Will Todd Richards get fired before the end of the season?

[blahblah]

I see where you are going with this post. i agree with your points. Up to the coach to put in a square hole to match up with the square pegs.

Your analogy works. We have to work with what we've got. I can't see where the coaching staff has made adjustments. I accept that the PK was really going to struggle, but that doesn't explain our poor defensive zone play 5 on 5.

I'm not saying that he could have made miraculous adjustment and we'd had 10 more points now. What I'm saying is that we could have made adjustments to tighten the game and give our players a real chance to win games in the 3rd period. We have players that are good at that. You've got to keep the ship afloat, even if just barely. Even 3 or 4 more points and we give our team a chance to make a run when some of the regulars start to come back. We're going to have to hope for multiple 5 or 6 game winning steaks with no losing streaks the rest of the way now to have a chance.

 

[Viqsi]

Um, yeah...let's just ignore the 10 regulars who have been out. 3 of your top 4 centers. Two top 4 guys. Your $6 million goalie. Let's ignore all that. THE COACH SHOULD BE WINNING DAG NAB IT.

Um. If you look closely, the point blahblah was making was that Richards should have adjusted his approach to the players he presently has, which in many ways he arguably hasn't done (he's shuffled lines and responsibilities, but not actually changed the team's approach to the game). Whether or not this would lead to more wins is neither here nor there; one would obviously hope that it would, but there's no way to be sure.

Basically, when folks start screaming "DO SOMETHING!!!11111one", it's being suggested that that be directed towards Richards instead of Kekalainen. Which is not entirely unfair, as that's ostensibly part of his job.

Personally, I'm not sure if a sudden system shift would be a good idea (especially with developing kids), but I frankly don't know hockey coaching well enough to speak intelligently on the matter. I know the basics of what Richards is already doing, but that's tactical; strategic is something I normally pick up only after it's shoved in front of my face.

 

[blahblah]

One good sign.

Without some of our best defensive players and our starting goaltender, we are only a -17. You get Calvert, AA, Dubinsky, Bob, and JJ back that number heads to zero quickly. With a 9 game losing streak I expected that to be worse. We really started the season well.

 

[blahblah]

Personally, I'm not sure if a sudden system shift would be a good idea (especially with developing kids), but I frankly don't know hockey coaching well enough to speak intelligently on the matter. I know the basics of what Richards is already doing, but that's tactical; strategic is something I normally pick up only after it's shoved in front of my face.

I was mostly proposing simplifying things. Get away from that up tempo approach. Clog things up. Move as a 5 man unit. Nothing terribly different. We've got offense. Continue to try and forecheck hard. As a matter of fact try and emphasize the cycle a bit more. Keep the puck in their end all night if you can and see if that PP can win you a few games. Keep the feet moving, draw more penalties. No more of this shoot from weird angles on the rush. That hasn't worked in 9 games and just starts transition the other direction.

Establish that forecheck and use our bodies. Protect our defense. Frustrate teams, force them to make the mistakes. The mantra of sub-par teams that hang around the playoff picture the longest. Ask Trotz he did that for over a decade.

All we do right now is get outshot by a 2 or 3 to 1 margin in the first. Get down by 2 or 3 goals. Wait for the other team to let up a bit and make our push. It's not working.

 

[Viqsi]

I was mostly proposing simplifying things. Get away from that up tempo approach. Clog things up. Move as a 5 man unit. Nothing terribly different. We've got offense. Continue to try and forecheck hard. As a matter of fact try and emphasize the cycle a bit more. Keep the puck in their end all night if you can and see if that PP can win you a few games. Keep the feet moving, draw more penalties. No more of this shoot from weird angles on the rush. That hasn't worked in 9 games and just starts transition the other direction.

Establish that forecheck and use our bodies. Protect our defense. Frustrate teams, force them to make the mistakes. The mantra of sub-par teams that hang around the playoff picture the longest. Ask Trotz he did that for over a decade.

All we do right now is get outshot by a 2 or 3 to 1 margin in the first. Get down by 2 or 3 goals. Wait for the other team to let up a bit and make our push. It's not working.

I guess that's fair. I mean, I do know that our ability to play fast and loose like we do is normally based on having good defensively responsible depth, but most of that's out, so yeah, I guess that makes sense. It just still feels significantly different to me for some reason. I do imagine we'd lose several of our transition opportunities, for example, and I don't know if the payoff would be worth it. (I imagine Hitchcock would say it would, given his legendary hatred of "track meets", but he's not here anymore. ) Granted, our top line seems to be getting it done more with pressure than by transition rushes, and our secondary scoring is so freaking bad right now that it's hard to imagine it getting worse, but still. Worry worry unknown ignorance worry.

