Vote: Keep or Fire Blash

[Bench]

... is it really just the roster?

Uhh, yes. This roster is awful top to bottom. The blueline is one of the worst in the NHL. Hell, it's the worst. I'll say it. We have placeholder centers outside of Larkin. And even then, Larkin is great, but he's not in that elite center company the top teams are icing. The scoring options are limited to one line or if AA can weave through 3 guys without turning over the puck.

This roster is a total gut and remodel. You're going to keep a couple pieces but the 2022 Wings won't have a fraction of these guys remaining.

What the hell people expect from any coach here is remarkable. This isn't the Blues or Leafs with a bunch of elite pieces falling down the standings that need a shakeup. This is a gutter team scraping by and measuring success isn't going be in the win column every night.

 

[MBH]

Fire the bum. He's an embarrassment.
The Wings are on pace for a 121+ goal differential.
Maybe the worst team of the cap era.

You can talk about this roster all you want..
But Nielsen? Erne? Perlini? All these guys with goose eggs?
Yeesh.

At some point, you have to lookout for the assets you have on the roster and put them in a position play well.

 

[Gniwder]

Uhh, yes. This roster is awful top to bottom. The blueline is one of the worst in the NHL. Hell, it's the worst. I'll say it. We have placeholder centers outside of Larkin. And even then, Larkin is great, but he's not in that elite center company the top teams are icing. The scoring options are limited to one line or if AA can weave through 3 guys without turning over the puck.

This roster is a total gut and remodel. You're going to keep a couple pieces but the 2022 Wings won't have a fraction of these guys remaining.

What the hell people expect from any coach here is remarkable. This isn't the Blues or Leafs with a bunch of elite pieces falling down the standings that need a shakeup. This is a gutter team scraping by and measuring success isn't going be in the win column every night.

This is the NHL's worst defense, featuring 2 guys that cleared waivers at least once, one guy that was waived and claimed, one guy that should be waived (Bowey), and a kid that should be developing in the AHL (Cholo). There isn't another team that has so many AHLers playing D.
​

The team doesn't have enough talent to win many games, but I still expect a decent 1PP with the roster he has, and a defensive system instead of chasing the puck.

 

[RedMenace]

Uhh, yes. This roster is awful top to bottom. The blueline is one of the worst in the NHL. Hell, it's the worst. I'll say it. We have placeholder centers outside of Larkin. And even then, Larkin is great, but he's not in that elite center company the top teams are icing. The scoring options are limited to one line or if AA can weave through 3 guys without turning over the puck.

This roster is a total gut and remodel. You're going to keep a couple pieces but the 2022 Wings won't have a fraction of these guys remaining.

What the hell people expect from any coach here is remarkable. This isn't the Blues or Leafs with a bunch of elite pieces falling down the standings that need a shakeup. This is a gutter team scraping by and measuring success isn't going be in the win column every night.

I understand the roster deficiencies, but there really is no semblance of a system in any aspect of the team. Hell, the power play is the best of the lot, and even that is severely lacking in creativity.

On the flip side of your last comment, why did, arguably, the "best" coach today just get fired from a team that's underachieving BIG time? Is it the coach or the players? Sure you can blame a roster for a lack of winning, but at the same time, you can also blame a coaching staff for a lack of correct player utilization.

To your point, Blashill has done jack and shit with the players he's had for what, five years now? Some of that is obviously on management for roster building (or lack thereof), but at some point a coach has to be able to extract the best from what he's got. Can you honestly, and without a shadow of snark or cynicism, sit here and say that the players Detroit has are that bad? We've seen that they're capable of beating some good teams and executing plays well and consistently. What's the disconnect now? Kronwall retiring? De la Rose being traded?

To those who say SFY stands behind Blashill, again... sigh... it's not like he's going to come out and say, "Yo, f*** this guy. He's a shit coach, and the first chance I get I'm going to shitcan his sorry ass." As has been the Red Wings way, any public statement is going to be very inoffensive and non-committal. We don't really know what SFY thinks, what Blashill thinks, what the players think...

 

[Bench]

Can you honestly, and without a shadow of snark or cynicism, sit here and say that the players Detroit has are that bad?

That's exactly what I'm saying.

 

[RedMenace]

That's exactly what I'm saying.

I honestly can't say that.

But what the hell do I know?

 

[Bench]

I honestly can't say that.

But what the hell do I know?

Case by case basis you can make an argument for most of them on some level. But when you stack up the NHL rosters across the league... this is a team in the bottom 30% at basically every position. The top line is good. It's not elite, but it's pretty good. And that's it. Everything else is well below average and so I'm not surprised they struggle to win games.

I have no idea if Blashill is squeezing every ounce of juice from this rotten fruit, and I'm not particularly attached to him, but if a coach was capable of even making this roster a 40 win team they'd be in line for a Jack Adams. Judging Blashill isn't going to come on the score sheet and it sounds like that's not how Yzerman is evaluating him. It appears he's acutely aware of how rough the roster is and is investing his expectations into the future.

 

[MBH]

Blash is a joke.
This is a poorly coached team.
Look at the roster in March of last year.
Look at it today.
Same talent level. Trade Jake Chelios for Biega.
Add Erne and Perlini instead of Puempel and Kuffner.
And we were way better last year.

