Coaching Thread

[Hunter368]

Power 97 power poll I just heard a few minutes ago on the morning show.
200 + responses
68% are opposed to a coaching change....interesting to get perspectives from other places than here.
I’d be in the minority on this one.
Not sure how the question was phrased
This season or beyond?

There is likely a couple different POV’s on that.

- This place can often become an echo room of opinions from a small vocal minority.

- On a flip side this group often has a bit more informed opinion then the general masses.

 

[surixon]

Cant understand why so many absolve Maurice of responsibility for this season. Save for a hot start from Hellebyuck we'd be battling for draft lottery position with Detroit.

Theres no way a team with this offensive talent should be worst in the league at generating high danger scoring chances. That falls solely on Maurice and his conservative systems, same with the awful passive PK we've had since the day he took over, and the epic collapse during the 2nd half of last season with an extremely talented roster. Repeatedly playing players like Borqure over guys like Harkins is another strike from where I'm sitting.

When the team basically sucks at everything, the coach is getting nothing out of his players. Our strength is offensive talent, not sure why the focus wouldnt have been to maximize offense when you know your hands are tied defensively.

Yup. Keefe has the Leafs playing to their strengths and they are on a 110 point pace under him.while posting strong analytics.

No idea why management is onboard with such a conservative approach.

 

[Roughneck1]

Yup. Keefe has the Leafs playing to their strengths and they are on a 110 point pace under him.while posting strong analytics.

No idea why management is onboard with such a conservative approach.

Yeah even the moose are getting outplayed playing under the same system. I’m of the opinion they should be a better team the their record shows.

 

[Whodey204]

Yup. Keefe has the Leafs playing to their strengths and they are on a 110 point pace under him.while posting strong analytics.

No idea why management is onboard with such a conservative approach.

Exactly. Offensive hockey is also more exciting, and easier to keep fans in the seats. I know I would be far more interested in going to more games if they Jets played a more exciting style, even if their odds of winning were about the same.

 

[robertocarlos]

IF PoMo is already signed for 3 more years then good-bye Ehlers in February. That would be my guess.

 

[Heldig]

I could maybe get behind that if the Leafs coaching staff and systems revolved around playing good defense. Keefe has them playing a high event offensive system because he knows he has the horses up front to outscore teams.

His record and underlying metrics are both quite good. I have no issue with how he has approached the Leafs.

More to my point was ONeil stating the coaches job is to get the team to focus on defending. Offense comes from talent. Defense comes from hard work and focus.

The old adage "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard".

 

[DashingDane]

IF PoMo is already signed for 3 more years then good-bye Ehlers in February. That would be my guess.

if Paul is extended I very much hope they trade him.

 

[lomiller1]

That's not the point, the point is benching them is not really going to change much.

Coaching them could change something and if they won’t take the coaching then benching them would be in order.

Personality though I don’t think it’s either a player issue or an accountability issue. I think the coach is looking for the wrong things. If play slow so you can stay on the ice longer in the hopes of getting more chances in the offensive zone you ARE going to get outshot and you ARE going to s*** defensively. Nonetheless PM stood up in a press conference last year and actually praised Scheifele for "learning how to conserve energy so he could get more chances in the offensive zone"

Either he believes this, which explains why Scheifele is struggling, or he was just protecting him which would point to accountability being the issue and would also explain why Scheifele is struggling.

 

[slurpee addict]

Cant understand why so many absolve Maurice of responsibility for this season. Save for a hot start from Hellebyuck we'd be battling for draft lottery position with Detroit.

Theres no way a team with this offensive talent should be worst in the league at generating high danger scoring chances. That falls solely on Maurice and his conservative systems, same with the awful passive PK we've had since the day he took over, and the epic collapse during the 2nd half of last season with an extremely talented roster. Repeatedly playing players like Borqure over guys like Harkins is another strike from where I'm sitting.

When the team basically sucks at everything, the coach is getting nothing out of his players. Our strength is offensive talent, not sure why the focus wouldnt have been to maximize offense when you know your hands are tied defensively.

This.

