Proposal: Fire DJ Smith

[swiftwin]

Thats why people never take you seriously
When they lose its execution problem
When they win its DJ doing something right

I'm sorry, what??? You're projecting right now. You're the one who's always blaming DJ when they lose, and refusing to give him some credit when they win.

All I'm doing is looking at the systems and the underlying metrics, which are solid. There's not much else DJ can do when players are missing wide open nets, or making abysmally awful giveaway in our own zone.

Is DJ a great coach? No. Is he a good coach? Yes. Does he have room for improvement? Yes. I've already said many times I don't like the way he's handling Chabot, and I don't like what appears to be a lack of accountability. The systems on the other hand are not a problem.

 

[swiftwin]

Every coach relies more on vets and grinders than fans want, especially as the team are struggling and the skilled guys start tuning the coach out trying to do thing on their own.

MacLean wasn't perfect, and he lost the room by the end so it's not surprising Cameron turned things around a bit when he took over, but MacLean had his moments. I thought he'd have done well with a defensive minded assistant.

You what's funny in all of this?

The fans LOVE to bitch and moan about how coaches lean too much on their reliable veteran players, and how the young talented players should be given a chance. The amount of pissing and moaning about players like Pyatt, Greening, Smith, etc was through the roof. Now, here, we have a coach who will actually let the young inexperienced talented players play, work through and learn from their mistakes, and everyone is losing their freaking minds.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

You what's funny in all of this?

The fans LOVE to bitch and moan about how coaches lean too much on their reliable veteran players, and how the young talented players should be given a chance. The amount of pissing and moaning about players like Pyatt, Greening, Smith, etc was through the roof. Now, here, we have a coach who will actually let the young inexperienced talented players play, work through and learn from their mistakes, and everyone is losing their freaking minds.

He's let's them played and given them a chance for 3 years now. It's time to see progress. Criticism is warranted.

 

[swiftwin]

He's let's them played and given them a chance for 3 years now. It's time to see progress. Criticism is warranted.

Are you suggesting you haven't seen progress?

What about Stutzle? A year ago, he was a 2nd line LW with no defensive ability. Now, he's a #1C who kills penalties and regularly gets ENG because he's trusted out there. Brannstrom? He's improved dramatically. Tkachuk? Absolute beast. The list goes on.

What about the way the team plays? We used to get dominated and hemmed into our zone for periods on end, and get utterly destroyed on the shot count and every possession metric out there. Now? We play a VERY different, possession based game and both the underlying metrics and the eye-test shows it. We haven't played like this since the MacLean days.

Is some criticism warranted for the lack of results? Absolutely. If you're not always looking to improve, you've failed. But I will call people out on the slackjawed, dumb, lazy criticism that DJ has no control over. Or any criticism that is literally not rooted in reality. I get it though, some people are incapable on regulating their emotions when the team loses and absolutely must find someone to scape goat in a drunken stupor. Personally I come here to analyze and rationalize, so I'll continue to call out their pointless BS.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Are you suggesting you haven't seen progress?

What about Stutzle? A year ago, he was a 2nd line LW with no defensive ability. Now, he's a #1C who kills penalties and regularly gets ENG because he's trusted out there. Brannstrom? He's improved dramatically. Tkachuk? Absolute beast. The list goes on.

What about the way the team plays? We used to get dominated and hemmed into our zone for periods on end, and get utterly destroyed on the shot count and every possession metric out there. Now? We play a VERY different, possession based game and both the underlying metrics and the eye-test shows it. We haven't played like this since the MacLean days.

Is some criticism warranted for the lack of results? Absolutely. If you're not always looking to improve, you've failed. But I will call people out on the slackjawed, dumb, lazy criticism that DJ has no control over. Or any criticism that is literally not rooted in reality. I get it though, some people are incapable on regulating their emotions when the team loses and absolutely must find someone to scape goat in a drunken stupor. Personally I come here to analyze and rationalize, so I'll continue to call out their pointless BS.

The type of posts you make during GDTs are hardly rational...

