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How much rope does DJ Smith have? [UPDATE: None]
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Micklebot
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- Apr 27, 2010
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not with two stanley cup rings in his ears...
HoweHullOrr
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- Oct 3, 2013
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By 19:20, I assume you meant 2019-20? At any rate, I disagree that the rebuild "started" with Duchene/Stone. I guess I like a simple, broadly applicable method versus one that requires more complicated, user definable or specific parameters. When you come up with a lot fancy & more complicated criteria, you end up with something non-standard and not useful because it is so open to personal interpretation that it becomes meaningless. If 2019-20 is used as the start point, then Stutzle and Norris were not acquired as part of the rebuild.
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Golden_Jet
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HoweHullOrr
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I'm not sure I understand the question. What I'm saying is that a definition is needed to define what constitutes the start of the rebuild. In my mind, it's when a team trades away its best/star/franchise type player. Any other definition becomes complicated and more open to user-definable interpretations. So, in the Senators rebuild, it was when Karlsson was traded to San Jose. That's how we started acquiring our core pieces in the rebuild like Stutzle & Norris.
HoweHullOrr
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I guess you missed the last sentence which explains the methodology. Smart people and businesses use definitions so that everyone can be on the same page and know exactly what is meant by a term. You'll see this used in RFP, RFQs, design documents, etc.
But, you go low (insult), and I'll take another path.
That's what I was asking. So for you the rebuild started with moving Karlsson. I agree with that. But the scope of the rebuild was framed by the trading of Duchesne and Stone. I think it could have been more of a retool had we signed those two. Or possibly even just Stone. We didn't so it became more of a scorched earth burn it all down rebuild.
Right you are. The glossary of terms can add 50 pages to a complex RFP.
Pinto Bean
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No matter what happens with DJ this season, I'll always look back at the decision to hire him to be a successful one. Sure DJ has his warts but this guy built a culture filled with a positive attitude and a strong-work ethic within an organization that was quite literally down for the count (team drama, ownership issues, management issues, etc).
DJ played a role in allowing the Sens to build a team full of Americans (amongst other natonalities) in a league where the majority of Americans/Players want to play in the low-tax American states.
No matter what stage of the rebuild we were, there was always one consistent narrative coming from people around the league. The Sens are a hard team to play against. What more could you ask for from a team with little-to-no-talent.
If the Sens start off slow here, DJ will be fired, but as a whole, I really appreciate the work DJ has done and I have zero doubts he'll be given another Head Coaching job in the future. Which, if you look at past-Sens head coaches, that very rarely if ever happens!
Thanks DJ!
DJ played a role in allowing the Sens to build a team full of Americans (amongst other natonalities) in a league where the majority of Americans/Players want to play in the low-tax American states.
No matter what stage of the rebuild we were, there was always one consistent narrative coming from people around the league. The Sens are a hard team to play against. What more could you ask for from a team with little-to-no-talent.
If the Sens start off slow here, DJ will be fired, but as a whole, I really appreciate the work DJ has done and I have zero doubts he'll be given another Head Coaching job in the future. Which, if you look at past-Sens head coaches, that very rarely if ever happens!
Thanks DJ!
BonHoonLayneCornell
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Adele Dazeem
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I think everyone is going to be very happy with the results this upcoming season.
No jinxing, no putting the cart before the horse; this team is going to WOW us.
TonySoprano11
It's a very delicate situation.
I couldn't possibly disagree with you more. It's good to have opinions isn't it?
Ya I agree Zibanejad was a money move. And I think getting Duchesne was a move to try to capitalize on the last of Erik Karlsson. 2017 was a bit of an unplanned run and put money in the coffers. Getting Duchesne obviously didn't work out but I can't fault trying to take another swing at the fences with Karlsson still in the fold.
Pinto Bean
Registered User
Well what points do you disagree with and why?
- I mentioned DJ made a positive team culture. Sure seemed like he did with the majority of the comments we hear from players and people around the team.
- I mentioned Americans wanting to stay here (Brady & Norris)in a league where we're very frequently seeing Americans want to play in the states (Gaudreau, Tkachuk and even Canadian stars like Dubois)
- And I mentioned that most people outside of the Sens always call them a hard team to play against (see Keith Tkachuk for example)
A lot of my statements are based on real things that actually happened, so Im curious to hear your points.
Well I heard Dorion wanted to fire DJ after our horrendous start last year and the board wouldn’t OK it. So I would say negative rope
TonySoprano11
It's a very delicate situation.