I'm just a lot more comfortable trying to get a better backup goaltender for futures, I guess. Maybe if ever we take over a franchise, I'll GM and you can coach.

 

[Xoggz22]

No chance. No one in the front office goes either. This is an unprecedented run of injuries to key players. The goaltending depth can seriously be questioned but I don't see that an offense that a) Rchards controls or b) Jarmo gets canned for.

 

[blahblah]

I'm just a lot more comfortable trying to get a better backup goaltender for futures, I guess. Maybe if ever we take over a franchise, I'll GM and you can coach.

lol. I think they are just waiting on our own goaltenders to develop. I have no issue with that.

 

[Nordique]

lol. I think they are just waiting on our own goaltenders to develop. I have no issue with that.

And in their defense, I don't think anyone imagined CMac putting up such numbers.

3.76
.887

I sure didn't. I remember when Bob got hurt thinking that he hadn't had a great start to the season anyways, and Curtis would keep us around .500.

 

[Mayor Bee]

Um. If you look closely, the point blahblah was making was that Richards should have adjusted his approach to the players he presently has, which in many ways he arguably hasn't done (he's shuffled lines and responsibilities, but not actually changed the team's approach to the game). Whether or not this would lead to more wins is neither here nor there; one would obviously hope that it would, but there's no way to be sure.

Basically, when folks start screaming "DO SOMETHING!!!11111one", it's being suggested that that be directed towards Richards instead of Kekalainen. Which is not entirely unfair, as that's ostensibly part of his job.

Personally, I'm not sure if a sudden system shift would be a good idea (especially with developing kids), but I frankly don't know hockey coaching well enough to speak intelligently on the matter. I know the basics of what Richards is already doing, but that's tactical; strategic is something I normally pick up only after it's shoved in front of my face.

I reference this type of thing with my baseball- and football-related posts regularly, the idea of adjusting what you do to fit what you have. In Richards' defense, I don't think anyone really knows what he has. Training camp is way too short to figure out a player's true capabilities and limitations, and having all these AHL players on the roster makes it infinitely more difficult.

Look at the defensive pairings. It's not just a case of trying to incorporate each player's skills into the blueline, but also trying to figure out if there's any chemistry there or not. Murray/Wisniewski was a disaster early last season, and got much better as the season progressed. A pairing may be dismal right now, and in three games it could be terrific.

Look up front, where guys like Gibbons and Wennberg and Dano weren't even around at all last year. The only way to tell what either could do is with scouting reports, which is still a guess compared to actually seeing them on the ice.

 

[blahblah]

In Richards' defense, I don't think anyone really knows what he has.

two lines, marginal defense (at best), an average goalie (at best), and inexperienced or role players playing in roles they aren't ready for.

I get your point, but it doesn't take much analysis to realize you're in trouble and can't match up against a NHL team with the system you have.

 

[elmariachi227]

two lines, marginal defense (at best), an
I get your point, but it doesn't take much analysis to realize you're in trouble and can't match up against a NHL team with the system you have.

Good point.

Here's a list of coaches who have a system in place where they can win in the NHL without a large percentage of their NHL pros and doesn't need stable line combos or any chemistry between players (who haven't been injured yet):

















We should totally ditch the guy we have and go with one of them!

 

[Socks]

two lines, marginal defense (at best), an average goalie (at best), and inexperienced or role players playing in roles they aren't ready for.

I get your point, but it doesn't take much analysis to realize you're in trouble and can't match up against a NHL team with the system you have.

Are you speaking about when we're healthy? Or now?

 

[blahblah]

Good point.

Here's a list of coaches who have a system in place where they can win in the NHL without a large percentage of their NHL pros and doesn't need stable line combos or any chemistry between players (who haven't been injured yet):

















We should totally ditch the guy we have and go with one of them!

It's posts like this that give me little hope for the future of the human race. Did you see anywhere where I suggested that we dump him? How did I suddenly get lumped in with the "Fire Richards" crowd. I'm not even sure that movement even exists.

Having said that GG is doing pretty good down in Florida. If you read my posts you would realize that I was asking for Richards to adjust to try and slow the decline. We can't make the playoffs with this roster obviously.

Would you and other like you, please try and read and understand what others are posting? I don't have time to come in an continue to correct misrepresentations of my posts. I'm considering hiring Viqsi.

Can we report people for not reading posts properly and coming to inaccurate conclusions? No? We should.. :p

 

[blahblah]

Are you speaking about when we're healthy? Or now?

