Jeff Blashill - Half Season Impression

[Obe2kenobe]

Holland makes the final roster decisions. He is the GM. Blashill may have wanted him but it is Holland's call. I never said Babcock could do no wrong but being the vastly superior coach he makes more correct decisions and gets better results. In a parity league like we have today even the smallest of margins matter. I would rather have a qualified veteran coach.

You say vastly superior, I say there pretty equal. But Blashill will continue to improve and eventually be superior.
I would rather have a younger qualified coach, who has won everywhere he's been. Even Babcock said Blash was the right guy for the job in a interview at the beginning of the season.
I know Holland makes the roster decisions.But Blashill was adamant that Larkin stay up. I doubt Babs would have. But you won't give him credit for that.

 

[chances14]

I have said many times if Blashill defies all odds and goes deep in the playoffs I would happily admit that I misjudged him. I have been wrong before.

I doubt it. You' ll just find some other excuse as to why they won just like you have all season long. and you are correct you have been wrong before

you said they would be a lottery team by the end of october. didn't happen

you said they would be a lottery team by thanksgiving. didn't happen

you said they would be a lottery team by the end of this road trip. definitely not happening

 

[TheOtherOne]

I don't think Blashill has been so bad that he deserves to be fired unless a more qualified and capable replacement is available. As I said the other day, he isn't the worst coach in the league. He is simply a significant downgrade and that is contrary to the party line of last season when many here were constantly ripping Babcock and blaming him for every negative event. That is quite the contrast to the constant excuse making we see for Blashill now that we see he his fresh voice wasn't quite the magic potion it was touted to be.

The entire reason behind your rantings is because you heard a bunch of fans talking about how excited they were to see what a fresh new coach can do in the NHL. We speculated that maybe he would rejuvenate some players. We speculated that maybe, in time, he would be better than Babcock.

Nobody, anywhere, ever, has ever predicted that he would magically transform our team into the best team in the league within a half a season.

The sooner you realize that, the sooner you can drop these arguments.

 

[Actual Thought*]

You say vastly superior, I say there pretty equal. But Blashill will continue to improve and eventually be superior.
I would rather have a younger qualified coach, who has won everywhere he's been. Even Babcock said Blash was the right guy for the job in a interview at the beginning of the season.
I know Holland makes the roster decisions.But Blashill was adamant that Larkin stay up. I doubt Babs would have. But you won't give him credit for that.

What was he supposed to say? "Blashill sucks and I demoted him because the vets on the team thought he was an incompetent boob". Your opinion is that Babcock wouldn't have wanted potentially the best center prospect since Steve Yzerman? We will never know by I highly doubt that.

 

[Actual Thought*]

The entire reason behind your rantings is because you heard a bunch of fans talking about how excited they were to see what a fresh new coach can do in the NHL. We speculated that maybe he would rejuvenate some players. We speculated that maybe, in time, he would be better than Babcock.

Nobody, anywhere, ever, has ever predicted that he would magically transform our team into the best team in the league within a half a season.

The sooner you realize that, the sooner you can drop these arguments.

Nonsense. Babcock got ripped constantly and Blashill got praised constantly. I was flamed every time I suggested pumping the breaks.

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

Nonsense. Babcock got ripped constantly and Blashill got praised constantly. I was flamed every time I suggested pumping the breaks.

Babcock got criticized for several years worth of roster personnel decisions and results. This is literally Blashill's first year. Give it a few years of comparable results and criticism might come, but people tend to give first year coaches a little slack, especially when the results aren't bad.

 

[TheOtherOne]

I honestly don't remember seeing any Blashill "praise" ever.

Unless something to the effect of "I tentatively give him my approval because the team isn't doing awful and everyone is still learning the new system" is your idea of way too much praise for the guy.

Nobody you're arguing with thinks he's magic. If anyone disagrees with me, feel free to speak up and talk about why you think he is magic. Anyone?

 

[DanZ]

Nonsense. Babcock got ripped constantly and Blashill got praised constantly. I was flamed every time I suggested pumping the breaks.

You never came off as suggesting to pump the breaks. You were ripping Blashill before he ever even coached a game.

 

[Obe2kenobe]

What was he supposed to say? "Blashill sucks and I demoted him because the vets on the team thought he was an incompetent boob". Your opinion is that Babcock wouldn't have wanted potentially the best center prospect since Steve Yzerman? We will never know by I highly doubt that.

He was only demoted in your mind. I'm assuming your talking about when he went from red wings asst to Griffins Head coach? I was referring to a interview with Mickey, Blash and Babcock. I believe it was at Blash's house. Babcock talked about why he chose him and why he should be the next wings coach.
My opinion is Larkin would have started the season in the AHL if Bab's was still in charge. Yes.

Do you really think Holland would have hired him if he thought the vets thought he was a incompetent boob? Holland and Babcock both wanted him in the organization.

