Proposal: Fire DJ Smith

[aragorn]

There were numerous times in last night's game & in previous games as well when an Ottawa player had the puck on there stick & failed to get it out of the zone or far enough down ice to allow for a line change. Every game they do this where they have it & give it away sometimes in terrible positions in the slot or to one side of the net. As they mature they will get better at making the decision quicker & getting it out quicker & into safer places. We also have a few guys who think they can always skate it out when sometimes dumping it out might be the better strategy & vice a versa. That all comes with experience but experienced guys make mistakes too, reducing the mistakes & taking advantage of the other team's mistakes more frequently will result in more wins. It's a very fast game & players need to make split second decisions all the time all over the ice.

 

[DueDiligence]

We have defensemen who can really shoot the puck

Other than Chychrun I disagree with that statement.

 

[Micklebot]

Other than Chychrun I disagree with that statement.

Hamonic has a good shot too.

 

[Loach]

Depth is definitely a factor and I've been saying it all year, our bottom 6 absolutely kills us. They just don't get much done and the coaching/management haven't found any combination that really works with the personnel we have. Certainly an area that needs substantial improvement in the offseason. With that said, I still think inexperience plays a larger role. You can't emulate adversity in practice. You can't coach adaptability on a white board. Guys like Stutzle have to learn how to do it by going out and doing it.

Despite all of that, is there anyone on here who genuinely believes we wouldn't be a playoff team, today, if Norris hadn't been lost for the whole season right out of the gate? We're probably 8-10 points better with him.

Either way though, I think they're going to look for a new voice behind the bench. If you consider the quality of our 5v5 play alone, you would assume a change has to be made. We've been a mediocre to bad 5v5 team for a few seasons and that just can't be the case if you're going to be a championship calibre team.

Somebody talked about Boston earlier in the season, on tv, maybe a podcast. It was about how they have stayed good for so long. Julien set up a base, Cassidy added to it, now Montgomery is adding more to it. The players get don't forget what 1 coach taught them when a new one comes in. They add information to thier repetoire and become better more complete players. This might be where the Sens are at. Time to add new information and skills. Sometimes when the camera zooms in on Giroux during a game I think that he knows this. It could be changing assistant coaches. I'm starting to think that DJ would be a great AHL coach or that he needs to go and be an assistant again to learn more. This team has so many moving parts right now, big desicions to make. The approach to what the team is and how it plays, dealing with the cap, is coming fast. Not everybody is going to be happy with the choices made.

Regarding depth issue, sometimes I like going with pairs, to make 3 lines, would be helpful on the road maybe, but probably can’t switch between road and away all the time.


Nice, posted similar a little higher up, off of memory though, didn’t go back and check.

Not a lot of fact checking seems to take place on the boards.

Bowman went with pairs and would switch the 3rd player to change the dynamic of a line or get players going.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Other than Chychrun I disagree with that statement.

That’s okay, you thought the high danger chances were close as well in leafs game.
We Don’t find agreements much on hfboards among fans it seemes

 

[HF Reader]

There were numerous times in last night's game & in previous games as well when an Ottawa player had the puck on there stick & failed to get it out of the zone or far enough down ice to allow for a line change. Every game they do this where they have it & give it away sometimes in terrible positions in the slot or to one side of the net. As they mature they will get better at making the decision quicker & getting it out quicker & into safer places. We also have a few guys who think they can always skate it out when sometimes dumping it out might be the better strategy & vice a versa. That all comes with experience but experienced guys make mistakes too, reducing the mistakes & taking advantage of the other team's mistakes more frequently will result in more wins. It's a very fast game & players need to make split second decisions all the time all over the ice.

I should start by pointing out that I have never played any sport at anywhere near the level of the NHL so I might have no idea what I'm talking about.

While I agree that experience will diminish some of this problem, I believe proper coaching and commitment to detail (and perhaps "system") are the main factors to overcome these defensive lapses.
My fear is that many of these players have developed bad habits that will be difficult to drill out of them. I can't say if this is DJ's fault but it is the first place I'd look.

