Coach John Hynes Discussion

OmNomNom

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figured we'd take all our hate-filled discussion between each other about him into one thread



So, is it fair to attribute the rookies success to Hynes in part? Not even saying 100% that it's on him, but not giving him any credit is, in my opinion, just people trying to shape an opinion that he's utter and total trash.

For the record, I am also of the opinion that he's terrible tactically, FYI, and doesn't know how to coach in different situations - e.g. last night's Wild game, where they pressed our players close
 

BenedictGomez

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One person makes a comment that 99.9999999% of posters disagree with, and we have to make an entire thread about it?



EDIT: Unless you're just saying you want a thread on the head coach in general?

If so, bad idea.

It will just become the ugliest of ugly scapegoat threads for silly XYZ excuses every time the Devils lose. Or when he benches an 18 year old rookie in favor of a ten-time NHL all-star and future Hall of Famer.
 

Steelman

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I don't think some people understand that were not supposed to be first in the Metropolitan this year. We are overachieving, Hynes has a lot to do with that.
 

OmNomNom

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One person makes a comment that 99.9999999% of posters disagree with, and we have to make an entire thread about it?



EDIT: Unless you're just saying you want a thread on the head coach in general?

If so, bad idea.

It will just become the ugliest of ugly scapegoat threads for silly XYZ excuses every time the Devils lose. Or when he benches an 18 year old rookie in favor of a ten-time NHL all-star and future Hall of Famer.
it was definitely not just 1 poster, last night was such a mess

and yea, it was a thread on the head coach in general, but it's not supposed to be clean. it's to at least separate discussion from "team discussion" into a subcategory where people can argue and debate or whatever, so in that sense, it's cleaning things up
 

AfroThunder396

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I don't think he's anything special. He makes some DeBoer-esque head scratching lineup decisions. I like that he keeps players accountable for their mistakes and the intensity of his practices, but I think overall he's pretty average.
 

Zippy316

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The hatred on Hynes and this point boils down to two things right now.

"OMG he's not playing Zacha" and "Boyle on the PP, he's an idiot."

There's been little else to complain about Hynes body of work so far this year. I think that should say something.
 
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Nocashstyle

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I don't think he's anything special. He makes some DeBoer-esque head scratching lineup decisions. I like that he keeps players accountable for their mistakes and the intensity of his practices, but I think overall he's pretty average.

Every fanbase gets frustrated with certain lineup decisions from the coach... But this point in the season, Hynes is in the Jack Adams conversation. It's baffling that some are trying to claim he's a terrible coach.
 

Edmonton East

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Alright....as someone who at times didn't like Hynes much last year (specifically, his JJ and Lovejoy usage), what exactly do we have to complain about so far this year? He has this team leading the most disproportionally difficult division in sports, in my entirely biased opinion. I still don't see them making the playoffs and don't think Hynes is an incredible coach...but how could anyone say he is a bad or even below average coach at this point?

My only real gripe right now is the refusal to adjust their strategy when opponent pulls the goalie. What they have done the past couple seasons does not work and they refuse to change it. Essentially, they put no pressure above the circles and collapse. There are f'ing 11 skaters in the o-zone, STOP GIVING SO MUCH SPACE because if a puck does get through, there isn't a chance in hell the goalie is gonna see it. Or it's going to take a triple deflection.
 

Bleedred

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I don't think some people understand that were not supposed to be first in the Metropolitan this year. We are overachieving, Hynes has a lot to do with that.
Why? Because he plays not to lose?

How about luck?

You also tried to argue with me that Fleury in 2009, Niemi in 2010 and Quick in 2014, all played a “huge” part in their cup wins, with their pedestrian play those years, so I guess I understand.

I can’t accept the argument that Hynes is the reason we’re getting all these points. The best I can accept is say Hynes is neutral and doesn’t make the team any better or any worse. Why does the coach always get credit?
 
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Bleedred

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The hatred on Hynes and this point boils down to two things right now.

"OMG he's not playing Zacha" and "Boyle on the PP, he's an idiot."

There's been little else to complain about Hynes body of work so far this year. I think that should say something.
And once again, how about playing not to lose? His dinosaur system that sucks and pretty much advocates sitting on one goal leads and defending rather than continuing to attack? I’ve been complaining about him since before it became cool this year. This has been my issue with him the entire time now.

And the Jack Adams means NOTHING to me. I call it the Jackass Adams these days.

Patrick Roy and Bob Hartley won this award in back to back years. Both teams regressed the next year and they wound up looking not very good.
 
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Bleedred

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Every fanbase gets frustrated with certain lineup decisions from the coach... But this point in the season, Hynes is in the Jack Adams conversation. It's baffling that some are trying to claim he's a terrible coach.
It’s baffling that some think he’s the main reason or are trying to give him credit for all of this. It’s just like when Boudreau or that f***in overrated moron in Edmonton get all the credit for how good their teams are, despite stacked rosters.

AV also looks like such a great coach from afar. He’s really not though.
 