 

[Henkka]

Blashill is now joke, when he did put AA to 1st line?

Okay.

 

[lilidk]

It's all Holland fault

 

[SimonEdvinssonAtSix]

It's all Holland fault

No, it's really not.

 

[RedMenace]

Case by case basis you can make an argument for most of them on some level. But when you stack up the NHL rosters across the league... this is a team in the bottom 30% at basically every position. The top line is good. It's not elite, but it's pretty good. And that's it. Everything else is well below average and so I'm not surprised they struggle to win games.

I have no idea if Blashill is squeezing every ounce of juice from this rotten fruit, and I'm not particularly attached to him, but if a coach was capable of even making this roster a 40 win team they'd be in line for a Jack Adams. Judging Blashill isn't going to come on the score sheet and it sounds like that's not how Yzerman is evaluating him. It appears he's acutely aware of how rough the roster is and is investing his expectations into the future.

Well articulated, and I can't and won't argue with it.

 

[Gniwder]

Either Blash is coaching stationary hockey on D, breakouts, PK, and PP or he's completely lost this team. The PP is ridiculously brutal.

I think it's time to try something different. If not Blash, at least fire whoever is coaching the PP.

 

[Hen Kolland]

at least fire whoever is coaching the PP

Disco Dan, come on down.

 

[Winger98]

Either Blash is coaching stationary hockey on D, breakouts, PK, and PP or he's completely lost this team. The PP is ridiculously brutal.

I think it's time to try something different. If not Blash, at least fire whoever is coaching the PP.

I think confidence is being under rated a bit. The Wings have been kicked hard this year, and I think a lot of guys just don't have the confidence to play how they are being told to. We could still say that's on the coach, and it might be to some degree, but it's also the team just sucking. I mean, a nightly scratch we dealt a 4th line center for has stepped in and has been our fourth or fifth best forward on a nightly basis.

 

[Gniwder]

I think confidence is being under rated a bit. The Wings have been kicked hard this year, and I think a lot of guys just don't have the confidence to play how they are being told to. We could still say that's on the coach, and it might be to some degree, but it's also the team just sucking. I mean, a nightly scratch we dealt a 4th line center for has stepped in and has been our fourth or fifth best forward on a nightly basis.

You know the saying... you can't fire the whole team.

 

[MBH]

If people aren't supportive of firing this coach now, don't waste your time on it. They never will be.
I mean, losing 2-0 in a game where you get doubled in shots is like a moral victory.

 

[Winger98]

You know the saying... you can't fire the whole team.

I think I could be fine with just 60% of the team being canned.

 

[Gniwder]

I think I could be fine with just 60% of the team being canned.

LOL, yeah, I expect only a handful of these guys will be on the team when they eventually make the playoffs again.

 

[Gniwder]

If people aren't supportive of firing this coach now, don't waste your time on it. They never will be.
I mean, losing 2-0 in a game where you get doubled in shots is like a moral victory.

REally doesn't matter what we think anyways, sounds like Stevie is going to stick with Blash for the year. I'm just going to stop watching games until some of these issues get fixed. I can't watch a team that can't score. It's pointless, so to speak.

 

[odin1981]

Thank you again for telling me what I "need" to do. I have no idea what you do for a living, but you will never persuade a stranger to take your viewpoint by telling people they "need" to do something.

Blashill is not a good coach for reasons I have already pointed out. The 5 on 3 today proves my point. Is he the worst coach ever? No. But he isn't a good one either. My biggest beefs are:
- Stop playing Howard
- PP, especially 5 on 3 (There's enough talent for one decent PP line)
- Defensive system that consists of chasing the puck, with no coverage (or maybe we just have really stupid players)

If Bylsma is the pp coach why is it Blashill's fault? Usually people get blamed for failures they have responsibility over.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

If Bylsma is the pp coach why is it Blashill's fault? Usually people get blamed for failures they have responsibility over.

Blashill is the head coach so ultimately all coaching is his responsibility .

 

[Gniwder]

If Bylsma is the pp coach why is it Blashill's fault? Usually people get blamed for failures they have responsibility over.

If the PP isn't working, then it's Blash's job to recognize the issue and resolve it. If it means firing Disco Dan, then so be it. Quite frankly, we should just let Fabbri/Bert run it and let them do what they want. Seemed to work the first couple of games until Fabbri got "coached".

This is also the reason I don't want Disco as interim if Blash is fired. He's not a good coach.

 

[MBH]

If the PP isn't working, then it's Blash's job to recognize the issue and resolve it. If it means firing Disco Dan, then so be it. Quite frankly, we should just let Fabbri/Bert run it and let them do what they want. Seemed to work the first couple of games until Fabbri got "coached".

This is also the reason I don't want Disco as interim if Blash is fired. He's not a good coach.

Fabbri scoring two goals on two shots... talk about unsustainable

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Blashill is the head coach so ultimately all coaching is his responsibility .

For what it is worth, many coaching and management contracts prevent a coach or manager from unilaterally terminating the contract of an assistant coach (or any employee with a multi-year contract). Those decisions frequently require the approval of upper management.

Your point still stands though that Blash is indirectly responsible for the specialty teams.