News Article: Sens hire DJ Smith as head coach

[Agent Zuuuub]

All he has to do is bench Mark Boro and I'll like him as the coach.

 

[Clayonator]

Hahahaha @Micklebot @BonkTastic apparently my English needs work. What I mean is, for all the fans that dislike Smith (D.J.) a good first move or so to win them over would be to give Pageau the C while Tkachuk/Chabot gain more experience. As opposed to say Boro. Then again if he does the latter, it doesn’t make that great of a difference big picture. The only reason I mentioned it is because he brought up Pageau specifically as a guy the youngsters can learn from, and with no prompting either.

 

[Micklebot]

We were down that road already 8 years ago

I actually liked Maclean, he did some things well and some not so well (played that GSN line soooo much), had a flawed roster too. I actually think MacLean was a decently successful hire, and from what I understood was a huge part of Karlsson's development.

 

[BonkTastic]

Hahahaha @Micklebot @BonkTastic apparently my English needs work. What I mean is, for all the fans that dislike Smith (D.J.) a good first move or so to win them over would be to give Pageau the C while Tkachuk/Chabot gain more experience. As opposed to say Boro. Then again if he does the latter, it doesn’t make that great of a difference big picture. The only reason I mentioned it is because he brought up Pageau specifically as a guy the youngsters can learn from, and with no prompting either.

LOL, no worries man. We got there in the end.

Yeah, that quote makes more sense with DJ Smith than it did with Pageau, haha.

 

[GSG1165]

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Hope he learned from Babcock, especially the part about finishing last place in his first year with the organization. Hopefully playoffs in 21.
Sucks to be cheering for a tank job. f*** you Melnyk.

 

[Micklebot]

Huh, second youngest head coach in the league after Colliton in Chicago.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I actually liked Maclean, he did some things well and some not so well (played that GSN line soooo much), had a flawed roster too. I actually think MacLean was a decently successful hire, and from what I understood was a huge part of Karlsson's development.

Maclean also had the balls to call out ownership near the end.

 

[L'Aveuglette]

He'll get fired in two years, won't he?

 

[Stylizer1]

Dohrion hired him so he won't be intimidated.

 

[Icelevel]

I suspect the ottawa players will give him a chance and then not like him within the 3 years. Just a hunch. Mr. Stopgap come on down.

 

[Icelevel]

I’m just getting to the conference now. It’s bad so far. Pierre needs to go away. He does seem like he could be a good fit for Dorion though. I’m unimpressed by both.

Update: I dislike him a bit less now. I could see the possibility of it working.

 

[Icelevel]

Until the head of the snake is gone it wouldn't matter if we had Scotty bowman as coach. This team won't succeed

It’s a f***ing mess and it’s gotten painfully cringeworthy
Pierre on the question about salary impact on the decision...Jesus he needs a slap in the face. Would someone slap him already

 

[L'Aveuglette]

Dohrion hired him so he won't be intimidated.

And there it is.

Roy and Martin would have obviously had too much influence over management, but they were the best candidates imo. This is the safe pick from a GM that wants total control.

 

[L'Aveuglette]

I’m just getting to the conference now. It’s bad so far. Pierre needs to go away. He does seem like he could be a good fit for Dorion though. I’m unimpressed by both.

Link to said conference?

I need some help moving my bowels.

 

[Icelevel]

Link to said conference?

I need some help moving my bowels.

Ask and you shall receive

 

[Rand0m]

I don't think I could care any less who coaches this team as long as Broke Melnyk is around. Seriously, they have BY far the worse roster in the league. No coach can turn this team into a winner.

 

[Its not your fault]

Leafs fans will be happy indeed. He had poor management of special teams for the Leafs and their defensive assignments at times. He's been blamed for a lot of poor decisions in deployment too. So...we're going to suck, probably. Which is fine, since we want a lottery pick the next few years I imagine.

Smith was probably cheap to hire as well. McGuire and J.R. were discussing salary talks with the Senators and McGuire basically inferred that salary should never come up at first. Which works fine for us, since we can't pay them.

No leaf fans want to fire, Bobcock no one even knew who the assistant coach was or were till today, that's how blind my fan base is. Most should be refs maybe, but no career arm chair GM's.

 

[Emerica]

Shocked nobody has mentioned that Smith has had years to learn under mike Babcock, one of the more revered coaches in recent NHL history.

We all know former Babcock assistants have a great track record. McLellan, Maclean, Blashill, Peters, etc.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

What? First time I’ve ever heard of this. I’ve went to school with him and seen him multiple times out with friends.

He is as down to earth as they come. Not sure where this comes from.

People change. But then everyone is different around different people.

Who knows

 

[danielpalfredsson]

Heard the press conference today. He came off as very likable.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

Also, there is a pretty good article profiling Smith on that was put on The Athletic today.

All I could think about reading it, was that @aragorn must be so excited about this hire. (I hope he knows I mean it in a nice way )

 

[Senovision]

It will be interesting. It probably doesn't matter who is coaching there's not going to be much talent to work with. I remember watching him as a jr playing for the Windsor Spitfires he was a defenseman, hustler, a leader type, and a hard worker and the captain. He played briefly in the NHL Colorado and then injuries ended his career. He's coached Windsor, Oshawa (won the Memorial Cup) and assistant coach to Babcock in Toronto.

 

[Sun God Nika]

He'll get fired in two years, won't he?

im going with 3.

first year rebuild. finish bottom 5
second year improve into a outside bubble team
third year suck again

 

[SPF6ty9]

Ask and you shall receive

Ugh, Pierre's smug face is just the worst, even in freeze frame.

DJ on the other hand seems like a good guy. I don't know enough about him now to have an opinion, we'll see how he does. If he succeeds then great, we found a diamond in the rough. If he fails, then we'll tighten our stranglehold on the lottery odds. Seems like it'll work out either way

 

[supsens]

I suspect the ottawa players will give him a chance and then not like him within the 3 years. Just a hunch. Mr. Stopgap come on down.

They handed the team over to the players when Spezza was the man and it has been a nightmare ever since, all those guys are gone now, the players will no longer be running the show.