New Head Coach search

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I mean Fitz blows this decision and he's getting fired no matter how good the roster he makes. It's basically his entire GM tenure wrapped up in one decision.

 

[NJDevs26]

We did the vet coach and look where it got us.

I have faith in Fitz.

Two vet coaches lol...but then again Shero did two rookie coaches and that didn't work out any better either.

I don't think vet coach or rookie coach even matters if you're just going to pick the guy's assistants, have too many cooks in the kitchen with the system and lineup decisions and give him no autonomy to discipline anyone other than Holtz, if he's even still here.

 

[Call Me Al]

I mean Fitz blows this decision and he's getting fired no matter how good the roster he makes. It's basically his entire GM tenure wrapped up in one decision.

and rightfully so

 

[Whaddagoal]

I'd like someone who can deal with whatever the problem was this season. Now, I don't have any claims to know what the problem(s) exactly entail but out of purely speculative purposes I can see it bucketing into potentially one or multiple of these categories

-rookie/young players need strong or influential voice (Luke/Mercer/Bahl/Nemec)
-vet not being held accountable to consistent standard (Smith/Toffoli/Haula/Palat/Meier)
-player core accountability problems (Nico/Bratt/Jack/Meier/Marino/Sieges) -aka either too strong a dynamic or arrogant or not a voice strong enough to influence rest of the team
-goaltender/coaching/player dynamics
-some other speculative dynamic:
(swiss power dynamic)
(Jack/Luke untouchable accountability problems)
(General mentality isn't right. Not enough hate to lose types? Not winners? Too soft? Would be surprised after the years Nico and Jack that they would not want to positively fight for an improved consistent team dynamic in the lockeroom)
(Too cozy/not enough internal org pressure to win)

So many possibilities. Need a coach that can understand the dynamic and change it or channel it in the right way. The core is too good to be this bad. Both young and old.

The fact the team barely showed any difference after Ruff was let go, to me means, they most likely liked Ruff enough (maybe Meier less so lol), because you'd otherwise get a jolt of winning right away. To me this means something else is totally broken or impacting heavily the dynamics.

One person at least, is in the clear of this whole mess, and that is Dougie 'The General' Hamilton.

 

[MartyOwns]

leach, vellucci, savard, berube. i'm fine with any of those

 

[MasterofGrond]

Personally, I think the best form of accountability isn’t imposed top down by a coach, but naturally develops bottom up as a team when the team has bought in to the vision. You still need the right coach to build and communicate that vision, but then it’s on the players to see it, engage with it, and move it forward. The guys need to be accountable to each other and that only works with real buy in.

If you want a lazy psychological explanation for why the team has kept playing badly after Ruff got canned, it’s because there (still) isn’t a compelling vision because we have an interim guy who was here all year. Besides, even if there were something to buy into it’s hard to build that in what, despite some low probability dreams, is ultimately a lame duck part of the season for the team.

the guys on the team didn’t just stop being resilient over the off-season. Just need to be built back up to it.

 

[Bleedred]

I'd rather have gotten the N. Bench 2,0 than this Travis Green nonsense.

Lou works somewhere else, so his spot would be taken by Fitz.

Oates, Stevens, Fitzgerald. That would be a fine three headed monster of a coaching staff!

 

[NJDevs26]

Personally, I think the best form of accountability isn’t imposed top down by a coach, but naturally develops bottom up as a team when the team has bought in to the vision. You still need the right coach to build and communicate that vision, but then it’s on the players to see it, engage with it, and move it forward. The guys need to be accountable to each other and that only works with real buy in.

If you want a lazy psychological explanation for why the team has kept playing badly after Ruff got canned, it’s because there (still) isn’t a compelling vision because we have an interim guy who was here all year. Besides, even if there were something to buy into it’s hard to build that in what, despite some low probability dreams, is ultimately a lame duck part of the season for the team.

the guys on the team didn’t just stop being resilient over the off-season. Just need to be built back up to it.

It's a lot easier to play under pressure and stay hungry when you're the hunter coming out of nowhere (last year) as opposed to a hunted team that's expected to win (this year). We saw some of that last year against the Rangers when they ****ed up the first two games from pillar to post, then when it went back to zero expectations then they played well again.

 

[NJDevs26]

I'd rather have gotten the N. Bench 2,0 than this Travis Green nonsense.

Lou works somewhere else, so his spot would be taken by Fitz.

Oates, Stevens, Fitzgerald. That would be a fine three headed monster of a coaching staff!

Fitz's version would be Fitz, Green and Brylin (or dare I say, Marty lol)

 

[Bcap88]

I don’t think Berube does much tbh

Craig Berube, honest and blunt as they come, simply ran out of time in St. Louis. Hired five years ago, he was universally praised by the players upon winning the Stanley Cup eight months after he took over. He coached like he played: unceasing, demanding and challenging.

