Phil Housley discussion thread

[Revelate]

I sadly think they are miles away from firing Housley. Like it’s not even a thought that occurs to them.

 

[Montag DP]

I sadly think they are miles away from firing Housley. Like it’s not even a thought that occurs to them.

I really have a hard time believing Botterill is that clueless. Others may not, but he's watching the games, and he's been a part of well-coached organizations. This team is the farthest from well-coached that I could reasonably imagine from an NHL team. They are trying to give Housley a fair shot while at the same time turning the wheels on what the plan would be going forward if he were let go.

 

[Revelate]

I really have a hard time believing Botterill is that clueless. Others may not, but he's watching the games, and he's been a part of well-coached organizations. This team is the farthest from well-coached that I could reasonably imagine from an NHL team. They are trying to give Housley a fair shot while at the same time turning the wheels on what the plan would be going forward if he were let go.

He was clueless enough to hire him in the first place. He also knows he only gets to fire one coach so he’s incentivized to drag this out.

 

[pigpen65]

Maybe Housley can just be replaced by Bylsma since Buffalo is still paying him for the next 3 years. Of course Housley would continue being paid during that time also. Or they can replace him with a new coach and have 3 guys they are paying to be head coach at the same time. If they fired that guy before the end of the year they could have 4. That would probably set a record. Is Nolan technically done getting checks yet?

 

[Duddy]

So? We should keep a bad coach?

Sadly, Housley will survive the season and in the offseason change will come.
We wasted all of Jacks and Sams ELC years, lets hope the whole front office isn't stupid enough to do the same with Dahlins.

 

[Zip15]

I sadly think they are miles away from firing Housley. Like it’s not even a thought that occurs to them.

I think, absent a truly horrid start (e.g., losing 11 of first 15 games), Phil was always going to get at least about 30 games this season. But Botts comes from an organization where they fired a coach in his second season after 28 games while the team was 15-10-3 (33 pts), which is still a playoff-team pace. Obviously, the standard was higher in Pittsburgh, and their Cup window was open so there was no point in throwing away a season if they knew Johnston wasn't their guy. But if we're sitting at something like 10-15-4 after 29 games, I think you're going to start hearing whispers, at minimum.

 

[Zip15]

So? We should keep a bad coach?

Sadly, Housley will survive the season and in the offseason change will come.
We wasted all of Jacks and Sams ELC years, lets hope the whole front office isn't stupid enough to do the same with Dahlins.

Honestly, I'd almost prefer this if the alternative is making another long-term hire in-season (e.g., Sutter). If they fire Phil in-season, my preference would be that they make Payne the interim coach, and then hand Sheldon Keefe a blank check in the offseason. Having Dahlin and Eichel will make us attractive to many top candidates, so we shouldn't settle for what's available in the smaller pool that's available in-season.

 

[dortt]

Maybe Housley can just be replaced by Bylsma since Buffalo is still paying him for the next 3 years. Of course Housley would continue being paid during that time also. Or they can replace him with a new coach and have 3 guys they are paying to be head coach at the same time. If they fired that guy before the end of the year they could have 4. That would probably set a record. Is Nolan technically done getting checks yet?

This would easily be Nolan's most talented team. I'd love to see what he could get out of a talented team, since he was able to get an ECHL team to nearly ruin the tank

 

[Gabrielor]

I think, absent a truly horrid start (e.g., losing 11 of first 15 games), Phil was always going to get at least about 30 games this season. But Botts comes from an organization where they fired a coach in his second season after 28 games while the team was 15-10-3 (33 pts), which is still a playoff-team pace. Obviously, the standard was higher in Pittsburgh, and their Cup window was open so there was no point in throwing away a season if they knew Johnston wasn't their guy. But if we're sitting at something like 10-15-4 after 29 games, I think you're going to start hearing whispers, at minimum.

I want Housley to go for sure, but unlike Bylsma, this time I don’t like the pass it gives the players. Nothing about firing Housley will hold Jack accountable for his individualist and lazy play that’s been adopted by most of the team.

 

[ozpensfan]

Phil to me is a far better Assistant coach then a head coach. He reminds me of Tocchet in Pittsburgh as a soft spoken players coach who managers egos and super stars and relays the coaches message. He has zero presence as a head coach and sounds like a timid school boy.

 

[Royal Thunder]

Housley needs to start changing things up and try some things. Sam at C, Mittelstadt on the wing, break up Risto/Scandella, etc. He's so slow to react to things and switch it up. Clearly the current chemistry isn't gonna get us anywhere.

 

[dasaybz]

I want Housley to go for sure, but unlike Bylsma, this time I don’t like the pass it gives the players. Nothing about firing Housley will hold Jack accountable for his individualist and lazy play that’s been adopted by most of the team.

Huh?

 

[OkimLom]

I really have a hard time believing Botterill is that clueless. Others may not, but he's watching the games, and he's been a part of well-coached organizations. This team is the farthest from well-coached that I could reasonably imagine from an NHL team. They are trying to give Housley a fair shot while at the same time turning the wheels on what the plan would be going forward if he were let go.

