Proposal: Fire DJ Smith

[Burrowsaurus]

I'm talking about their statement of meaningful games as opposed to being more specific, I'm not saying the season is a bust or critiquing that. I'm just saying it was probably a calculated decision to put it vaguely like that.

I didn’t see it as vague

 

[Butchy Dakkar]

I thought Batherson was one of our best players last night, throwing his weight around and constantly coming out of corners with the puck.

It was like the Batherson we all loved last year, who had his own threads talking about his amazing play? There is a lot of focus on ADC’s lower than average shooting percentage, and how that has affected the team, but if Bath played like that all year we would be ahead of where we are for sure

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

I didn’t see it as vague

Vague enough to be left open to interpretation and essentially non committal to much imo. It also left a small window to use as a baseline. Even if they lose every game from here on out, they can still point to a small 3-4 game window to call the season a success based on the initial "goal".

 

[Mingus Dew]

It was like the Batherson we all loved last year, who had his own threads talking about his amazing play? There is a lot of focus on ADC’s lower than average shooting percentage, and how that has affected the team, but if Bath played like that all year we would be ahead of where we are for sure

Unfortunately the progression/addition of Stu, Giroux, Sanderson, Chychrun has been somewhat offset by the regression of Batherson, Chabot and Zub.

Hopefully the latter guys are just experiencing a down year, because if all of this team's cylinders are firing at once they'll be scary.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Vague enough to be left open to interpretation and essentially non committal to much imo.

For you maybe, not most people ,

it’s not a tough statement to understand, meaningful games at the TDL.

You: meaningful is vague lol.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

For you maybe, not most people ,

it’s not a tough statement to understand, meaningful games at the TDL.

You: meaningful is vague lol.

Vague enough to never be held accountable. Now they can point to a 3-4 game window and call the season a success regardless. Not sure I agree with that.

What did they commit to? Having a couple meaningful games like we did? 10? 20? In it to the end?

If they'd specifically said "battling for a playoff spot" which "meaningfull games" imply, you wouldn't call it a success as of today, and definitely not by the end of the season if they keep playing like this, but by calling it what they did, they could argue they were in it for like a week or two there and thus, successerino! I'm not even saying the season couldn't be considered somewhat successful, I just find that goal pretty open to interpretation. Agree to disagree I guess.

 

[Loach]

For you maybe, not most people ,

it’s not a tough statement to understand, meaningful games at the TDL.

You: meaningful is vague lol.

Meaningful games in March or the TDL? I thought he said March.

 

[aragorn]

Here we go again:
1. They were 4 pts from a playoff spot before they went on the most recent Western trip which started on March 6, so yes, they were still playing meaningful games in MARCH.

2. This team has 5 guys over 50 pts this yr, go back & see how long ago or how many times in the last 20 yrs this team has had 5 guys over 50 pts. Hint - one of them is a coach now for this team.

3. This team has lost both their starting NHL goalies several times throughout the yr. They have played 60 games between them while Sogaard & Mandolese played 14 games & Hellburg 1 game. Both Sogaard & Mandolese had only 3 games of NHL experience before this yr. Each of Talbot & Forsberg played some good games, but also had some stinkers.

4. They lost their #1 centre for most of the yr & he has only played 8 games this yr. They also were without Formenton for the entire yr. We also knew they had defensive issues before the season even started it & it wasn't until the trade deadline that they were finally able to address it.

And even with all this adversity they still managed to have 5 guys over 50 pts & were still playing meaningful games in March just before that Western trip which basically killed their chances this season. Frustration with the team & management should not replace the fact that they are a much improved team with a lot of promise for next season.

 

[The Professional]

While it's true that overall the team improved this year and is heading in the right direction, it's hard to not look at this season and wonder what difference a coaching change could have made.

I'm not one to simplistically point fingers at a specific culprit to blame the team's shortcomings, but when you look back at the inconsistency and lack of defensive structure on the club for most of the year, it's hard to not blame DJ for some of this. It's his job to make sure the team is committed to play a defensive structure. Think of all the games where the club collapsed defensively or came out not ready to play. Think of all those points we dropped especially in november because of that. You don't think firing DJ whips the troops into shape a bit and wins a handful more points than we currently have? A few more points and we'd be in a WC spot right now, or still solidly in the race with games in hand.

