Confirmed with Link: Devils Fire Lindy Ruff - Travis Green is an Interim

[Devils Army]

Devils have the 2nd best faceoff percentage in the league. I have no take, just a stat.

Hughes needs to do the Crosby thing where he goes crazy working on his face offs. Although pretty sure sid did it after like year one or two in the league. And I suppose he is also significantly stronger than Hughes will ever be.

Nico did it after his rookie year. Made him significantly more valuable to the PK and PP imo. Having a top offensive player also be able to be deployed on faceoffs situationally is big for a team.

 

[Edmonton East]

If Jack isn't healthy enough to take faceoffs he shouldn't be playing

He's been consistently terrible (35-37%) his entire career. It isn't injury.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Devils have the 2nd best faceoff percentage in the league. I have no take, just a stat.

well yeah but unfortunately the main reason for that is probably headed to jail, so

 

[ZYXWVUT]

Whoever the new coach is the mindset of guys like Hughes in terms of discipline to playing two way hockey needs a serious adjustment.

 

[HBK27]

This should also put to bed any notion of trading for a goalie and pushing for the playoffs.

Fitz doesn’t fire Ruff unless he is folding on the season.

 

[Emperoreddy]

This should also put to bed any notion of trading for a goalie and pushing for the playoffs.

Fitz doesn’t fire Ruff unless he is folding on the season.

He is still going to trade for Markstrom.

 

[Devils Army]

He's been consistently terrible (35-37%) his entire career. It isn't injury.

Yeah but he hasn't taken one since his shoulder injury. Even when he was bad he'd still take them half the time

 

[JimEIV]

He is still going to trade for Markstrom.

You'd think he'd learn after watching a 32 year old Schneider blowup

A 33 year old Bernier Blowup

A 36 year old Crawford quit on him

A 33 year old Hammond blowup

I know let's get another 35 year old goaltender.

 

[HoliksGhost]

He is still going to trade for Markstrom.

As he should

 

[NJDevs26]

You'd think he'd learn after watching a 32 year old Schneider blowup

A 33 year old Bernier Blowup

A 36 year old Crawford quit on him

A 33 year old Hammond blowup

I know let's get another 35 year old goaltender.

When you're in the Sahara desert, you lunge at every mirage

 

[Xirik]

When you're in the Sahara desert, you lunge at every mirage

what if the mirage is a cactus?

 

[Based Anime Fan]

what if the mirage is a cactus?

Anything is buttfun if you grimace enough.

 

[JimEIV]

Anything is buttfun if you grimace enough.

I was going to hit the like button but I think that would be the wrong message?

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Ullmark/Swayman or bust.

 

[Drivingrain]

as much as i cheered for this, i still feel bad and i like him as a person. seasons lost anyway, it feels like a mercy firing because the fans will be restless tomorrow

I havent had the heart to watch a post game press conference for about a month....

But I will say this about Ruff:
His press conferences and his player analyses in the fall were fantastic when compared to an a*s-hat like Aaron Boone who makes excuse after excuse for his players to the point where the fans and media get gaslit into oblivion.

He never kissed Jack's butt either. I liked that too. And I love Jack-- he's the best offensive player on the Devils that Ive ever seen and I go back to about 1989 or 1990. But Lindy wasnt effusive publicly. That was good I thought.

However the gaping hole with his pressers was that he never was introspective about his systems. He was a hard-liner that the players' failures to work within the system led to the team's failures. In that aspect, he fell short. Very short.

 

[Guttersniped]

I didn’t bring it up either. I was responding to a post, I just didn’t quote it.

As far as what would have happened last year…they probably would have fallen apart, because Ruff has no plan B and no structure and no accountability for the little things that can help mitigate the damage when things go south.

Yeah, this was my problem with our system last year.

We were world beaters when our aggressive possession system works but we started to break, woof, and we didn’t have any response for that “oh no, this is bad”.

I think he’s been very good for young players. Some coaches smother creativity because it leads to mistakes, but he’s let them grown. A lot of coaches wouldn’t let a player like Nemec push the envelope the way he does.

Holtz wasn’t playing higher in the line-up because he’s not good enough.

 

[glenwo2]

Agreed, and honestly i don’t even know how much i buy the “development” angle. I mean we’re looking at a team full of kids who don’t play defense, don’t start on time, take 15-30 minutes off every game, and can’t score unless the opponent lets them skate with impunity.

