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Richdg

Has Blashill finally lost the team?

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Many of us have been iffy to hating Blashill since he was hired. Even so the players seemed to like playing for him. But the last 2 games, giving up 16 goals to a bad Habs team that struggles to score AND looking lifeless while doing so, makes one ask. Has Blashill finally lost the team? No he doesn't assemble the roster. Yes he makes bonehead moves. But these last 2 games were 100% on the players. They simply didn't care. So your thoughts?

 

I think he has. I think he forgot to be his own man/coach and the players now seem him as a pretender. Just my 2 cents.

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1 hour ago, Jonas Mahonas said:

We have 3 forwards and 1 defenseman that look like NHL calibur players.  The rest are s***.  I dont know how any coach could get anything out of this team.

Just curious, which defenseman are you referring to?...

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Something this board has struggled mightily with over the last 5-6 years is recognizing that the NHL and every league beneath it tend to be wildly different for everyone sans the elite among the elite. That’s one or two guys every generation, certainly not Jeff “he’s won everywhere” Blashill. Most pros win everywhere before they make it to the pros; it’s almost a prerequisite. For the rest, you really never know how things are going to go.

The really crazy part to me was how confident the Wings were in Blashill. Did they even interview alternatives? I don’t remember. I only remember everyone and their mother essentially thinking he was our savior and Babcock was overrated and hurting things here.

I was never sold on any of these ideas. Bummer it’s working out like this, but fans and maybe even management need to learn that they have to work with other proven professionals in the NHL sometimes. You can’t assume everything coming out of your system is going to work out for the best. We’ve made dramatically less trades than any other team in the league in recent years. I think the second lowest team still has twice as many trades as we do. This system is not working.  

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Even if it doesn't help which I doubt it will that much,you have to at least ******* try. Letting the team suck especially the first season in your brand new arena is ******* retarded. Did you really think your one addition, Trevor daly was going to magically fix this team? Cmon.

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4 hours ago, Jonas Mahonas said:

We have 3 forwards and 1 defenseman that look like NHL calibur players.  The rest are s***.  I dont know how any coach could get anything out of this team.

Wow! If this is true then Blashill is doing an awesome job! Are you hoping he gets an extension? To be even close to the playoffs with a roster as bad as what you are saying should land him in the Jack Adams conversation.

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26 minutes ago, kliq said:

Wow! If this is true then Blashill is doing an awesome job! Are you hoping he gets an extension? To be even close to the playoffs with a roster as bad as what you are saying should land him in the Jack Adams conversation.

Some might argue, yes, if they are close to the playoffs, he should get consideration.  However, will they be close to the playoffs?  It currently doesn't look like it unless things turnaround in a hurry.  Current stats show 2 (out of the other 30 teams) have less wins in regulation so far, only 4 have a lower win% and only 5 have a lower point% (I think a lot call this win%, which is total points earned / total available points....but my win% is simply total wins / total games played).

Short story....they are currently one of the worst teams in the league (not just East).  Might be worse if they were in a different division.  Is it Blashill's fault?  Who knows.  I'm not going to pretend I know all the inner workings and how all the decisions are made, but I do think it's too easy to blame the coach.  I'm not sure why anyone would expect much of the team at this point anyway, they are in a transition period that everyone knew was coming.  I honestly think they were more lucky for 20 years that being a superior managed team.  They had a lot of great players that stuck around for a long time as they were all young at the same time. 

Does anyone really think PIT's management is somehow much better...they currently hold the longest playoff streak (active).  Or is it more due to luck in the draft by getting Crosby and Malkin (and others)....they simply plug parts around them as other guys get more expensive....but what happens when Crosby and Malkin are gone?  They'll be in trouble.

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No, I don't think they even considered any other coaching candidates.

Yes, this roster isn't spectacular, but it's not as bad as the results the coaching staff is getting out of them.

Cup teams are built around 3 players.  2 elite forwards, at least one of whom is a center, and an elite D.  You plug in parts around them, and do your best to not overpay the secondary players.  Nashville tried to win with 2 elite D and a goalie, didn't work.  Apparently Holland is trying to win with a bunch of secondary players, but there's nobody to drive the bus so it's going nowhere.

To answer the original question, if he hasn't already he will soon.  These guys are smart enough to understand that they should be better, and "work harder" isn't the answer.  They need to be smarter, and usage and systems need to be better.  All of that falls on the coach to put them in situations they can succeed.

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I don't know if he has lost the team but he's beginning to make people wonder if he really deserves the job. Yes I get he has been a coach for a while but I personally don't agree in the manner he was chosen. like F.Michael Said he's a Babcock Clone.

