Per Botterill: Sabres have relieved Phil Housley of his Coaching Duties

[TrueBlueGED]

5 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

Gotta wonder how long Marty was holding that in.

[Weave]

4 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

I like this take.  Never been a fan of forcing a future system on an incomplete team.

Need a vet coach for this young team.

[darksabre]

2 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

I can't figure out whether that's a good thing. Half joking, as I too think the roster was better than the results...but I hope he doesn't think too highly of what he has assembled. 

I agree entirely. I don't think this roster is great by any means. But they probably shouldn't have been *this* bad.

I look at the power play as something of a metric for measuring a coach. You can have a team that isn't great and have a good power play. Housley, with mostly the same players Bylsma had, totally tanked the power play.

[apuszczalowski]

Just now, Curtisp5286 said:

Two years ago they won 50 games and were among the best in the league.  I don’t think the league has really changed since then.

The only thing that changed in Chicago was the team got older and more expensive, leaving them to try to figure out how to balance paying for the top guys and filling out the rest of the roster under the cap

[matter2003]

This was the most obvious firing of all time

[Wyldnwoody44]

Well, I stand corrected, I'm glad it happened. Now we wait for what happens next 

[darksabre]

1 minute ago, TrueBlueGED said:

Gotta wonder how long Marty was holding that in.

Rayzor made a lot of comments this season that led me to believe that as far as the alumni around the team were concerned Housley was blowing it. Very similar to things he said when Bylsma was here too.

[apuszczalowski]

1 minute ago, Weave said:

I like this take.  Never been a fan of forcing a future system on an incomplete team.

Need a vet coach for this young team.

Thats usually how I look at and judge coaches. Do they need to force a system onto the players in order to be good, or can they adapt to coaching what they have. 

[Brawndo]

1 minute ago, TrueBlueGED said:

Gotta wonder how long Marty was holding that in.

 

1 minute ago, Weave said:

I like this take.  Never been a fan of forcing a future system on an incomplete team.

Need a vet coach for this young team.

Marty was on for a hour with Jeremy White about a month ago and he mentioned these factors. 

[TrueBlueGED]

3 minutes ago, Weave said:

I like this take.  Never been a fan of forcing a future system on an incomplete team.

Need a vet coach for this young team.

The team isn't that young, though. The top of the roster is in its prime, there are vets sprinkled throughout, and Dahlin is so otherworldly I honestly don't think it matters. I'm fine with a vet coach like Q or Boudreau (if fired), and would be enthusiastic. But I also don't think the roster justifies excluding someone like Keefe.

[dejeanerret]

Our next coach will be Chris Taylor

 

Book it

 

[freester]

Just now, dejeanerret said:

Our next coach will be Chris Taylor

 

Book it

 

I hope not 

[Hoss]

11 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

I can't figure out whether that's a good thing. Half joking, as I too think the roster was better than the results...but I hope he doesn't think too highly of what he has assembled. 

Precisely. Pat yourself on the back all you want but this roster is still hot garbage.

[matter2003]

37 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

The team isn't that young, though. The top of the roster is in its prime, there are vets sprinkled throughout, and Dahlin is so otherworldly I honestly don't think it matters. I'm fine with a vet coach like Q or Boudreau (if fired), and would be enthusiastic. But I also don't think the roster justifies excluding someone like Keefe.

Dahlin is an amazing talent but he probably made the most poor defensive zone plays of anyone on the team by a mile.

 

EDIT: He did, with a team leading 79 giveaways...Jack was second at 76 but many of his came in the offensive zone. Nobody else was even close.

In comparison Bogo had 46, Risto had 44 and Scandella had 41 

Edited April 7, 2019 by matter2003

[SDS]

Just now, Brawndo said:

Marty was on for a hour with Jeremy White about a month ago and he mentioned these factors. 

Phil could have had the rug pulled out from under him though.  He may have felt he had the greenlight to implement his system of the future and the team would be patient with him. 

[WildCard]

2 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Dahlin is an amazing talent but he probably made the most poor defensive zone plays of anyone on the team by a mile.

Risto and Scandella are on this team 

[matter2003]

Just now, WildCard said:

Risto and Scandella are on this team 

Yeah, but Dahlin was a turnover machine in the defensive end.  He also badly misplayed pucks at times as well.  I'm not worried, he is only 18, but it is what it is...you expect that from an 18 year old but not two vets like Risto and Scandella...

Edited April 7, 2019 by matter2003

[Curt]

2 minutes ago, SDS said:

Phil could have had the rug pulled out from under him though.  He may have felt he had the greenlight to implement his system of the future and the team would be patient with him. 

It’s possible, but that’s the type of stuff that a coach and GM talk about.  I find it very unlikely that they were not on the same page in regard to what expectations were.

[TrueBlueGED]

4 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Dahlin is an amazing talent but he probably made the most poor defensive zone plays of anyone on the team by a mile.

 

2 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Risto and Scandella are on this team 

What WC said.

3 minutes ago, SDS said:

Phil could have had the rug pulled out from under him though.  He may have felt he had the greenlight to implement his system of the future and the team would be patient with him. 

I think there has to be some difference between expecting patience and thinking your boss is just fine with torpedoing down the standings.

[Zamboni]

 And ye have little faith. 

 I knew it was going to happen before the playoffs… It was just too obvious 

Edited April 7, 2019 by Zamboni

[klos1963]

20 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Same. Give me Keefe!

Has the game passed him by though? 

in the 4 years since he won his 3rd cup?

[Zamboni]

8 minutes ago, freester said:

I hope not 

Same here. He’s doing a great job in Roch. Let him continue to develop and win with that team.

[jad1]

6 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Risto and Scandella are on this team 

The defense is probably the area of the team where Botterill expected more.

Risto is a 40 point defenseman who is way too mistake-prone in his own zone.  Dahlin looks to be following the same path with defensive zone mistakes.  Scandella is a Botterill acquisition. Further damming is that overall defensive play didn't improve with the acquisition of Montour.

Botterill might feel that a better coach will get better results from this group.  

The fowards just need help.

Edited April 7, 2019 by jad1

[Curt]

I wasn’t sure this was going to happen, but I felt that it probably should.  

The speed with which it happened tells me that the decision was made a while ago.

[WildCard]

Just now, klos1963 said:

in the 4 years since he won his 3rd cup?

Things change pretty fast. If you don't take a second to look around you may just miss it 

- Ferris Bueller

-- WildCard