MacIntyre's three thoughts: It's over for the Canucks, probably over for Desjardins

[messier's_elbow]

1 hour ago, S'all Good Man said:

 

Who is going to want him? He's OK, but he's not going to be more than a backup, and with expansion throwing a wrench into things this year I just can't see Miller being moved no matter how many calls Jim makes. 

Why would expansion matter he's a UFA? I see what your saying though, there might not be many takers but until last nights drubbing, Miller has been playing well.

[JM_]

1 minute ago, messier's_elbow said:

Why would expansion matter he's a UFA? I see what your saying though, there might not be many takers but until last nights drubbing, Miller has been playing well.

 

Because guys need to be signed through next season to be draft eligible. Its just an extra complication that muddies the waters. 

 

So for Miller, no ones going to trade and extend him, as there will be better goalies exposed or as UFAs. So he's a pure rental, as a backup. So whats that worth? And at 3 mil too assuming we keep 1/2 the cap hit? I just don't know that teams are going to 1) have the cap space, and 2) give up much more than a very late round pick, and I doubt JB bothers for that.

 

So really the only situation I can see an actual trade is if if a star goalie gets a injury and they need Miller to bridge the starter for 4 weeks or so to get good playoff position. 

[JM_]

42 minutes ago, Alflives said:

And the Mrs. Is a Leaf's fan!  

 

my sympathies. I'll send a lawn flamingo  Ahh Nylander. I'm just not getting tired of it. 

[blackpluto96]

Elliot Friedman has 30 thoughts, MacIntyre has 3, what's the math here? 

[Pete M]

This road trip was a good indicator of what this team is about. They had a chance to be one game over .500, but instead they are 4 games below .500.

I would give them until January 8th before making a move. In this span, the majority of the games are at home with some games away in Alberta.

 

As a die hard fan, I'm hoping this home stand will bring better results, but realistically, I believe we've already witnessed the team that we have and it will not get better.

The team is relatively healthy (minus Tanev and Edler), but even they were not having great success when they were playing.

 

I believe the result of this road trip shows that this team needs to get faster through the neutral zone, and stronger up front. The "D" needs to play more physical to take advantage of their size. Systems aside, the team needs to execute better...systems don't work if you can't make the first pass or if the players are too slow to forecheck and too slow to backcheck. What this team lacks is speed...if your best players are slow and they can't execute, then the coaching is at a disadvantage (systems wise) to implement effective systems.

 

If the coach is telling the Sedins to shoot more on the powerplay, and the Sedins are not following his instruction, then they need to be benched until they buy into the team's systems. If the coach chooses not to do this, then the coach needs to grow some balls and bench the Sedins.

Standards need to be set and by doing nothing, the coach is setting standards. Favourtism because of respect, when the respected players are not executing or playing like the coach wants the rest of the players to play, simply does not work. If this is WD's outlook, then he should be fired.

 

They tried bringing in a "ball buster" (Torts), which did not work; they let go arguably the best coach in the league (AV) because he could not make it work anymore. They brought in a rookie career coach who has experienced success at every level that he has coached and this is not working. Why is it not working?

 

The only common denominator is the Sedins; they have become coach killers because they are now uncoachable.

 

Yeah, go ahead and fire the coach because we all know the result will be the same...if management wants to rebuild, then rebuild without the twins. They've tried rebuilding with the twins but the team is going in the wrong direction. The young players are not learning in a positive environment if developing them is a goal.

[Team Bagues]

4 hours ago, S'all Good Man said:

 

Did you watch any of Vrbata's 2nd season? Or have you forgotten that? Willie seems to have a real talent for pulling the least out of his veteran talent. Once he starts wiggling and diddling with the vets in particular it ends in disaster. 

 

Willie's negatives far outweigh the positives. But hey, prove me wrong. Whats the thing that sets Willie apart from other coaches? Whats so special about WD that we shouldn't make a change?

What sets Hitchcock, Babcock, and Quenville apart from other coaches?

Oh yeah, it's Toews, Kane, Hossa, Panarin, Keith, Pieterangelo, Shattenkirk, Tarasenko, Steen, Fabbri, Schwartz....

How many guys does Willie have like that?

Zero.

There is the main difference; that and experience, but you can't buy that.

Even Babcock, one of the greatest coaches of all time has a more talented Leafs roster near the bottom of the league and near the worst at defending. What the hell is wrong with Babcock anyways? Doesn't that guy know how to coach?

If you fired Babcock and hired a veteran like Crawford, man, look out for those Leafs...

 

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, Team Bagues said:

What sets Hitchcock, Babcock, and Quenville apart from other coaches?

Oh yeah, it's Toews, Kane, Hossa, Panarin, Keith, Pieterangelo, Shattenkirk, Tarasenko, Steen, Fabbri, Schwartz....

How many guys does Willie have like that?

Zero.

There is the main difference; that and experience, but you can't buy that.

Even Babcock, one of the greatest coaches of all time has a more talented Leafs roster near the bottom of the league and near the worst at defending. What the hell is wrong with Babcock anyways? Doesn't that guy know how to coach?

If you fired Babcock and hired a veteran like Crawford, man, look out for those Leafs...

 

Why does Willie D not get selected to coach our Olympic team?  Babcock has the mandate to develop young players in TO, and winning is not what they want yet.  They want high draft picks, and lots of them.  If WD had a long term deal, with a similar mandate, I wonder if he could manage?