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And once again, how about playing not to lose? His dinosaur that sucks and pretty much advocates sitting on one goal leads and defending rather than continuing to attack?

And the Jack Adams means NOTHING to me. I call it the Jackass Adams these days.

Patrick Roy and Bob Hartley won this award in back to back years. Both teams regressed the next year and they wound up looking not very good.
The Devils pressed hard in the 3rd last night and should have had a 3 goal lead if Palms did not miss an empty net. For whatever reason that post shot changed the momentum of the game, I would not blame the coach last night especially after the players did not give a crap in the first period. They responded and the team looked good in the 2nd and in the 3rd up to that post shot. Only thing I would blame the coach right now is his utilization of Boyle. I suspect that will change when Zajac gets more practices so he can be placed on the PP instead of Boyle and when Johansson returns which will slot some people further down the lineup. I also do not mind Zacha getting a short leash. The kid has the talent, the body and the IQ to be such a good player in this league and he needs to get his head out of his ass because his play lacks so much passion. I thought Zacha looked good last night so he should get more minutes tomorrow (hopefully, if not then I will put that on the coach).

I think Hynes is what he is, a very good coach at holding players accountable during games and practices and can teach the small nuisances of the game very well, but he is below average in personnel decisions. Add these two together and you have an average NHL coach. I would like to see Nas and Ward gone. I think those two are the weak links on the staff. Maybe next offseason Ray looks into that.
 

Bleedred

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so who are the top 10 coaches in the league, in your opinion, and why? and why isn't it simply "luck" or the talent of the roster in their cases?
Honestly, I’m not even sure there are top 10 coaches in the league anymore. It’s more roster dependent these days.

Most people only rank the top 10 coaches based on who wins the most anyway, so why even bother?

I can understand saying that Hynes isn’t worth complaining about, but giving him all the credit is also way overkill. A lot of people around here also seen to flip flop on him, depending on if we’re winning or not.

And when I say luck, look at our shooting percentage, look at how much we got outshot every night. You don’t see those teams consistently making the playoffs every year.

I never claimed that Hynes would cause some of the best teams in the league to miss the playoffs, but I do think he could be the difference between going out early and winning the cup, for a pretty good team. Do you think the Pens would have won in 2016 playing this way? That year they were outshooting the hell out of everyone? They would have to rely more on goaltending and their talent/high percentage shooters like they did this past year.
 

Jets012

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I remember after we started 9-3-3 last year. We got a lot of puck luck and bounces to go our way. Despite not really playing that well. There's was quite the discourse about Hynes. Some liked the job he's doing, others didn't.

My basic gripe with him is that I really don't think his "system" will ever lead us to having sustainable success. I really do think Hynes' system in total doesn't prioritize possession nearly enough and I think that's a major problem. I'm judging this based on our style of play (particularly whenever we take a lead). Hynes' first thought process is to give our "defensive pairing" major minutes and basically just try to sit on a big lead. I understand we don't have a lot of talent, but that's not a recipe for any semblance of success when you're making personnel decisions like that.

He has done better this year, but sorry to rain on everyone's parade but, the team has not looked good at all in recent weeks. Analytics tend to suggest we've been getting a bit lucky and are due for a regression like last year. I tend to agree even though there are some things I like a lot better about this team than years' prior (Nico, Bratt, Butcher immediately come to mind).

Until we start playing a stronger possession-oriented game, I'm not going to be a fan of Hynes. I'm not asking us to be world beaters in that department, I just want to see some sort of indication that Hynes cares about it at all.
 

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It’s baffling that some think he’s the main reason or are trying to give him credit for all of this. It’s just like when Boudreau or that ****in overrated moron in Edmonton get all the credit for how good their teams are, despite stacked rosters.

AV also looks like such a great coach from afar. He’s really not though.

Lol. Did you really just insinuate that the Devils have a "stacked" roster?

If someone really needs to explain to you why Hynes deserves a ton of credit for getting everyone to buy in and play over their heads...well then, I don't know what to tell you.
 
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FooteBahl

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To the pit of misery with him!
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Bleedred

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Lol. Did you really just insinuate that the Devils have a "stacked" roster?

If someone really needs to explain to you why Hynes deserves a ton of credit for getting everyone to buy in and play over their heads...well then, I don't know what to tell you.
No, I didn’t imply the Devils had a stacked roster.

Okay, fair enough. So if we come out and suck next year or collapse down the stretch and just back into the playoffs, will you say Hynes deserves any of the blame? Because I don’t think winning is sustainable with this system. Reminds me of Patrick Roy and Carlyle.
 

OmNomNom

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for the record, i personally (and i'm sure a few others) are certainly not for giving him ALL the credit, but it's a bit extreme to attribute none of it flat out

i definitely agree he's not a "game breaking" coach, but i'd like to at least just get back to the playoffs. i don't know how one can evaluate whether such a coach is of that pedigree or not though.

but one factor, for sure, is if it's a likable coach for the players, as in one whom they'd be willing to play for. and it's been said that he's a prime example, so that's something, no matter small
 
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