The Unveiling of the Official Fire Claude Noel Thread

[JACKETfan]

...........I am forced to conclude that either A) the coaches do not know that what they are doing is not working, which is highly unlikely, or B) they refuse to acknowledge that what they are doing is not working.

I fear that it is B), which means that it is not so much an issue of Noel's ineptitude (and yes, I do agree that he is inept) as much as it is Hitch refusing to change a crucial piece of his system.
.............
Does this make sense? Or am I oversimplifying the situation?

IMO...It's a little of A, some of B (I'm afraid)
--and let me also add C) Hitch and Howson realize that this year's team is "not the one" and are taking a developmental approach, -knowing that they still have some missing pieces to find, -and some young guys who either need to step, or develop, or will be gone in the off season. Hence the apparent lack of urgency.

Of course, the problem with "c" is that during the summer they said that "this was the year." When they failed to find a top center, I for one knew it wasn't, and lowered my expectations accordingly.

 

[section 204]

But the year isn't over, and because of very competitive play at even strength, this year is by no means totally lost. The power play doesn't need to be dominant, just serviceable. If they can simply get it clicking at 15-18% the rest of the way then opponents must at least play with some measure of discipline against them.

By a marginal improvement on the advantage, this team could still get in the playoffs.

 

[Inquiring Minds]

If this team is not changing how it does the PP,

I think they did change the way they "did" the PP on Weds. I seemed to me that they abandoned the points altogether and just collapsed in on the net. I swear at one point all five of our guys were inside the circles - it looked like that warmup drill where five guys are circled around the crease taking quick shots at the goalie. Only difference is that we still didn't score.

Isn't Nikita a right handed shot?

 

[Fremitus Borealis]

Isn't Nikita a right handed shot?

Yep. Add this to the "bafflement" factor...


Anywho, all this said, it's still early in the season, and seriously, no one is really "out of it" yet. The team we currently have is certainly capable of winning, and we've seen them do it this year. Hell they've even been able to come from behind this year too, which is something we've never, ever, seen them do before. If they could manage to fix the PP *ahem Filatov, and bench Bäckman, ahem* I think playoffs are certainly within reach.

 

[KeithBWhittington]

I'm with all of you in saying Claude Must Go, but every year our powerplay goes through a horrible stretch. We can never sustain a successful powerplay for long.

 

[Fremitus Borealis]

One thing I noticed in the Coyotes game was that on the 5 on 3, it was like our guys moved way too close to the net, and in doing so, drastically cut down their chances of finding a clear lane or having enough time to get a good shot off. I guess that could be a sign of "pressing" too much.

 

[roo jacket]

Um, no.

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=574071&highlight=Kevin+Dineen&page=3
and I'm pretty sure there were people who suggested this before me in the Fire Hitchcock thread. But it's good to have Mingo in our little lynch mob!

yeah, i think the call to have Deeno involved in the organization has been around since his retirement. course, we gave him a crap job, that allowed him to relax and enjoy attending games with a brew in hand, which I'm sure he liked. However, we should have been looking to give him more... like an AHL or assistant job... oh well. He's been on many teams lists for awhile. He will get their sooner rather than later, and it's my hope we get on top of that.

 

[macserv]

We can never sustain a successful powerplay for long.

All the more reason that all fingers should be pointed at the coach.

I would also like to call for the head of whichever coach is responsible for our piss-poor shooting performance. If Noel is focused on special teams, and Murphy (I'm guessing) is coaching defense, maybe that would be Agnew. Whoever it is, he needs to tell the team that shooting the puck right at the netminder's chest/glove without getting him out of position is not going light that lamp.

 

[section 204]

if the following question does not get asked next Wednesday on the coach's show, I'll be very upset...

"Coach, how can you justify employing a coach on your staff who has led the special teams to such abysmal new levels?"

 

[section 204]

I would also accept the following variant...

"Who does Claude noel sleep with that has provided him with unbelievable job security?"

 

[CapnCornelius]

I called the postgame show and talked about it on there. One thing of the many that was brought up was that we need a right-handed shot on the left defensive side to help. Russell would be a good call-up except that he's a lefty.

Regardless, we need to fix things for the better or we're toast!

Its time for the myth of the right-handed shot to die. So, allow me to kill it once and for all.

Per hockey-reference.com, there are 62 right handed defensemen in the league. Only 13 of those right-handed defensemen have more points than Mike Commodore, who's not exactly an offensive machine.

St. Louis has the second best power play in the league. Their right handed shot is Roman Polak, who has 2 assists this season and no goals. Philly is the 5th best power play in the league...with no right-handed d-man. The one they had, Steve Eminger, didn't fair well there and is doing better since arriving in Tampa Bay. Anaheim's 7th in the league in power play and their best right handed shot is Steve Montador--not exactly a first power play unit player

Then there's the flip side of the coin. The Rangers have two good right handed defensemen with 12 and 15 points each in Rozsival and Girardi. The Blueshirts Power Play is a less than impressive 19th in the league. Vancouver is only slightly better at 17th with Salo and Bieksa. Nashville has the best right-handed shooting defenseman in the league this year in Shea Weber and their power play is 27th in the league.