20 hours ago, F.Michael said:

As I've mentioned before - he comes across as a 'Babcock clone', and pretty much has been ignored by this current roster.

 

So in my eye's he's always been seen as Babcock's long lost younger cousin, but without the ability to reach the players like I thought Bab's did. The last few games have been hard to watch, even though they've gotten some wins, I didn't feel like this was a fully functioning team. Sloppy passing, giving up easy pucks and not finding the back of the net. Now it's easy to say this behind a keyboard, but Blash has got to do something to light a fire under these guys and get them to turn their attitude and game around. When they played MTL at home last week that was a hard game to watch, then Saturday's game was even harder, I'm sure Blash had some harsh words after the game at home but clearly the message is getting lost somewhere. In my opinion if he wants to prove to the players and the fans that he means business the next 5-10 games need to be drastically differently, mix up the lines, pull some guys up from the AHL do something that will make the guys in the locker room think about their positions and step their game up. Like Big Z said in the post game, it was an embarrassing game, its on everyone including Blash. So in a long winded way I think he's starting to loose the team and the fans. 

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5 hours ago, DickieDunn said:

No, I don't think they even considered any other coaching candidates.

Yes, this roster isn't spectacular, but it's not as bad as the results the coaching staff is getting out of them.

Cup teams are built around 3 players.  2 elite forwards, at least one of whom is a center, and an elite D.  You plug in parts around them, and do your best to not overpay the secondary players.  Nashville tried to win with 2 elite D and a goalie, didn't work.  Apparently Holland is trying to win with a bunch of secondary players, but there's nobody to drive the bus so it's going nowhere.

To answer the original question, if he hasn't already he will soon.  These guys are smart enough to understand that they should be better, and "work harder" isn't the answer.  They need to be smarter, and usage and systems need to be better.  All of that falls on the coach to put them in situations they can succeed.

I'm not going to say you are wrong, but I think that's a bit simplistic. Sure most cup winners fit this mould, but most good teams in general fit this mould. What makes an elite team elite is usually "this" with very good secondary players and good to great goaltending. Even with Malkin/Crosby, if you put mediocrity around them, they still arent winning a cup. Lets not dismiss Kessel (who could be argued as being an elite winger) Fleury/Murray, Bonino, Haglin etc. 

Then there is coaching. Take Quenneville off Chicago, and I dont think they have 3 cups. Then again, they dont have 2 elite forwards ;) @Jonas Mahonas

Edited by kliq

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I don't think he ever really "had" the locker room. I know for myself I was hoping he would be a good fit. But I knew living in the shadow of Babs was gonna be tough. Than I heard his voice and the way he speaks. Like most, I was hoping he could push the Wings like Babs did. But I have no doubt, just on his voice alone it didn't take long for players that have been around since Babs to tune him out. It's just human nature. To top it off he didn't exactly walk into a easy job, which I've tried my best to be objective about. I've always felt that the Wings are fighting a uphill battle, talent or not, every single team brings it A game against the Wings.

Saying that, it's not like Babs had to live in Bowman shadow right away, he also have a pretty solid team he walked in on. I wonder what Dave Lewis theses day :P 

Not that I am saying lets bring Dave Lewis back. Just wondering

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21 minutes ago, xault said:

I don't think he ever really "had" the locker room. I know for myself I was hoping he would be a good fit. But I knew living in the shadow of Babs was gonna be tough. Than I heard his voice and the way he speaks. Like most, I was hoping he could push the Wings like Babs did. But I have no doubt, just on his voice alone it didn't take long for players that have been around since Babs to tune him out. It's just human nature. To top it off he didn't exactly walk into a easy job, which I've tried my best to be objective about. I've always felt that the Wings are fighting a uphill battle, talent or not, every single team brings it A game against the Wings.

Saying that, it's not like Babs had to live in Bowman shadow right away, he also have a pretty solid team he walked in on. I wonder what Dave Lewis theses day :P 

Not that I am saying lets bring Dave Lewis back. Just wondering

It hasn't been pretty for him since he left. He went from Head Coach of the BRuins to Asst Coach with the Kings to Head Coach of the Ukrainian National Team to Asst Coach with Carolina to Head Coach of the Belarussian National Team. So he's a available.

As for the question of whether Blashill has lost the team? YYYEEESSS! I think he lost the team last season during that horrendous losing streak in January? It's obvious the guys have no interest in saving his job. That said, I am still disappointed in the players. You get paid WAY too much money to not show up and give 100% every game. 