Maurice is the square peg coaching a round hole roster. We had a square peg roster when he joined and it worked for a while. As the roster changed - younger and offensively gifted - his older styles and dump out and dump in system no longer works. We are next to the bottom of the league in almost all relevant statistics, and that shouldn't be acceptable any longer.
Last year it was evident that there were problems in the room. Do we really think if the trend of play continues after the break that this won't manifest again as a problem? I only bring that up as in my mind, the coach has to own some of the responsibility for the dressing room and the cohesion. Last year he freely admitted that he left that stuff to the 'leadership group'. If so, then no thanks and adios, as that's not what I would want to hear as a GM or owner.

 

[surixon]

More to my point was ONeil stating the coaches job is to get the team to focus on defending. Offense comes from talent. Defense comes from hard work and focus.

The old adage "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard".

I get what you are saying but id disagree with Neil on this. A coach needs put his players in the best place to succeed and derive a system based around what he has to work with. It's not wasting time and effort to turn a team into something it's not like a certain coach here is trying to do.

 

[surixon]

Coaching them could change something and if they won’t take the coaching then benching them would be in order.

Personality though I don’t think it’s either a player issue or an accountability issue. I think the coach is looking for the wrong things. If play slow so you can stay on the ice longer in the hopes of getting more chances in the offensive zone you ARE going to get outshot and you ARE going to s*** defensively. Nonetheless PM stood up in a press conference last year and actually praised Scheifele for "learning how to conserve energy so he could get more chances in the offensive zone"

Either he believes this, which explains why Scheifele is struggling, or he was just protecting him which would point to accountability being the issue and would also explain why Scheifele is struggling.

Barzal recently came out and said after the benching that he was in the wrong for some lazy defensive plays and was justly benched. He's the Islanders best player and is being held to a high standard. He seems to get that he can't be lazy just because he puts up points.

There is absolutely no reason not to hold our stars to an incredibly high standard. The issue is that Maurice having left then to their own devices for years now can't now start holding th accountable as he would lose their support and the room white quickly. He is stuck as standards and accountability need to be implemented right at the beginning and they need to be upheld consistently.

 

[Ducky10]

If having good players doesn’t matter, what does?

You don’t seem to think coaching matters either, so why are our best players so much worse than the best players in Ottawa or Detroit? How come Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha manage to outscore, outshoot and out chance their opposing when Scheifele and Wheeler get caved in so badly night in and night out? Are Pageau and Duclair just that much better than Scheifele/Wheeler?

Not sure how you got any of this from my reply, I never said any of it. I don’t think the Jets issues are Scheifele and Wheeler needing to be held accountable.

 

[Ducky10]

Making these two ( Chef and Wheeler ) accountable sends the proper message to the rest of the team. Maybe that's part of the divide that was in the room.

If someone on the team is busting his ass and trying to the best of his abilities ends up getting singled out each time he makes a mistake , yet two others whom make the exact same mistake don't get singled out, what message does that send to the other players? Its a team sport, and the only way teams succeed is if everyone is going in the same direction. Having exceptions to the rule just makes for a non-cohesive environment IMO.

I don’t think the Jets have an issue between the players. They seem accountable to each other from what I see. I don’t think any of them look at Scheifele and Wheeler as not accountable.

This isn’t the Jets problem, it’s a good narrative though.

 

[surixon]

I don’t think the Jets have an issue between the players. They seem accountable to each other from what I see. I don’t think any of them look at Scheifele and Wheeler as not accountable.

This isn’t the Jets problem, it’s a good narrative though.

What do you think the teams problems are?

 

[tbcwpg]

What do you think the teams problems are?

I think the problems are the wrong systems for this group and a lack of talent on the back end.

 

[surixon]

I think the problems are the wrong systems for this group and a lack of talent on the back end.

Exactly my thoughts as well.

Which begs the question why is management hanging onto this coaching staff. I have seen little in the way of evidence that Maurice will magically impliment something different.

 

[ecolad]

My best guess is that Chevy will consider changing out Maurice ONLY at such time as he starts getting clear messages from his player captain and/or assistants that such change is needed and appropriate. That`s just the way that Chevy rolls, imo. He may himself see the disorganization, almost chaos, in the on ice product; appreciate that it is simply getting worse with the passage of time; and obviously be concerned with the position in the standings; but he will be reluctant to act without affirmation/support of his team leaders. So, how do the player reps feel about what`s happening? Wheeler has always vowed that Maurice is the best coach he`s ever played for - but of recent, has openly expressed extreme frustration that the team can`t win despite all the players busting their arse`s off . Scheifele`s feelings have been more guarded and difficult to read. Is it possible that they have come to understand that the answers and direction they seek will not come from Maurice?