[theilluminati]

1 hour ago, canuck73_3 said:

 

I was responding to a specific post that said we need to stop signing 30+ year olds to 6 year deals. Something we have only done once in JB's tenure here.

 

Also LE contract isn't all that bad becoming a limited ntc after year 4. 

When those 2 words are in a sentence its never a good thing, its just different levels of terrible.

[Team Bagues]

2 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Why does Willie D not get selected to coach our Olympic team?  Babcock has the mandate to develop young players in TO, and winning is not what they want yet.  They want high draft picks, and lots of them.  If WD had a long term deal, with a similar mandate, I wonder if he could manage?

I think more than anything Willie needs experience.

Babcock gets the Olympic gig because he's obviously one of the best and most experienced coaches in the league, and that plays well in how he deals with the veterans.

Maybe Willie will benefit from more young guys, so not having to try and appease the old guys? I doubt the Sedins give him any grief though. If anything they do whatever they can to support what Willie is preaching.

[stanleysteamersmyl]

5 hours ago, Blueberries said:

Which D-men were looking bad? The rookies or the regulars aka Hutton and Guddy?

Hutton is playing like a rookie this year.  Two or more giveaways every game.

[Nuxfanabroad]

31 minutes ago, blackpluto96 said:

Elliot Friedman has 30 thoughts, MacIntyre has 3, what's the math here? 

Someone is 10x the league-lackey, spewing their US centric agenda?

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

Someone is 10x the league-lackey, spewing their US centric agenda?

I accept you live abroad, but ENGLISH please.  

[Team Bagues]

3 hours ago, J.R. said:

 

An 'adequate' NHL coach is a pretty f'n good hockey coach.

 

How many 'top' NHL coaches do you think are out there? How many are available to hire?

 

Any other coach is not going to magically get this team in to the playoffs. You vastly overrate what difference that would make IMO. At best we go from picking top 5 to 5-10.

I would at first thought name 5  top coaches:

Babcock, Hitchcock, Vigneault, Trotz, Quenville.

 

 

[JM_]

18 minutes ago, Team Bagues said:

What sets Hitchcock, Babcock, and Quenville apart from other coaches?

Oh yeah, it's Toews, Kane, Hossa, Panarin, Keith, Pieterangelo, Shattenkirk, Tarasenko, Steen, Fabbri, Schwartz....

How many guys does Willie have like that?

Zero.

There is the main difference; that and experience, but you can't buy that.

Even Babcock, one of the greatest coaches of all time has a more talented Leafs roster near the bottom of the league and near the worst at defending. What the hell is wrong with Babcock anyways? Doesn't that guy know how to coach?

If you fired Babcock and hired a veteran like Crawford, man, look out for those Leafs...

 

 

Babcock doesn't look like a deer in the headlights when his team is down. Nor does he make goofy line combo's. Or forget to use his time outs. 

 

Talent doesn't make the coach, coaches, the good ones anyway, find ways to be noticed no matter whats on the bench. They do get blamed though for misusing talent, and Willie has done that over and over. 

 

[the_impersonator13]

6 hours ago, cbdoubleu said:

 

Reads like a 3 am Trump tweet.

He  must be hanging with Botch these days. 

[erkayloomeh]

6 hours ago, Rocksterh8 said:

Why are the Aquillini's still here?

Maybe they wont be, With a losing team and a fan base that craps on them all the time.

To those of you who dont like our ownership be careful what you wish for.

[6string]

The sky is falling ( again )....

 

[SilentSam]

4 hours ago, canuck73_3 said:

 

 

CBA DOES NOT ALLOW THAT.

 

Is that clear enough for you?

.. I have found nothing in the CBA that says a Coach can not have meetings with his players, or only a certain length of time, or time of day.

this is what I found for traveling days:

Players shall be entitled to have a minimum of nine (9) hours "off" overnight between the time that they arrive at the team's hotel on a road trip and the time that they are next obligated to report for practice or another work-related activity or meeting. The above rule shall not apply where extraordinary circumstances make it unfeasible (e.g., unforeseeable travel delays, practice rink availability issues, etc.). 

4 hours ago, J.R. said:

 

 

Seriously, not sure where I could be any clearer here?

... so how does Mike Babcock do it then? How do other Coaches do it?

 

you guys make it sound like the only time this Coach is allowed to talk or have meetings with his players is on the ice at practice??

Quit protecting this Coach on his own impossibilities.

The inevitable is being delayed, and a wheel that should be making progress is flat.

Time to bring someone wiser and more beneficial to the bench for the rest of this season, to prepare for the next.

 

[appleboy]

6 hours ago, Alflives said:

Excellent article by IM.  The Canucks are in serious trouble on and off the ice.  The OWNER needs to come out publicly and say we are rebuilding, and that there will be no half measures.  Then JB needs to start trading off the vets - especially the ones with NTCs and NMCs.  Let EVERYONE know this is a rebuild, and stop the charade.

Why?

Are you too dumb to see that they are rebuilding so you would like someone to take your hand and tell you it will be OK.

[ynwa]

It'll probably happen, but firing Willie is neither fair nor logical. Whatever one tries to call it we're at the start of a rebuild—sure mistakes will be made at the draft and in trades but hopefully a few years from now the rewards will make it all worthwhile. Churchill once said "Give us the tools and we will finish the job" Willie could certainly be forgiven for echoing those sentiments.