Confirmed with Link: Leafs hire Guy Boucher and Mike Van Ryn as assistant coaches

[ACC1224]

Just the fact that his teams made it farther does not make him a better coach.

He certainly couldn’t do worse.

 

[Anthrax442]

He certainly couldn’t do worse.

For sure. But seems like his charm wears off very rapidly

 

[Antropovsky]

For sure. But seems like his charm wears off very rapidly

Looking at the teams he had, he seems to overachieve the first year and fall back down to earth the next. The rosters weren't very good.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Just the fact that his teams made it farther does not make him a better coach.

I mean if better results don't make him a better coach, and not just better results, but significantly better results then what does? Because the results aren't even close

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

I know Boucher is being brought in under the premise of replacing Carbery.

But I suspect there is another hidden agenda as well. Before they settled on Babcock the Leafs were rumoured to be in on Boucher. So I'm not entirely surprised to find him on the coaching staff now.

Keefe doesn't have an extension yet.

He's been twisting in the wind for months. I assume he's going to enter the year in lame duck status. Not exactly a vote in confidence for this perennial loser.

They've already had the stick.

Now they've had the carrot. From one extreme to another. From a battle hardened seasoned HOF head coach in Babcock to the rookie softie pushover in Keefe.

I don't know what new Boucher can bring to the table these coach killers haven't already seen, but we'll probably find out soon enough I guess.

Go Leafs Go.

 

[geo25]

I know Boucher is being brought in under the premise of replacing Carbery.

But I suspect there is another hidden agenda as well. Before they settled on Babcock the Leafs were rumoured to be in on Boucher. So I'm not entirely surprised to find him on the coaching staff now.

Keefe doesn't have an extension yet.

He's been twisting in the wind for months. I assume he's going to enter the year in lame duck status. Not exactly a vote in confidence for this perennial loser.

They've already had the stick.

Now they've had the carrot. From one extreme to another. From a battle hardened seasoned HOF head coach in Babcock to the rookie softie pushover in Keefe.

I don't know what new Boucher can bring to the table these coach killers haven't already seen, but we'll probably find out soon enough I guess.

Go Leafs Go.

They should be Shanny killers not coach killers. He's the one responsible & deserves the boot.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

They should be Shanny killers not coach killers. He's the one responsible & deserves the boot.

Thanks for the response.

Shanahan has already used up his coach card. Twice. And his GM card. Three times.

At this post it I suspect he has a job for life.

 

[HuGort]

Boucher good coach. He was our head coach in AHL. Runs good poweplay. Habs made big mistake making Ducharme head coach and not Boucher. Our PP was atrocious under Ducharme.

 

[ULF_55]

The key is not who hired Keefe its who hired Guy Boucher as his assistant and his potential replacement.

A real coach gets to hire his own assistant coaches for his team, or at least is heavily involved in the process, but when the GM gives you your guys, then its sends a clear message as to the belief in the coach by the GM.

If Keefe was 100% secure then there wouldn't even have been any discussion or ambiguity in the subject of staying or going, but his poor disappointing playoff results for themselves.

If BT wasn't so busy with enough pressing stuff on his plate with higher priority issues, then Keefe would already likely have been fired. IMO

We know why he's still there, and I won't be surprised if he's token extended.

Does he have a better staff today?

Well they do have HC experience getting past the 2nd. round, once with a 41 year Dwayne Roloson in net ...

I don't think he's doomed. He can somewhat control how this plays out. It's like the captain of a ship, he doesn't steer the ship, his pilot does. Heck, we brought on a non-military pilot to navigate up the St. Lawrence and the Captain stayed out of the way. Captain wanted success not accolades.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

Damn, I'm a huge Leafs fan and I just found out about this. How? Not a clue.

Not the slightest. Especially when I get updates from SN TSN on my phone............

Oh well, I dig it.

 

[Maple Leaf]

Bond villain style

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

Now that I've thought about this some more, I'm not as convinced Boucher is the guy I'd want replacing Keefe if need be.

Boucher was coach of Ottawa when their dressing room blew up.

It was, quite possibly, the WORST implosion of any franchise in the history of the NHL. Toxic levels of animosity cultivated between coaches and players while the team spiralled out of control. The product of an organization lacking accountability.

With Boucher at the epicentre of it all.

We've all heard rumours of the Leafs locker room having problems. If Keefe does get fired that means the team would already be in disarray. Boucher doesn't have a good history of dealing well with locker room discord.

Making him head coach might just be throwing gasoline onto an already explosive situation.

I'm not convinced he would be a viable long term solution.

 

[Frostitute]

Now that I've thought about this some more, I'm not as convinced Boucher is the guy I'd want replacing Keefe if need be.

Boucher was coach of Ottawa when their dressing room blew up.

It was, quite possibly, the WORST implosion of any franchise in the history of the NHL. Toxic levels of animosity cultivated between coaches and players while the team spiralled out of control. The product of an organization lacking accountability.

With Boucher at the epicentre of it all.

We've all heard rumours of the Leafs locker room having problems. If Keefe does get fired that means the team would already be in disarray. Boucher doesn't have a good history of dealing well with locker room discord.

Making him head coach might just be throwing gasoline onto an already explosive situation.

I'm not convinced he would be a viable long term solution.

Then again, experiencing such a thing is bound to lead to knowing what to look for and what not to do if such a case arises.

Example : Former drug addicts often make the best councilors.

Then again, maybe player issues were just that, player issues. Sometimes the personalities/work ethic of athletes just can't be fixed.

Example : Johnny Manziel.

Or maybe I'm just trying to look on the brighy side and you're right. This guy could be an awful choice as a replacement.

Keefe has an astoundingly strong regular season record as head coach for us and it truly boggles the mind to watch him drop the ball repeatedly come playoff time. He seems to have an inability to look at what the opposition does and adjust accordingly. Reminds me of a MMA fighter who is an excellent striker but won't train his ground game against a grappling specialist, instead claiming "I don't need to focus on what they will do. They need to focus on what I will do.". Please Keefe, just learn to stuff a shot.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

Then again, experiencing such a thing is bound to lead to knowing what to look for and what not to do if such a case arises.

Example : Former drug addicts often make the best councilors.

Then again, maybe player issues were just that, player issues. Sometimes the personalities/work ethic of athletes just can't be fixed.

Example : Johnny Manziel.

Or maybe I'm just trying to look on the brighy side and you're right. This guy could be an awful choice as a replacement.

Keefe has an astoundingly strong regular season record as head coach for us and it truly boggles the mind to watch him drop the ball repeatedly come playoff time. He seems to have an inability to look at what the opposition does and adjust accordingly. Reminds me of a MMA fighter who is an excellent striker but won't train his ground game against a grappling specialist, instead claiming "I don't need to focus on what they will do. They need to focus on what I will do.". Please Keefe, just learn to stuff a shot.

Wideman has been in Montreal for a couple years now.

Imagine how grateful he feels to the Habs organization for giving him another chance in the NHL. The lessons he learned from Ubergate. The things he is teaching the young kids on that team.

The Phoenix can only rise from ashes.

My main concern with Boucher is that Ottawa was the second team that tuned him out in short order. Everything that happened with the Senators during his time there clearly wasn't his fault. But he played no small role in helping fuel it either, apparently even going so far as to let Karlsson dictate practices.

Leafs gave Boucher a chance for the same reason Montreal gave Wideman one: don't rock the boat and thank your lucky stars every day.

Hopefully that attitude rubs off on everyone else.