Should Guy Boucher be fired?

[LGB 26]

Kind of sucks we have the top goal scorer in the league and cant find him the support he needs for this to be an elite team.

 

[Bolts265]

Kind of interesting that the call ups from Syracuse are the only ones playing with some heart most of the time. Some of the vets are ok too but not for a full 60 mins.

 

[warlord6]

Playoffs = no
No playoffs = yes

This.

 

[2 Weekes Notice]

We really didn't have a huge turnover in the roster since last year. A few new players were added, but most were from Syracuse where they played together already. And to be honest, I'm done with Boucher's "process". I don't want to be involved in a process that makes us progressively worse every year when our roster is trending in the other direction. I'm not willing to waste the end of MSL's career and the last of Vinny's somewhat productive years to give that gelled up goofball some more time. What's going to happen when in 2 years we lose MSL and Vinny is 35? Stamkos will be 25 and on the decline of his prime and we'll be running out of time. Boucher and his buddies need to go. This organization has a world class owner, a so far very good GM, and...Boucher. I think it's pretty clear where the cancer is.

Yo, if Stamkos is on the way down at age 25, our problems are bigger than a coach.

 

[ThunderRoad]

From what we are seeing on the ice, considering the talent of the team, there needs to be a change - at least at the assistant level positions. Seems like the team needs a few coaches with higher levels of NHL experience or some new ideas.

 

[MattM92]

Gelled up goofball? Cancer? Seriously? You seem to be taking every move Boucher makes as a personal affront. You can not like some things he's doing on the coaching front, I'm not a big fan of some of it, but you cannot blame all of this on him.

Like it or not, we did have turnover in key areas. Salo and Carle are new. As awesome as Salo has been, we've known he was an injury risk. And bingo, he's hurt. Carle is as advertised. Weak shot, bad pinches and occasional lazy play. We were warned. Not sure why a single person is surprised that he's looked bad lately. But yay, he's ours for 6 years. That's half our top 4 defense. You've also got a brand new goalie who has had a whopping 50 NHL starts.

As far as wasting Marty and Vinny's careers and Stamkos in his prime, enough already. I'm pretty damn sure Boucher isn't telling Marty to make no look back passes to the opponent, Stamkos to lose every faceoff and Vinny to float and lose board battles to guys half his size.

Gelled up goofball is my nickname for him along with Bobby Boucher. And he and his staff are a cancer. No one that has been on this team (exception to Stamkos and MSL) under Boucher has had any consistent success. Vinny hasn't been the same, Purcell is very hot and cold, and no other player has had any form of measurable success. Look at what is happening to the young guys that came up from Syracuse. They looked incredibly strong to start off and have now looked like the rest of the players on the team. Not motivated at all to win.

Also, I'm sure Boucher isn't telling Marty to make hope passes and Vinny to skate in quicksand. It's his lack of coaching that cause those things. Marty's no look back passes or Vinny showing no fight against the boards are coaching issues. When a player isn't going to be held accountable in some way for fundamental mistakes, they will do whatever they want. What motivation is there to try if no one is pushing you? Same could be said for Stamkos' ineptitude on faceoffs. That's something that can and should be coached. Like it or not, this is Stamkos' peak and the fact that he will start a slow decline around 25 or 26 is something we're gonna have to live with. Not saying he'll be worthless after he turns 25, but we're not going to be seeing 50-60 goal seasons very often. Also, a quick question: I think we can all agree that Stamkos is a top 5 player in the world. If so, why hasn't he broken 100 points yet? If Boucher is the kind of coach that brings the best out of his players, why hasn't Stamkos broken 100 points in a season? (especially considering we play in a pretty weak division) This is not at all a knock on Stamkos as he is in every way a generational talent in my opinion, but I'm calling Boucher's ability to coach into question again.

 

[Bolt32]

This team lacks drive and lacks heart. We see players being rewarded for play that is hurting us. The team is highly demotavated and will continue to do so the rest of this year.

Its sad, because you look on paper and this team should be in contention for a cup,and the way we are going after our first six games we can consider us extremly lucky to make the playoffs. Death for Seth, and give Cooper the helm next season. Tired of this ********.

 

[MattM92]

https://twitter.com/erlendssonTBO/status/307579852662378497

That's what I wanna see more of

 

[The Wyzerhood]

This team lacks drive and lacks heart. We see players being rewarded for play that is hurting us. The team is highly demotavated and will continue to do so the rest of this year.