At this point in time obviously.

 

[Socks]

At this point in time obviously.

Gotcha. I figured as much, just double checking that I was reading you right.

 

[KCbus]

Richards isn't going to get fired for this. John Davidson is no dummy. He's been around long enough to recognize the totality of the situation. Firing the coach isn't going to bring six of our nine injured players back to full fitness.

 

[major major]

I was mostly proposing simplifying things. Get away from that up tempo approach. Clog things up. Move as a 5 man unit. Nothing terribly different. We've got offense. Continue to try and forecheck hard. As a matter of fact try and emphasize the cycle a bit more. Keep the puck in their end all night if you can and see if that PP can win you a few games. Keep the feet moving, draw more penalties. No more of this shoot from weird angles on the rush. That hasn't worked in 9 games and just starts transition the other direction.

Establish that forecheck and use our bodies. Protect our defense. Frustrate teams, force them to make the mistakes. The mantra of sub-par teams that hang around the playoff picture the longest. Ask Trotz he did that for over a decade.

All we do right now is get outshot by a 2 or 3 to 1 margin in the first. Get down by 2 or 3 goals. Wait for the other team to let up a bit and make our push. It's not working.

I don't know systems all that well, so I could be wrong about this, but.. the mistakes some of our guys are making are going to screw you over in any system. Playing Trotzian hockey requires discipline and guys doing their jobs. I don't know if we'd be more likely to get that in that system or if it would be more disaster.

Also I'm not sure what you're suggesting, some of this seems contradictory. I think if you look at our games we're clearly the better team when we play aggressive up-tempo hockey and we just get schooled when we're backing up on the points.

 

[NotWendell]

This is Jarmo's handiwork, not Todd Richards, but mostly really rotten luck.
I would re-evaluate the strength and conditioning coach's programs, however.

 

[NotWendell]

And in their defense, I don't think anyone imagined CMac putting up such numbers.

3.76
.887

I sure didn't. I remember when Bob got hurt thinking that he hadn't had a great start to the season anyways, and Curtis would keep us around .500.

I did - and blahblah will vouch for me.

 

[blahblah]

This is Jarmo's handiwork, not Todd Richards, but mostly really rotten luck.
I would re-evaluate the strength and conditioning coach's programs, however.

I haven't seen anything to suggest strength or conditioning issues, although I wouldn't be surprised if Savard needs a Dietician.

I did - and blahblah will vouch for me.

You haven't liked him for a while, but I don't think even you thought he was going to be this "bad".

I still maintain it's more than just C-Mac being "bad".

 

[Fred Glover]

This is Jarmo's handiwork, not Todd Richards, but mostly really rotten luck.
I would re-evaluate the strength and conditioning coach's programs, however.

Didn't Jarmo have a hand in the program two years ago, where he participated in it as his own personal conditioning program?

 

[Fred Glover]

Here is the obligatory "we wouldn't be having this discussion if we were playing .500 hockey"post

 

[Robert]

No.... unless, they lose 20 in a row... perhaps then...

 

[Robert]

This is Jarmo's handiwork, not Todd Richards, but mostly really rotten luck.
I would re-evaluate the strength and conditioning coach's programs, however.

After CBJ injuries, strength and conditioning is the most common issue since 2002..

 

[Cyclones Rock]

Given that none of the Springfield guys nor the draft picks can score a goal and the back up goalie can't stop a beachball half the time, no systems adjustments would have made a difference. Mediocre AHL players can't compete at the NHL level.

Scotty Bowman couldn't have done much better with this rag tag bunch. Nonetheless, the Broadcaster might drop the anvil on Richards head should the team not immediately respond when the 2 skis are back in the lineup. As someone pointed out, Richards is not 'his guy' and my impression of Davidson is that he's heavily into cronyism, so he may use this protracted streak and a non immediate rebound when Dubi and Bob return as the excuse to move his own guy in. Richards only signed a 2 year deal and it was undoubtedly not a big money deal. In comparison to the Horton debacle, canning Richards wouldn't move the bottom line meter.

Of course it would be absurdly unfair to can Richards. The Scout bears full responsibility for the 9 game carnage. Anyone on this board could have made the roster moves Jarmo made during this crisis-just call the Springfield coach and ask him who's his best forward or dman and then tell him to get that guy on a plane to Columbus.

If Richards should get the axe it would not be the end of the NHL road for him. His work of last season would be the relevant body of work that a sound GM would make his judgement upon and this season would be regarded as completely beyond his control.