 

[JetsUK]

Well, like PoMo has been shut out of the PHWA Interim Awards, as has Chevy:

Jack Adams Award – to the coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.
1. Mike Sullivan, Pittsburgh Penguins
2. John Tortorella, Columbus Blue Jackets
3. Craig Berube, @ST. Louis Blues

Jim Gregory GM of the Year Award – to the General Manager adjusted to have contributed most to his team’s success.
1. Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche
2. John Chayka, Arizona Coyotes
3. Doug Armstrong, @ST. Louis Blues

Helle gets in with an overall well-deserved midseason Vezina nod:

Vezina Trophy – to the goaltender adjudged to be the best at his position.
1. Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
2. Ben Bishop, Dallas Stars
3. Darcy Kuemper, Arizona Coyotes

 

[robertocarlos]

if Paul is extended I very much hope they trade him.

Me too. I mean 13 minutes for $6 million I could personally handle but it's not good for Ehlers.

 

[LowLefty]

I think the problems are the wrong systems for this group and a lack of talent on the back end.

Wrong systems or maybe the right system and the players are not following along.
So, assuming there may be some truth in that statement, if no one is following the system being preached, how do you know it's the wrong system?

Maurice strikes me as a very frustrated coach right now - and the players could be causing the frustration. I guess that could be what you call "losing the room" or maybe it's just lazy players -
Just throwing stuff out there - maybe look at it from more than one angle.

regardless, if they keep losing, the coach will be the first to go - but I see a major issue with our players, namely the forwards, who are not prepared to put in the work necessary to help out the D end of our game.

This dialogue won't go over well with those who think we have this super talented forward roster who are simply waiting to be coached by the right guy:

a) The right guy is a coach who will some how convince this bunch that hard work is a big part of the NHL game - or -
b) The right coach is the guy that somehow transitions our game into an offensive goal scoring machine where our depleted back end won't matter because we'll never be in our own end.

 

[tbcwpg]

Exactly my thoughts as well.

Which begs the question why is management hanging onto this coaching staff. I have seen little in the way of evidence that Maurice will magically impliment something different.

I think the defence is so bad that there's not a lot to be gained by immediately firing him. Not that I'm against it, but I don't see the Penguins or Blues level bump for this group.

 

[MrBoJangelz71]

Exactly my thoughts as well.

Which begs the question why is management hanging onto this coaching staff. I have seen little in the way of evidence that Maurice will magically impliment something different.

Please expand on the system, what is wrong about specifically in conjunction to our skill set?

 

[LowLefty]

My best guess is that Chevy will consider changing out Maurice ONLY at such time as he starts getting clear messages from his player captain and/or assistants that such change is needed and appropriate. That`s just the way that Chevy rolls, imo. He may himself see the disorganization, almost chaos, in the on ice product; appreciate that it is simply getting worse with the passage of time; and obviously be concerned with the position in the standings; but he will be reluctant to act without affirmation/support of his team leaders. So, how do the player reps feel about what`s happening? Wheeler has always vowed that Maurice is the best coach he`s ever played for - but of recent, has openly expressed extreme frustration that the team can`t win despite all the players busting their arse`s off . Scheifele`s feelings have been more guarded and difficult to read. Is it possible that they have come to understand that the answers and direction they seek will not come from Maurice?

Is this group busting their arse's off?

 

[DRW204]

 

[pucka lucka]

Barzal recently came out and said after the benching that he was in the wrong for some lazy defensive plays and was justly benched. He's the Islanders best player and is being held to a high standard. He seems to get that he can't be lazy just because he puts up points.

There is absolutely no reason not to hold our stars to an incredibly high standard. The issue is that Maurice having left then to their own devices for years now can't now start holding th accountable as he would lose their support and the room white quickly. He is stuck as standards and accountability need to be implemented right at the beginning and they need to be upheld consistently.

Well it looks like PoMos way may have worked...for him. He has had a job for 6ish more years while winning nothing like all his previous work.

He's an expert on staying employed not producing elite hockey teams.