Its sad, because you look on paper and this team should be in contention for a cup,and the way we are going after our first six games we can consider us extremly lucky to make the playoffs. Death for Seth, and give Cooper the helm next season. Tired of this ********.

Really? You looked at this team this year and expected to be in contention for a cup ?

What cup contenders have serious question marks in the goaltending department? What cup contenders have a lack of toughness in their forward ranks? What cup contenders have concerns about their top 4 defensemen?

There were a lot of question marks going into the year and I always knew it would be a battle to win the SE or at least a struggle to make the playoffs.

 

[Tampacuseforever]

https://twitter.com/erlendssonTBO/status/307579852662378497

That's what I wanna see more of

What ? You mean our stick checking defending is not working. Someone may get hurt if we actually hit the opposing team !!!

 

[Bolt32]

Really? You looked at this team this year and expected to be in contention for a cup ?

What cup contenders have serious question marks in the goaltending department? What cup contenders have a lack of toughness in their forward ranks? What cup contenders have concerns about their top 4 defensemen?

There were a lot of question marks going into the year and I always knew it would be a battle to win the SE or at least a struggle to make the playoffs.

Yeah should have worded that differently. I do see them on paper has a playoff team. Improved goaltending, improved defense with a legit number 1 finally in hedman. Also add to that with an offense with one of the most dangerous top 6's in the league.

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

Gelled up goofball is my nickname for him along with Bobby Boucher. And he and his staff are a cancer. No one that has been on this team (exception to Stamkos and MSL) under Boucher has had any consistent success. Vinny hasn't been the same, Purcell is very hot and cold, and no other player has had any form of measurable success. Look at what is happening to the young guys that came up from Syracuse. They looked incredibly strong to start off and have now looked like the rest of the players on the team. Not motivated at all to win.

Also, I'm sure Boucher isn't telling Marty to make hope passes and Vinny to skate in quicksand. It's his lack of coaching that cause those things. Marty's no look back passes or Vinny showing no fight against the boards are coaching issues. When a player isn't going to be held accountable in some way for fundamental mistakes, they will do whatever they want. What motivation is there to try if no one is pushing you? Same could be said for Stamkos' ineptitude on faceoffs. That's something that can and should be coached. Like it or not, this is Stamkos' peak and the fact that he will start a slow decline around 25 or 26 is something we're gonna have to live with. Not saying he'll be worthless after he turns 25, but we're not going to be seeing 50-60 goal seasons very often. Also, a quick question: I think we can all agree that Stamkos is a top 5 player in the world. If so, why hasn't he broken 100 points yet? If Boucher is the kind of coach that brings the best out of his players, why hasn't Stamkos broken 100 points in a season? (especially considering we play in a pretty weak division) This is not at all a knock on Stamkos as he is in every way a generational talent in my opinion, but I'm calling Boucher's ability to coach into question again.

I barely know where to begin.

Marty making the no look hope passes are not a coaching issue. Marty should know better, seriously. Same with Vinny's issues. It's not like Boucher was the start of Vinny's problems. Not even close. Now for a question. How do you want Boucher to hold them accountable? Cut their ice time? Bench them? He'd be burned in effigy on the Plaza before the next home game.

Complaining about Stamkos not hitting 100 pts in a season yet makes you sound like one of those main board people who don't want him mentioned in the same breath as Crosby or Malkin. Since his rookie year he's hit 95, 91, 97. And he's leading the league in points right now. It's a ludicrous complaint, it really is.

I will agree that the faceoffs are a coaching issue. It needs to be addressed ASAP. I would love to hear about a practice that works on some basics. Faceoffs, passing, backchecking, clearing the crease, getting some butts in the opposing goalies face. I'm not claiming that I have no problems with anything that Boucher does, I do. I'm not even going to state that he should be immune from criticism or firing, if Yzerman deems it necessary. But you seem to be of the opinion that if we only would fire Boucher and his staff and brought up Cooper (and who as the assistants?) that we would be on the way to glory. There are still personnel issues and I agree strongly with the poster that said this was not a cup contending team, before the season started. I barely had them as a playoff team.

 

[The Wyzerhood]

Yeah should have worded that differently. I do see them on paper has a playoff team. Improved goaltending, improved defense with a legit number 1 finally in hedman. Also add to that with an offense with one of the most dangerous top 6's in the league.

