The Fire Boucher Movement

[Tnuoc Alucard]

If Boucher goes is Crawford out the door with him? I'd say yes

If he's let go between now and the end of the season, Crawford is given the "interim" coach position ......... and if he was of the mindset that his days were numbered, he would try to everything necessary to remain employed, or at least be considered as a candidate in the off season.

But if Boucher remains Head Coach after the season ends, and is let go, then his assistants will also be gone...... as any new coach should have the right to bring in his own assistants.

Another possibility is that Boucher could remain as coach, and all his assistants could be let go ............ serving notice that he's on his last "life" and perhaps lights a fire under him, and starts to hold core players accountable when they clearly need to be.

 

[Zorf]

I keep Boucher, until Joel Quenneville becomes available....hopes

Melnyk won't pay the $5M per year that Quenville will demand.

If Boucher goes out, it will be the cheapest possible option coming in. So some Assistant coach looking for a promotion, an AHL coach, or Marc Crawford.

 

[slamigo]

It's mind boggling that Boucher is so stubborn. He's going to be out of the league soon.

He needs to start watching VGK games and start taking notes.

"Fast. Fast. Fast. Forecheck. Fast. Fast. Aggressive."

 

[GrantLemons]

I agree that it is foolish to continue playing the "fire the coach every 2 years" game, but on the other hand how do you keep a guy that has us almost dead last in special teams, and won't change his reactive "system" for the life of him? Right now is the perfect opportunity for Guy Boucher to throw his system out the window and try something new. The expectations are totally gone, the players are frustrated with the system, and we have young players starting to scratch the surface of the lineup. It's an absolute no-brainer to try to a more proactive, aggressive system, to try and ignite the offense and get the young players comfortable in the NHL. Instead they are continually benched for their mistakes, have tablets shoved in their face after every shift, and are losing playing time to useless scrubs who are in the twilight of their careers.

Boucher can stay, but he's gotta change, man. He's either too stubborn/stupid to adapt, or he's received tank orders, and I just don't think the latter is a possibility.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

If we didnt look so bad it might not seem like the right thing to do, but this team looks like a train wreck every damn night, like really really bad. Boucher is not helping his case.

 

[BatherSeason]

How can a professional hockey team continue to employ a coach that doesn't believe in practice? Its insanity.

 

[topshelf15]

It's mind boggling that Boucher is so stubborn. He's going to be out of the league soon.

He needs to start watching VGK games and start taking notes.

"Fast. Fast. Fast. Forecheck. Fast. Fast. Aggressive."

Yes please....Keep the damn puck!!!! Stop just dumping and never getting it back

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

Ottawa has played the "fire the coach after two seasons" card to many times now, and doing it another time is not going to address the underlying issues.

I don't know how many coaches need to be hired, and fired after two seasons you think it's going to take before getting lucky or something.............. before you think it's time for a look at the core players as being a possible reason for the teams mediocre play.

Perhaps something different, besides firing a coach after two seasons needs to be tried.

Ok, but the thing is, this coaching carousel has lasted forever, far longer than most players have been around for. Wanna know who is left on the team from Paul McLean's 2011-2012 season, which is sort of midway through the coaching carousel?

Anderson
Boro
Hoffman
Karlsson
Smith

That's it.

Sure some players can be coach killers, but the turnover our team has experienced is large. I don't think every player we seem to bring onto the team is rotten. Maybe they are just bad coaching hires.

I'll also note that we are too old and slow as a team. No coach get get around that. But it is what it is.

 

[pzeeman]

Craig Anderson is the coach killer. No coach can survive his down years.

 

[lancepitlick]

I'm all for stopping the coaching carousel, but Boucher's brought in useless players, had a hard time with new players, special teams stink (heavily influenced by coach) and the team doesn't play hard. Also could they do any worse with a new coach? If one guy isn't clicking might as well move on.

 

[Micklebot]

What irks me is that a big part of the sell for our current coaching staff was that Crawford would bring a second strong personality into the mix, thus mitigating coach being stubborn.

In theory, Crawford should be the one ensuring that we play the skilled guys, and not letting Boucher get into a rut with his favourites. He should be the one giving a second sober look and saying, hey Guy, maybe Oduya isn't who we need on the top pairing.

in the end, Boucher has issues. One being the PP. But he also has his strengths. Do we throw the baby out with the bathwater, or do we try and bring in somebody to address the issues? What about an Adam Oates (not him specifically mind you) like hire to work with the players on the PP? Bring in a PP specialist assistant coach.

Before everything fell apart after the Sweden trip, the team was pretty good at limiting quality chances. We were 7th in the league in SCA/60 after the 2nd game in Sweden. Since then, we've been 27th. The system didn't just stop working, it stopped being executed. That's not to say everything was perfect in those first 16 games, we still had issues, but I don't buy into the idea that teams figured out how to beat our system, but it took them ~100 games to do so.