1 - I don't think its the jobs coach to create the culture of the organization. This should be done by the owner, president of hockey ops, or the GM. The head coaching job does have a few responsibilities, like developing prospects, discipline etc, but the most important (and in reality the only job that matters) is winning hockey games. You want to fix organizational culture, its amazing how quickly winning and success fixes that.
2 - As far as the Americans wanting to stay here, I don't think that really falls on DJ. None of these young American players have signed extensions as a UFA, so its not like they've had a ton of opportunities to abandon ship even if they wanted. Plus, I think the idea that all capable USA born players only want to play in US cities with low or no taxes is overblown. There are a lot of American players who play for Canadian teams, or in US cities with high taxes.
3 - "They are tough to play against" is often the only kind words you can say about a team after you've beaten them repeatedly throughout the season. It's like the "They've got a great personality" compliment to the ugly person you'd never date but want to say something nice about. We haven't been hard to play against. Our defense structure has been non existent, we give the puck away way too easily, and our goaltending tandems have statistically been some of the worst over the last few years.
As I made in my first point, winning fixes all of these problems. If a coach is getting wins, the culture is good, people want to play here, and yes we're obviously tough to play against if we are beating the competition more than they are beating us.
When you aren't winning you gotta try and take credit for these small victories like "Hey this guy was willing to re-sign here, OMG they must love the coach!"
I'll call complete bull shit on this post.
1. In reality winning is the only thing that matters. I wonder how someone like say Mike Babcock would reply to that. Or maybe Quenneville. This isn't the 1970s. How you treat and get along with players matters. It matters whether they stay when they have the option to leave. It matters when they sign here when they could have signed elsewhere.
2. I think we've got two pretty prominent Americans that signed here for a few years longer than they had to. Compare that to say Matthews. Hopefully we're going to have a 3rd American sign here. Personally I credit DJ a great deal in creating an atmosphere where players want to win here.
3. Being hard to play against - what do you think that means? Having shitty goaltending doesn't make it easy to play against a team. Last year, Ottawa led the league in hits. Led the league in PP opportunities. Outshot their opponents. When you are constantly getting hit and when you're finding yourself shorthanded all the time and being outshot, that other team is hard to play against
TonySoprano11
It's a very delicate situation.
LevelingSolo
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- Jan 15, 2012
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Based post
DJ was fine at the start of the rebuild, and he deserves credit for the development of the young guy's
However to me it was clear after 2021-2022 he wasn't the guy to help the next step, even more evident after last season
As you said though he seems like a good guy and a classic players coach.
I believe his firing is inevitable here but I think you'll see him resurface in the NHL not long after that
Pinto Bean
Registered User
1 - Okay well we very clearly disagree here. Of course it's the coaches job to be apart of a strong team culture. In fact, it's everyones jobs. Team culture is a top-to-bottom aspect in an organization and the Head Coach plays a massive role in that.
2 - Ottawa is probably one of the least desirable places to play in the NHL the last few years. Unstable ownership, in a rebuild, and in a high-tax area. Getting young Americans wanting to stay here for the long-run, getting Timmy Superstar locked up, and even getting Chabot locked up when there is far more desirable places and routes they could take as RFA's is a win and I'm confident that team culture and atmosphere around the club (that DJ is apart of) has helped in these long-term contracts.
3 - This team has been bad on paper for a vast majority of DJ's tenure. I don't think there has been a single year where the Sens were supposed to make the playoffs based on pre-season betting odds. As I stated, DJ has his warts but he is not the sole reason this team has been bad. The roster has been sub-optimal for the duration of his tenure but at least DJ has gotten them to actually hustle and work hard on a nightly basis. The Sens have finished about as expected pretty much every single season he's coached here. Look at the roster for the last few seasons. Not exactly a juggernaut.
And just as an aside, I'm not even disputing that I still want him as a coach. My entire premise around my comments is that DJ was the right coach for the job and I see him as a successful hire and believe his time with the Sens is seen positively league wide.
So yes, as you put it before - "I couldn't possibly disagree with you more. It's good to have opinions isn't it?"
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GARRIOCH: Ottawa Senators coach D.J. Smith believes young players can take next step
As the calendar turns to September, the Ottawa Senators' head coach arrived in town last weekend from his off-season home in Windsor.
ottawasun.com
AchtzehnBaby
Global Matador
GARRIOCH: Ottawa Senators coach D.J. Smith believes young players can take next step
As the calendar turns to September, the Ottawa Senators' head coach arrived in town last weekend from his off-season home in Windsor.
But can DJ take the next step!?
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