 

[DJB]

I'm sorry, what??? You're projecting right now. You're the one who's always blaming DJ when they lose, and refusing to give him some credit when they win.

All I'm doing is looking at the systems and the underlying metrics, which are solid. There's not much else DJ can do when players are missing wide open nets, or making abysmally awful giveaway in our own zone.

Is DJ a great coach? No. Is he a good coach? Yes. Does he have room for improvement? Yes. I've already said many times I don't like the way he's handling Chabot, and I don't like what appears to be a lack of accountability. The systems on the other hand are not a problem.

I don’t go through the entire thread but I have yet to see anyone explain in detail what our exact system is

 

[Micklebot]

You what's funny in all of this?

The fans LOVE to bitch and moan about how coaches lean too much on their reliable veteran players, and how the young talented players should be given a chance. The amount of pissing and moaning about players like Pyatt, Greening, Smith, etc was through the roof. Now, here, we have a coach who will actually let the young inexperienced talented players play, work through and learn from their mistakes, and everyone is losing their freaking minds.

We just don't really have much in the way of semi capable vets, when Dorion gave Smith a roster with guys like Stepan, Gudbranson, Reilly, we played them over young guys. Pretty sure if we had the GSN line today, they'd be getting plenty of mins under DJ.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDoo]

…
What about the way the team plays? We used to get dominated and hemmed into our zone for periods on end, and get utterly destroyed on the shot count and every possession metric out there. Now? We play a VERY different, possession based game and both the underlying metrics and the eye-test shows it. ….

I know you’re referring to the teams style of play, but for me the ‘eye-test’ is the strongest indicator that DJ Smith is not a good coach.

I find the Sens so frustrating to watch that I can rarely sit through an entire game.

 

[cudi]

everyone is 'rational' in their mind.

 

[RickyLafleur]

Marner, Matthews, Nylander are actually playing 2 way hockey which took many years and playoff failures to ingrain in them. Check out the leafs depth forwards like Kampf, Jarnkrok these are guys that know how to defend. Dorion adds guys like Joseph.

Joseph was good last year though, not sure why he's completely ineffective now.

 

[GCK]

Joseph was good last year though, not sure why he's completely ineffective now.

He’s been playing stupid and has below average hands.

 

[Alex1234]

Joseph was good last year though, not sure why he's completely ineffective now.

New team
Wanted to impress for a new contract
Opposition taking us litely
No pressure to win
Back up goalies etc

 

[RickyLafleur]

New team
Wanted to impress for a new contract
Opposition taking us litely
No pressure to win
Back up goalies etc

We almost always lose to backup goalies though, especially guys who haven't seen NHL action in roughly 3+ years.

 

[Alex1234]

Are you suggesting you haven't seen progress?

What about Stutzle? A year ago, he was a 2nd line LW with no defensive ability. Now, he's a #1C who kills penalties and regularly gets ENG because he's trusted out there. Brannstrom? He's improved dramatically. Tkachuk? Absolute beast. The list goes on.

What about the way the team plays? We used to get dominated and hemmed into our zone for periods on end, and get utterly destroyed on the shot count and every possession metric out there. Now? We play a VERY different, possession based game and both the underlying metrics and the eye-test shows it. We haven't played like this since the MacLean days.

Is some criticism warranted for the lack of results? Absolutely. If you're not always looking to improve, you've failed. But I will call people out on the slackjawed, dumb, lazy criticism that DJ has no control over. Or any criticism that is literally not rooted in reality. I get it though, some people are incapable on regulating their emotions when the team loses and absolutely must find someone to scape goat in a drunken stupor. Personally I come here to analyze and rationalize, so I'll continue to call out their pointless BS.

We are on pace for a worst record than last year rn HAHAHA

The progress is we chew more bubblegum I guess

 

[Tuna99]

Joseph was good last year though, not sure why he's completely ineffective now.

No hockey sense. Just speed

 

[Union2017]

Bottom line - DJ is their boss. When the team/unit does not perform well, it's ALWAYS their boss who needs to fix that. DJ has done nothing so far.