If I’m the owner, i’m sitting down with Fitz and asking “what did you see over the last few weeks that you didn’t see over the last 3 months?” Cuz now you only have 20 games in a disaster season to figure out who’s good, who isn’t, and whether Travis Green has any clue what he’s doing.

Ruff needed to go but waiting this long AND not bringing in a goalie who could at least absorb some starts were horrible, horrible decisions by Fitz. And I mostly find his moves unimpeachable except for hiring Ruff in the first place.

The problem with your scenario is that the Owners are too busy with their "new toy" in the NFL to give a shit about what is happening with the Devils.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

way too late but I'm still happy

They did it out of empathy, you don't want Lindy dealing with the chants. Also let's hope this coaching boost doesn't help them all too much but that the players play a bit more motivated

Is it normal for coaches to be named interm after a previous coach is fired, if the intent was to keep them permanently? I forget how these things work because it feels so long since we've had a gm who actually fired head coaches...

 

[MadDevil]

He is still going to trade for Markstrom.

Markstrom would be a "let's hope we win in the next 2 years or we're f***ed again" move, unless one of Daws/Schmid/Poulter develops into the heir apparent to Markstrom (or forces him out before his contract is up).

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

way too late but I'm still happy



Is it normal for coaches to be named interm after a previous coach is fired, if the intent was to keep them permanently? I forget how these things work because it feels so long since we've had a gm who actually fired head coaches...

Nah not really which makes me think it was an empathy fire to avoid the angry fans tomorrow

 

[MartyOwns]

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Nah not really which makes me think it was an empathy fire to avoid the angry fans tomorrow

Good, cuz I guess we'll see but if Green is the one who had the final say for the pp...he is probably worse than Ruff.

Tomorrow's game is gunna be very telling

 

[Camille the Eel]

I havent had the heart to watch a post game press conference for about a month....

But I will say this about Ruff:
His press conferences and his player analyses in the fall were fantastic when compared to an a*s-hat like Aaron Boone who makes excuse after excuse for his players to the point where the fans and media get gaslit into oblivion.

He never kissed Jack's butt either. I liked that too. And I love Jack-- he's the best offensive player on the Devils that Ive ever seen and I go back to about 1989 or 1990. But Lindy wasnt effusive publicly. That was good I thought.

However the gaping hole with his pressers was that he never was introspective about his systems. He was a hard-liner that the players' failures to work within the system led to the team's failures. In that aspect, he fell short. Very short.

Yeah, this was my problem with our system last year.

We were world beaters when our aggressive possession system works but we started to break, woof, and we didn’t have any response for that “oh no, this is bad”.

I think e’s been very good for young players. Some coaches smother creativity because it leads to mistakes, but he’s let them grown. A lot of coaches wouldn’t let a player like Nemec push the envelope the way he does.

Holtz wasn’t playing higher in the line-up because he’s not good enough.

Yes this had to happen but I feel that Ruff is an honest, likable, old school coach with a lot of integrity. The firing is - like a lot of coach firings - a move to make a move, a shake up because things are going badly and we need to see if making a change, the only major change we can make, will make things better. A sacrifice to the fans frustration too, where things have gotten very bad. Getting fired goes with coaching. Ask Bill Belichick after 6 Super Bowl rings.

The interesting question is how Green can change much when he has personally been up to his ears in landing us just where we are.
After all, he's been associate coach through all of this and a major difference from our charmed last season is precisely he and not Brunette being in the navigator and helmsman's chair. How do get a ship to change direction when you've been on the flag deck steering it to where it is. Green himself has a lot of responsibility for the mess we are in, though a lot of fans and media may now want to forget it. And if we pick up and start to win, it will be forgotten.

And don't forget the players primary responsibility for where we are. Nothing will change unless they refocus and lift their play. Green's challenge is to get them to do that.

Anyway Thank You Lindy for coaching us a magical season last year. Best of luck and God's speed and a following wind wherever you go from here.

 

[Blender]

About time. Good riddance.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Had to be done. Fitz should be on the hot seat now as well. Put up or shut up over the next year for him imo.

His next coaching hire is critical. He doesn't have a great history so far with that