Erie Otters 2024 - 25 Season Thread, Part I

[LDN]

this is legal talk for he's been fired. bring in the new head coach. what is that, 4 coaches in 4 years?

Is it though? You gotta wonder what the internal policies are

 

[ohloutsider]

Is it though? You gotta wonder what the internal policies are

They can be one in the same thing. Failure to comply with internal policies can get you fired.

 

[Kingpin794]

Is it though? You gotta wonder what the internal policies are

Could be everything from abuse of players to conduct unbecoming of the organization. The statement was very open ended.

 

[Mata]

My own personal feelings about this are a rivalry between our GM, Dave Brown, and our head coach, Stan Butler.

Stan came into Erie and said he wanted to restore winning to the org and would only be the HC for 2 - 3 years.

Our owner passes away, now Dave Brown assumes total control of the team (we think), who is Dave's biggest threat, the guy he brought in to turn the program around.

There has been one constant during the entire rebuild that started after our championship run, our GM, Dave Brown. They have brought in numerous coaches, they have made many trades (most of which were not beneficial to us in the end) and one thing remains...

A couple weeks ago it appeared there was some internal issues with the team that could point to larger issues. It appears everything might be coming to the forefront now starting with this announcement.

 

[frontsfan67]

Mike Babcock situation???

Pretty bad when the team puts out a post about it

 

[NOA]

Here's a thought, however, same kinda mentality but different.

What if JW planned to keep SB after the season and move him into DB's position? Dave knew it, felt threatened by it, and cuts SB just because he knew this guy put his future on the ropes.

Remember, the end goal with SB was to merely get us to the playoffs and then maybe a deeper run. He accomplished what he set out to do to this point so he hasn't really failed with his intentions.

Who has failed, the constant since this all started DB. There was a reason he got almost no "welcome" at the McDavid night. I'm not saying they will get rid of him, but I could totally see him cutting SB to save his own job, again.

The question you posed is the biggest of them all, did JW's passing reset the clock again for DB?

I don’t buy these long lasting rumors that SB was ever an option to be a GM or replace DB. Again, SB was hired because he’s buddies with DB. We also know JWs main OHL connections start / end with Erie when he bought the team. He only knew SB through DB… So I find it crazy unlikely DB would hire someone to eventually replace him or that JW would even conspire to do that behind the back of his close friend DB. It doesn’t make any sense. Not to mention the age of SB + his overall lack of success that make him a low level candidate to be a replacement. If you fire DB, why would you promote someone with SBs track record? That also doesn’t add up..

 

[NOA]

My own personal feelings about this are a rivalry between our GM, Dave Brown, and our head coach, Stan Butler.

Stan came into Erie and said he wanted to restore winning to the org and would only be the HC for 2 - 3 years.

Our owner passes away, now Dave Brown assumes total control of the team (we think), who is Dave's biggest threat, the guy he brought in to turn the program around.

There has been one constant during the entire rebuild that started after our championship run, our GM, Dave Brown. They have brought in numerous coaches, they have made many trades (most of which were not beneficial to us in the end) and one thing remains...

A couple weeks ago it appeared there was some internal issues with the team that could point to larger issues. It appears everything might be coming to the forefront now starting with this announcement.

How is SB a threat to DB??
Especially now with Jim passing. If the family takes control and wants to move on from DB, why the hell would they promote or hire SB to take over when his performance as a coach is below expectations?

The way Erie announced this seems more than just a standard fired for performance issue but Im not going to speculate. However what I can say is SB has been a fail and DB moving on reflects poorly on him and his coaching decisions. So, in theory, he should want to ride it out with SB but if something behind the scenes happened, his hands are possibly tied here. Either way, this doesn’t help DB at all imo. It makes him look bad and if the org has REAL leadership at the top (hard to know now with Jim gone…) then they should be moving on from DB asap

What a mess. I loved Jim as an owner and thankful he kept the team in Erie. But his decision to ride with DB all these years was way too personal than business. That’s why not everyone is cut out to be the final decision maker. I get the sense DB was only here because JW got along with him too well to ever point the finger at him.. DB has been scapegoating the coaches for years but bottom line it all comes back to him. He’s now made 3 bad coaching decisions in a row, has horribly mismanaged assets, and their drafting has gone to shit.

 

[Mata]

I don’t buy these long lasting rumors that SB was ever an option to be a GM or replace DB. Again, SB was hired because he’s buddies with DB. We also know JWs main OHL connections start / end with Erie when he bought the team. He only knew SB through DB… So I find it crazy unlikely DB would hire someone to eventually replace him or that JW would even conspire to do that behind the back of his close friend DB. It doesn’t make any sense. Not to mention the age of SB + his overall lack of success that make him a low level candidate to be a replacement. If you fire DB, why would you promote someone with SBs track record? That also doesn’t add up..

The rumor goes...

Jim Waters was set to fire DB prior to the Stan hire. Dave pleaded to JW, reached out to Stan and brought him in with the idea Stan could help turn the program around within 2 - 3 seasons. Who had GM experience that was brought in during that timeframe, SB.

It fits, but we will never know for certain.

Would also like to add...out of all of the speakers on McDavid retirement night, there was only 1 person who spoke and had boos from the fans, none other than Dave Brown.

 

[LDN]

Intriguing. I’ll be honest I’m wondering if you do need a fresh HC. I feel like this Erie team is poised to do some damage this back part of the season! When is Schaefer back?