Now, if the players have tuned him out permanently, that's insurmountable. But if the players can buy back into the system, he could be successful with some tweaks.

 

[swiftwin]

The thing I don't understand about Boucher is that he preaches that the "new NHL" is all about speed, systems, breakouts and hard work. I think that's absolutely correct and he's excellent at that aspect of coaching. But which players have the most speed? Young players. So I don't understand his reluctance to play them. Is it because Boucher is a young coach and feels more in common with the older guys? I get a strong "strict dad" vibe when I hear Boucher talk about the kids versus the vets. Afterall, guys like Burrows and Oduya are closer in age to Boucher than they are to some of the younger guys on the team. It seems like the older guys are his co-workers, while the kids are the same age as his own kids.

Like mickle said, this is where someone like Crawford is supposed to step in. There's a reason he was named associate coach and not assistant coach.

We need to keep him for at least until the end of next season. He's a great up and coming coach.

 

[GrantLemons]

Kind of crazy how parallel our situation is with what happened in Tampa in 2013.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

The thing I don't understand about Boucher is that he preaches that the "new NHL" is all about speed, systems, breakouts and hard work. I think that's absolutely correct and he's excellent at that aspect of coaching. But which players have the most speed? Young players. So I don't understand his reluctance to play them. Is it because Boucher is a young coach and feels more in common with the older guys? I get a strong "strict dad" vibe when I hear Boucher talk about the kids versus the vets. Afterall, guys like Burrows and Oduya are closer in age to Boucher than they are to some of the younger guys on the team. It seems like the older guys are his co-workers, while the kids are the same age as his own kids.

Like mickle said, this is where someone like Crawford is supposed to step in. There's a reason he was named associate coach and not assistant coach.

We need to keep him for at least until the end of next season. He's a great up and coming coach.

Hes coached in the NHL for a very long time before coming here.

 

[swiftwin]

Hes coached in the NHL for a very long time before coming here.

I was talking about Boucher.

 

[swiftwin]

Kind of crazy how parallel our situation is with what happened in Tampa in 2013.

That they had an ageing goalie who shit the bed after the ECF run?

 

[slamigo]

Change the date and the GM name and it is Ottawa. Eerie.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

I was talking about Boucher.

Ah. Either way I disagree

 

[GrantLemons]

That they had an ageing goalie who **** the bed after the ECF run?

No, instead they were backstopped by the stellar tandem of Anders Lindback and Matieu Garon.

 

[RAFI BOMB]

Ottawa has played the "fire the coach after two seasons" card to many times now, and doing it another time is not going to address the underlying issues.

I don't know how many coaches need to be hired, and fired after two seasons you think it's going to take before getting lucky or something.............. before you think it's time for a look at the core players as being a possible reason for the teams mediocre play.

Perhaps something different, besides firing a coach after two seasons needs to be tried.

I will tell you what needs to happen.

1. Finally end the Bryan Murray era in management. Bryan Murray took over the role as Ottawa Senators General Manager in the 2007-2008 season. He remained in that position until the end of the 2015-2016 season. During his 9 seasons as the GM the team missed the playoffs 4 times and only made it past the first round 1 time. He fired 4 coaches and the 5th coach was fired shortly after Dorion took over. Last season Bryan Murray was still involved with the organization as a special advisor and instead of bringing in new faces to the management group that were experienced and competent they decided to promote from within. Pierre Dorion took over as the GM and Randy Lee as the assistant GM. They are both heavily influenced by Bryan Murray and his philosophy. As we have seen now is that the trend is continuing of making the playoffs to missing the playoffs and needing to fire the coach. So it is very evident that this management group is part of the problem and that they should not be part of the solution so it is time to clean house of the whole management staff and bring in some fresh faces to take this organization in a new direction.

2. It is time to take a look at some of the long term players for the Sens and see if we need to make a change. Erik Karlsson, Zack Smith and Craig Anderson are the only players remaining that were on the team when Cory Clouston was the head coach. It would be questionable to move Karlsson given his elite talent and that he is still in his prime. Zack Smith likely isn't an issue in the dressing room or part of the team identity so you could move him or keep him. It probably doesn't have a big effect on the team either way. Anderson seems more like a big part of the identity and he has been inconsistent every other season. This organization took a big risk by shipping out both Lehner and Bishop in favor of Anderson leaving the team with no good young goalies. Shipping Anderson out would be part of the solution.

3. Boucher needs to be fired. I understand the desire to not let the players off the hook and just fire the coach. But in this situation firing the coach is actually the right thing to do. Boucher has the exact same track record in Tampa Bay so there is enough of a pattern to have a pretty good idea of where this is going. He is too rigid in his approach. The team looks terrible and he has a preference for low quality players such as Pyatt, Thompson, Burrows, Oduya and Dumont. He has shown no signs of making any meaningful adjustments and given his past experience in Tampa Bay and how similar it looks with the Sens it would be insane to keep him around after the season ends.

This organization needs a major overhaul. They need a new GM, assistant GM, scouts, coaching staff and players.