 

[ap3x]

Nonsense. Babcock got ripped constantly and Blashill got praised constantly. I was flamed every time I suggested pumping the breaks.

Among what others have been said: This is mid-season of his first and he got ripped already about some stuff: Lines or scratching Marchenko e.g.

You act as if everyone is running around and praising him non-stop. Which isn't the only counterbalance to constantly ripping on him like you do, btw.

 

[Actual Thought*]

Babcock got criticized for several years worth of roster personnel decisions and results. This is literally Blashill's first year. Give it a few years of comparable results and criticism might come, but people tend to give first year coaches a little slack, especially when the results aren't bad.

Where is the criticism of him when it comes to Jurco playing on the 4th line? How about Smith not being on the PP? Babcock got ripped for these exact things over and over. Blashill does the same thing? Not a peep.

I honestly don't remember seeing any Blashill "praise" ever.


Unless something to the effect of "I tentatively give him my approval because the team isn't doing awful and everyone is still learning the new system" is your idea of way too much praise for the guy.

Nobody you're arguing with thinks he's magic. If anyone disagrees with me, feel free to speak up and talk about why you think he is magic. Anyone?

You must not have read a single thread all last season.

You never came off as suggesting to pump the breaks. You were ripping Blashill before he ever even coached a game.

In my opinion he is a very unimpressive guy. That promotional video they put out hammered that home. I was kind of embarrassed for the guy. Nothing he has done yet has led me to believe I misjudged him. I tend to give the guy who has actually done something impressive more credit than the guy who has yet to do anything impressive.

 

[DanZ]

He was only demoted in your mind. I'm assuming your talking about when he went from red wings asst to Griffins Head coach? I was referring to a interview with Mickey, Blash and Babcock. I believe it was at Blash's house. Babcock talked about why he chose him and why he should be the next wings coach.
My opinion is Larkin would have started the season in the AHL if Bab's was still in charge. Yes.

Do you really think Holland would have hired him if he thought the vets thought he was a incompetent boob? Holland and Babcock both wanted him in the organization.

Hilarious that anyone would consider that a demotion. He was obviously given a head coaching job so that he could develop as a head coach by running his own bench when Babcock inevitably left.

 

[DanZ]

In my opinion he is a very unimpressive guy. That promotional video they put out hammered that home. I was kind of embarrassed for the guy. Nothing he has done yet has led me to believe I misjudged him. I tend to give the guy who has actually done something impressive more credit than the guy who has yet to do anything impressive.

You're literally basing this on nothing. How is he unimpressive? He's excelled and won at every level...

You had a baseless preconceived idea of the guy before he ever even coached a game and are making a big deal about irrelevant things like a quote that he likes or some promotional video that he had nothing to do with. That's the Wings' PR team. Did he run over your dog or something?

Babcock won one Cup with prime Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Lidstrom. I'll give him credit for that, but there are a number of coaches that could have won a Cup or two with that roster. I don't look back at Babcock's 10 years in Detroit and think "impressive." Impressive would be what Quenneville is doing in Chicago or Sutter is doing in LA. I think Babcock met expectations but did not exceed him, or literally exactly what Blashill is doing in the first half season of his entire NHL coaching career.

You've constantly misjudged him throughout the season because you've predicted the Wings would be at the bottom of the standings from day one... and you've been wrong since day one. You never even gave Blashill a chance so don't act like you have some impartial, realistic opinion.

 

[Actual Thought*]

Hilarious that anyone would consider that a demotion. He was obviously given a head coaching job so that he could develop as a head coach by running his own bench when Babcock inevitably left.

Babcock said they were sending him down for seasoning because he wasn't gelling with the vets.

You're literally basing this on nothing. How is he unimpressive? He's excelled and won at every level...

You had a baseless preconceived idea of the guy before he ever even coached a game and are making a big deal about irrelevant things like a quote that he likes or some promotional video that he had nothing to do with. That's the Wings' PR team. Did he run over your dog or something?

Babcock won one Cup with prime Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Lidstrom. I'll give him credit for that, but there are a number of coaches that could have won a Cup or two with that roster. I don't look back at Babcock's 10 years in Detroit and think "impressive." Impressive would be what Quenneville is doing in Chicago or Sutter is doing in LA. I think Babcock met expectations but did not exceed him, or literally exactly what Blashill is doing in the first half season of his entire NHL coaching career.

You've constantly misjudged him throughout the season because you've predicted the Wings would be at the bottom of the standings from day one... and you've been wrong since day one. You never even gave Blashill a chance so don't act like you have some impartial, realistic opinion.

His only NHL experience was as an assistant and he sucked. PP was horrible just like it is now.

 

[chances14]

Babcock said they were sending him down for seasoning because he wasn't gelling with the vets.

do you have a link to an article or video where babcock said this?

