Playing The "What If" Game Re: Mike Babcock

[Guilt Trip]

Here's my prediction for the playoffs:

Starting Lineup

Marleau Matthew Kappi
Hyman Tavares Marner
Brown Kadri Nylander
Johnsson and who cares, ain't playing

Roll three lines, Brown and Hyman lead all forwards in ice time, lose 2 of 3 games.

Lines "reshuffled" back to the beginning of time lines.

Marleau Matthews Nylander
Hyman Tavares Marner
Brown Kadri Kappi
Johnsson who cares, ain't playing

Win one, lose one. Still rolling 3 evenly.

Lines shuffled again (to late bud)

Kappi Matthews Nylander
Hyman Tavares Marner
Johnsson Kadri Maleau
Brown Who cares, ain't playing

Play the first two lines a lot win one and lose one, series lost. Bab's defaults to his best lineup too late because he's an idiot.

Hahaha...that's gold..Good laugh at your post..thx.
As for the ice-time thing, Dubas will end up taking his toys away again either by trade deadline or over the summer. I can see him trading both Brown and Hyman away. Hyman is good and all but his lack of offence doesn't justify his contract. Same with Brown. We have 2 guys, may cost a little more, to replace them in Kappy and Johnsson and our 4th line will have Moore and a Marchment(pick em Marlie). Hainsey's contract is done so I don't see them bringing him back. I think he'll try to move Zaitsev also.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

And the "coach sucks" brigade is out in full force today. It feels like Randy all over again.

 

[Zee]

And the "coach sucks" brigade is out in full force today. It feels like Randy all over again.

Randy did suck though

 

[mr grieves]

And the "coach sucks" brigade is out in full force today. It feels like Randy all over again.

Not me. I was just observing that, on the one hand, Dubas has spent valuable assets to bring in a guy for the top pair & to push Hainsey down the line-up and, on the other, the coach seems not to want to use the player there & is keeping Hainsey in the top pair. Maybe that'll change, but, right now, it looks like the GM and coach have pretty different ideas about personnel. At some point, that might be a problem!

 

[Bates]

I've been bothered for awhile that Babcock seems to want too much to be the guy who makes it happen rather than just a part of the success. Some things are as obvious as the nose on your face to everyone but Babcock.

 

[Highlander]

And the "coach sucks" brigade is out in full force today. It feels like Randy all over again.

Randy did suck though

He sucked so bad he could pull a golf ball thru garden hose

 

[cabber24]

And the "coach sucks" brigade is out in full force today. It feels like Randy all over again.

This very well maybe the best lineup we?ll ever be able to afford. I don?t know why people are being so damn patient. Giving your best players good line mates and ice time is quite simple. Can someone let Babs know Maltby and Draper retired, the game has changed.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

And the "coach sucks" brigade is out in full force today. It feels like Randy all over again.

Not me. I was just observing that, on the one hand, Dubas has spent valuable assets to bring in a guy for the top pair & to push Hainsey down the line-up and, on the other, the coach seems not to want to use the player there & is keeping Hainsey in the top pair. Maybe that'll change, but, right now, it looks like the GM and coach have pretty different ideas about personnel. At some point, that might be a problem!

He doesn't run a static pairing. Rielly and Muzzin received the most ice time in the Washington game.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

And the "coach sucks" brigade is out in full force today. It feels like Randy all over again.

This very well maybe the best lineup we?ll ever be able to afford. I don?t know why people are being so damn patient. Giving your best players good line mates and ice time is quite simple. Can someone let Babs know Maltby and Draper retired, the game has changed.

We're fans. We have no choice but to let it unfold in front of us.

And this nonsense about it being the best line up we can afford makes no sense.

Mitch Marner is 21
Auston Matthews is 21
William Nylander is 22
Kasperi Kapanen is 22
Andreas Johnsson is 24
Morgan Rielly is 24

How do we come on here and assume that our team next year will be worse because of the losses of a handful of bottom 6 players and a couple defensemen?
Does that not assume that all 6 of those above players have peaked already?
Our top 3 forwards are 21, 21 and 22. Do we not think they will get better?
Our top Defense is 24. Do we not see the progression of this player?

Patience is the thing we need most. Our core is 22 and younger. Our supporting cast is 25 and younger.

 

[Bates]

And the "coach sucks" brigade is out in full force today. It feels like Randy all over again.

This very well maybe the best lineup we?ll ever be able to afford. I don?t know why people are being so damn patient. Giving your best players good line mates and ice time is quite simple. Can someone let Babs know Maltby and Draper retired, the game has changed.

We're fans. We have no choice but to let it unfold in front of us.