I think DJ might be too much of a player's coach. He's been good for developing some of the youngsters but this team is ready to go to the next level and contend, and I don't think DJ is the right man for that.

Now that Melnyk is gone and budget is no longer an issue, it would be a great time to hire an NHL head coach with winning experience. What's Claude Julien up to these days?

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

I think people are way too hung up on some sort of exact definition of "meaningful games" here. Meaningful is being in a realistic race for a wildcard, and not just for beating up Detroit or a severely depleted Rangers squad.

It's funny how the kids could go into god mode for 4 games or so and act like playoff contenders when there was a real risk at the deadline of one or more of their buddies being moved out in a trade. They know how they have to play to win, and how to show up from the first minute of the game.

They can do it, but they don't seem to want to do it consistently. And that is on everyone. Coach, leadership group, and the rest of the players. Team is a country club right now. And that desperately needs to change. And that will be incredibly hard to do, since most of the core already has their big money contracts.

 

[Senscore]

Picking Chabot in the shootout

 

[bert]

Picking Chabot in the shootout

At that point who would have you preferred? He went 8th. They chose 7 players first. Gambrell? Watson? Gauthier? He has more goals than anyone left.

 

[Senscore]

At that point who would have you preferred?

Zub was a name that was brought up

 

[bert]

Zub was a name that was brought up

Chabot has 51 career goals Zub has 12. Coach also gets to see who is better in practice. I dont mind criticism for DJ but this isnt one of those times.

 

[LevelingSolo]

Here we go again:
1. They were 4 pts from a playoff spot before they went on the most recent Western trip which started on March 6, so yes, they were still playing meaningful games in MARCH.

2. This team has 5 guys over 50 pts this yr, go back & see how long ago or how many times in the last 20 yrs this team has had 5 guys over 50 pts. Hint - one of them is a coach now for this team.

3. This team has lost both their starting NHL goalies several times throughout the yr. They have played 60 games between them while Sogaard & Mandolese played 14 games & Hellburg 1 game. Both Sogaard & Mandolese had only 3 games of NHL experience before this yr. Each of Talbot & Forsberg played some good games, but also had some stinkers.

4. They lost their #1 centre for most of the yr & he has only played 8 games this yr. They also were without Formenton for the entire yr. We also knew they had defensive issues before the season even started it & it wasn't until the trade deadline that they were finally able to address it.

And even with all this adversity they still managed to have 5 guys over 50 pts & were still playing meaningful games in March just before that Western trip which basically killed their chances this season. Frustration with the team & management should not replace the fact that they are a much improved team with a lot of promise for next season.

No coach should survive 4 straight non playoff seasons

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

No coach should survive 4 straight non playoff seasons

Happens all the time.

Especially in rebuilds

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

Happens all the time.

Especially in rebuilds

Do you have any examples? I'm not finding any on a cursory search other than Gretzky. And bluntly, DJ Smith is no Wayne Gretzky.

 

[Loach]

Do you have any examples? I'm not finding any on a cursory search other than Gretzky. And bluntly, DJ Smith is no Wayne Gretzky.

Does Milbury count in NYI? Or was that just a gong show?

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

Does Milbury count in NYI? Or was that just a gong show?

It's arguable, but I wouldn't count him. Milbury wasn't coach for four consecutive years, he escaped to the GM office to get the heat off. Not quite the same situation IMO.

 

[Adrianopolous]

We need a new coach

 

[Sens Vader]

I do wonder which coaches will be available in the summer to replace DJ

 

[Beech]

I do wonder which coaches will be available in the summer to replace DJ

your mother or mine would probably be an upgrade.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

I do wonder which coaches will be available in the summer to replace DJ

Maybe Mike Sullivan?

Vigneault, Julien, and Boudreau would obviously be top contenders for the job. Not sure about Babcock (probably not) and I don’t think a new ownership group wants anything to do with Quenneville. Is Jacques Martin still interested in being a head coach?

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

Do you have any examples? I'm not finding any on a cursory search other than Gretzky. And bluntly, DJ Smith is no Wayne Gretzky.

You should get a stu going, this is going to take a while.

 

[DueDiligence]

Well it was fun while it lasted. The Sens have a less than a 1% chance of making the playoffs. 13 more games to go and none will be meaningful.