Confirmed with Link: Pascal Vincent Named Head Coach

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

This is the 2nd time he's benched Gaudreau when they are trailing and they've failed to come back. It seemed like a pretty odd decision considering that Johnny was going pretty good last night, skating well and creating chances. His last shift he tried to deke past Moser at the offensive blue line and it got poked checked away. I guess that was enough for Vincent to bench him? They were down 3-1 with 6 mins left and he's trying to create offense, I guess he should have just dumped it in?

What kind of message is he trying to send? Does he not want his star players to try to make plays when they are down 2 goals late in the game?

It's a wonder to me why Gaudreau's confidence is low and he doesn't feel he's able to play his game. This team has 1 more win than the Sharks, it's incredible that the Vincent experiment is still going on.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

It's a wonder to me why Gaudreau's confidence is low and he doesn't feel he's able to play his game. This team has 1 more win than the Sharks, it's incredible that the Vincent experiment is still going on.

If the coach is the issue-which I don't lean toward yet-then the real problem is the GM. You just can't fire 3 coaches in less than 20 games. Having a (probable) lame duck GM is not helping this organization one bit.

I've been to 4 games at NWA this season. Those are the games I really watch closely. The team doesn't look bad aside from the Big 3 of JG, PL and ZW and Sillinger. I don't think that Vincent is even close to deserving to being dismissed. Most of the games have been one goal games. He can only do so much to get long term contracted vets to show up. The only flaws in his performance that I see is his failure to adjust personnel on PP1 and the defensive scheme which gives too much room/time to the opponent's dmen. I'm assuming that adjustments will be made in these areas shortly.

 

[GoJackets1]

The fact that our best players are doing poorly and we’ve been in almost every game makes me think we’re better than the results indicate.

Issue has been inability to hold leads, or giving up stinkers at bad times. Last night was just another example. But I’m not sure what THE underlying issue is other than poor performance from our “top” guys.

Out of curiosity how many games have we scored first in or led at some point?

 

[ColumbusTrill]

This is the 2nd time he's benched Gaudreau when they are trailing and they've failed to come back. It seemed like a pretty odd decision considering that Johnny was going pretty good last night, skating well and creating chances. His last shift he tried to deke past Moser at the offensive blue line and it got poked checked away. I guess that was enough for Vincent to bench him? They were down 3-1 with 6 mins left and he's trying to create offense, I guess he should have just dumped it in?

What kind of message is he trying to send? Does he not want his star players to try to make plays when they are down 2 goals late in the game?

It's a wonder to me why Gaudreau's confidence is low and he doesn't feel he's able to play his game. This team has 1 more win than the Sharks, it's incredible that the Vincent experiment is still going on.

He played his best forwards at the end of the game

 

[Cheddarcheese]

If the coach is the issue-which I don't lean toward yet-then the real problem is the GM. You just can't fire 3 coaches in less than 20 games. Having a (probable) lame duck GM is not helping this organization one bit.

I've been to 4 games at NWA this season. Those are the games I really watch closely. The team doesn't look bad aside from the Big 3 of JG, PL and ZW and Sillinger. I don't think that Vincent is even close to deserving to being dismissed. Most of the games have been one goal games. He can only do so much to get long term contracted vets to show up. The only flaws in his performance that I see is his failure to adjust personnel on PP1 and the defensive scheme which gives too much room/time to the opponent's dmen. I'm assuming that adjustments will be made in this areas shortly.

16 out of 17 games have been a one goal game

 

[majormajor]

This is the 2nd time he's benched Gaudreau when they are trailing and they've failed to come back. It seemed like a pretty odd decision considering that Johnny was going pretty good last night, skating well and creating chances. His last shift he tried to deke past Moser at the offensive blue line and it got poked checked away. I guess that was enough for Vincent to bench him? They were down 3-1 with 6 mins left and he's trying to create offense, I guess he should have just dumped it in?

What kind of message is he trying to send? Does he not want his star players to try to make plays when they are down 2 goals late in the game?

It's a wonder to me why Gaudreau's confidence is low and he doesn't feel he's able to play his game. This team has 1 more win than the Sharks, it's incredible that the Vincent experiment is still going on.

I think it has more to do with two hot lines and two ice cold lines, and Johnny was on one of the bad lines. That wasn't his fault, he looked to be playing fine, Laine was the trouble. And I can understand why Vincent didn't break up the top line to fit in Johnny, they had twenty shots on net!

 

[BB88]

He played his best forwards at the end of the game

Which is good.

