Coaching is a serious problem.

[teamfirst]

How is a rookie coach perfect for a rebuild? That they are learning nothing because he knows nothing? That he can’t make adjustments to help them? That he doesn’t seem willing to hold players accountable?

If he’s perfect for a rebuild that must mean the team is incrementally improving from year to year as the young players get more experience and the front office adds more talent? Oh no wait, the team is significantly worse this year than last.

Yup, those quote are so funny, might as well say that developpement is not important

 

[austin316]

MSL is not the issue. Although I do wish we had an experienced assistant coach, at the end of the day, our roster is just not very good.

Joel Quenville or Jon Cooper couldn’t extract more out of this team. Until we turn over ~50% of this roster we will be in the bottom 1/3 of the league.

 

[teamfirst]

Gorton is correct we do need to be better in our own end, the fact we aren't doesn't make that any less true.

What shouldn't be surprising is that the D got younger, lost some depth and experience, and that it has naturally struggled.

I truly believe management had big plans for Reinbacher this season and his injury hasn't helped. Especially at RD.

Only saying he said that at the end of last year so.....he must have expected the improvement would be this year......no.

And please don't give me the Reinbacher injury excuses, i give more credit to Gorton hockey Knowledge than to think that he tought a rookie 20 years old D would improve the in our end play instantly.......to me it is obvious that he was referring to our Dzone lack of structure.

 

[Paddyjack]

How is a rookie coach perfect for a rebuild? That they are learning nothing because he knows nothing? That he can’t make adjustments to help them? That he doesn’t seem willing to hold players accountable?

If he’s perfect for a rebuild that must mean the team is incrementally improving from year to year as the young players get more experience and the front office adds more talent? Oh no wait, the team is significantly worse this year than last.

As I mentioned earlier here, if you want them to be great later, you teach them now how to play.

And honestly, this does not come from my brain (thankfully), I get that from a very experienced coach, friend of mine, who said these right now are wasted years because they are not learning basic drills that they will need to apply later.

If you can't teach these drills, you are not the right coach.

 

[Habby4Life]

As I mentioned earlier here, if you want them to be great later, you teach them now how to play.

And honestly, this does not come from my brain (thankfully), I get that from a very experienced coach, friend of mine, who said these right now are wasted years because they are not learning basic drills that they will need to apply later.

If you can't teach these drills, you are not the right coach.

Yeah, it’s about building good habits.

It’s baffling people defend MSL when we see a team with zero structure, no clue how to defend, and many nights don’t compete. This team would be so much better off now and in the future if they had a real coach, not a PR move behind the bench.

 

[teamfirst]

MSL is not the issue. Although I do wish we had an experienced assistant coach, at the end of the day, our roster is just not very good.

Joel Quenville or Jon Cooper couldn’t extract more out of this team. Until we turn over ~50% of this roster we will be in the bottom 1/3 of the league.

How is he not an issue if he himself refuse to have that experience assistant coach, at the end of the day our coach is just not very good.

 

[austin316]

How is he not an issue if he himself refuse to have that experience assistant coach, at the end of the day our coach is just not very good.

I’m willing to see how he develops with this team when we have more pieces. We don’t have a #1 defenseman (heck, we don’t even have a proper #2 dman) we have two forwards who are performing to expectations (Suzuki and CC) and our goaltending is average at best. What do you expect the coach to do when he is working with spare parts?

 

[teamfirst]

I’m willing to see how he develops with this team when we have more pieces. We don’t have a #1 defenseman (heck, we don’t even have a proper #2 dman) we have two forwards who are performing to expectations (Suzuki and CC) and our goaltending is average at best. What do you expect the coach to do when he is working with spare parts?

I personaly would prefer to see the pieces we presently have with the big club developping properly than waiting for a coach to developp

 

[Habby4Life]

I personaly would prefer to see the pieces we presently have with the big club developping properly than waiting for a coach to developp

Nothing like having a young team and a newb coach learn on the job, sounds like a recipe for success, lol.

 

[The Real Timo]

Yeah, it’s about building good habits.

It’s baffling people defend MSL when we see a team with zero structure, no clue how to defend, and many nights don’t compete. This team would be so much better off now and in the future if they had a real coach, not a PR move behind the bench.

This is all on Hughes and Gorton. They determined it’s ok like this. I agree. Team learns nothing that can be applied later. That’s why I think attention and scorn should shift to Hughes as we pretty much know that MSL is what he is.

 

[Tyson]

This is all on Hughes and Gorton. They determined it’s ok like this. I agree. Team learns nothing that can be applied later. That’s why I think attention and scorn should shift to Hughes as we pretty much know that MSL is what he is.