You raise the issue of the speed of the game. Undeniably quick. Back to coaching, I believe the best way to make decisions under pressure is to have practiced those decisions over and over and over again until they are second nature. Of course it is impossible to coach every situation that occurs during a game.

If I can use a golf analogy, "They say" the golf swing is consciously learned but subconsciously performed. You're more likely to fail (choke) under pressure if you have to think.

 

[DueDiligence]

That’s okay, you thought the high danger chances were close as well in leafs game.
We Don’t find agreements much on hfboards among fans it seemes

True but my HDCs' thought was hearsay whereas my opinion on Dman's shots are from observing many games. Tell me other than Chychrun the last time a Dman scored from the point on a a great shot that wasn't deflected? Bottom line it doesn't happen very often.

 

[DueDiligence]

Hamonic has a good shot too.

Debatable. In 788 career games Hamonic has 50 goals; no more than 7 in any one year. Yes he does have 6 this year but only a couple from the point. If we compare all the Sens D's shots there is no one close to Chychrun in terms of accuracy and velocity.

 

[Golden_Jet]

True but my HDCs' thought was hearsay whereas my opinion on Dman's shots are from observing many games. Tell me other than Chychrun the last time a Dman scored from the point on a a great shot that wasn't deflected? Bottom line it doesn't happen very often.

Hamonic would definitely be the obvious one.
The other thing about Hamonic , as well as having a good shot. Seems to get it through and on net more.

 

[Butchy Dakkar]

Is it coaching that we are relatively bad at breaking the opposing teams cycle while not being great at cycling ourselves? Or is that just a stylistic thing with the way our roster is constructed?

It seems that way to me at least.

That said, nothing drives me more crazy than the blind up the boards to try and clear the D zone when there is an opposing player already blocking the option. I don’t know if that’s a function of the D-man panicking or lack of options (forwards blowing the zone) but it is frustrating as hell to watch. Sandy doesn’t do it as much, so there’s that. But is this a coaching thing in general?

I like DJ the player’s coach, but my gut tells me a new approach to play might do wonders for the team. As a guy that only knows hockey through playing rec most of my life and watching a lot. Hard to tell sometimes if what I’m “seeing” is through my homer bias (wanting my losing team to start winning).

Then once in a while we completely dominate teams and it a feels right.

 

[Good in Osgoode]

Like a number of people on here, I am on the fence on DJ Smith. I get the sense that he is not a tactical coach but can relate to the players and that the players like him and do play hard for him. I never get the sense that the players have quit on him but I do think that he is simply out of his element a lot of games.

With a new ownership group, I think that DJ and Dorion get replaced but I would not be totally upset if they were still here because it almost seems like they both have earned the right to hoist the Cup in '24!

Anyway that you slice it, DJ has put himself into second place in all time Wins for Sens coaches:

 

[Ice-Tray]

Is it coaching that we are relatively bad at breaking the opposing teams cycle while not being great at cycling ourselves? Or is that just a stylistic thing with the way our roster is constructed?

It seems that way to me at least.

That said, nothing drives me more crazy than the blind up the boards to try and clear the D zone when there is an opposing player already blocking the option. I don’t know if that’s a function of the D-man panicking or lack of options (forwards blowing the zone) but it is frustrating as hell to watch. Sandy doesn’t do it as much, so there’s that. But is this a coaching thing in general?

I like DJ the player’s coach, but my gut tells me a new approach to play might do wonders for the team. As a guy that only knows hockey through playing rec most of my life and watching a lot. Hard to tell sometimes if what I’m “seeing” is through my homer bias (wanting my losing team to start winning).

Then once in a while we completely dominate teams and it a feels right.

Could be experience, or the lack thereof. I think the more the guys play together as a unit the better they should be.

We added a significant number of players to the roster yet again this year with few players playing together for more than a season at most.

I’d like to see the same group back next year (obviously adding Norris, potentially Formy) with line pairs down the roster. We need consistency in play, and I think at least part of that is consistency in lines, and in 5 man units.

Also a boat load more NHL experience.

 

[JD1]

Good post, I agree. Its a cop out to simply blame the coach. The players bear a responsibility too. The team has its most success when they play with emotion. Its alot harder to play with emotion on the road when you dont have the crowd to pick you up.