And this nonsense about it being the best line up we can afford makes no sense.

Mitch Marner is 21
Auston Matthews is 21
William Nylander is 22
Kasperi Kapanen is 22
Andreas Johnsson is 24
Morgan Rielly is 24

How do we come on here and assume that our team next year will be worse because of the losses of a handful of bottom 6 players and a couple defensemen?
Does that not assume that all 6 of those above players have peaked already?
Our top 3 forwards are 21, 21 and 22. Do we not think they will get better?
Our top Defense is 24. Do we not see the progression of this player?

Patience is the thing we need most. Our core is 22 and younger. Our supporting cast is 25 and younger.

It's not about age, It's about the Cap.

 

[princedpw]

And the "coach sucks" brigade is out in full force today. It feels like Randy all over again.

This very well maybe the best lineup we?ll ever be able to afford. I don?t know why people are being so damn patient. Giving your best players good line mates and ice time is quite simple. Can someone let Babs know Maltby and Draper retired, the game has changed.

We're fans. We have no choice but to let it unfold in front of us.

And this nonsense about it being the best line up we can afford makes no sense.

Mitch Marner is 21
Auston Matthews is 21
William Nylander is 22
Kasperi Kapanen is 22
Andreas Johnsson is 24
Morgan Rielly is 24

How do we come on here and assume that our team next year will be worse because of the losses of a handful of bottom 6 players and a couple defensemen?
Does that not assume that all 6 of those above players have peaked already?
Our top 3 forwards are 21, 21 and 22. Do we not think they will get better?
Our top Defense is 24. Do we not see the progression of this player?

Patience is the thing we need most. Our core is 22 and younger. Our supporting cast is 25 and younger.

+1

I?m pretty happy with how things are going

 

[OldTimeHockey]

And the "coach sucks" brigade is out in full force today. It feels like Randy all over again.

This very well maybe the best lineup we?ll ever be able to afford. I don?t know why people are being so damn patient. Giving your best players good line mates and ice time is quite simple. Can someone let Babs know Maltby and Draper retired, the game has changed.

We're fans. We have no choice but to let it unfold in front of us.

And this nonsense about it being the best line up we can afford makes no sense.

Mitch Marner is 21
Auston Matthews is 21
William Nylander is 22
Kasperi Kapanen is 22
Andreas Johnsson is 24
Morgan Rielly is 24

How do we come on here and assume that our team next year will be worse because of the losses of a handful of bottom 6 players and a couple defensemen?
Does that not assume that all 6 of those above players have peaked already?
Our top 3 forwards are 21, 21 and 22. Do we not think they will get better?
Our top Defense is 24. Do we not see the progression of this player?

Patience is the thing we need most. Our core is 22 and younger. Our supporting cast is 25 and younger.

It's not about age, It's about the Cap.

Elaborate please. The players I listed above will all be here next season(with maybe the exception of Kapanen or Johnsson)....so, again, how do they get worse when all those players are a year older, with a year more experience?

I mean the team should get automatically better when they fire Babcock next month.

 

[mr grieves]

And the "coach sucks" brigade is out in full force today. It feels like Randy all over again.

Not me. I was just observing that, on the one hand, Dubas has spent valuable assets to bring in a guy for the top pair & to push Hainsey down the line-up and, on the other, the coach seems not to want to use the player there & is keeping Hainsey in the top pair. Maybe that'll change, but, right now, it looks like the GM and coach have pretty different ideas about personnel. At some point, that might be a problem!

He doesn't run a static pairing. Rielly and Muzzin received the most ice time in the Washington game.

A positive, and pretty recent, development.

 

[herman]

Is it unreasonable to ease a new acquisition into the system?

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Is it unreasonable to ease a new acquisition into the system?

No kidding.

Here's a new piece of electronics. I expect you to know everything about it the first time you pick it up.

 

[Fanatic]

Anyone feeling any differently now?

The knee-jerk reactions against Babcock are strong right now. That aside, I think it might be prudent to put Kefe in place and let him run the team.

- I do not like the way Babcock manages ice time
- I do not think he matches lines - or even mixes lines very well
- He does not appear to be dynamic enough with his game plan - it is as if he is saying "my plan is my plan and that is what we will stick with no matter what
- Sheldon Keefe is a good coach who will be picked up by another team if they do not promote him
- After the same result three years in a row (twice in a row to Boston) they have to do something

 

[Zee]

The most likely scenario is Jim Hiller and D.J. Smith being let go since they are in charge of the PP and PK respectively which were both a huge issue in this series.  That essentially puts Babcock "on notice" that he's on the clock.  I also fully expect Dubas to have a man conversation with Babcock during the exit interviews and call him out on his ice time and lineup decisions.