The attention needs to be on Gorton for hiring an inexperienced GM who in turn hired a coach with zero experience.
Also, Hughes may have been a great agent but he has lost every trade but the two 1st round picks he got for Monahan, one of which was Mesar....

Barron, Newhook and Dach are all trades that look atrocious.

 

[Habby4Life]

The attention needs to be on Gorton for hiring an inexperienced GM who in turn hired a coach with zero experience.
Also, Hughes may have been a great agent but he has lost every trade but the two 1st round picks he got for Monahan, one of which was Mesar....

Barron, Newhook and Dach are all trades that look atrocious.

Yeah, I agree with you 100%.

Look at his record, Newhook, Dach, Barron, Allen, Kova, Prim. The guys he traded for are less than stellar, in fact, they suck. The guys he traded away all are better than the guys he kept. We have a crap backup, that we must save from waivers so we traded a capable backup. There evaluation of actual nhl players isn’t so great.

Drafting, the Slaf draft was tough. It was the wrong year to be drafting first. DR over Mich, a mistake.

Good things, Monahan, he did get two first for him, a good move. Drafting Lane when others passed, I will give him Hage but only time will tell. Demidov fell in there laps.

Coaching - well we know about that. Pee wee coaches.

So I don’t get why he is anointed as some saviour because so far well has been average.

Now I bet I get light up by his followers but so what. Don’t you dare criticize Hugo, reminds me of the Love in when Berg started. I got light up for saying a 2nd line of Newhook Dach and Roy was garbage, I got light up for saying they should get Laine, and I got roasted for saying that they would be lucky to match 76 points this year.

 

[teamfirst]

The attention needs to be on Gorton for hiring an inexperienced GM who in turn hired a coach with zero experience.
Also, Hughes may have been a great agent but he has lost every trade but the two 1st round picks he got for Monahan, one of which was Mesar....

Barron, Newhook and Dach are all trades that look atrocious.

Ya ultimitely it's in Gorton hands, i don't know if he's the right guy but i usually like what i'm earing in his interview, altough i think he is way to patient with this coaching staffs i'm ready to be a little more patient regarding him, i genuinely like the guy.

 

[nhlfan9191]

The attention needs to be on Gorton for hiring an inexperienced GM who in turn hired a coach with zero experience.
Also, Hughes may have been a great agent but he has lost every trade but the two 1st round picks he got for Monahan, one of which was Mesar....

Barron, Newhook and Dach are all trades that look atrocious.

I think Gorton is pulling more of the strings when it comes to the actual team building. Hughes was brought in to fill the French quota and be the voice. I don’t mind bringing in a former agent to fill a role like that if that’s in fact what’s happening. Having somebody who really knows how the market works when it comes to the cap is a benefit. But I think we saw the downside when you trade away two first round picks for a former client whose career was stalling in Newhook for example.

 

[teamfirst]

Yeah, I agree with you 100%.

Look at his record, Newhook, Dach, Barron, Allen, Kova, Prim. The guys he traded for are less than stellar, in fact, they suck. The guys he traded away all are better than the guys he kept. We have a crap backup, that we must save from waivers so we traded a capable backup. There evaluation of actual nhl players isn’t so great.

Drafting, the Slaf draft was tough. It was the wrong year to be drafting first. DR over Mich, a mistake.

Good things, Monahan, he did get two first for him, a good move. Drafting Lane when others passed, I will give him Hage but only time will tell. Demidov fell in there laps.

Coaching - well we know about that. Pee wee coaches.

So I don’t get why he is anointed as some saviour because so far well has been average.

Now I bet I get light up by his followers but so what. I got light up for saying a 2nd line of Newhook Dach and Roy was garbage, I got light up for saying they should get Laine, and I got roasted for saying that they would be lucky to match 76 points this year.

That's a very good resumé of Hughes work so far, let's hope he get better in the next few years cuz you rarely see a GM getting canned before his 5th year

 

[The Real Timo]

Ya ultimitely it's in Gorton hands, i don't know if he's the right guy but i usually like what i'm earing in his interview, altough i think he is way to patient with this coaching staffs i'm ready to be a little more patient regarding him, i genuinely like the guy.

Sure... he talks pretty and media and fans eat it up, but there is very little to show for the past 3 years of his and Hughes' management. As @Habby4Life outlined above, there are more bad moves with a sprinkle of some decent ones. Team is not getting set up for success at this point. I don't get how 3 years isn't a long enough period to start drawing conclusions and make some decisions about your staff.

