It's not over.

[Robviously]

Of course this implies that we know for sure Ruff is a horrible boss. The only evidence we have is Paul Hamilton's opinion and the words of notorious whiner misfit Derek Roy. Not very convincing.

Well, that along with five years of having a mentally/emotionally fragile team that can't put together a full season. That reflects poorly on Ruff. And even if we want to blame the players, Ruff clearly has a say in roster moves. He's been the coach since 1997. If he doesn't like his roster, he shouldn't have put it together the way he did.

 

To risk oversimplifying things, I think there's 3 kinds of people: those who work their tail off no matter what, those who are capable of working their tail off but it varies based on work environment, and those who simply don't like working hard and do as little of it as possible. In any job in any field there's probably going to be some mix of all three types, but I don't think anybody would argue that you want to get as many of type #1 as possible, type #2 are OK but you don't want a place of employment littered with them, and type #3 you don't want any of. So yes, of course the coach is going to matter at some point....but when players start quitting or not giving it their all, it still reflects as much on them as it does the coach. That's my general take, anyway.

In my experience, there isn't anyone completely immune to the effects of poor leadership in their organization. I've seen even the hardest working people start to tune out. They'll still get their work done, and even cover for their boss' mistakes to a point, but you definitely aren't getting their best work.

[Kristian]

Of course this implies that we know for sure Ruff is a horrible boss. The only evidence we have is Paul Hamilton's opinion and the words of notorious whiner misfit Derek Roy. Not very convincing.

 

Not that I like Roy in the slightest, but considering Ruff's affection for him, shouldn't Roy by definition be one of Lindy's most stalwart supporters?

[X. Benedict]

Well, that along with five years of having a mentally/emotionally fragile team that can't put together a full season. That reflects poorly on Ruff. And even if we want to blame the players, Ruff clearly has a say in roster moves. He's been the coach since 1997. If he doesn't like his roster, he shouldn't have put it together the way he did.

 

 

In my experience, there isn't anyone completely immune to the effects of poor leadership in their organization. I've seen even the hardest working people start to tune out. They'll still get their work done, and even cover for their boss' mistakes to a point, but you definitely aren't getting their best work.

 

I don't think the coaching has been poor at all. What we've seen is 5 seasons with no dominant center.

When your best players are at wing, teams are going to struggle to go far.

 

A matter a fact, I think any team whose best player is a winger is a limited team.

 

The trouble is that finding a dominant center is as difficult as finding a tier one goalie.

 

There is some truth to this:

Buffalo will never have a center....Toronto will never have a goalie.

[darksabre]

Not that I like Roy in the slightest, but considering Ruff's affection for him, shouldn't Roy by definition be one of Lindy's most stalwart supporters?

 

I think this whole "Lindy loves Roy" thing is very exaggerated.

[TrueBlueGED]

I think this whole "Lindy loves Roy" thing is very exaggerated.

 

It is. This year he seemed to back off Roy a little (maybe giving credence to the injuries with him), but in years past, Ruff has absolutely blasted Roy in public. I remember numerous rants to the effect of "We need our best players to be our best players in order to win. Derek Roy has to be one of our best players." I also feel the need to point out that Ruff criticizing players publicly has historically been a very effective tactic for him--in my memory the player almost always comes out the next game playing significantly better.

[X. Benedict]

This was clearly not Roy's year. He struggled with his skating most of the season and had no burst. I'm sure it diminished his value to the team and also his trade value.

 

Were there any character issues or flaws that could have been coached out of him?

 

I doubt it. Players tend to work twice as hard to come back from injury. The human body isn't built for 82 hockey games and healing at the same time.

[TheChimp]

So many current threads are dominated by discussion of firing Ruff I wasn't sure where to post this, but Paul Hamilton had this to say on WGR just now:

 

howard ‏ @hsimon62

on with @pham1717 who said he's hearing rumblings from players they are tired of Lindy/constant berating.

 

howard ‏ @hsimon62

asked Paul abou whether pominville is right captain. said Lindy doesnt want strong captain. doesnt want to be challenged in the room

 

howard ‏ @hsimon62

paul said maybe vanek's 2nd half slump was due to his relationship with Lindy souring. Paul said he doesnt think darcy/lindy will be fired

Hmm. Any coach I want in here does ten times as much berating as Lindy has. Lindy just started doing his berating, far as I've seen, in the past few months. And even if I'm wrong, I'd like to know which players can't handle tough love. Name them, Howard, or STFU.

 

Secondly, Pominville IS a strong captain. He leads by example, and practices what he preaches, can't ask for more than that.

 

Lastly, if Lindy is not going, I'm not wasting a single breath on discussion that he should. Instead, I'm going to harp on the OBVIOUS lack of communication between himself and Darcy that allows for so many players to come here and play under him that have INHERENT problems with his coaching style. He and Darcy seem to have at least BEGUN to deal with that, and the reason I feel this way is by looking at the temperament of the younger players. Not a single primadonna in the bunch. I bet you it isn't these younger kids that are griping about being yelled at.

 

But then there's Leino. This dude might as well have skated to the bench, took off his jersey, took a crap in it, and left it sitting there as he waltzed back to the dressing room, waving the bird at his coach and fellow players, that last game. How on earth did a player like THAT get such a huge contract from our GM when he, apparently is the LEAST Lindy-like player we have?????

 

The disconnect between the coach and the GM is an issue. Plain and simple. And my thinking is, if Darcy doesn;t do everything in his power to find a buyer for Leino's contract YESTERDAY, he might have just screwed himself.

[Jsixspd]

It's his money, not yours. Who am I to judge Pegula?

 

If you're an owner, a boss, a manager, whatever... it's really, really dumb to come out and declare publicly that anyone's job is safe, particularly guys that are entrenched as deeply as Ruff and Regier. Safe = complacency which also can = mediocrity and apathy.

 

Did Pegula actually state publicly that Ruff and Regier's jobs are safe? I've seen it hinted such, but I don't actually know. If he did that's face-palm worthy stuff right there if he did.

[TrueBlueGED]

If you're an owner, a boss, a manager, whatever... it's really, really dumb to come out and declare publicly that anyone's job is safe, particularly guys that are entrenched as deeply as Ruff and Regier. Safe = complacency which also can = mediocrity and apathy.

 

Did Pegula actually state publicly that Ruff and Regier's jobs are safe? I've seen it hinted such, but I don't actually know. If he did that's face-palm worthy stuff right there if he did.

 

Just to play devil's advocate: when managers know they are safe, they are more likely to focus on long-term planning rather than knee-jerking short-term moves in an attempt to save their own skin. In sports in particular this happens ALL the time, coaches/GMs on the hot seat make moves to try to save their own job, but which are bad moves for the organization over the long run.

[darksabre]

 

 

Just to play devil's advocate: when managers know they are safe, they are more likely to focus on long-term planning rather than knee-jerking short-term moves in an attempt to save their own skin. In sports in particular this happens ALL the time, coaches/GMs on the hot seat make moves to try to save their own job, but which are bad moves for the organization over the long run.

 

Excellent point. For all we know, Pegula's "Lindy ain't goin nowhere" comment was his way of saying "let's see what they do with a full vote of confidence". This is a business after all, and employees tend to work better when their boss puts faith in them.