It does speak to the team not having very good structure. Teams with good structure that can play robotic hockey are typically the best road teams. But it does show that this team knows how to play well they do it at home. That's execution on the players end. Basically both the players and coachs deserve the blame.


This too, so the GM is ultimately to blame.

I think this is a match up issue as much as anything else. Home teams can focus on the Stuetzle line exclusively. Losing Norris really hurt.

 

[JD1]

We're a middle of the pack team in a league designed to have parity. There's back to backs, 3 in 4, rested versus not rested.

it adds up to some nights we're going to dominate and others we're going to be dominated

we're simply not good enough and not deep enough to dominate all the time which seems to be an expectation on this board.

 

[DJB]

Like a number of people on here, I am on the fence on DJ Smith. I get the sense that he is not a tactical coach but can relate to the players and that the players like him and do play hard for him. I never get the sense that the players have quit on him but I do think that he is simply out of his element a lot of games.

With a new ownership group, I think that DJ and Dorion get replaced but I would not be totally upset if they were still here because it almost seems like they both have earned the right to hoist the Cup in '24!

Anyway that you slice it, DJ has put himself into second place in all time Wins for Sens coaches:

View attachment 673565

But that winning % places him 7th

 

[Burrowsaurus]

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.

Legends don’t get created because a tram makes the playoffs with a 100% chance.

 

[Tuna99]

Like a number of people on here, I am on the fence on DJ Smith. I get the sense that he is not a tactical coach but can relate to the players and that the players like him and do play hard for him. I never get the sense that the players have quit on him but I do think that he is simply out of his element a lot of games.

With a new ownership group, I think that DJ and Dorion get replaced but I would not be totally upset if they were still here because it almost seems like they both have earned the right to hoist the Cup in '24!

Anyway that you slice it, DJ has put himself into second place in all time Wins for Sens coaches:

View attachment 673565

DJ also has the worst winning percentage at .464% out of any real Head coach in our history. Been stinking the place out since he got here

 

[BondraTime]

DJ also has the worst winning percentage at .464% out of any real Head coach in our history. Been stinking the place out since he got here

That's to be expected, he inherited a team that was destined to be last in the league, for the foreseeable future.

Dorion is much more at fault for DJ's record than DJ is.

That's not to say DJ has been a good head coach, because he objectively hasn't. But when you are given what he has been given, the results are not surprising whatsoever.

We could have had prime Bowman here, the results would not be much different over the course of the past 4 years.

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

Can we interest you in one lightly used Sheldon Keefe?

 

[Senscore]

Can we interest you in one lightly used Sheldon Keefe?

We can probably just get him for free in less than a month.

 

[Joeyjoejoe]

Only 11 games left of his tenure. 4 really long years.

 

[Sensinitis]

He was the coach to create a nice atmosphere in the room and have the guys working hard and playing a gritty style.

He has served his purpose after all these years and is in over his head at this point in time.

Now it's time to transition to a smarter coach with better systems and who can hold the players accountable.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Garbage.

Anyone who watches the Sens and think there's structure, I laugh at you.

Guys are as discombobulated as can be. Worst part is seeing Chychrun now play like that. Sickening.

 

[Very Stable Genius]

That Tkachuk controller disconnect sequence on the 2nd goal last night should not be happening so much so often in the 4th year of coaching. Either the message is wrong, or the message hasn't gotten through.

 

[KingAlfie11]

First of all for all the Sens never had a chance to make the playoffs this year, they let the season get away again in November, and then the month of March was always going to be our final blow, no way in hell this team was going to have a winning record in March it's brutal.

Now the next coach of the Ottawa Senators has a lot of work to do, those players need to learn how to manage the puck and how to get the puck out of their D zone efficiently. Also they need to learn how to make accurate passes, and they need to improve their shooting accuracy also, the Sens are dead last in SH% and their need better goaltending they are also dead last in PDO (SH% + SV%).

The good news is that we have a lot good young talented players that are eager to learn and get better, we have the talent now we need a coaching staff that will put all the pieces together to create a winning culture.