GDT: Red Wings @ Senators | Round 2, Fight! Edition | Tue Feb 28th 2023, 7PM | TSN5, RDS

[bicboi64]

Was that game 3 of the cup final? I was at that game and I saw one Leaf jersey in the crowd and I said to my friend "why would anyone wear a Leaf's jersey to this game?"
He stood out that night because it was pretty much a sea of red.
Of course I had to sit in front of Todd Marchants family that night and when Anaheim scored the first goal the Marchant family erupted all 5 or 6 of them. I was so glad we won that night it kept them quiet.

I think it was game 5

 

[PlayItAgain]

Totally. Clearly he can’t coach and the players clearly didn’t play their arses off since December. Because , you know, they hate the coach

Yep. Ottawa has the 7th best record in the NHL for the last 3 months. Top 10 PP and PK. The players have clearly tuned out their coach.

 

[Union2017]

Apologies if this has been mentioned already, but did anyone notice our DJ playing "Don't Stop Believing" at the end of the game. That is THE Detroit sports anthem due to the lyrics. That was cold, and I absolutely loved it...

Yeah, I called it right away when I heard the song, I said they are doing it to rub it in to the Wings LOL

We should play "fix you" from Coldplay when we win against the Habs LOL

 

[BankStreetParade]

Yep. Ottawa has the 7th best record in the NHL for the last 3 months. Top 10 PP and PK. The players have clearly tuned out their coach.

Pretty crazy for a team playing without Norris and missing their #1RD for a lot of games this year.

 

[Union2017]

Yep. Ottawa has the 7th best record in the NHL for the last 3 months. Top 10 PP and PK. The players have clearly tuned out their coach.

That was never, ever the debate. We all know they like DJ. The question is can DJ coach at the NHL level. Let's not spin this the other way around. Nobody on the HF Boards ever said that they tuned the coach. Not as far as I remember. But we were questioning DJ's decisions

 

[Senovision]

I think it was game 5

ocation(s)	Anaheim: Honda Center (1, 2, 5) Ottawa: Scotiabank Place (3, 4)

Game 5 was played in Anaheim and Anaheim won the Cup that night. Games 3 and 4 were in Ottawa. Game 3 was the only game we won in that series.

 

[BankStreetParade]

That was never, ever the debate. We all know they like DJ. The question is can DJ coach at the NHL level. Let's not spin this the other way around. Nobody on the HF Boards ever said that they tuned the coach. Not as far as I remember. But we were questioning DJ's decisions

A cloud's been hanging over the guy for an entire season because of what's effectively a bad 10-game run at one point this year. There was never any debate to begin with, it's always been a lame narrative that gets echoed around this place to help people feel like there's some hope because the alternative is nuanced and complicated.

 

[PlayItAgain]

That was never, ever the debate. We all know they like DJ. The question is can DJ coach at the NHL level. Let's not spin this the other way around. Nobody on the HF Boards ever said that they tuned the coach. Not as far as I remember. But we were questioning DJ's decisions

Spinning now? Lol I posted nothing but facts and did not even mention the players liking their coach. I’m stating they are buying in to the system and having success for quite a while now

 

[Union2017]

Spinning now? Lol I posted nothing but facts and did not even mention the players liking their coach. I’m stating they are buying in to the system and having success for quite a while now

The issue is that he is not a good coach and I stand behind that. And yes, you were literally spinning and saying how people were talking how these players don't like the coach. Again, that was NEVER an issue. They love him, of course they do - nobody was held accountable EVER. And he seems like a very friendly guy. He plays Chabot until Chabot can't think and breathe any more. He puts Zaitsev on a first pairing. He does so many stupid mistakes and doesn't adjust during the game. Our D zone coverage is a joke. For chrissake Boucher's system was way more effective than DJ's ideas. I pretty much think that our players are more worried about Tkachuk and Giroux and dealing with them if they didn't work hard enough in the last 4 days, then about DJ and Capuano.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Well, I mean we’re all coaching experts in here…. We collectively ‘know things’….

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

Imagine if Stützle was entering this season as an RFA, watching Horvat and Larkin sign for $8.5m +.... yikes.

 

[Rodzilla]

Well, I mean we’re all coaching experts in here…. We collectively ‘know things’….

Doesnt take hockey experts to see some coaches achieve more, with less.

Credit where its due boys are playing well lately and credit goes to DJ but I stand by my comments, DJ isnt a great coach.

As I said the other day, dont need to be in the NHL to know about systems and hockey you can still have played at a high level and know a lot.