& why Marchenko should jump to #1pp unit as well.
There’s too much talent for pp to be that abysmal, that and their 3rd period turtle tactic are killing them this season

 

[NotCommitted]

There are things that could/should be fixed by coaching but when one of the biggest problems is players not just finishing on their chances, there's little you can do about that. The good thing is that usually fixes itself, but as the losses keep piling up there's a risk it starts to get into the heads of players too much. I honestly think they are playing better than their record shows atm and if they keep soldiering on, the wins will start coming once key players get going.

While I think there are some systemic issues at play why the offense is struggling - and the PP is atrocious and seemingly not well coached at all - but even then, the two leading offensive stars have statlines of 17gp 1+5=6p & 8gp 2+1=3p and a lot of that is just underperforming with a good dose of seemingly most of the team being cursed with poor puck luck.

 

[squashmaple]

We've become the Flyers of the past few seasons: huge losing streaks and (hopefully...maybe... based on paper talent and the unsustainably low shooting percentage) winning streaks too.

 

[koteka]

On paper they are around a .500 team,

On paper we don’t have a legit 1c, 2c, 1rd, anyone who can play respectable defense, or a goalie we can count on. And our back up goalie (who probably would be a back up AHL goalie on a respectable franchise) is injured. How did anyone think this team would be good?

We have prospects, wings, and a couple of left D (one coming off an injury and the other having been traded away by a bad team and their fans loved the trade).

We have a rookie coach and a bad front office.

People are really starting to turn on this team and everyone on it. Local sports radio was brutal yesterday. They were calling out veterans, ownership, the front office, and the coach. People at the rinks around town think the Jackets are a complete joke and are sick of excuses.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

People are really starting to turn on this team and everyone on it. Local sports radio was brutal yesterday. They were calling out veterans, ownership, the front office, and the coach. People at the rinks around town think the Jackets are a complete joke and are sick of excuses.

This is what ownership has been risking for a long time.

Once a franchise becomes a laughingstock, season ticket sales, overall attendance and sponsorship revenue starts dropping and reversing these trends is not an easy task.

McConnell needs to take a real good look in the mirror. His buddy Priest and his long term highly paid GM and Team President have been given passes on performance. Why he has allowed this for as long as he has is beyond me. The guy ran a complex conglomerate very successfully for a long time. Following in the footsteps of a very successful father and furthering the success of the father's already successful and established company is no small task. Most kids aren't up to the task. McConnell was. He's no dummy.

He (obviously) doesn't run the hockey team with the same philosophies which guided him at Worthington Industries.

I suppose that when the CBJ become an embarrassment to him that he'll either implement some of the same philosophies which guided him at Worthington or sell the team to interests which will guarantee that it stays in Columbus long term. I hope that embarrassment/humiliation kicks in soon. McConnell is standing on the fence of becoming a joke on the level of what Mike Brown was for decades in Cincinnati. That is something he doesn't want to endure.

 

[Crede777]

Things I'm worried about:

1. The young players maintaining confidence in themselves and the team/city. I don't want another young core to all head for the door as soon as possible because they see Columbus as a road to nowhere.

2. Our powerplay. If anyone gets fired mid-season it should probably be Mark Recchi. I know the powerplay has been a problem for a while and he was a 12th hour hire to fill the gap from promoting Vincent, but the system straight up sucks. At this point I would actually entertain the ludicrous notion that I - a person completely unqualified for the role in every way shape and form - could do a similar if not better job just based on watching the tape.

3. The defense adjusting to the new scheme. Hopefully it's still a work in progress and our defensive scheme isn't actually to stand around in the d zone waiting to react to the other team.

4. Financial health of the team when Bally Sports / Diamond Sinclair exit at the end of the year. For one of the bottom-3 revenue teams, I have concern about how ownership will react to the loss of a cable revenue deal. If Arizona can handle it, we should be able to too but it's definitely concerning until ownership releases a statement (won't happen until the deal actually goes under).

Things I'm not worried about:

1. Pascal Vincent. He's smart. He may not be experienced but I think if there's a solution he'll eventually figure it out unlike Brad Larsen.

2. Laine and Gaudreau. Unless you think the Monstars from Space Jam came down and stole all their talent I wouldn't worry too much about these two.

3. Improvement - This is (or at least should be) a .500 team this year. That's good for 82 points. That was my threshold I set at the beginning for what would constitue a significant step in the right direction after last year. Right now the team's PDO is in the gutter but it *should* rebound. Just as I'm not too worried now, I won't be getting too excited if their puck luck rebounds and they go on a tear.

