All Encompassing Coaching Status Thread | TOR hire Paul McFarland as an Assistant Coach

[SprDaVE]

Leafs were rumoured to be interested in Velluci as their new assistant coach to replace Hiller. Seems like it's got legs now.

 

[Cor]

Leafs were rumoured to be interested in Velluci as their new assistant coach to replace Hiller. Seems like it's got legs now.

Replace DJ

McFarland is the PP guy replacing Hiller.


It’s interesting Velluci might go from the front office to behind the bench

 

[SprDaVE]

Replace DJ

McFarland is the PP guy replacing Hiller.


It’s interesting Velluci might go from the front office to behind the bench

Errrr yeah... That's what I meant.

Velluci was the head coach of the Charlotte Checkers that won the Calder cup this past season. He also had a front office role though.

 

[Cor]

Errrr yeah... That's what I meant.

Velluci was the head coach of the Charlotte Checkers that won the Calder cup this past season. He also had a front office role though.

Oooooh. Didn’t see that.

Seems like a decent hire

 

[Cor]

@SprDaVE maybe not?

 

[SprDaVE]

@SprDaVE maybe not?

Yeah I just assumed. This is what Koshan wrote a couple weeks ago:

The Leafs filled one vacancy in May with the hiring of Paul McFarland; two names that have been linked to Toronto to fill the remaining opening are former NHL defenceman Jay McKee, the head coach of the Kitchener Rangers, and Mike Vellucci, who recently coached the Charlotte Checkers to the Calder Cup title in the American Hockey League.

 

[Raymondo316]

''After 27 years it's hard to leave, but I have been presented with an exciting opportunity that makes sense for my future."

This statement doesn't sound like someone who's just going to take a job in the AHL

 

[SeaOfBlue]

''After 27 years it's hard to leave, but I have been presented with an exciting opportunity that makes sense for my future."

This statement doesn't sound like someone who's just going to take a job in the AHL

Probably got a really good offer. Hard to go up from where he was.

 

[JayfromNB1219]

Ryan Reaves was never with them during the two cup runs. The Ryan Reaves trade is universally panned by Pens fans. They won by skill. I believe Matthews can play tough. So if Matthews or Tavares plays tough you are saying we can win the cup. Thats all it takes? Why don't you think Hyman plays tough?

not at you lol more at the conversation...there are multiple avenues of toughness...it's not always the 6'6 guy who pile drives someone into the boards (managing a roughing penalty or charging penalty in the process) it can be as simple as a guy Ennis's size getting drilled to make a play...some of these responses are really cavemanish in their thought process... "he big, mean... he useful" Truculence is not nearly as important as it used to be in the NHL...and yes I realize this is an extremely old post but GD people Babcock has a skilled team...they didn't have any "toughness" issues with the B's in the playoffs...truth be told they should have won that series...I would gladly take an Ennis faster than I would take a Ritchie...Ritchie is useful in his own way but the guy is slow and on a team with speed to burn like the leafs I sincerely doubt a plodder really helps this team in any way

 

[MattySnipes]

I really want Babcock to achieve his dream of being a President/GM/Coach at the same time one day. It would be nice to have a team to dump your Marleaus and Browns to for free. Plus you get the added bonus of watching Babcock in front of the camera with no one else left to blame for his refusal to adapt.

 

[JayfromNB1219]

I would love Boucher too but it could send a mix message to our AHL coach and our NHL coach. Usually when you hire a former NHL coach as an assistant/special teams coach, he is often a Head Coach in waiting. the drama and distraction in Toronto would be almost unbearable... not sure Boucher would even consider us, based on how he was treated by our management group.

I know it's an old post but...I don't know if anyone has noticed but Boucher typically has a very short shelf life when it comes to being an effective head coach in the NHL...2-3 years and he is usually let go or his teams have regressed...maybe if he comes in he comes in as an assistant coach and should the leafs fail in the 1st round again he becomes a short shelf life stopgap coach between Babcock and Keefe (extra seasoning in the Marlies just to be sure of what they have) they do it for players why would it be unheard of to do for coaches?

 

[JayfromNB1219]

Cool. Hopefully he can get our powerplay operating at a top 5 level (if not better) and is willing and able to adjust should the need arise.

well he certainly has more to work with than Florida did lol...ouffff

 

[JayfromNB1219]

I'm going to reserve judgement until I see who's on PP1 next season.

No Nylander, we riot.

ok so set them up for me

Nylander Matthews Kadri
Marner Rielley

Matthews top of the faceoff circle off wing/ Nylander high Slot/ Kadri Net Front
Marner half wall/ Rielley in the middle

Hyman Tavares Bracco/Petan
Muzzin Lilegren/Rosen

Bracco/Petan Half wall/ Tavares off wing around the circle slot height but off to the side/ Hyman net front for screens specifically
Muzzin Middle/ Lilegren-Rosen Short side D

I mean...they're all super talented but there is only so much you can do with these guys...and you don't want to ice a CR@P 2nd unit either...it's great to have an All-Star #1 PP but they will go cold at some point so its best to have a decent to good 2nd unit

Unit 1- Keys around Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Rielley with Kadri purely as an attention getter
Unit 2- Keys off of Tavares, Bracco and Muzzin

 

[ShaneFalco]

I really want Babcock to achieve his dream of being a President/GM/Coach at the same time one day. It would be nice to have a team to dump your Marleaus and Browns to for free. Plus you get the added bonus of watching Babcock in front of the camera with no one else left to blame for his refusal to adapt.

This should be framed

 

[SprDaVE]

Looks like he is joining Pittsburgh in some capacity after all.

 

[54thecup]

Curious to see how PP stats change with player and puck tracking. Cross slot passes increase sh% by quite a bit, as do below the goal line to in front passes, but this pre-shot movement isn’t captured in xG models.

I've been trying to research the status and application of player & puck tracking but there's been little written that I can find since the all star break announcements. Like you mentioned, we should have incredible data on shooting actions like tipping and one timers and their impact on sh%.

We should have great data to analyse the effectiveness of stretch passes with context.

I saw this thread yesterday and I been searching for more sources of info on PPT:

The Possibilities of Puck and Player Tracking for the Devils (and Others)

If anyone is aware of a forum discussing this topic, I'd appreciate it.

I have to think the TO 'WAR room' must hard at work modelling this data, trying to come up with the best possession algorythms, etc.