Jeff Blashill - Half Season Impression

[Actual Thought*]

By the way I enjoy the use of the quote as much as the next guy....

You don't think a group of men that have worked their ***** off their entire lives think a quote that starts "To Whom much is given" isn't a little insulting...

All teams have variations today, the downfall of Notre Dame football since the late 80's can clearly be traced back to the day they were all on the way out of the tunnel and really for the first time took a deep existential look at "play like a champion today"

Another big win for Blashill and the boys last night.

Given the context? Not at all. The Illitch's are well known for taking very good care of their employees but they have high expectations. Babcock's choice of quotes clearly shows an understanding of that fact.

The coach before blashill said it was a demotion? You mean the coach that wasn't that good and would take anything? Yeah I'm not gonna listen to that guy

The coach before him quit in order to take an NHL asst job because it was a better job. Clearly he perceived it as an upward move and clearly an NHL team wanted his services.

 

[Frk It]

The month of January has been a disaster under the uber-pretentious Blashill regime! They've been outshot 184-145; that's being outshot by a 21.2% margin! What do we have to show in January with this 'new voice'? Smitty was a measly +1 while en route to his best year. Losing to LA is a joke...they're 22nd in the league in shooting percentage!
Why did Babcock and the traditional 1st round playoff exit have to go?

This concludes this segment of using worthless statistics to purport a baseless argument.

Don't forget how important the record is over the last 10 games

Why is it blashills fault that the pp sucks

It sucked cause of the assistant coach apparently. Since it sucked when he was one Why isn't it the assistant coach/whoever that controls the pp fault now?

Funny how that works, huh? Also funny how Babcock is trying to be credited for the success of the PP that Hiller currently runs.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Click on the link from the post.

"who probably often thought twice about taking Blashill’s coaching to heart."

I'm not sure why you continue to interject your own opinion as a factual statement as if people are too stupid to notice.

 

[Actual Thought*]

If you're of the same opinion as "the entire hockey world" then this thread becomes even weirder.

A new coach coaches his first half season in the NHL ever, and his team is roughly as successful as it was last year under the best coach in the entire world.

Now that you put it that way, it does sound praiseworthy.

You've convinced me, I'm now a Blashill fanatic.

His team is not "roughly as successful as it was last year under the best coach in the entire world". All you have to do is watch them play to see that. You also need to stop ignoring the substantial additions of talent unless you believe Larkin, Green and Richards to be non factors.

 

[DanZ]

His team is not "roughly as successful as it was last year under the best coach in the entire world". All you have to do is watch them play to see that. You also need to stop ignoring the substantial additions of talent unless you believe Larkin, Green and Richards to be non factors.

You also need to stop ignoring the substantial declines of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and especially Kronwall. They are 2 points off their pace last season I believe.

 

[Actual Thought*]

"who probably often thought twice about taking Blashill’s coaching to heart."

I'm not sure why you continue to interject your own opinion as a factual statement as if people are too stupid to notice.

That isn't a quote from me. Wave your cursor over the link and click the left button. Read the text.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

That isn't a quote from me. Wave your cursor over the link and click the left button. Read the text.

Then my original post is directed at the article instead, but you are parroting it as if it is a statement of fact, regardless.

 

[Actual Thought*]

You also need to stop ignoring the substantial declines of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and especially Kronwall. They are 2 points off their pace last season I believe.

They are 2 points off last year's production and they have substantially declined? I think what you mean is that the team's overall production has declined as is indicated in their negative goals differential even after adding Larkin/Green/Richards. That is "they give up more goals than they score". That's bad. Stanley Cup winners usually score more than they give up.

 

[InjuredChoker]

They are 2 points off last year's production and they have substantially declined? I think what you mean is that the team's overall production has declined as is indicated in their negative goals differential even after adding Larkin/Green/Richards. That is "they give up more goals than they score". That's bad. Stanley Cup winners usually score more than they give up.

it's been a while this team was legitimate contender for SC and it will be a while they'll be that. they weren't that post-lidström and won't be until they find elite dman.