 

[VT]

I think it has more to do with two hot lines and two ice cold lines, and Johnny was on one of the bad lines. That wasn't his fault, he looked to be playing fine, Laine was the trouble. And I can understand why Vincent didn't break up the top line to fit in Johnny, they had twenty shots on net!

Laine should sit out a few games and get his brain right. I'm sure it will do him some good. And I don't mean that in a bad way.

 

[Farmboy Patty]

Regarding the PP, the system is just way too slow and rigid (and the rigid part is because of coaching, because the players are supposed to play within the system, if they want to stay on the PP). The elephant in the room is that Werensky is stapled on the first unit as the QB.

That is all on the coaches. This team has the talent for a more free flowing game, but to me it seems that they are being reigned in. Replace Werenski with a shooting threat (hard slappers that get through) and let’em cook!

 

[Byrral]

Jarmo thought Babs could save his job and now his future is in the hands of Pascal Vincent. I've given PV a lot of rope and I'm still trying to be being patient with him but if he doesn't get things turned around over the next month or so he won't be around here next year either.

 

[thebus88]

Things I would have done differently:

- Give (or try my hardest to give) Torts essentially what he wanted regarding players/a roster he could work with. Even if a “retool” or “rebuild” was necessary from our aging “core”, such a huge change in roster composition and style of play DID NOT need to occur.

- Not fire Larsen, until he was given an ADEQUATE roster. Which he clearly wasn’t.

- Not fire Babcock. At this point maybe we should be asking ourselves what he actually did see, and that he might have actually been in the right, in having an issue with something he saw or noticed regarding a player or players. This group of players NEED that type of coach. Instead they were “coddled” once again, and all the fans happy he was fired are getting what they wanted. Goes all the way back to Torts. Remember “mediocrity”?? You know, the playoffs. I barely do at this point.

The quickly turning on a coach that had raised expectations not long before, is nothing new to Vincent.

But the bottom line is the problem IS THE PLAYERS. And Jarmo has done a POOR job, over the past few years to ADAPT his roster to what is needed to be even remotely successful.

 

[CalBuckeyeRob]

I guess we can now safely conclude that Vincent wasn't a coaching savant stuck under a bad head coach and that he just needed the head coaching job to prove it.

 

[Michigan Magic]

I guess we can now safely conclude that Vincent wasn't a coaching savant stuck under a bad head coach and that he just needed the head coaching job to prove it.

He will never coach at this level again. Back to the minors!

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Not sure why people have the pitchforks out for Vincent when

1. He barely had a training camp to get things the way he wanted it.

2. He is coaching a young team full of soft players (veterans included) who don't play defense.

Mike Babcock would not have saved this team. Hell, Vincent is attempting to be a hard ass coach like Babcock with his benching/sitting sprees. I do think this team would have really benefitted from an outside voice coming in but Babcock is the one who f***ed that up. Blame him, and blame Jarmo for settling on him, not Vincent.

This team sucks but I don't think it sucks because of the coach.

 

[Cowumbus]

Not sure why people have the pitchforks out for Vincent when

1. He barely had a training camp to get things the way he wanted it.

2. He is coaching a young team full of soft players (veterans included) who don't play defense.

Mike Babcock would not have saved this team. Hell, Vincent is attempting to be a hard ass coach like Babcock with his benching/sitting sprees. I do think this team would have really benefitted from an outside voice coming in but Babcock is the one who f***ed that up. Blame him, and blame Jarmo for settling on him, not Vincent.

This team sucks but I don't think it sucks because of the coach.

His defensive scheme blows. Team would suck regardless of coach, but the system is not helping.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

His defensive scheme blows. Team would suck regardless of coach, but the system is not helping.

which begs the question, was this system Vincent/Babcock’s plan all along or was this system made because of the roster? We all know the goaltending struggles of previous years.

 

[Cheddarcheese]

I think this is prob the best take on Johnny and liane haha

 

[CBJx614]

I think this is prob the best take on Johnny and liane haha

I agree.. the coach can only do so much, you can only talk and say so much.

 

[Cowumbus]

His defensive scheme blows. Team would suck regardless of coach, but the system is not helping.

He seems to adjusted some - I’ve started to notice our wingers are playing a little bit higher in the dzone, so not as much space as before along the blueline. Still often looks like a PK though.

 

[Cheddarcheese]

one thing i like about PV is when we score he doesn't celebrate. looks like hes been there before haha