Post-Game Talk: Another OTL

[Rzombo4 prez]

The top goalie nonsense aside. When has Howard ever come back from injury and not played like crap? That's one of his issues.

I am very glad that someone else is willing to point this out. Howard was absolute garbage coming off of the injury last year. Clearly there are more goldfish around here than elephants.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Going back to the division as a whole, considering the goal differentials, and the games in hand, I think Toronto has to be an odds on favorite to grab that third spot at this point.

Toronto has the best coach and has a nice nucleus of good, young talent. It cracked me up when people here were suggesting Babs was going to get fired. The rest of the coaching in this division is pretty much keystone kops.

I am very glad that someone else is willing to point this out. Howard was absolute garbage coming off of the injury last year. Clearly there are more goldfish around here than elephants.

HEY NOW, I've been calling Howard inconsistent for quite a while now.

 

[chances14]

Going back to the division as a whole, considering the goal differentials, and the games in hand, I think Toronto has to be an odds on favorite to grab that third spot at this point.

i still think one of the florida teams will go on a run and get into that 3rd spot. Toronto is riding the rookies right now. You almost always see the young guys will hit that wall as you get deeper into the season.

but this has been a weird season though so I guess anything's possible

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

Toronto has the best coach and has a nice nucleus of good, young talent. It cracked me up when people here were suggesting Babs was going to get fired. The rest of the coaching in this division is pretty much keystone kops.



HEY NOW, I've been calling Howard inconsistent for quite a while now.

I think his tenure here made it more than clear that that is simply not true. He's a good coach, but he's no Quenneville.

 

[TheOtherOne]

I am very glad that someone else is willing to point this out. Howard was absolute garbage coming off of the injury last year. Clearly there are more goldfish around here than elephants.

Eh I think Jimmy's inconsistency is pretty much general knowledge. There was all kinds of talk here when he first got injured that he wasn't coming back the same.

 

[Winger98]

i still think one of the florida teams will go on a run and get into that 3rd spot. Toronto is riding the rookies right now. You almost always see the young guys will hit that wall as you get deeper into the season.

but this has been a weird season though so I guess anything's possible

If Florida didn't have the injury issues to Huberdeau and Barkov, I could see them going on a run. I don't know what to make of Tampa.

Looking at Toronto, though, and Babcock has done a nice job of managing ice time there. Matthews leads in IT, but it's still less than 18 minutes a game. Those kids might hit a wall, but Babcock's worked hard to keep that from happening - at least on a purely IT level.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Meh, I disagree. During his 12 game hot streak he was consistently moving his legs, rushing down the ice with puck on his stick, generating tons of scoring chances

Right now he's doing none of that. He had one decent play all game - the setup to Z. Similar to the past couple games. One decent play here or there, not a real threat on the ice like he used to be.

He'll get going again, hopefully sooner than later. Needs to move his feet.

It should be pointed out that he was scoring at an elite level during that stretch, and playing absolutely dominant hockey. If he kept that up at all times, he'd be one of the top 10 players in the league. PPG, 35+ goal winger? Probably shouldn't be expected from him at all, let alone at 22 in his first season.

Still, he would be picking up some points even during the last few games if our PP was half decent and if he was playing with some players capable of scoring. He's still doing fine.

 

[Run the Jewels]

I think his tenure here made it more than clear that that is simply not true. He's a good coach, but he's no Quenneville.

MOD Let's see Quenneville take a doormat like the Ducks were to the SCF. Quenneville's a great coach who is benefiting from having absolutely dominant teams in Chicago. What Stan Bowman has been able to accomplish is damn impressive.

The Canadian national team always picks Joel Quenneville to coach the national team given the overwhelming pressure to win gold in Canada, right?

 

[Flowah]

MOD Let's see Quenneville take a doormat like the Ducks were to the SCF. Quenneville's a great coach who is benefiting from having absolutely dominant teams in Chicago. What Stan Bowman has been able to accomplish is damn impressive.

The Canadian national team always picks Joel Quenneville to coach the national team given the overwhelming pressure to win gold in Canada, right?

How much pressure is there really when you have the talent to assemble 2 different squads that are clear favorites to win whatever tournament is being played? No other country has that much talent. They can literally disregard elite talent level and pick based on playing style, handedness, "fit." How many other teams have that luxury?

 

[jkutswings]

While I think it's definitely overkill to claim Babcock is the best coach in the league, he's absolutely in the top handful.

Q is in the same boat. It's no coincidence that his playoff success went through the roof once he had better players.

I don't know that, in today's NHL, there is a clear #1 coach.

 

[Run the Jewels]

How much pressure is there really when you have the talent to assemble 2 different squads that are clear favorites to win whatever tournament is being played? No other country has that much talent. They can literally disregard elite talent level and pick based on playing style, handedness, "fit." How many other teams have that luxury?

Why do they always select Babcock to coach the national team? Why does he have such a great record in international competition? Why has Canada been absolutely dominant of late when before Babcock they struggled?

I know a bunch of Red Wings fans are hurt about him leaving, it doesn't change the fact that the people who want the best pick Babcock every single time to coach them to a championship.

 

[TatarTangle]

While I think it's definitely overkill to claim Babcock is the best coach in the league, he's absolutely in the top handful.