 

[coladin]

The issue is that he is not a good coach and I stand behind that. And yes, you were literally spinning and saying how people were talking how these players don't like the coach. Again, that was NEVER an issue. They love him, of course they do - nobody was held accountable EVER. And he seems like a very friendly guy. He plays Chabot until Chabot can't think and breathe any more. He puts Zaitsev on a first pairing. He does so many stupid mistakes and doesn't adjust during the game. Our D zone coverage is a joke. For chrissake Boucher's system was way more effective than DJ's ideas. I pretty much think that our players are more worried about Tkachuk and Giroux and dealing with them if they didn't work hard enough in the last 4 days, then about DJ and Capuano.

…and yet the 7th best record in the last 40 games. Clearly he screwed up

 

[Union2017]

…and yet the 7th best record in the last 40 games. Clearly he screwed up

Yes, so true. Everything to do with DJ and nothing to do with #7, #18, #12, #72, #19 being on that PP unit and even #16 scoring two goals in one game (which is clearly because DJ told him how to do that breakaway and take that shot). It's ALL DJ and his structure

Now let's talk about our D zone coverage which has NOTHING to do with coaching and how we constantly leave a player open in front of our net.

 

[Viletho]

Yes, so true. Everything to do with DJ and nothing to do with #7, #18, #12, #72, #19 being on that PP unit and even #16 scoring two goals in one game (which is clearly because DJ told him how to do that breakaway and take that shot). It's ALL DJ and his structure

Now let's talk about our D zone coverage which has NOTHING to do with coaching and how we constantly leave a player open in front of our net.

I'm on the fence right now with DJ Smith.

You talk about the PP. A lot of time, PP and PK are said to be a result of coaching. Smith deserve credit for it. Now let's say we mostly give the credit to the player. Fine
The PK is also very good, way better then in past years. Doesn't he deserve some credit for it?

We say that we suck on defence. Well we are in the middle of the pack when it come to GA and average GA per game. They have less goal allowed then the team they are competing for a playoff spot aside from the NYI.

There is almost 15-16 team that are even worst defensively in term of result(GA) and we cannot say that our goalies were monster this year

It's the 5v5 that the team struggle, but they have done well recently.

November aside, the Sens have a very good record this year. That's why i'm on the fence when I look at all this.

 

[coladin]

Yes, so true. Everything to do with DJ and nothing to do with #7, #18, #12, #72, #19 being on that PP unit and even #16 scoring two goals in one game (which is clearly because DJ told him how to do that breakaway and take that shot). It's ALL DJ and his structure

Now let's talk about our D zone coverage which has NOTHING to do with coaching and how we constantly leave a player open in front of our net.

Yes, yes. Just like DJ told DeBrincat to aim for the logo in November, especially allllll those 1 goal losses where Cat torpedoed the season

 

[coladin]

Also, disappointing crowds for the two biggest games in 5 years. 16 one night and an embarrassing 14 the next?

Good energy for those who were there , but, boy oh boy, fans missed some incredible games live.

 

[Ouroboros]

Fans will come back when Melnyk is gone.

 

[NyQuil]

Looks like we broke Hronek.

 

[DrEasy]

Honestly I think we're exaggerating the role of the coach. The team was playing well then lost Norris and Zub in quick succession, and fell into a deep funk. Now Zub is back and getting back on track, other players who were struggling (Watson, Kastelic) seem to be energized (my guess would be they were playing through injuries previously) and we're "only" missing Norris and Forsberg, so we're relatively healthy (knock on wood), and voila, we're playing well again.

I wouldn't be surprised if Chabot was also dealing with some injury or another. Same with Batherson. That would be a more logical explanation of the dip in their respective performance this year, rather than some mystical coaching issue.

 

[JD1]

Yes, so true. Everything to do with DJ and nothing to do with #7, #18, #12, #72, #19 being on that PP unit and even #16 scoring two goals in one game (which is clearly because DJ told him how to do that breakaway and take that shot). It's ALL DJ and his structure

Now let's talk about our D zone coverage which has NOTHING to do with coaching and how we constantly leave a player open in front of our net.

Go ahead and talk about. Step right up. Explain to us idiots exactly what it is with our structure that is causing problems. Heck, take it a step further and detail how you'd change the structure

You won't. You're probably the 6th guy that has said structure who I've challenged to explain in detail what the problem is. And they all wither away with nothing to say other than the odd offhand insult in an effort to redirect

Your comment about the PP being the result of the players is actually funny

 

[Micklebot]

Fans will come back when Melnyk is gone.

We're averaging 6k more than last year, granted some games were impacted by Covid restrictions. We averaged 12k prior to the pandemic cancelling the final dozen games of 2019-20, so 4k more, yeah, I'd say the fans are definitely coming back, whether that's because Melnyk is gone or not is impossible to know but even in the days of 18k we had some down games.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Also, disappointing crowds for the two biggest games in 5 years. 16 one night and an embarrassing 14 the next?

Good energy for those who were there , but, boy oh boy, fans missed some incredible games live.

Rub it in why don’t you….