When does McLellan get fired?

[t0nedeff]

Some of the comments in this thread are just trash and the posters should be ashamed. Yeah, I know that we all think that if someone in the public eye makes a lot more money than they do, They can shoot their mouth off all they want cuz that's their right as a fan. It's just getting really stupid though. And from the outside looking in Joe fan knows exactly what went wrong in SJ, or whatever, etc.

The season has been a bad one for a number of reasons. It's by far the worst season of McLellans career... a career that is decades long. Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to support him, but nobody is perfect throughout their lives. Once a season starts spiralling out of control (which happened after game 1 really) its tough to regain control. Sometimes it takes a summer to regroup and things can take a 180 the next season. Anyone who has played real hockey knows that a million things can affect a team gelling and this can be totally independent of the coach. Again, I'm not saying keep him, or ditch him, but some of these posts above are ridiculous and I wonder about either the age or mental capacity of the poster.

His comments about Drai were meant in regard to positional play and "support", not selfishness as is being spun in this thread. Do any of you make perfect comments that are perfectly 100% of the time? Keep piling on though. Some are just looking for reasons to pile on due to their own agenda. Todd has always had players that have played hard for him and he's been well liked as a coach everywhere he's been. He's also not stupid, and very far from it, but draw your own conclusions. Whether Joe keyboard-warrior fan understands why he's doing what he is doing is neither here nor there. My point is you can have your opinion to get rid of him, but all of this 'spineless', 'coward', 'save his own back', 'doofus', 'arrogance', 'incompetence', etc., etc. is just silly. He worked his way up from tier 2 junior to NHL coach of the best player in the world. He deserves some credit and if he was any of the names that he's been called in this thread, he wouldn't be where he is. Maybe you'll get the replacement that you want and the team will still suck, and you'll realize that a coach is just one component of an organization. Or maybe you'll realize that this coach or that coach with three cups or four rings was/is maybe a decent coach but also was at the right place at the right time.... and a million little things that happen in a season went their way. I've also known terrible coaches who have been a part of championship teams, because a coach is not the only component.

Take a breath, let the season wind down because regardless of who the coach is going forward the thing this team needs most is to spend a few months away from each other.

For those who are spewing a higher degree of hate with each post, maybe take a break yourselves and realize that your insults are not going to get him fired any faster.

Kick rocks. I can't believe someone would actually make an account just to throw out this trash. The coach definitely isn't responsible for the pk/pp oh and creating the line ups nah the coach has no say what so ever when it comes to those things you know the very things that sunk the season. Christ sake its game 60 whatever and Lucic/Cammaleri are regularly getting top 6 minutes but I'm so glad someone like you could share your vast insights on the team this season.

 

[FiftyFifty]

Kick rocks. I can't believe someone would actually make an account just to throw out this trash. The coach definitely isn't responsible for the pk/pp oh and creating the line ups nah the coach has no say what so ever when it comes to those things you know the very things that sunk the season. Christ sake its game 60 whatever and Lucic/Cammaleri are regularly getting top 6 minutes but I'm so glad someone like you could share your vast insights on the team this season.

Never said any of that so kick some rocks yourself you clown.

And by the same token the coach had nothing to do with last season which was the best in years.

 

[thadd]

I love how we can change our votes with how these boards work now.
Someone will lose their job next year.
Could be head coach, could be assistant coaches. Could be GM. Well find out when it happens.

 

[Throttlehead]

People really do seem to like old spent coaches here. Quenneville, Trotz, Sutter are done. None of them really making a difference anymore and none of their teams excelling. Caps being the only one even close to meeting expectations.

The Kings were winning 2 cups despite Sutter as much as because of him. These were lineup W's. A kings team that managements had built up to be a cup contender. A team built to win playoff games. Simple as that.

The Hawks were loaded with talent. Someone like Deboers would have 3 cups as well with that kind of talent.

Trotz, maybe, but I doubt he's available.



For some reason fans here continue to want to try really burned out or old coaches. Its the same thing all the time here. People were thrilled when we got the old senile Pat Quinn. A guy that could barely put a coherent sentence together by the time he was here. Seems as if people like figureheads here as well. Thus people being so thrilled when the org got career hangers on like Nicholson, McLellan, Chia.

Guys like Krueger and Nelson were good here because we got some fresh ideas and fresher hockey minds. Its just amazing how the org canned the two best coaches it had in decades.

I will like this post for two reasons, 1 - I mostly agree 2 - you made a whole post without mentioning Draisaitl

 

[Drivesaitl]

Never said any of that so kick some rocks yourself you clown.

And by the same token the coach had nothing to do with last season which was the best in years.

Quoted for posterity.

This being from a poster that started an account 30mins ago to tell us our comments are trash before calling people clowns half an hour later.

You can't make up stuff like this.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Some of the comments in this thread are just trash and the posters should be ashamed. Yeah, I know that we all think that if someone in the public eye makes a lot more money than they do, They can shoot their mouth off all they want cuz that's their right as a fan. It's just getting really stupid though. And from the outside looking in Joe fan knows exactly what went wrong in SJ, or whatever, etc.

