when they decided that Boucher was their #1 pick. Who knows.

It's also worth mentioning that Melnyk's implication was that if we wanted a 5mil guy the extra money would have to come from somewhere. If our target pay for a coach was ~2-3 mil anyways, Boudreau would have fit right in anyways. Honestly though, until we know how much Boucher is making, (and if Crow came at a premium or if he took typical assistant pay) it's kind of a moot point. If Boucher is making 2 mil per year and Crow makes ~300k more than a typical assistant coach, we're getting really close to the dollars Boudreau is making which would lend credence to the belief that money wasn't an issue. Worst case scenario though, Boucher makes around 1 mil and we're saving 1.75 mil to put into the roster. So clearly Dorion didn't see a tremendous difference; we're talking about a 3rd liner or a chris Neil here.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Is this cuz he says horrible things about fourth line grinders being given more than 5 minutes a night

It's because he makes **** up.

 

[Samsquanch]

We could afford any contract.
But the trade-off would be less money for the FAs. Melnyk said that on record 1 month ago.
Dorion decided that having some extra payroll money is more important than the difference between BB and GB and that's where we are at.

Well thats purely speculation on your part that Dorion believes there was a difference between BB and GB's coaching abilities.

Maybe, just maybe, Dorion felt that the 44 year old young and hungry coach with a clear vision was a better fit for his young team than the 61 year old Boudreau, who once again led a great team to an early exit in playoffs.

Seriously though, look at the best coaches in the league. Aside from Hitchcock and Boudreau, there are none over 60 years old. Coaches typically have their success much, much earlier in life than Boudreau.

Babcock = 53yrs (last won a cup 8 years ago)
Queneville = 57yrs
Julien = 57yrs (last won cup 6 years ago)
McLellan = 48yrs old
Cooper = 48rs old
Ruff = 56yrs old
Vingneault = 56yrs old
Trotz = 53yrs old
Sutter = 57yrs old


Boudreau and the Senators are not at the same stage of development. After looking at all of the facts, I strongly think that we made the right choice in Boucher.

 

[Tragedy]

Well thats purely speculation on your part that Dorion believes there was a difference between BB and GB's coaching abilities.

Maybe, just maybe, Dorion felt that the 48 year old young and hungry coach with a clear vision was a better fit for his young team than the 61 year old Boudreau, who once again led a great team to an early exit in playoffs.

Seriously though, look at the best coaches in the league. Aside from Hitchcock and Boudreau, there are none over 60 years old. Coaches typically have their success much, much earlier in life than Boudreau.

Babcock = 53yrs (last won a cup 8 years ago)
Queneville = 57yrs
Julien = 57yrs (last won cup 6 years ago)
McLellan = 48yrs old
Cooper = 48rs old
Ruff = 56yrs old
Vingneault = 56yrs old
Trotz = 53yrs old
Sutter = 57yrs old


Boudreau and the Senators are not at the same stage of development. After looking at all of the facts, I strongly think that we made the right choice in Boucher.

Boucher is 44 btw not 48

 

[Samsquanch]

Boucher is 44 btw not 48

Whoops.. thanks, fixed. Just about the same age as Babcock when he won his only cup

 

[Ice-Tray]

Samsquanch, for president!

Haha, seriously though, even Stoner (the stubborn poster) will come around eventually, and quietly, I guess we just need to stop feeding his burning shame.

What a difference a hire makes! As Icelevel and The New Tuna have mentioned, GB and PD have really hit a home run in terms of creating buzz and excitement around this team...

I mean we are not even into the doldrums of the off season yet and we have new systems to poor over, excitement over player deployment, strategies, and a couple new hires to look forward to.

I mean, it's been a very long time since we have had this much buzz around a head coach hire (Bryan Murray) and we've never had this buzz around an assistant. Just think, we still have another assistant, a Bingo coach, and a goalie coach to go, and they feel as exciting as player signings! (almost)

And then there,s the draft and FA period, signing our own guys....

With the way PD has gone so far since taking over, man, this could be an off season for the ages....

Really feels like "buckle up" but for the off season... Want to be able to read about what more players have to say after having their powwows with GB as well....

Alright, I'm excited....