 

[Flowah]

What was he supposed to say? "Blashill sucks and I demoted him because the vets on the team thought he was an incompetent boob".

Is Babcock the kind of guy to not say exactly what's on his mind? Really?

And vastly superior? What metrics show that? You got anything? First you tried to use 5v5 scoring and then I shut you down. You ignored that. Then you tried to use the struggling players, completely ignoring the fact that they struggled under Babcock as well. Then you tried to use the struggles of our 3 oldest players, upon which this team is built, as proof while completely ignoring their age. Then you tried to use shots for and against which are actually within one or two shots of last year's numbers.

So what exactly is supposed to show Babcock's "vast superiority?"

Pretty sure you're just gonna ignore me again. That's what you tend to do when you realize you are wrong.

You've constantly misjudged him throughout the season

Wrong. He judged him before the season even began. And it doesn't matter that we're second in the division, we're still utter failures (because of Blashill). But it's the same guy who thought we'd be leading the division by Christmas last season so really, the guy has some weird ideas.

 

[Bob Probert Owns You]

My one criticism of Blashill is that it doesn't seem that there is really a system in place.

When watching the Wings, there isn't much harmony in their play. It seems disjointed. Perhaps its unfamiliarity and a learning curve. Perhaps it's not being on the same level on X's and O's. I hope it's the former.

 

[Ezekial]

How unimpressive did you think the John Cooper and John Hynes hirings were?

 

[TheOtherOne]

You must not have read a single thread all last season.

Ohhhh you're talking about last season.

Then I guess you must be mistaking optimism for "praise".

Or else you are talking about praise for his AHL accomplishments.

Either way, neither of them have anything to do with this conversation.

 

[Ezekial]

Thinks Blashill's resume is unimpressive.... Thinks Tony Granato would've been the smarter hire.

 

[BF3]

...so the powerplay needs to get better. That's what I'm seeing from the stats.

Not sure that makes Blashill a bad coach considering where we are in the division and our chances of making the playoffs, which are about the same as they were under Babcock the past 2-3 years.

 

[Actual Thought*]

Is Babcock the kind of guy to not say exactly what's on his mind? Really?

And vastly superior? What metrics show that? You got anything? First you tried to use 5v5 scoring and then I shut you down. You ignored that. Then you tried to use the struggling players, completely ignoring the fact that they struggled under Babcock as well. Then you tried to use the struggles of our 3 oldest players, upon which this team is built, as proof while completely ignoring their age. Then you tried to use shots for and against which are actually within one or two shots of last year's numbers.

So what exactly is supposed to show Babcock's "vast superiority?"

Pretty sure you're just gonna ignore me again. That's what you tend to do when you realize you are wrong.

Wrong. He judged him before the season even began. And it doesn't matter that we're second in the division, we're still utter failures (because of Blashill). But it's the same guy who thought we'd be leading the division by Christmas last season so really, the guy has some weird ideas.

You are still cherry picking with the 5 v5 scoring while attempting to ignore overall scoring is down from 10th to 21st. Way to "shut me down". I know it doesn't really fit your argument but facts are facts.
Babcock's vast superiority lies in numerous Stanley Cup final appearances, numerous conference final appearances, and the fact he has won more games than any Redwings coach in history. Blashill? He coached kids. Failed as an NHL assistant and....nothing else.

You have still failed to come up with a single aspect of the team that is improved or equal vs last year. 5 v5 scoring is cancelled out by ineptitude on the PP and a negative goals differential. You just continue to make excuses that 3 players are 9 months older. Not a very strong argument.

 

[BeersHockey]

You are still cherry picking with the 5 v5 scoring while attempting to ignore overall scoring is down from 10th to 21st. Way to "shut me down". I know it doesn't really fit your argument but facts are facts.
Babcock's vast superiority lies in numerous Stanley Cup final appearances, numerous conference final appearances, and the fact he has won more games than any Redwings coach in history. Blashill? He coached kids. Failed as an NHL assistant and....nothing else.

You have still failed to come up with a single aspect of the team that is improved or equal vs last year. 5 v5 scoring is cancelled out by ineptitude on the PP and a negative goals differential. You just continue to make excuses that 3 players are 9 months older. Not a very strong argument.

Babcock has 3 Cup appearances and lost 2 of them. Bylsma took him to school in game 7 in 2009. He only has 1 other conference final appearance (which obviously he lost to Anaheim).

Blashill was such a failure that they let him oversee the overripening process of the team's future. Yeah, that makes sense.

You going to say the same garbage about Dats, Z and Kron being only 9 months older next year?

 

[ArGarBarGar]

I'm not sure why it should be surprising that players sometimes have sharp declines over a single offseason.

 

[chances14]

kronwall, zetterberg, and datsyuk have been declining for 2-3 years now. Eventually that decline is going to catch up to them. I think we are seeing that this season