TSN: Garrioch: Boucher going nowhere

[Pierre from Orleans]

When Pierre Dorion took over as GM, a few years back, he proclaimed "why not win now"!!

So he brought in a coach to "win now" and made TDD acquisitions to help with the "win now" plan ....... the Boucher brought them to the conference finals, within one goal of the SCFs.

At the beginning of last season .......... there was to re-build under way..........no re-tooling ......... it was still "win now" mode and Boucher coached under that mandate.

He was NOT tasked with bringing in young players, and play and develop them at the NHL level ... and he played the older players that Dorion brought in (Odoya, Thompson ect) ..... to "win now"

Then the wheels fell of the "win now" bandwagon, and the GM began to unload as many older players he could in the run up to the TD ....... and the "win now" plan was a distant memory........... and Boucher was then tasked to play the call ups from Belleville, so that management could assess what they had in their system, and were these player were at.



I don't blame Boucher for coaching in "win now" mode for his first season and a half as head coach ............he was following the direction coming from the GM.

So now it obvious that the plan is something along the lines of a re-tool or re-build, and playing the younger players ........ and Boucher will do what his GM will be asking of him ......... and will be motivated by the fact that he's in his last year of his contract.

Him playing the vets didnt result in much wins so why keep playing them if the mandate was to "win now"?

 

[Burrowsaurus]

When Pierre Dorion took over as GM, a few years back, he proclaimed "why not win now"!!

So he brought in a coach to "win now" and made TDD acquisitions to help with the "win now" plan ....... the Boucher brought them to the conference finals, within one goal of the SCFs.

At the beginning of last season .......... there was to re-build under way..........no re-tooling ......... it was still "win now" mode and Boucher coached under that mandate.

He was NOT tasked with bringing in young players, and play and develop them at the NHL level ... and he played the older players that Dorion brought in (Odoya, Thompson ect) ..... to "win now"

Then the wheels fell of the "win now" bandwagon, and the GM began to unload as many older players he could in the run up to the TD ....... and the "win now" plan was a distant memory........... and Boucher was then tasked to play the call ups from Belleville, so that management could assess what they had in their system, and were these player were at.



I don't blame Boucher for coaching in "win now" mode for his first season and a half as head coach ............he was following the direction coming from the GM.

So now it obvious that the plan is something along the lines of a re-tool or re-build, and playing the younger players ........ and Boucher will do what his GM will be asking of him ......... and will be motivated by the fact that he's in his last year of his contract.

i dont think he was coaching to win now. playing bad veterans over better young players is not win now. its just boucher

 

[Agent Zub]

I feel like Bouchers coaching style kills players instincts.

That it's the most complicated and taxing system has been established.

Dude just over coaches wayyy too much.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

I feel like Bouchers coaching style kills players instincts.

That it's the most complicated and taxing system has been established.

Dude just over coaches wayyy too much.

I dunno if it kills their instincts but it certainly kills their enthusiasm. Imagine being one of the best at something on planet earth, something people do for joy and entertainment and you get paid millions to do it. Then someone comes around and tells you you're going to do it in a way that isn't joyful for yourself, your opponents and the people who watch you and pay your salary. This is how you do it now and you have no choice but to put away all those skills that made you one of the best on Earth. Your job is now to kill what you loved.

Its soul crushing. Boucher was never skilled so he can't have others showing off their skill. He wants people to play down to his level not up to theirs. He wants his system to be the focal point and star of the show. He can't stand others steal his spotlight. That's why he has insanely long press conferences and spend more time talking to media than actually running practices.

He'll be gone by January.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

i dont think he was coaching to win now. playing bad veterans over better young players is not win now. its just boucher

In his first season, the mandate from the GM was to "win now" and Boucher did, and took the team to the ECFs (one goal away...) and the mandate did not change for last season........ as the GM brought in some more Vets, to replace the Vets that left over the summer.

Boucher could only play the players he was given to fill out his line up card before games.

Boucher could not sit four or five Vets, ask the GM to call up four or five rookies to have them play .......... it's not his call.

Boucher did the best he could, with the players the GM furnished him with.

Last season, there is more (not all) blame on the GM, than on Boucher.

 

[JimmySpaetzle]

Imagine working your whole life to become an NHL player, and your coach forces you to ignore all your talent to follow his system. That’s Guy Boucher. No wonder why the guys probably don’t like him...

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

 

[Very Stable Genius]

Pierre: So Guy, I'm remodeling my kitchen. Should I go with Granite or Quartz countertops?

 

[bert]

I feel like Bouchers coaching style kills players instincts.

That it's the most complicated and taxing system has been established.

Dude just over coaches wayyy too much.

Yup the entire thing playing Chabot on the wrong side was absolutely ridiculous. If he is back and Karlsson is traded they should be giving up the pick. They will finish dead last. If you take away the first 10 games of the season the sens were the worst team much worse than Buffalo. If Boucher isnt replaced its just another indicator that there is no commitment to winning. So why should we commit to buying tickets? Watching a Boucher coached team is painful enough when they are competitive when they arent and you see young players flounder specifically defensman I cant justify spending money on that.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Pierre: So Guy, I'm remodeling my kitchen. Should I go with Granite or Quartz countertops?

Guy's staying. Probably changing an assistant coach. The ineptness is discouraging

 

[aragorn]

I think if they had any indication to change the coach it would have already been done, it is unfair to anyone to drag it out & it would have been done by season's end. I also think they retain Boucher but could make a slight change with the assistant coaches. My guess is that they replace the goalie coach since the goalies were terrible this yr & whoever is the guy up in the rafters they communicate with that nobody knows.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

I feel like Bouchers coaching style kills players instincts.

