Points Lost To Stupidity Thread

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Fact is, no matter what our problems are on defense, in net, with injuries, or whatever else, Hakstol is by far the single biggest problem we have and nothing else being fixed will matter if he’s still here.

His stink is currently effecting nearly every single part of the team in a negative fashion, one way or another.

It’s so depressing to know that no matter what happens this year, their chances are basically zero to even win a playoff series, strictly because their coach will **** them over. Just look at what he’s doing inexcusably wrong in game #5... it’s not going to get better from here and the mistakes will just get more costly as the games get more important.

He has more red flags than Morgan Frost, which is hard to believe, but true.

 

[Striiker]

He has more red flags than Morgan Frost, which is hard to believe, but true.

The guys the coach of the team and he didn’t even get a letter. What a failure!

 

[Embiid]

It's just depressing and I don't want to hear it's early in the season. This crap coaching of his has been carrying over since 2015. I mean I don't even really have to get into specifics because everybody has got that down pat on this board anyway. I just know in my gut that putting any faith in this coach making this team a legit cup contender is a fool's errand! I've followed this team long enough to know. I've read this script before.

 

[CapnZin]

I think it would be unfair to single out the refs for this game... soooo I gotta say... refs coupled with hakstonian PP.

 

[CapnZin]

I mentioned them more so as an easy way to point out Hakstol's personnel decisions in a close game. When the games get tight he goes to his reliable players and sometimes those reliable players aren't the best player and sometimes bad things happen when your best players aren't on the ice.

I'm not one to spend a lot of time playing the blame game after goals. Hockey is fluky. Guys make egregious mistakes that don't get talked about as long as the puck doesn't end up in the back of the net. Less egregious mistakes get talked about for pages when the puck goes in the net and certain players are on the ice. On any given goal against you can probably blame 3 different guys and not be wrong. So if you say MacDonald and Hagg "had nothing to do with the goal" you're just looking at the 3 second sequence before the goal and not the bigger picture.

How did the puck get in our zone to begin with?



MacDonald practically lets Nosek walk into the zone with controlled possession even with Simmonds providing back pressure towards the boards. Nosek is not exactly roaring through the neutral zone with speed and we are talking about a bottom 6 guy to begin with (Simmonds is gliding, that's how slow Nosek was moving). It's not a good play. Soon after Hagg and Couturier chase a loose puck, get their wires crossed, both defensemen end up on the same side of the ice, Eakin is wide open to receive a seam pass and the rest is history.

While it's not a mistake in the traditional sense by MacDonald, it's a lack of aggression that leads to zone time for the other team and ultimately a goal. This is part of the reason people point out these decisions even when the end result is a win. Long-term, these players that have a tendency to "generate defense" they end up hurting you. No matter how safe and reliable you may appear to the coach, if you play in your own zone long enough, the other team is going to outscore you.

Amazing take! I really liked that write-up... good job!

Notice one thing too... where are both Amac and Hagg as the goal crosses the red line? That answer is that they are both beyond Elliot’s glove side! Both of them are out of position... to make it worse they’re on the same f***ing side! I realize Amac is trying to cover for Haggs gaf, but there is another F right there.

 

[wankstifier]

Into his fourth year as coach, he still doesn't understand how to spread out icetime. Couturier and Provorov are collecting a ton of minutes.

 

[BillDineen]

Updated OP. We are going to see many playing for the Hakpoint and overplaying "safe" players in 3rd periods.

Edit: I will award -1.5 points for the Hakshell If they lose in OT due to stupidity (playing Lehtera or AMac for instance) it will be -1. If anyone has a better idea, let's hear it.

 

[Normand Lacombe]

It's puzzling that Hak doesn't trust younger guys. How was he so successful at North Dakota? In college, doesn't a coach have to be a teacher and a strong communicator with players he has recruited? The coach has to be able to let his players learn from their mistakes in games. Yet, Hak has not demonstrated these traits in the NHL.

You would figure Hak would play Sanheim, Konecny, Vorobyev, etc. in crucial minutes to evaluate how they respond during pressure situations. These are the types of players that need instruction and playing time, not reduced minutes when they make a turnover.

 

[smoochy]

It's puzzling that Hak doesn't trust younger guys. How was he so successful at North Dakota? In college, doesn't a coach have to be a teacher and a strong communicator with players he has recruited? The coach has to be able to let his players learn from their mistakes in games. Yet, Hak has not demonstrated these traits in the NHL.

You would figure Hak would play Sanheim, Konecny, Vorobyev, etc. in crucial minutes to evaluate how they respond during pressure situations. These are the types of players that need instruction and playing time, not reduced minutes when they make a turnover.

Hak is coaching for his job, he's not going to sacrifice any wins for the sake of player development. He's on the bubble, he knows it, he'll play his vets and try to squeeze every point out he can to prolong the inevitable.

He's a terrible coach and the absolute wrong one for this team right now.

 

[Domino666]

Hak is coaching for his job, he's not going to sacrifice any wins for the sake of player development. He's on the bubble, he knows it, he'll play his vets and try to squeeze every point out he can to prolong the inevitable.

He's a terrible coach and the absolute wrong one for this team right now.

This is correct, but why did Hexy go with this nitwit? I have in the last year slowly started losing faith in Hexy his plan for the team is foggy, it’s a shitty product on the ice and it’s lame that as a collective fanbase we know in the back of our heads there is a slim chance they win a playoff series under Hack

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

I think it would be unfair to single out the refs for this game... soooo I gotta say... refs coupled with hakstonian PP.