1) Moving Gambrell out and Brassard in is nothing (aside from being a bad move IMO, since Gambrell is playing better than Brass).
2) He literally keeps playing Chabot into the ground. Example - we are losing the game (5:2), Chabot has been on the ice for 1:36 seconds as far as I recall and he keeps him on ice for another 25-30 seconds that are left in the game (the game was stopped, so he could've changed him). Why? We want him to get injured? While Sanderson is on the bench.
3) players (not going to name them now, we all know who they are) are not performing and they are not producing. He keeps playing them over and over again. Example? We are trying to catch up with LA and instead of playing Giroux on our first PP, since CG is playing AND producing well, he keeps him with Brassard and Kastelic on the second PP and uses DeBrincat on the first. I understand spreading our offence, BUT we need to score ASAP and that second unit had 35 sec of PP time (even if you give them more, they will rarely score). Give Giroux a chance to help us out. Play Stu on the blue line and sit Chabot or, as I said, move Cat who is not scoring or Batherson who is clearly struggling.
4) Change the goalie when you see that we are getting killed like in the last game. Send the message. Do SOMETHING, ANYTHING. He called the TO and we kept playing the same after that TO. Great message.
5) Create a sustainable defensive system. if Guy Boucher can do it, so can you, DJ. Don't tell me we can't defend better with 72, 85, 2 (before he got injured), and even 26 and 23. Give me a break. How do we manage to leave someone open in front of our own net time and time again? It's called bad coverage, not that complicated. And, yes, it is NOT all on our D players. Our forwards are not sure sure what to do either

And there's tons of other issues......

My ulcer is getting ulcer from this....

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

We are on pace for a worst record then last year rn HAHAHA

The progress is we chew more bubblegum I guess

last season Ottawa played at a .445P% and ended up with 73 pts

this season they’re on a .420P% pace, and yes, if that does not improve, they‘ll end up with a worst record this season than last season

 

[Sens Vader]

He really needs to be fired.

But Dorion should be fired too, might as well get it all done at once

 

[Rand0m]

The sale of this team can't happen fast enough...

 

[WallyD]

Add Formenton to that roster too.

Losing a few players availability through the course of the year cannot be used to excuse the horrendously poor Sens play this year. Other teams have suffered much greater player losses and they didn't fold the tent. This pains me greatly to observe given how much I hate them, but look at how Toronto is doing with the top half of their D core out injured. (Ghaa, I just threw up in my mouth). It requires adaptation of both the remaining players and smart coaching changes to adjust to the loss of players. Every team has injuries throughout the year - fact of life in the NHL.

 

[GCK]

Losing a few players availability through the course of the year cannot be used to excuse the horrendously poor Sens play this year. Other teams have suffered much greater player losses and they didn't fold the tent. This pains me greatly to observe given how much I hate them, but look at how Toronto is doing with the top half of their D core out injured. (Ghaa, I just threw up in my mouth). It requires adaptation of both the remaining players and smart coaching changes to adjust to the loss of players. Every team has injuries throughout the year - fact of life in the NHL.

Losing Norris really hurt. We are integrating a rookie as our 3rd line centre so he is not ready to slide up, in 2-3 years we may have been able to overcome.

 

[BoardsofCanada]

You guys keep talking about "systems". I don't know this for fact, but I am guessing every NHL team plays the exact same "system". Probably every AHL team also plays this same "system". They practice this "system" over and over on practice days.

Winning teams simply execute better. They complete tape to tape passes more often. They are faster and don't get beat to loose pucks. They are more physical and don't get over powered. They don't make as many mistakes. They get great goaltending. They handle the puck better and are more creative on offense.

Either Ottawa's players are just not as good as the top teams or they have been under performing. It's probably a bit of both.

 

[Big Muddy]

Are you suggesting you haven't seen progress?