We're talking about a GM, after one season, who thought the correct response after watching a rookie head coach lead the team to its worst finish since the tank years, and the 4th worst record (winning pct %) in franchise history, while putting forth a roster with at best 8 guys with NHL talent, was to trade the 2nd best player on the team because he assumed the key problem with the team was the culture and not the coaching ability or actual talent on the roster or how an improvement in coaching and improvement in talent is the way to focus on.

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

I want Housley to go for sure, but unlike Bylsma, this time I don’t like the pass it gives the players. Nothing about firing Housley will hold Jack accountable for his individualist and lazy play that’s been adopted by most of the team.

Doesn’t matter, Eichel is already Teflon. He’s having the start that got O’Reilly traded and nobody’s said a thing.

Jack has one ES point and a 16% share of goals.

And I have no sense of Phil’s job security because most of his bad player decisions have involved Botterill’s guys. Mittelstadt should be nowhere near the 2C spot and Sobotka/Thompson aren’t NHL players, but they’re only on the roster in the first place because of the GM.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

I sadly think they are miles away from firing Housley. Like it’s not even a thought that occurs to them.

Agreed. Housley is being judged by how the young players develop, not the win record. And luckily for Housley, it takes time to determine definitively if a coach is developing players better than other coaches.

 

[OkimLom]

Agreed. Housley is being judged by how the young players develop, not the win record. And luckily for Housley, it takes time to determine definitively if a coach is developing players better than other coaches.

Judged by an owner who is a fanboy for Sabres past, and judged by a GM in his 2nd full season, who I question the quality of his ability to make quality decisions when they require some thought that hired him.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Judged by an owner who is a fanboy for Sabres past, and judged by a GM in his 2nd full season, who I question the quality of his ability to make quality decisions when they require some thought that hired him.

Yes, it’s depressing with little hope for significant improvement

 

[Deleted member 27798]

He was clueless enough to hire him in the first place. He also knows he only gets to fire one coach so he’s incentivized to drag this out.

No one but those involved have any idea how much influence the Pegula’s had in the decision to hire Housley. Maybe it was all Botts call...and then again, maybe it was done at Pegula’s urging.

 

[dasaybz]

Phil was playing with the ground when Davis was drawing up a play. Then he says get over here, and Phil finally starts paying attention. That really bugged me last night.

 

[slip]

The lack of intragame adjustments is ridiculous and highlights Housley's hubris as a coach. Yeah Phil, like you really nailed the perfect line combos before the puck dropped. What a genius.

And when things go blatantly off the rails (as they always do), it's always the players not executing properly. A team comprised of high end first rounders, yet strangely none of them can skate or pass or play defense. What are the odds? Poor Phil.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

My worst fear is coming true. This team is hovering around .500 in spite of the coaching. If we were 1-5 or some similar variation, Housley might be on the heat seat (or at least a warmer seat than last season). Instead, we are doing just well enough to trick some people into thinking we're improving as a team. The same old mistakes are there - bad passing, inability to enter the zone cleanly, low es goals. Nothing is fixed. No corners have been turned. We just have better roster players than last season, which has afforded us a few more wins than usual. By the time the powers that be realize this, we'll be bottom 5 again.

/drama

 

[Samsonite23]

Fire Housley right now. Not tomorrow. Not after breakfast. Now.

Not after CSI....

 

[OkimLom]

My worst fear is coming true. This team is hovering around .500 in spite of the coaching. If we were 1-5 or some similar variation, Housley might be on the heat seat (or at least a warmer seat than last season). Instead, we are doing just well enough to trick some people into thinking we're improving as a team. The same old mistakes are there - bad passing, inability to enter the zone cleanly, low es goals. Nothing is fixed. No corners have been turned. We just have better roster players than last season, which has afforded us a few more wins than usual. By the time the powers that be realize this, we'll be bottom 5 again.

/drama

One can make a case that the ONLY position that has shown ANY improvement is the goaltending position.

 

[Zman5778]

One can make a case that the ONLY position that has shown ANY improvement is the goaltending position.

I disagree. Outside of last night and the Rangers game, I think our defense as a whole is better this year than last. It has massively helped that McCabe has improved and Beaulieu isn't terrible this year.

It is because of coaching? Unlikely. But I do believe our defense has shown improvement.

 

[OkimLom]

I disagree. Outside of last night and the Rangers game, I think our defense as a whole is better this year than last. It has massively helped that McCabe has improved and Beaulieu isn't terrible this year.

It is because of coaching? Unlikely. But I do believe our defense has shown improvement.

McCabe was injured for the majority of the year, him playing is already an improvement. Beaulieu (can't believe I'm saying this), has improved. But Scandella and Risto are regressing horribly. Our #1 pairing this year is playing far from the quality they played at last year, which was average at best. They are playing at 3rd pairing levels of play. Right now, our best defenseman is Dahlin. It's not even close. We have improved our individual talent level, but they are not close to showing that level of talent on the ice.