Rumor: Paul MacLean hired as an assistant coach

[Markus078]

From the OTT board:

I think McLean's system is built for a good skating team with silid puck movement from all it's defenders. Ottawa doesn't have that, we have two defenders that fit the bill well, and another two that sorta work.

McLean had the forwards high, forcing the D to make tougher plays. It helped create offense, and worked fine when we had Karlsson, Kuba, and Gonchar, was fine with Methot (healthy), Gonchar with Wiercioch, Karlsson (pre-cooke)/Benoit, but really started to falter with only Karlsson (post cooke), back strain Methot, and Phillips playing mins he can't handle.

The Ducks have the skating on the backend. Looks like a good fit.

 

[Kalv]

From the OTT board:



The Ducks have the skating on the backend. Looks like a good fit.

Makes it tougher for Wiz i guess

 

[salsa man]

Makes it tougher for Wiz i guess

How so?

 

[DavidBL]

Honestly, I'm curious as to what BM and BB want from the new assistant. For me I want someone to run the PP. MacLean, while an established assistant and head coach hasn't had the best PPs in the past. Roughly 18% in Ottowa. Now that may be because of the talent he had. For me the guy we should be interviewing is Adam Oates. he ran a top 3 PP in Washington(granted he had AO, Backstrom, Green and Carlson) and still managed to get a top 10 out of a pretty abysmal NJ team. We have as good or better personnel than Washington had. A better PP would have net us around 10 goals this season alone.

 

[Kalv]

How so?

He`s not as mobile.
I don`t think he`s slow either but he`s also not as mobile as our other core of young guys and even Beauch imo.

Don`t get me wrong i don`t think he`ll be traded just because of this but all in all this just seems like not the place for Wiz. First the injury, then Despres, etc etc.

 

[Teemu Salami]

Honestly, I'm curious as to what BM and BB want from the new assistant. For me I want someone to run the PP. MacLean, while an established assistant and head coach hasn't had the best PPs in the past. Roughly 18% in Ottowa. Now that may be because of the talent he had. For me the guy we should be interviewing is Adam Oates. he ran a top 3 PP in Washington(granted he had AO, Backstrom, Green and Carlson) and still managed to get a top 10 out of a pretty abysmal NJ team. We have as good or better personnel than Washington had. A better PP would have net us around 10 goals this season alone.

BM said they're switching up the role of the second assistant coach, or something along those lines.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

That was quite the interview for Maclean. Actually a bit worrisome in how he was described

They tried to throw him under the bus pretty hard. No one plays like the Wings did a few years ago, and Chicago and LA play the same way?

 

[Vipers31]

They tried to throw him under the bus pretty hard.

I feel the same way. One year, MacLean gets more out of the team than it has talent and is frequently mentioned by Sens fans in Jack Adams conversation, the next year it's all but forgotten that the team isn't actually that strong (at least given context) and came back down to earth hard, and he's painted like he's a complete hack. Not that that's a particular Ottawa thing, it's pretty standard procedure among larger parts of fanbases and the surrounding media. But I'd still take accounts like that with a boatload of salt.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

I feel the same way. One year, MacLean gets more out of the team than it has talent and is frequently mentioned by Sens fans in Jack Adams conversation, the next year it's all but forgotten that the team isn't actually that strong (at least given context) and came back down to earth hard, and he's painted like he's a complete hack. Not that that's a particular Ottawa thing, it's pretty standard procedure among larger parts of fanbases and the surrounding media. But I'd still take accounts like that with a boatload of salt.

I get that MacLean may have tried to make his system work in Ottawa, and they just didn't really have the guys to do it, but don't try and paint him as some fossil that the game has passed. His tactics could work quite well with this team.

 

[alcolol]

I'd be interested to know who else was interviewed for this role. That said, I'm extremely happy with MacLean. Not many teams employ a Jack Adams-winning coach, let alone two.

 

[anezthes]

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/brown-dave-cameron-is-the-opposite-of-paul-maclean-1.242746

Worth noting his problems as a Sen.