So, either our coaching staff and management is too stupid to see that a right-handed shot isn't the be-all-end-all of power play performance, or they think we're too stupid to figure this out.

Lack of a right-handed shot from the point is a convenient scape goat for the failings of our power play.

 

[Pluckfur]

Its time for the myth of the right-handed shot to die. So, allow me to kill it once and for all.

Per hockey-reference.com, there are 62 right handed defensemen in the league. Only 13 of those right-handed defensemen have more points than Mike Commodore, who's not exactly an offensive machine.

St. Louis has the second best power play in the league. Their right handed shot is Roman Polak, who has 2 assists this season and no goals. Philly is the 5th best power play in the league...with no right-handed d-man. The one they had, Steve Eminger, didn't fair well there and is doing better since arriving in Tampa Bay. Anaheim's 7th in the league in power play and their best right handed shot is Steve Montador--not exactly a first power play unit player

Then there's the flip side of the coin. The Rangers have two good right handed defensemen with 12 and 15 points each in Rozsival and Girardi. The Blueshirts Power Play is a less than impressive 19th in the league. Vancouver is only slightly better at 17th with Salo and Bieksa. Nashville has the best right-handed shooting defenseman in the league this year in Shea Weber and their power play is 27th in the league.

So, either our coaching staff and management is too stupid to see that a right-handed shot isn't the be-all-end-all of power play performance, or they think we're too stupid to figure this out.

Lack of a right-handed shot from the point is a convenient scape goat for the failings of our power play.

Please stop hanging the right shot "scapegoat" at the feet of the coaching staff. Hitch has said we don't have the right pieces - he's never said our PP sucks because we have no right handed shooters. From his show on 11-12-08:

CallerEric: PP - no good right handed shot. This the biggest problem?

Hitchcock: ... I'm not sure I buy the left shot thought. Montreal has all left shots. Kovalev, Markov, and Tanguay all work great together. They work great at the top together. We've made some changes. Going to see some tonight. See where we stand. Other teams still find a way to get it done with all left shots....

****
As to points others have questioned or made in reference to the coaching staff. Gord Murphy was in charge of defense and the PK last season - I have no reason to believe they took the responsibility away from him. The Coaching staff is exactly the same as it was last season. The GM is exactly the same guy as last season. They only change has been personnel.

Same old Jackets? Maybe not, but they're doing a darn fine impersonation.

 

[section 204]

As to points others have questioned or made in reference to the coaching staff. Gord Murphy was in charge of defense and the PK last season - I have no reason to believe they took the responsibility away from him. The Coaching staff is exactly the same as it was last season. The GM is exactly the same guy as last season. They only change has been personnel.

Same old Jackets? Maybe not, but they're doing a darn fine impersonation.

There were some changes...

The coaches from both the Blue Jackets and Syracuse Crunch have been meeting all week to cover every base you can imagine and tweak the system to fit all the new players who were acquired over the summer. They've made some changes to the coaching staff duties, with Claude Noel now taking over the power play and Gary Agnew handling the post-game analysis.

 

[Pluckfur]

There were some changes...

Yes, I read that this summer. My immediate thought was "Well, it couldn't hurt." Unfortunately, neither did it help - and now ... I sometimes see Noel behind the bench at games, and sometimes Agnew. These two would appear to be completely interchangeable ( and thus redundant) parts.

 

[Moo]

Fire him. Right freaking now. Execute him at mid-ice of the Staples Center if they have to, just fire him!

 

[JF Omalycat]

Hmmm......that didn't take long.

 

[section 204]

His ongoing employment is truly mysterious. I've moved through denial and anger, and I'm now amusingly intrigued.

 

[Fremitus Borealis]

His ongoing employment is truly mysterious. I've moved through denial and anger, and I'm now amusingly intrigued.

So true it hurts

 

[LaCosta Nostra]

The only explanation is that he has something on Howson.

 

[Timeless Winter]

Leave him in California, don't let him take the flight back.

 

[brianhatesu]

It's officially under 10%. That is unexceptable. I want to to see the coaches take some responsibility.

 

[JACKETfan]

It's officially under 10%. That is unexceptable. I want to to see the coaches take some responsibility.

Here, here.
Time to thrown someone under the bus to grab the passengers' attention.
Time for a player to go to wake some people up (Peca?)
Time for somebody on the 2nd-4th lines to step forward.

 

[BluejacketNut]

While we're at it, lets leave Gord in Cali also.....Ohh Hitch, I think Gord and Noel wanted to talk to you....(Hitch turns and walks towards Gordy and Noel).....hit the gas....lets get the F out of here while we can...GO GO GO

 

[213 Sentinel]

Well, something's gotta give. When you're in charge of the worst anything in CBJ history, that's saying a lot.

 

[roo jacket]

His on ice interviews are terrible. I would not want to work for this man. He is quite the un-motivator