 

[teamfirst]

Sure... he talks pretty and media and fans eat it up, but there is very little to show for the past 3 years of his and Hughes' management. As @Habby4Life outlined above, there are more bad moves with a sprinkle of some decent ones. Team is not getting set up for success at this point. I don't get how 3 years isn't a long enough period to start drawing conclusions and make some decisions about your staff.

Don't get me wrong, i do think 3 years is long enough that's why i said that JG is to patient right now

 

[The Real Timo]

I think Gorton is pulling more of the strings when it comes to the actual team building. Hughes was brought in to fill the French quota and be the voice. I don’t mind bringing in a former agent to fill a role like that if that’s in fact what’s happening. Having somebody who really knows how the market works when it comes to the cap is a benefit. But I think we saw the downside when you trade away two first round picks for a former client whose career was stalling in Newhook for example.

Then they should have made him a contracts consultant and not a GM. Sigh.

Don't get me wrong, i do think 3 years is long enough that's why i said that JG is to patient right now

 

[teamfirst]

Then they should have made him a contracts consultant and not a GM. Sigh.

Don't buy that ''Hughes was brought in to fill the French quota and be the voice'' thing.

I think that Hughes always make the final décisions, sure Gorton has his say in it but in the end Hughes take the decision.....and in the end Gorton is responsible to decide if Hughes's doing a good enough job.

 

[Rapala]

I'm sure some of you have noticed our special teams are slowly but surely heading to below that 100% aggregate.
The PK in particular has taken some serious lumps in recent games.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Then they should have made him a contracts consultant and not a GM. Sigh.

What other options were there at the time tho? I think universally the move to hire Hughes and why it was made was liked by a majority of the fanbase. It wasn’t like Bergevin where you had the Subban bridge contract and Therrien hire that raised red flags right off the bat. HuGo was dealt a bad hand off the rip and it was always going to take time. I think the oldest prospects they’ve drafted are 20-21? I think they deserve more time to see if they caught anything in their fishing net before throwing stones at them. And I’m not trying to be pro-HuGo. There’s definitely things to critique them on. But it’s not time to give them the Bergevin treatment yet.

 

[jackeymoon]

Yeah, it’s about building good habits.

It’s baffling people defend MSL when we see a team with zero structure, no clue how to defend, and many nights don’t compete. This team would be so much better off now and in the future if they had a real coach, not a PR move behind the bench.

Ya I don't get it. If he didn't have the career he had I guarantee 99.99% of people would be calling for his job. The fact that the team just gave up on a game at home is a huge red flag coaching wise. Bad lines, terrible ice time allocation, terrible match-ups, no player has improved, what more do you need?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

How so ? Consistently outshot ? Can't cycle the puck ? Can't defend in their own zone. Poor effort ... That s not just one line which is playing really Bad, the whole team is.
But I Guess Hughes has been rewarding Friends and former clients so every Habs fan should be happy right ?

The team is disappointing overall. Nobody would say otherwise. But we knew we weren’t going to be great to begin with.

I’d say the biggest issue we have is the 2nd line. The other lines are about where we thought they’d be. We knew the D would be bad. Our backup goalie needs replacing… we’re still in transition.

I think adding a good 2nd center is needed. We can keep Dach and let him find his game but we can’t count on him coming back. Hage is going to be a while too.

So unless Demidov is going to the middle, we need someone there. I’d also get a vet RD. Someone who can carry the load until RB natures. We need help there.

 

[ReHabs]

What other options were there at the time tho? I think universally the move to hire Hughes and why it was made was liked by a majority of the fanbase. It wasn’t like Bergevin where you had the Subban bridge contract and Therrien hire that raised red flags right off the bat. HuGo was dealt a bad hand off the rip and it was always going to take time. I think the oldest prospects they’ve drafted are 20-21? I think they deserve more time to see if they caught anything in their fishing net before throwing stones at them. And I’m not trying to be pro-HuGo. There’s definitely things to critique them on. But it’s not time to give them the Bergevin treatment yet.

An uncharitable take would be that Hughes started with a great set-up: Zero expectations of winning for years to come, a loooooong leash, a team already in the pits with nowhere to go but up + a high value draft pick, a team coming off an unlikely playoff run with players at peak value (Lehkonen, Chiarot), two LTIRetired players who instead of giving declining performances give zero cap hit and disappear, and the last bits of the cap crunch to sell cap space at a premium (Monahan).

Basically he had a clear slate and the whole fanbase + media on his side and zero pressure. It's sad to see that he has squandered it, because we had so much enthusiasm coming into this season that even they said "the expectation is that we'll be in the mix". I understand some things are not in his control but he's done nothing to stop the bleeding and his coach that he prematurely extended has been big-time exposed.