That it's the most complicated and taxing system has been established.

Dude just over coaches wayyy too much.

And making players think too much right at a time when the NHL is as fast as it's ever been, is a recipe for failure. Right now, it's all about quick reads and reaction. Speed.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Keeping Boucher is a mistake... but just another one for Pierre

 

[Boud]

Just the fact that we finished amongst last in PP AND PK is absolutely insane. You have Karlsson, Stone, Duchene/Turris, Brassard, Hoffman, Dzingle, Chabot .. You should be able to have a great PP.

Guy Boucher hasn't adressed the PP in two years. He was brought in to be a PP specialist and the team even traded for PP specialists like Brassard and Duchene. How is this guy not able to change things on the PP in 2 years, I just do not understand.

I mean ok blame it on goaltending and the loss of Methot but then the PP... Can't explain that. Wouldn't want him to force Chabot again on his off-side for the damn system. I want him to play kids and let them make mistakes and learn.

 

[TheBradyBunch]

Just the fact that we finished amongst last in PP AND PK is absolutely insane. You have Karlsson, Stone, Duchene/Turris, Brassard, Hoffman, Dzingle, Chabot .. You should be able to have a great PP.

Guy Boucher hasn't adressed the PP in two years. He was brought in to be a PP specialist and the team even traded for PP specialists like Brassard and Duchene. How is this guy not able to change things on the PP in 2 years, I just do not understand.

I mean ok blame it on goaltending and the loss of Methot but then the PP... Can't explain that. Wouldn't want him to force Chabot again on his off-side for the damn system. I want him to play kids and let them make mistakes and learn.

Special teams have consistently killed us under Boucher. Even when we were playing great hockey, we had terrible special teams and that's probably a big part of why we lost to Pittsburgh.

In the final 4 games (of which we lost 3), Pittsburgh was 5/9 on the PP and we were 1/13.
Even if you take preclude the numbers from the 7-0 blowout, they were 2/6 and we were 1/9.
In both games that they won by 1 goal, they scored a PP goal and we did not.

We had far more chances and failed to capitalize on them.
Not only that, but we completely failed to shut them down when they had their opportunities.
Brutal.

 

[Samboni]

Guy's staying. Probably changing an assistant coach. The ineptness is discouraging

Probably ditch Crawford as he is not one GB's boys.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Probably ditch Crawford as he is not one GB's boys.

Well they have to put an assistant (or HC in Belleville) in who can inevitably take over midseason. So probably look for someone like Crawford who has a bit of experience.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Probably ditch Crawford as he is not one GB's boys.

He is though isn't he. Boucher vouched for Crawford when they were looking for an assistant IIRC

 

[Boud]

Probably ditch Crawford as he is not one GB's boys.

Raymond is also a Boucher guy

 

[Langdon Alger]

Imagine working your whole life to become an NHL player, and your coach forces you to ignore all your talent to follow his system. That’s Guy Boucher. No wonder why the guys probably don’t like him...

Basically, I have no idea if the players like him, I’m just assuming they don’t.

 

[Langdon Alger]

I dunno if it kills their instincts but it certainly kills their enthusiasm. Imagine being one of the best at something on planet earth, something people do for joy and entertainment and you get paid millions to do it. Then someone comes around and tells you you're going to do it in a way that isn't joyful for yourself, your opponents and the people who watch you and pay your salary. This is how you do it now and you have no choice but to put away all those skills that made you one of the best on Earth. Your job is now to kill what you loved.

Its soul crushing. Boucher was never skilled so he can't have others showing off their skill. He wants people to play down to his level not up to theirs. He wants his system to be the focal point and star of the show. He can't stand others steal his spotlight. That's why he has insanely long press conferences and spend more time talking to media than actually running practices.

He'll be gone by January.

I legit laughed out loud at your second paragraph. That was really imaginative.

 

[aragorn]

It seems that GB is in a catch 22, the fans want him to play the younger players but if he does & the team continues to do poorly which most seem to think they will next season he will probably be fired. Of course, the team's budget may prevent them from bringing in better players & if PD doesn't bring in some better players the team might suck anyway & again he gets fired.

I don't really see a scenario where GB does not get fired next yr even if he does what the GM wants & plays the young guys unless the team is successful with whoever they play. The players are going to decide pretty quickly how long GB keeps his job next season. He's going to need a lot of things to go right for him again like his first yr including very good goaltending if he is not to be fired I would think.

 

[Samboni]

He is though isn't he. Boucher vouched for Crawford when they were looking for an assistant IIRC

I wasn't aware of that. Makes sense, they were both in Switzerland.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

It seems that GB is in a catch 22, the fans want him to play the younger players but if he does & the team continues to do poorly which most seem to think they will next season he will probably be fired. Of course, the team's budget may prevent them from bringing in better players & if PD doesn't bring in some better players the team might suck anyway & again he gets fired.

I don't really see a scenario where GB does not get fired next yr even if he does what the GM wants & plays the young guys unless the team is successful with whoever they play. The players are going to decide pretty quickly how long GB keeps his job next season. He's going to need a lot of things to go right for him again like his first yr including very good goaltending if he is not to be fired I would think.

Agreed its a lame duck situation. Another reason for him to part ways with the team or the team to part ways with him.

 

[BatherSeason]

Probably ditch Crawford as he is not one GB's boys.

Crawford is probably paid too much for the org to cut him. Also, he will be the guy that takes over for Boucher mid-season because of what he is paid. In Melnyk's world, there is no sense in paying another coach.