They had a terrible game, as usual. The thing is, most people - when they mention the refs - don't "blame" them for losses. We have plenty of reasons for our losses, or what the Hakpologists would erroneously term "scapegoats." Jeff Hakstok is the scapeGOAT.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

This is correct, but why did Hexy go with this nitwit? I have in the last year slowly started losing faith in Hexy his plan for the team is foggy, it’s a ****ty product on the ice and it’s lame that as a collective fanbase we know in the back of our heads there is a slim chance they win a playoff series under Hack

It was a good idea in theory (and only in theory) that just hasn't worked out, mostly because the individual he chose is a ****ing dunce. The thing is, we should have known that getting a college coach was idiotic, because who is the #1 ball-polisher for college hockey?

 

[gertbfrobe16]

hextalls coach mike keenan was hired out of college i believe. university of toronto i think. might be a reason why he hired haktool.

 

[FLYguy3911]

I don’t think you have to look much further than Hakstol coached Hextall’s kid. And it’s not the first time.

 

[BigToe]

Imagine Hak finally gets fired and Hexy brings in someone with a similar system and mindset.

 

[Magua]

Imagine Hak finally gets fired and Hexy brings in someone with a similar system and mindset.

Probably. I find it difficult to totally divorce Hakstol from this being the general play style Hextall wants. Just ya know.....better. A lot of the personnel decisions are made in tandem; the beliefs shared. Better might not be a thing, if true.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Probably. I find it difficult to divorce Hakstol from this being the general play style Hextall wants. Just......better.

Personally, I don't think he cares about the style of play that much. I think he is much more committed to a certain method of draft and development and this (a college coach) theoretically suited that, and also suited the fact that it would take a while to compete (i.e. a young coach wouldn't have the clout to be impatient with a slow build). Also, the Brett connection.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Probably. I find it difficult to totally divorce Hakstol from this being the general play style Hextall wants. Just ya know.....better. A lot of the personnel decisions are made in tandem; the beliefs shared. Better might not be a thing, if true.

Hextall was quick to shoot down the notion that Pittsburgh was on to something & ahead of the curve a few years ago. Look at the draft this past year. The Flyers were mostly status quo putting emphasis on safeness & size while a fair chunk of the league was placing more emphasis on skill, realistic offensive upside, & less on size in their selections.

 

[Magua]

Personally, I don't think he cares about the style of play that much. I think he is much more committed to a certain method of draft and development and this (a college coach) theoretically suited that, and also suited the fact that it would take a while to compete (i.e. a young coach wouldn't have the clout to be impatient with a slow build). Also, the Brett connection.

As LoD said above, I do think he prefers this style; decisions and quotes point that way. I think he likes heavy, defense-first, airtight, reliable structure and players as much as Hakstol and is willing to turn a blind eye to mediocrity as long as its the style he likes by the people he likes. It really can't be undersold that this is HIS guy, and he moved heaven and earth to get him and keep him here.

I'm not disagreeing that he valued the merits of Hakstol the person/player developer more than his specific system, but he whiffed it on both counts. His bench coaching hires since he's been here have been: Gordon, Hakstol, Murphy, Knoblauch. Just a lot of inside-the-box blandness and mediocrity (I can hold judgment on Knob), and Lappy is still kicking from before his tenure. I'm skeptical whoever would get hired in place of Hakstol wouldn't fit the same mold or get misevaluated for the same reason.

 

[catbellysqueezer]

In a way, isn't every loss due to the stupidity of hiring your son's coach to be an NHL coach.

 

[Curufinwe]

I think it's silly to think Hextall hired a coach just because his son played for him.

https://hfboards.mandatory.com/posts/102648889/

https://hfboards.mandatory.com/posts/102656899/

 

[WIP CALLER]

I don't think it's outlandish to think hextall hired hak because he coached Brett since it definitely played a role in the hire. The guy was on nobody's radar for a NHL job, it's not like he ever won at the NCAA level(national championships). I think it's pretty safe to say that had Brett never went to UND, Hextall would not have reached out to him. It may not have been the driving factor but it clearly had an impact because there was no reason out of all the college coaches with actual success out there(winning national championship s) for him to choose hakstol as even a potential candidate.

 

[MacDonald4MVP]

I don't think it's outlandish to think hextall hired hak because he coached Brett since it definitely played a role in the hire. The guy was on nobody's radar for a NHL job, it's not like he ever won at the NCAA level(national championships). I think it's pretty safe to say that had Brett never went to UND, Hextall would not have reached out to him. It may not have been the driving factor but it clearly had an impact because there was no reason out of all the college coaches with actual success out there(winning national championship s) for him to choose hakstol as even a potential candidate.

Was his son vandevelde of ncaa? And more importantly did Jeff treat him the same? If so we might know where his affinity for manure brain comes from.

 

[Rebels57]

I don't think it's outlandish to think hextall hired hak because he coached Brett since it definitely played a role in the hire. The guy was on nobody's radar for a NHL job, it's not like he ever won at the NCAA level(national championships). I think it's pretty safe to say that had Brett never went to UND, Hextall would not have reached out to him. It may not have been the driving factor but it clearly had an impact because there was no reason out of all the college coaches with actual success out there(winning national championship s) for him to choose hakstol as even a potential candidate.

For sure. It is a fact that Hakstol would not be the Flyers coach had Brett Hextall not attended UND. He was the first college-to-NHL hire in over 20 years. As you said, he was not on anyones radar and Hextall has admitted to becoming familiar with him because of Brett.

 

[Embiid]

I'm losing faith in Hextall as a GM just like when I lost faith in him as a goaltender after his groin injuries and his deflating goals (i.e. Claude Lemieux)