I always think of Larry Bird’s rule for coaching: three years maximum, because even the players who love playing for you get tired of you.

If there’s one thing that needs to be changed right away, it is the defensive zone. The Blues are one of the worst teams in the NHL at defending the slot, allowing a higher percentage of chances from there than almost every team. Armstrong alluded to that when asked about his defencemen: “When our team game suffers, (our defence) and our goalie looks the worst. And our variance on a nightly basis is concerning.”

Sound familiar ?

32 Thoughts: What’s next for the Blues after Craig Berube firing? – Sportsnet.ca

 

[Bleedred]

Fitz's version would be Fitz, Green and Brylin (or dare I say, Marty lol)

Yeah, I was gonna say Marty, since he's actually here now and Oates/Stevens are not..

N. Bench version 2024 would be Fitz, Green, Marty. With Brylin probably staying in his same role as the Tommy Albelin assistant to the three head coaches.

 

[NJDevs26]

Yeah I thought Marty was the better comparison because he's not actively on the staff (a la Stevens, who'd left over alleged differences with Pete) and a franchise icon on the level of Stevens but by the same token, he would realistically be a part of that type of solution lol

 

[MadDevil]

Fitz's version would be Fitz, Green and Brylin (or dare I say, Marty lol)

Nah, it'd be Fitz, Hughes, and Hughes since the Hughes brothers run things.

 

[ZYXWVUT]

If i were a betting man, my guess would be it ends up being Todd McClellan. As much as most of us don't want to hear that.

 

[Lindys Lazy Eye]

It's going to be Berube due to the semi recentness of winning a cup and being seen as a 'safe' choice.

I think there is more polish to him vs someone like McClellan

 

[glenwo2]

View attachment 845389

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

This is about Buffalo, but its relevant to NJ too:

 

[Emperoreddy]

Pretty much. We need a coach that has a system that can win and is going to hold the players accountable for playing it correctly

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

My ideal coach would be able to come in and instill accountability regardless of age or role, but without stifling offensive creativity and without the nightly drama queen shenanigans of Tortorella or whichever obnoxious Sutter brother last coached in the league. Does that coach exist? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Bleedred]

Travis Green makes me love Todd McLellan.

 

[MartyOwns]

no offense bleed, but if we hire mclellan i'm going to have to block you lol

 

[Bleedred]

no offense bleed, but if we hire mclellan i'm going to have to block you lol

I'm in the bargaining stage of grief where I would accept him after suffering through 14 games of Travis Green.

McLellan isn't good, but Travis Green is as bad as it gets.

Unless you think John MacLean is coming back here. The only way that happens is if Lou leads a hostile takeover to come back to the Devils over the offseason.

 

[My3Sons]

I don’t think Berube does much tbh

Craig Berube, honest and blunt as they come, simply ran out of time in St. Louis. Hired five years ago, he was universally praised by the players upon winning the Stanley Cup eight months after he took over. He coached like he played: unceasing, demanding and challenging.

I always think of Larry Bird’s rule for coaching: three years maximum, because even the players who love playing for you get tired of you.

If there’s one thing that needs to be changed right away, it is the defensive zone. The Blues are one of the worst teams in the NHL at defending the slot, allowing a higher percentage of chances from there than almost every team. Armstrong alluded to that when asked about his defencemen: “When our team game suffers, (our defence) and our goalie looks the worst. And our variance on a nightly basis is concerning.”

Sound familiar ?

32 Thoughts: What’s next for the Blues after Craig Berube firing? – Sportsnet.ca

Did Berube try to cheap shot his players and sucker punch them in the back of the head the way he did when that talentless piece of shit played?

 

[Bleedred]

I think people just like Berube because he won a cup fairly recently. He coached Philly before that to middling results.

However, I understand middling results are better than what we've had the last decade, plus what Travis Green has ever had at the NHL level.

And I was kind of confused at St. Louis firing Berube to try and save their season, as that team is pretty no-count at this point, but I don't honestly buy Berube.

One other observation, the guy that Berube replaced in St. Louis to become head coach is as not as bad as Travis Green.....................But he's almost as bad as Travis Green.

 

[Whaddagoal]

I tried to give Green a chance early on. But these 3rd period collapse shit has really turned it into crapfest. And what makes it worse is we actually still could have made the playoffs.

Rookie mistake by Fitz was listening to the crazy fans....<sarcasm face> alternate universe Lindy doesn't get fired and somehow we make the playoffs now seems like it may have been possible.

Although not sure Lindy would have gotten this much production from Timo. Maybe maybe it was all just injuries for Timo.