Q is in the same boat. It's no coincidence that his playoff success went through the roof once he had better players.

I don't know that, in today's NHL, there is a clear #1 coach.

Definitely coaches that are bottom of the barrell though...won't name names though lol

 

[Flowah]

Why do they always select Babcock to coach the national team? Why does he have such a great record in international competition? Why has Canada been absolutely dominant of late when before Babcock they struggled?

I know a bunch of Red Wings fans are hurt about him leaving, it doesn't change the fact that the people who want the best pick Babcock every single time to coach them to a championship.

You act like I said he's a bad coach. I just don't think you can give him much credit for Canada. No other country has the talent that they do.

And I wasn't hurt by him leaving. I was ready to see him go as were many other fans.

 

[vladdy16]

Step aside boys, coach Blashill's got this one!

Coming off your most emotional win of the year, a bounceback game for a couple key struggling players, who wouldn't want to see their inexperienced head coach try his hand at game management, playing for the tie while rolling out his 3rd line every chance he gets, two straight games?

I was willing to see the Buffalo game as a necessary maintenance game(though Mrazek was obviously poised to steal that game for you), but to come out and do it all over again against NYR?

Wasted opportunity.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Step aside boys, coach Blashill's got this one!

Coming off your most emotional win of the year, a bounceback game for a couple key struggling players, who wouldn't want to see their inexperienced head coach try his hand at game management, playing for the tie while rolling out his 3rd line every chance he gets, two straight games?

I was willing to see the Buffalo game as a necessary maintenance game(though Mrazek was obviously poised to steal that game for you), but to come out and do it all over again against NYR?

Wasted opportunity.

Players play the game, not coaches.

 

[vladdy16]

Players play the game, not coaches.

Strange comment.

Coaches decide which players play the game. Where, when, against who, with who. They give them directions as well.

 

[Heaton]

Strange comment.

Coaches decide which players play the game. Where, when, against who, with who. They give them directions as well.

And the coach can't do much if the players can't play.

 

[HockeyinHD]

And the coach can't do much if the players can't play.

And the players can't do much if the coach can't coach?

 

[Heaton]

And the players can't do much if the coach can't coach?

We've seen these players under two coaches, getting similar underwhelming results.

 

[HockeyinHD]

We've seen these players under two coaches, getting similar underwhelming results.

You think this year and last year are similar results? Interesting.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Players play the game, not coaches.

This is the only place I've ever seen such a low opinion of the impact of coaching.

Just from experiencing having a bad boss in the workplace I know mine and everyone else's performance dropped sharply. Not because we became terrible at our jobs, but because no one wanted to go the extra mile for that boss. And it's not like we have to step in front of Shea Weber slapshots on our workdays.
That's also just the effort side of it. Systems, scouting and player deployment are also huge factors that a coaching staff control.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

And the players can't do much if the coach can't coach?

Not really, the vast majority of what is needed to succeed in hockey transcends coaching system. The best players in the world know what this is. Do you really think Blash told the guys on Sunday to show up with no energy, get owned along the boards, stand still during the power play and get pushed to the perimeter every shift?

Coaching around here has become a crutch people overuse to cheaply explain the outcome of games (and to avoid considering whether this team or their favorite players are as good as they want them to be). Other common crutches include goaltending and game losing overtime goals.

I will give Vlady credit for trying to turn Blashill playing Sheahan four extra minutes into a Greek ****ing tragedy. People, however, are crazy if they think that is the reason we lost that game.

 

[Heaton]

You think this year and last year are similar results? Interesting.

No, the team has been trending down for years, even Babcock had trouble keeping them afloat. Then a bad coach came in and showed how poor this team was truly constructed.

 

[silkyjohnson50]

Just from experiencing having a bad boss in the workplace I know mine and everyone else's performance dropped sharply

I think we found the problem of why you're seemingly obsessed with Blashill and the coaching. The flaw is that your - and my - everyday job is not playing hockey in the NHL. It's simply not the same.

I keep coming back to "why are we even having this discussion" though? You put all of your effort into it when in reality, it means very little. No coach in history is making magic with this roster. Until that gets fixed, coaching is a secondary issue. When we have an actual contending or a roster that has the potential/on the verge of contending, then we can talk about coaching 23/7.

 

[Pavels Dog]

I think we found the problem of why you're seemingly obsessed with Blashill and the coaching. The flaw is that your - and my - everyday job is not playing hockey in the NHL. It's simply not the same.

You're right, coaching is 10000x more important in professional sports than the boss/manager is in the average workplace.

Thinking that Blash isn't a problem because he's not telling the team to play bad is so ridiculous. The job of the coach is not just to tell the team to play great, it's to actually get them to play great. Or rather, to get them to perform at the peak of their ability, even if that ability isn't all that great.
I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I haven't complained much about Blash & Co. the last few weeks. Because the team has been playing better. Now did the players just magically become more skilled, or did the coaching staff start to get some things figured out and reach the players a bit more? I'd bet on the latter. Still the powerplay is with no doubt a huge issue still and no one can produce a convincing argument that it isn't mostly due to coaching, and performances like the last 2 games show that Blashill still has trouble getting the team energized at anything near a consistent rate.