We're definitely not as far as away as the team from last season from being a contender in the playoffs, despite what our performances and place in standings currently shows.

However, we still need to add a better and more reliable top 4 defenseman than Brewer, or at least to cover for Salo when he's injured (like now). In the playoffs, toughness and grittiness become even more vital and we're seriously lacking that right now. If Malone can regain his form from last season and play with a ton of aggression that'll really help us.

We have enough offense in Stammer, Cory, Vinny and Marty, but we lack the blend of toughness, size and skill in the top 6 to complement them. Pouliot and Malone are quality secondary scoring options. This is why I think Purcell should be dangled as trade bait (in addition with a prospect) to bring us that type of player in return. One of Hall or Crombeen also need to be replaced with a more aggressive, physical player in the bottom 6 that can set the tone in games and strike fear into the opposition.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

I've always been a Guy lover, but I'm starting to get impatient.

We have to do some moves, I don't care if via trade or via assistant coachs, but we have to get on a special teams coach, team is just awful on the PP, with the weapons we have we should be number #1 PP in the league.
Its just sad to see the team trying to get into the offensive zone, especially in the PP, embarrassing stuff.

We need to be more physical.

I say if this team misses the playoffs we should at the very least consider promoting Cooper

 

[Coopers Gum]

I've always been a Guy lover

Yes, I am 12 years old.

 

[MattM92]

I barely know where to begin.

Marty making the no look hope passes are not a coaching issue. Marty should know better, seriously. Same with Vinny's issues. It's not like Boucher was the start of Vinny's problems. Not even close. Now for a question. How do you want Boucher to hold them accountable? Cut their ice time? Bench them? He'd be burned in effigy on the Plaza before the next home game.

Complaining about Stamkos not hitting 100 pts in a season yet makes you sound like one of those main board people who don't want him mentioned in the same breath as Crosby or Malkin. Since his rookie year he's hit 95, 91, 97. And he's leading the league in points right now. It's a ludicrous complaint, it really is.

I will agree that the faceoffs are a coaching issue. It needs to be addressed ASAP. I would love to hear about a practice that works on some basics. Faceoffs, passing, backchecking, clearing the crease, getting some butts in the opposing goalies face. I'm not claiming that I have no problems with anything that Boucher does, I do. I'm not even going to state that he should be immune from criticism or firing, if Yzerman deems it necessary. But you seem to be of the opinion that if we only would fire Boucher and his staff and brought up Cooper (and who as the assistants?) that we would be on the way to glory. There are still personnel issues and I agree strongly with the poster that said this was not a cup contending team, before the season started. I barely had them as a playoff team.

I'm not saying Boucher needs to do a Torts type discipline where the guy sits a whole period for a mistake. But if the guy makes multiple fundamental mistakes in one game, sit him for 2 shifts or take it out on him in practice. If you aren't gonna bust your ass in game then you're gonna bust your ass in practice. About Stamkos, it's NOT a complaint. I'm merely observing that Stamkos hasn't hit 100 points and considering how good he is, he really should have by now if Boucher was maximizing his players. Like I said, it is not a knock on Stamkos. The kid is arguably the best in the world.

It seems we agree about Boucher doing something as simple as covering the fundamentals in practice. That's what I notice most with this team is just the boneheaded, brain fart plays where they forget how to hockey.

Finally, I don't think this team is a Cup-contender yet either. I don't think Cooper is the missing piece to this team, but I do think he is better than Boucher. We don't have the best goaltending or defense and it's not COMPLETELY the coaches faults that they aren't lights out. But if you look at this team, we should at least be winning some games outside of our division. When's the last time we won a road game that wasn't in the SE division? Against a non-SE team period?? Going 1-6 against the Atlantic (only win coming against the flat Flyers on the ass end of a back-2-back) is not acceptable. The general expectation before the season was for the Bolts to battle Carolina and Washington for the division lead and either get 3rd or 7th-9th. Right now we just aren't at that level and we've been extremely fortunate so far to not have multiple injuries to key players. So far only Malone has missed extended time and Salo is DTD. Other teams are playing in stronger divisions and dealing with more injuries and they are outperforming us game after game. To me, that's on the coaches.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Yes, I am 12 years old.

I knew someone would not be able to resist