 

[harrisb]

This organization needs a major overhaul. They need a new GM, assistant GM, scouts, coaching staff and players.

You left off new owner, after all is said and done he controls the selection of the GM, payroll and budget. You need an owner who would be on board with breaking up his very own "old boys club" of yes men. Can't see it happening as his ego requires those guys to tell him he's great and his wallet prevents him from making the necessary changes.

 

[RAFI BOMB]

You left off new owner, after all is said and done he controls the selection of the GM, payroll and budget. You need an owner who would be on board with breaking up his very own "old boys club" of yes men. Can't see it happening as his ego requires those guys to tell him he's great and his wallet prevents him from making the necessary changes.

While I agree, I am trying to be somewhat realistic. A new owner would be fantastic but Melnyk doesn't seem to be willing to trade the team. As for getting a new GM/management staff, getting a new coach and maybe moving some players. All are possible and probably given the inexcusable poor performance of the team.

 

[harrisb]

While I agree, I am trying to be somewhat realistic. A new owner would be fantastic but Melnyk doesn't seem to be willing to trade the team. As for getting a new GM/management staff, getting a new coach and maybe moving some players. All are possible and probably given the inexcusable poor performance of the team.

He trades players for cash (see zbad), he tosses in extra picks for cash, he has cut staff to the bone, scouts without travel expenses covered, we are actively looking to cut player salary. I'd say that it's just as likely that he sells the team as fires the entire mgmt staff who either have contracts or would require severance pay.

 

[DaveMatthew]

People need to get over the "1 goal away from the SCF" as a reason to keep Boucher. Was it a great run? Yes. Things came together at a perfect time, both in terms of how we played, who we played, and the emotional events that happened (rallying around the Andersons and MacArthur's return, for example). It was a perfect storm and it was a lot of fun.

But guess what? Teams go on great runs all the time, and it's not always something that can be sustained.

Boucher's "system" wasn't all that great last year either. If you really think back, this team was up and down. We made the playoffs by 4 points. We won the 4th most shootouts in the league and went to shootouts the 3rd most. We were the only playoff team that had a negative goal differential.

A couple of the shootouts go the other way and we're out of the playoffs. All of a sudden, the "system" isn't so great.

That's not what happened though. We made the playoffs and went on a run (wooo!). Things came together and Karlsson played out of his mind. But instead of learning from the things that actually went poorly over 82 games (we had terrible puck possession, couldn't score, and our special teams were bad), Boucher doubled down on the system, because "1 goal away from the SCF". Everything was rosy and we were proclaimed cup contenders.

Not only did we double down, but our GM lost our #2 defenseman and a top 6 forward without replacing them.

And now, here we are. Our team save percentage went from 8th in the league to the worst, and instead of being a bubble playoff team, we're one of the worst teams in the league.

So let's not kid ourselves, Boucher's "system" wasn't all that great last year, and he's shown no willingness to adapt. It's the only thing he knows, and it'll never work. It's not like we were the Lightning.

 

[Korpse]

People need to get over the "1 goal away from the SCF" as a reason to keep Boucher. Was it a great run? Yes. Things came together at a perfect time, both in terms of how we played, who we played, and the emotional events that happened (rallying around the Andersons and MacArthur's return, for example). It was a perfect storm and it was a lot of fun.

But guess what? Teams go on great runs all the time, and it's not always something that can be sustained.

Boucher's "system" wasn't all that great last year either. If you really think back, this team was up and down. We made the playoffs by 4 points. We won the 4th most shootouts in the league and went to shootouts the 3rd most. We were the only playoff team that had a negative goal differential.

A couple of the shootouts go the other way and we're out of the playoffs. All of a sudden, the "system" isn't so great.

That's not what happened though. We made the playoffs and went on a run (wooo!). Things came together and Karlsson played out of his mind. But instead of learning from the things that actually went poorly over 82 games (we had terrible puck possession, couldn't score, and our special teams were bad), Boucher doubled down on the system, because "1 goal away from the SCF". Everything was rosy and we were proclaimed cup contenders.

Not only did we double down, but our GM lost our #2 defenseman and a top 6 forward without replacing them.

And now, here we are. Our team save percentage went from 8th in the league to the worst, and instead of being a bubble playoff team, we're one of the worst teams in the league.

So let's not kid ourselves, Boucher's "system" wasn't all that great last year, and he's shown no willingness to adapt. It's the only thing he knows, and it'll never work. It's not like we were the Lightning.

The team was fairly consistent all year, March was a little all over the place and thats also when injuries were starting to pile up. They were top 10 in point percentage all season until about mid February. They really weren't very up and down. You mention the shootout as if 3on3 has some legitimacy. It doesn't, its as big of a gimmick as the shootout. Ottawa finished 12th in the final standings, 13th in regulation wins and if games ended in tie's they were T-13th. I think they were a little better than you are giving them credit for.

How did Boucher double down on his system?