The season has been a bad one for a number of reasons. It's by far the worst season of McLellans career... a career that is decades long. Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to support him, but nobody is perfect throughout their lives. Once a season starts spiralling out of control (which happened after game 1 really) its tough to regain control. Sometimes it takes a summer to regroup and things can take a 180 the next season. Anyone who has played real hockey knows that a million things can affect a team gelling and this can be totally independent of the coach. Again, I'm not saying keep him, or ditch him, but some of these posts above are ridiculous and I wonder about either the age or mental capacity of the poster.

His comments about Drai were meant in regard to positional play and "support", not selfishness as is being spun in this thread. Do any of you make perfect comments that are perfectly 100% of the time? Keep piling on though. Some are just looking for reasons to pile on due to their own agenda. Todd has always had players that have played hard for him and he's been well liked as a coach everywhere he's been. He's also not stupid, and very far from it, but draw your own conclusions. Whether Joe keyboard-warrior fan understands why he's doing what he is doing is neither here nor there. My point is you can have your opinion to get rid of him, but all of this 'spineless', 'coward', 'save his own back', 'doofus', 'arrogance', 'incompetence', etc., etc. is just silly. He worked his way up from tier 2 junior to NHL coach of the best player in the world. He deserves some credit and if he was any of the names that he's been called in this thread, he wouldn't be where he is. Maybe you'll get the replacement that you want and the team will still suck, and you'll realize that a coach is just one component of an organization. Or maybe you'll realize that this coach or that coach with three cups or four rings was/is maybe a decent coach but also was at the right place at the right time.... and a million little things that happen in a season went their way. I've also known terrible coaches who have been a part of championship teams, because a coach is not the only component.

Take a breath, let the season wind down because regardless of who the coach is going forward the thing this team needs most is to spend a few months away from each other.

For those who are spewing a higher degree of hate with each post, maybe take a break yourselves and realize that your insults are not going to get him fired any faster.

Except fun fact. A lot of us hated a lot of what he did, even in the season last year. A few of us were constantly shitting on lineup decisions, lack of line matching etc etc. Lots of issues that stemmed back to his San Jose days. Now this year when we had one or two injuries and Talbot isn't playing like a Vezina goalie nothing.

His line combinations are garbage every night and that's on him.

Special teams are coached horribly and that's on him.

Team is never ready to start a game. That's on him.

He has failed at every step of the way as a coach this year and the signs have been there for a while with him.

 

[FiftyFifty]

Quoted for posterity.

This being from a poster that started an account 30mins ago to tell us our comments are trash before calling people clowns half an hour later.

You can't make up stuff like this.

Um, yeah, another one with trouble comprehending what he reads.

I've got no problem with you calling a spade a spade. But as I said, the posts were getting more ridiculous with events getting more and more spun and exaggerated with each page.

You're outsiders trying to look in and you don't understand the reasoning of what he's doing. All I'm saying is I don't think TMac is the problem and there's reasons for what he's doing that don't make sense to us because we don't understand the complexities he's dealing with. Sure you can say I'm giving him a pass, but I think if he lasts the team comes out strong next year. He's lasted this long for a reason when we all know that 100% of the time the coach would have been fired in December. You don't know what's going on behind the scenes and I'm not saying I do, but I know he's never had a bad season like this before and he's had teams with crappy players before.

Can him, he'll go to Detroit and have success and you'll be scratching your nuts wondering what happened when the issues in Edmonton still persist.

At the same time, regardless of how good a coach is, if it ain't working it ain't working. I think they need a summer to regroup though before throwing out the baby with the bath water.

 

[Del Preston]

Oh boy, I'd love to hear the good reasons McLellan has for icing the worst PK in the league and a bottom two PP. He must be a really smart guy.

He's got major flaws as a head coach and won't win anything in this league unless he drastically changes his coaching style.

 

[FiftyFifty]

Except fun fact. A lot of us hated a lot of what he did, even in the season last year. A few of us were constantly ****ting on lineup decisions, lack of line matching etc etc. Lots of issues that stemmed back to his San Jose days. Now this year when we had one or two injuries and Talbot isn't playing like a Vezina goalie nothing.

His line combinations are garbage every night and that's on him.

Special teams are coached horribly and that's on him.

Team is never ready to start a game. That's on him.

He has failed at every step of the way as a coach this year and the signs have been there for a while with him.

And I have no problem with that... but the 'spineless' shit and making him out to be a guy that's covering his ass is not him.

Ask Tony Twist or Kelly Chase if he's spineless. He had a lot of problems in SJ with Wilson that limited what he could do there.

Todd has always been a character guy so this garbage about him throwing players under the bus is too much.

 

[FiftyFifty]

Oh boy, I'd love to hear the good reasons McLellan has for icing the worst PK in the league and a bottom two PP. He must be a really smart guy.

Get real. He's got major flaws as a head coach and won't win anything in this league unless he drastically changes his coaching style.

I know your all butt hurt about the season, but do you really think he's dumb? How is that even possible looking back at his career? Why aren't you or I in the show making $3 mil a year?