 

[herman]

I watched last night and saw a lot of good things until slightly bad things happened and Andersen finally faltered. Zero additional/effective press from the coaching staff to push the roster's limits and concentrate its attack is going to be the storyline dragging into the off season. It's baffling, but was it really surprising? The coaching staff believed in a certain style of play and certain players to steer that style and stuck to their guns. I slightly blame Nylander for making Marleau look effective for enough of an early game to convince Babcock to ride or die with the iron man (nevermind that he was surrounded by play drivers in Nylander, 40%Gardiner, 85%Dermott).

I like Carlton's idea to try out different assistants. I don't know if it's a good time for Dubas to use the Keefe silver bullet yet as he really only just got his hands on the team, but there is an old boys club vibe from how people have written about the coaching staff and a disconnect with Dubas' management team. Like Zee said, put him on notice.

I generally like the way Babcock deals with media and his players (and their psychological growth) and like 90% of his tactical choices, so I'd be hard pressed to come up with a better option. If Dubas can make it work with Babcock (they have a lot of alignment philosophically), this team is still going places.

 

[Zee]

I watched last night and saw a lot of good things until slightly bad things happened and Andersen finally faltered. Zero additional/effective press from the coaching staff to push the roster's limits and concentrate its attack is going to be the storyline dragging into the off season. It's baffling, but was it really surprising? The coaching staff believed in a certain style of play and certain players to steer that style and stuck to their guns. I slightly blame Nylander for making Marleau look effective for enough of an early game to convince Babcock to ride or die with the iron man (nevermind that he was surrounded by play drivers in Nylander, 40%Gardiner, 85%Dermott).

I like Carlton's idea to try out different assistants. I don't know if it's a good time for Dubas to use the Keefe silver bullet yet as he really only just got his hands on the team, but there is an old boys club vibe from how people have written about the coaching staff and a disconnect with Dubas' management team. Like Zee said, put him on notice.

I generally like the way Babcock deals with media and his players (and their psychological growth) and like 90% of his tactical choices, so I'd be hard pressed to come up with a better option. If Dubas can make it work with Babcock (they have a lot of alignment philosophically), this team is still going places.

I don't like that Babcock never seems to take any blame when discussing what went wrong.  From last night, he slyly mentioned:

"goals kept going in" -- slight shot at Andersen
"we couldn't move Willy around" - shot at Kadri

I mean, the Kadri argument is valid, however you've known he's not available since game 2, and you had plenty of time to try other things.  You totally *could* have moved Willy around, but you chose not to, don't blame Kadri for that.  How about giving Nylander better wingers for a start?  How about a period of Matthews-Nylander just to see how it goes?  Nope, can't do that cause we don't have Kadri!

 

[Leaffan61]

I watched last night and saw a lot of good things until slightly bad things happened and Andersen finally faltered. Zero additional/effective press from the coaching staff to push the roster's limits and concentrate its attack is going to be the storyline dragging into the off season. It's baffling, but was it really surprising? The coaching staff believed in a certain style of play and certain players to steer that style and stuck to their guns. I slightly blame Nylander for making Marleau look effective for enough of an early game to convince Babcock to ride or die with the iron man (nevermind that he was surrounded by play drivers in Nylander, 40%Gardiner, 85%Dermott).

I like Carlton's idea to try out different assistants. I don't know if it's a good time for Dubas to use the Keefe silver bullet yet as he really only just got his hands on the team, but there is an old boys club vibe from how people have written about the coaching staff and a disconnect with Dubas' management team. Like Zee said, put him on notice.

I generally like the way Babcock deals with media and his players (and their psychological growth) and like 90% of his tactical choices, so I'd be hard pressed to come up with a better option. If Dubas can make it work with Babcock (they have a lot of alignment philosophically), this team is still going places.

I don't like that Babcock never seems to take any blame when discussing what went wrong.  From last night, he slyly mentioned:

"goals kept going in" -- slight shot at Andersen
"we couldn't move Willy around" - shot at Kadri

I mean, the Kadri argument is valid, however you've known he's not available since game 2, and you had plenty of time to try other things.  You totally *could* have moved Willy around, but you chose not to, don't blame Kadri for that.  How about giving Nylander better wingers for a start?  How about a period of Matthews-Nylander just to see how it goes?  Nope, can't do that cause we don't have Kadri!

It's time for Babcock and his finger pointing and excuses to be run outta town. Firing the assistants is just scapegoating. They do what Babcock instructs them to do.

Time for Babcock to reap the whirlwind of accountability.