It's not like these guys are making minimum wage working the drive thru at McD's. There I don't expect great service. But when ur spending the equivalent of a day's salary to attend a game or a week's salary to purchase a Center Ice package, I don't think that it's unreasonable to expect a guy making 6 or 7 figures to show up and play his *** off.

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Just some random things about this.

1. When Babs left IIRC there were a couple interviews but everyone knew Blashill was getting the job. I seem to remember Blysma getting an interview.

2. It takes more than 3 players. You need a good core of 8 players or so.

3. Blashill didn't create this roster and no he cant change it. But the players are not playing anymore. 2 weeks ago they still were playing hard and we all talked about it. Since then the team has largely quit.

4. Why is Z leading our F's in ice time? That is something the coach controls. Mantha, Larkin, and AA all should get 22+ mins per night. That is our best chance to win. Plus it develops them.

5. Green, daley, and DD are all good Dmen. None are great. So lets not say we only have 1 NHL quality Dman. It sure isn't Jensen either. He is a 3rd pair guy at best.

As for who to replace him, Tippett is available, Blysma is available, and if we have an opening in the summer I would bet Gallant would be interested. All 3 are better NHL coaches than Blashill. All have a history of developing young players as well. Yes all 3 have a question or 2 about them.

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28 minutes ago, Richdg said:

Just some random things about this.

1. When Babs left IIRC there were a couple interviews but everyone knew Blashill was getting the job. I seem to remember Blysma getting an interview.

2. It takes more than 3 players. You need a good core of 8 players or so.

3. Blashill didn't create this roster and no he cant change it. But the players are not playing anymore. 2 weeks ago they still were playing hard and we all talked about it. Since then the team has largely quit.

4. Why is Z leading our F's in ice time? That is something the coach controls. Mantha, Larkin, and AA all should get 22+ mins per night. That is our best chance to win. Plus it develops them.

5. Green, daley, and DD are all good Dmen. None are great. So lets not say we only have 1 NHL quality Dman. It sure isn't Jensen either. He is a 3rd pair guy at best.

As for who to replace him, Tippett is available, Blysma is available, and if we have an opening in the summer I would bet Gallant would be interested. All 3 are better NHL coaches than Blashill. All have a history of developing young players as well. Yes all 3 have a question or 2 about them.

I doubt Gallant would leave Vegas, seems to be working out pretty good for him there. 

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2 minutes ago, Echolalia said:

I hated losing Babcock but was willing to give him a shot, considering we didn't have much alternative as fans.  He completely lost my faith in him as an NHL head coach a long time ago.  I wanted him fired in 2016.

Mr. Popo’s opinion is about as good as Dende’s

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4 hours ago, Dominator2005 said:

Same was said about Babs and new blood was "needed"... and now we have same issue? Biggest problem/issue is KH. He build a s*** as a team. 

End of the day, yes, absolutely. I still don’t think Blashill is there yet on the pro level, especially in this organization. In retrospect it really seems completely foolish to go with an unproven and very green Babcock clone. Maybe Blashill would have had better luck somewhere else where his style was fresher sounding, but going from 10 years Babcock to mini Babcock lite really was an absurd idea.

Blashill was doomed to fail here, and that really boils down to another overly-optimistic and logically bankrupt Ken Holland move.

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11 minutes ago, gcom007 said:

End of the day, yes, absolutely. I still don’t think Blashill is there yet on the pro level, especially in this organization. In retrospect it really seems completely foolish to go with an unproven and very green Babcock clone. Maybe Blashill would have had better luck somewhere else where his style was fresher sounding, but going from 10 years Babcock to mini Babcock lite really was an absurd idea.

Blashill was doomed to fail here, and that really boils down to another overly-optimistic and logically bankrupt Ken Holland move.

meh hindsight. 75% of this board would have lost their s*** if the Wings didn't go with Blashill. 

I agree that we should have interviewed more candidates, and of course I agree that it didnt work out, but at the time it made sense. Every coach has to have their first coaching job somewhere, you can't critisize a team for going with a new coach.

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5 minutes ago, F.Michael said:

Hmm - not so sure about that.

From day 1 - Blashill  came across as a carbon copy of Babcock in both speech, and how he presented himself.

If only Dave Lewis had this long of a leash to have hung himself with...

 

Do you remember what it was like on here? All I read was "Babs needs to go, we need a new voice". People were in love with Blashill.

I'm not saying I thought that, personally I didnt really follow him as I dont watch the AHL games. The voice thing I just found funny, really that has nothing to do with anything. 

Different scenario with Lewis, he came in with an expectation of cup or bust and was knocked out early.

30 minutes ago, Jonas Mahonas said:

Maybe Toews will coach us someday, @kliq

How about now? He's pretty much done :lol:

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