 

[CycloneSweep]

I know your all butt hurt about the season, but do you really think he's dumb? How is that even possible looking back at his career? Why aren't you or I in the show making $3 mil a year?

Just because we aren't in the show doesn't mean we can't call a spade a spade.

 

[redgrant]

He was fortunate to be part of a very successful Detroit team. If he wasn't we would have never heard of him.

Hes probably mad he can't ice Lucic 60 minutes a night.

 

[Del Preston]

I know your all butt hurt about the season, but do you really think he's dumb? How is that even possible looking back at his career? Why aren't you or I in the show making $3 mil a year?

You're just gonna excuse him for everything regardless of what gets posted in here because "there must be a reason" for what he's doing.

He's a majorly flawed coach.

 

[FiftyFifty]

He was fortunate to be part of a very successful Detroit team. If he wasn't we would have never heard of him.

Hes probably mad he can't ice Lucic 60 minutes a night.

Nah, you would've heard of him. He coached some great teams in Swift and was interviewed by Glen Sather when he was only 30 years old. It was just a matter of time for Todd.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

He won't get fired. Don't get your hopes up.

 

[FiftyFifty]

You're just gonna excuse him for everything regardless of what gets posted in here because "there must be a reason" for what he's doing.

He's a majorly flawed coach.

No, I'm just saying that from what I know I'll give him the benefit of the doubt till early next season. If it doesn't work by then, then he has to go no matter what.

However the point of my original post wasn't that people couldn't call for his head, it was the twisting of events to feed their narrative.

I just don't see how all of the sudden he is a "majorly flawed coach". I'd love to see Pulju moved up the lineup and less Lucic too... but on the other hand I know enough about Todd to know he isn't a "majorly flawed coach".

We'll see what he does back in Detroit though.

 

[Del Preston]

No, I'm just saying that from what I know I'll give him the benefit of the doubt till early next season. If it doesn't work by then, then he has to go no matter what.

However the point of my original post wasn't that people couldn't call for his head, it was the twisting of events to feed their narrative.

I just don't see how all of the sudden he is a "majorly flawed coach". I'd love to see Pulju moved up the lineup and less Lucic too... but on the other hand I know enough about Todd to know he isn't a "majorly flawed coach".

We'll see what he does back in Detroit though.

He's always been a majorly flawed coach. One of the biggest reasons San Jose never went anywhere with him was because he constantly got outcoached in the playoffs.

Last year the Oilers had a lot go right with some guys having career years and Nurse being the only big injury. McLellan and his staff made some decisions that turned into home runs (Letestu on the PP). This season when those decisions didn't work they weren't able to fix the issues.

Spill the beans on what you know. Is management telling him to play a 35-year-old UFA in all situations and in the top-six? Or gameplan around getting Lucic a goal? Or let his assistants run the same special teams over and over again even though that hasn't worked all season?

 

[FiftyFifty]

He's always been a majorly flawed coach. Last year the team had a lot go right with some guys having career years and Nurse being the only big injury.

Spill the beans on what you know. Is management telling him to play a 35-year-old UFA in all situations and in the top-six? Or gameplan around getting Lucic a goal? Or let his assistants run the same special teams that haven't worked the entire season?

You're very warm.

 

[Spawn]

Just please god if he is fired don't replace him with Paul Coffey.

 

[Del Preston]

You're very warm.

I doubt it. Most of the problems here are repeats of problems he had in San Jose.

 

[FiveFourteenSixOne]

Just please god if he is fired don't replace him with Paul Coffey.

While I agree with you that they should get somebody with experience, just how much worse could Coffey actually be? I'd bet he could lead this team to 25th overall, which would be an improvement.

 

[FiftyFifty]

I doubt it. Most of the problems here are repeats of problems he had in San Jose.

He didn't have a goalie in SJ.

 

[Del Preston]

He didn't have a goalie in SJ.

Niemi had three or four good years there.

McLellan is repeating the same issues here that he had in San Jose. Overplaying veterans, refusal or unable to adapt, and giving Woodcroft free reign to run a predictable and bad PP. It is hard to believe that management is intentionally telling him what to do when this is how he's always coached.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

While I agree with you that they should get somebody with experience, just how much worse could Coffey actually be? I'd bet he could lead this team to 25th overall, which would be an improvement.

Never ask with this organization how much worse it can be.

Because it can always be worse.

 

[Spawn]

While I agree with you that they should get somebody with experience, just how much worse could Coffey actually be? I'd bet he could lead this team to 25th overall, which would be an improvement.

It's less so how much worse could he be and more so what it means regarding this organization and who is still calling the shots.

Chiarelli might be an idiot, but at least it seemed up until a few months ago that he was operating with autonomy. I had hopes that if he or McLellan were eventually fired the Oilers might actually try and hire someone competent for the job and not just the next buddy in line in some never ending circle jerk.

Hiring Coffey, a guy who up until a few months ago has had essentially nothing to do with the NHL for nearly 20 years, as a head coach (or god forbid GM) would be the darkest day for me as a fan since the day MacT was hired as GM.