 

[hyduK]

They are 2 points off last year's production and they have substantially declined? I think what you mean is that the team's overall production has declined as is indicated in their negative goals differential even after adding Larkin/Green/Richards. That is "they give up more goals than they score". That's bad. Stanley Cup winners usually score more than they give up.

Well if you look at our roster we're clearly not going to be Stanley Cup Winners so I dunno why you'd expect them to have goal differentials like one. We're #2 in the standings in the group we belong to, the middle pack. 10 points separates 7th (us) from 25th.

You act like our goal differential is some huge difference over the past three years with Babcock. It's not. The average over the previous three years with Babs is a whopping +5!!!!

We currently have 18 one goal wins, you add an empty net in half those are you are at +5. But what has really changed in that scenario? Nothing.

 

[DanZ]

They are 2 points off last year's production and they have substantially declined? I think what you mean is that the team's overall production has declined as is indicated in their negative goals differential even after adding Larkin/Green/Richards. That is "they give up more goals than they score". That's bad. Stanley Cup winners usually score more than they give up.

The team is 2 points off their pace from last season, not Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Kronwall. Datsyuk is pacing significantly lower than last season. Zetterberg, slightly lower. Kronwall, also significantly lower. Kronwall's decline hurts the most because our defense was already a weak point when he was still playing at a 40+ point pace.

 

[Actual Thought*]

Then my original post is directed at the article instead, but you are parroting it as if it is a statement of fact, regardless.

You are reaching. The PP under Blashill was the worst it had been in a decade. It is quite reasonable to assume the team saw that as a failure because..well..it was.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

You are reaching. The PP under Blashill was the worst it had been in a decade. It is quite reasonable to assume the team saw that as a failure because..well..it was.

You cannot accuse me of reaching when you have constantly assumed the veterans do not have a positive relationship with Blashill with nothing to back it up.

 

[TheOtherOne]

His team is not "roughly as successful as it was last year under the best coach in the entire world". All you have to do is watch them play to see that. You also need to stop ignoring the substantial additions of talent unless you believe Larkin, Green and Richards to be non factors.

You must not have seen this. http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?type=WC#&navid=nav-stn-conf
It's important. 100 points in 82 games = 1.22. 53 points in 44 games = 1.20. Roughly as successful.

I prefer measuring "success" using objective criteria rather than "what Actual Thought thinks he sees".

 

[Heaton]

You are reaching. The PP under Blashill was the worst it had been in a decade. It is quite reasonable to assume the team saw that as a failure because..well..it was.

I don't like replying to this, but I'm not sure I understand your point anymore. Blashill didn't work out as an assistant, so he went to GR where he excelled and helped develop many of the players we have today. Now he's a coach, and you... still think he's too inexperienced? Or just never going to be good in general? Like prospects in the AHL, what more does he have to prove?

The team isn't very good this year, despite their place in the standings, yet you want to completely ignore the teams personnel shortcomings that have caused even Babcock to be wildly unsuccessful for over a half of a decade.

So, if it's all on Blashill, what was the issue last year? or the year before? or the year before that? It just seems like ignoring a ton of facts to try and push an agenda.

 

[Actual Thought*]

Well if you look at our roster we're clearly not going to be Stanley Cup Winners so I dunno why you'd expect them to have goal differentials like one. We're #2 in the standings in the group we belong to, the middle pack. 10 points separates 7th (us) from 25th.

You act like our goal differential is some huge difference over the past three years with Babcock. It's not. The average over the previous three years with Babs is a whopping +5!!!!

We currently have 18 one goal wins, you add an empty net in half those are you are at +5. But what has really changed in that scenario? Nothing.

The roster has changed over the last 3 years. Last year is the closest comparison but they added Larkin/Green/Richards. They finished last year 10th in GF at +14 if memory serves.

 

[Heaton]

The roster has changed over the last 3 years. Last year is the closest comparison but they added Larkin/Green/Richards. They finished last year 10th in GF at +14 if memory serves.

Do you place zero blame on the players?

 

[BF3]

So if we are 2nd in the Atlantic and tied for 7th in the NHL for points with Blashill, imagine what we would be under Babacock...is there something higher than 1st? At least 80 points by now, right? Or the rest of the league just sucks compared to last year.