What about Stutzle? A year ago, he was a 2nd line LW with no defensive ability. Now, he's a #1C who kills penalties and regularly gets ENG because he's trusted out there. Brannstrom? He's improved dramatically. Tkachuk? Absolute beast. The list goes on.

What about the way the team plays? We used to get dominated and hemmed into our zone for periods on end, and get utterly destroyed on the shot count and every possession metric out there. Now? We play a VERY different, possession based game and both the underlying metrics and the eye-test shows it. We haven't played like this since the MacLean days.

Is some criticism warranted for the lack of results? Absolutely. If you're not always looking to improve, you've failed. But I will call people out on the slackjawed, dumb, lazy criticism that DJ has no control over. Or any criticism that is literally not rooted in reality. I get it though, some people are incapable on regulating their emotions when the team loses and absolutely must find someone to scape goat in a drunken stupor. Personally I come here to analyze and rationalize, so I'll continue to call out their pointless BS.

I get it. We have some good young players and good chunks of a good young core. But, we have lost a lot of games, and our record is bad.

It can get tiring listening to venting, and some the rants just aren't particularly precise or have much behind them. That is also a little tiring over time.

But, the results aren't there.

I think we are still rebuilding in a sense. The blueline is still very weak. When Zub went down (twice), we were in deep trouble. Same with Norris. But, good teams have a way of stepping up even when injuries occur. You can use Boston as an example, but there are many others. So, we don't have the depth yet either.

Seems like there's more than one thing that is wrong. Coaching is likely an issue. Maybe its just time for a change even.

But, I think it's the new owner and the new owner's management team that will have to get the job done now.

 

[Alex1234]

You guys keep talking about "systems". I don't know this for fact, but I am guessing every NHL team plays the exact same "system". Probably every AHL team also plays this same "system". They practice this "system" over and over on practice days.

Winning teams simply execute better. They complete tape to tape passes more often. They are faster and don't get beat to loose pucks. They are more physical and don't get over powered. They don't make as many mistakes. They get great goaltending. They handle the puck better and are more creative on offense.

Either Ottawa's players are just not as good as the top teams or they have been under performing. It's probably a bit of both.

So all the coaches are equal?
No need for a particular one?

 

[Alf Silfversson]

You guys keep talking about "systems". I don't know this for fact, but I am guessing every NHL team plays the exact same "system". Probably every AHL team also plays this same "system". They practice this "system" over and over on practice days.

Winning teams simply execute better. They complete tape to tape passes more often. They are faster and don't get beat to loose pucks. They are more physical and don't get over powered. They don't make as many mistakes. They get great goaltending. They handle the puck better and are more creative on offense.

Either Ottawa's players are just not as good as the top teams or they have been under performing. It's probably a bit of both.

Basically there are two or three "systems" that NHL teams play in their own end, but different coaches will add their own wrinkles and will definitely have their own emphases. DJ clearly emphasizes collapsing towards the goal and pretty much ignoring the points. I personally think we need to challenge the points a bit more and create some uncertainty for the other team's D, but DJ isn't the only coach that favours that type of D-zone play.

But invariably systems collapse and THAT'S where a good coaching staff will help. Good teams get exposed but have been coached to immediately move to a plan B and recover more often than not before the puck ends up in their net. I don't see anything but panic from our guys. I assume SOME of that could be inexperience but I think they also have just never been made to understand what to do when something goes wrong. Our smallest deviations from any sort of coverage spiral into HDCA way too often. That is what I see with this team.

And while most teams play a variation on a couple of different coverage systems, teams have different breakout schemes. To be blunt, ours sucks. Way too many long passes and our spacing is terrible. By about 10 minutes into every game I'm fed up with a lone forward, at the opposing team blueline, deflecting a 90 foot pass into the other team's end with no pressure coming. We have very little puck support moving up ice; we make it way too easy for the other team to break out (if we even get it into the other team's end) and we are way too spread out to transition from offense to defense (and vice versa) in the neutral zone in the event of a turnover.

These are things that need to be hammered into player's heads by the coaching staff. More than three years under DJ and he seems unwilling or unable to do that. Time for a change.