Ouch.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I feel the same way. One year, MacLean gets more out of the team than it has talent and is frequently mentioned by Sens fans in Jack Adams conversation, the next year it's all but forgotten that the team isn't actually that strong (at least given context) and came back down to earth hard, and he's painted like he's a complete hack. Not that that's a particular Ottawa thing, it's pretty standard procedure among larger parts of fanbases and the surrounding media. But I'd still take accounts like that with a boatload of salt.

So what you're telling me is if it's done his way, they outperform the team's talent. When the team's talent thinks they're better than his way, the play degenerates and it's the coach's fault it didn't work when it did work the year before?

 

[Vipers31]

So what you're telling me is if it's done his way, they outperform the team's talent. When the team's talent thinks they're better than his way, the play degenerates and it's the coach's fault it didn't work when it did work the year before?

I didn't really intend to make a larger point about him as a coach, to be honest. It's just things that have me cautious about taking super positive or super negative reviews at face value.

 

[TheJoeMan]

Something we need to keep in mind is MacLean is going to be an assistant here, not a head coach. I think what he did in Ottawa has little relevance to the work he's going to do here. You have to look at his years as an assistant in Detroit and even the two he spent with us. He was an excellent assistant coach for the Wings.

 

[alcolol]

 

[Kalv]

Yeah if he`ll be already in Anaheim, sounds like a deal will be made!

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

Am I the only one who thinks BB has had no input on the MacLean decision? Or the firing of Lauer? I'm guessing this is all ties in to the so called tension between BM and BB.

 

[Ducks DVM]

I think BM has a vision for the team and gets pieces for it, then BB uses them as he sees fit rather than as intended. BM is pissed his vision doesn't come to pass, BB is pissed he's being given the wrong pieces for what he wants to do.

So, yeah, I see no reason that the assistant coaches would be any different.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

Am I the only one who thinks BB has had no input on the MacLean decision? Or the firing of Lauer? I'm guessing this is all ties in to the so called tension between BM and BB.

you are just speculating

 

[TheJoeMan]

Am I the only one who thinks BB has had no input on the MacLean decision? Or the firing of Lauer? I'm guessing this is all ties in to the so called tension between BM and BB.

Probably. Why keep this man as your head coach if you are completely uninterested in his input in regards to making personnel changes to his staff? It's ultimately Murray's decision Boudreau is still the head coach and should be consulted if not required to sign off on it. Look how often new head coaches bring their former assistants with them? If the relationship between Murray and Boudreau is so fractured that Murray is unilaterally making personnel changes to the coaching staff than he should have just fired Boudreau.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

you are just speculating

I didn't say it was a fact. Thanks for your worthless comment.

 

[duxfever]

Probably. Why keep this man as your head coach if you are completely uninterested in his input in regards to making personnel changes to his staff? It's ultimately Murray's decision Boudreau is still the head coach and should be consulted if not required to sign off on it. Look how often new head coaches bring their former assistants with them? If the relationship between Murray and Boudreau is so fractured that Murray is unilaterally making personnel changes to the coaching staff than he should have just fired Boudreau.

I'm sure Boudreau had a say in this.

 

[Vipers31]

I'd guess that Bruce was / will be heard before the ink is dry. Then again, is it all that crazy to think that maybe Bruce didn't really have a list of names he'd have liked working with and was telling Bob to just bring in a good hockey head?

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

Probably. Why keep this man as your head coach if you are completely uninterested in his input in regards to making personnel changes to his staff? It's ultimately Murray's decision Boudreau is still the head coach and should be consulted if not required to sign off on it. Look how often new head coaches bring their former assistants with them? If the relationship between Murray and Boudreau is so fractured that Murray is unilaterally making personnel changes to the coaching staff than he should have just fired Boudreau.

Well, let's just say that it happened to Carlyle only more publicly. It's not out of the question. Friedman said there was tension between BB and BM. BM hesitated during exit interviews to say BB would be back. Days later Lauer gets fired. It's not out of the realm of possibility that BM told BB how it was going down and gave him the option to be on board with it or to join Lauer out the door.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

With Murray saying they're restructuring the way duties are distributed amongst the coaching staff it wouldn't surprise me if Boudreau wasn't given much choice. Meaning, I think he was told that Lauer was being replaced, no input needed. But it would be a pretty dickish act of sabotage to just bring in a guy that you have no idea if he could get along with, so I'm sure Boudreau had input there.