There is plenty to criticize Blashill for, but the way the argument is being positioned and presented, it is just making Blashill look BETTER, not worse.

 

[hyduK]

The roster has changed over the last 3 years. Last year is the closest comparison but they added Larkin/Green/Richards. They finished last year 10th in GF at +14 if memory serves.

Datsyuk is on pace for 17 goals over an 82 game season.
Last year he was at a 34 goal pace.

Z on pace for 14, last year 18.

Kronner is on pace for like half as many points as last year.


Richards was never expected to provide tons of scoring for us, he scored 12 goals last year, that doesn't nearly make up for the decline of the players mentioned above. In fact, he's in Steven Weiss' spot, who while sucked still scored 9 goals in 52 games...at best he's a net 0 in terms of goal production from the player he replaced. He was signed cause he's a serviceable vet and we didn't know how long Datsyuk was gonna be out. If you thought any different then you're the only one and you should probably have more reasonable expectations or actually know something about the player. He was a slightly more than lateral move from Weiss on a much better contract.

So that leaves you Larkin and Green to make up for the decline of our 3 vets. Mike Green scores about 10 goals a year...that makes up for about half of Datsyuk's decline in production. So thank god Larkin developed so quickly cause I dunno what we'd do for the other half + Z + Kronner.

 

[TheOtherOne]

Larkin/Green/Richards.

Green has 17 points. He made up for not having Q for a lot of this season (Q had 18 points and was +10 last year). And Zidlicky played a quarter of the season at about .5 points per game. Sounds like a wash.

Larkin is a beast obviously. He's replacing Weiss' .5 points per game and Franzen's .6 points per game. Plus minor regression from a bunch of other scoring forwards. Net plus for Larkin add of course.

Richards has .3 points per game and was awful to start the season and has become a decent but not all that impressive factor. Compensates in part for slight regression from others, but mostly small net plus.

So considering that the success rate according to the standings is the same, let's say minus Zid, Quincey, Weiss, Franzen, plus Richards, Green, Larkin, equals the difference between Babcock (the best coach in the entire world) and Blashill (coach with a half of a season worth of NHL experience). And that's ignoring the scoring pace of Z, D, K.

The difference is not that great.

 

[Pavels Dog]

The roster has changed over the last 3 years. Last year is the closest comparison but they added Larkin/Green/Richards. They finished last year 10th in GF at +14 if memory serves.

Last year they were 25th in 5-on-5 GF. This year 19th.

Last year 5th in 5-on-5 GA, this year 6th.

Last year +7 GD 5-on-5, this year so far +8.

Yes our special teams are worse, but we are actually a slightly better team 5-on-5 which imo is more important.

 

[Frk It]

Last year they were 25th in 5-on-5 GF. This year 19th.

Last year 5th in 5-on-5 GA, this year 6th.

Last year +7 GD 5-on-5, this year so far +8.

Yes our special teams are worse, but we are actually a slightly better team 5-on-5 which imo is more important.

And who runs the special teams...?

The assistants!

 

[InjuredChoker]

The roster has changed over the last 3 years. Last year is the closest comparison but they added Larkin/Green/Richards. They finished last year 10th in GF at +14 if memory serves.

last year they were 15th in overall goal differential. same as now. they are worse in raw number as they are even on red but there are less crappy teams to pound on than there was last season. last season 19 teams were on on black in goal differential, this season it's 13. that might change after deadline after PO teams buy and bad teams sell.

 

[hyduK]

And who runs the special teams...?

The assistants!

The one change I'd like is Green on the 1st PP unit.

He was out there with them due to a Kronwall change twice last night...we scored both times. He's a PP specialist, that's half the reason we signed him. Use him with the 1st unit cause they're the only one with any sort of chemistry right now. In fact I'd like to see the second unit with a big shakeup when Pulks is back cause it's simply not working.

Also, Miller being injured is clearly impacting our PK...probably a bit more than it should be though. PK is such a structural thing that having one player be a 16% difference is pretty awful.

 

[hyduK]

Also, regarding our Goal Differential last season. Keep in mind we lost TEN shootouts. That's 10 one goal games we lost where the one goal wasn't an actual goal so it had no impact on our GD.