Ralph Krueger: Bad Coach or Bad Person

[GASabresIUFAN]

More proof today of RK’s total incompetence.  Dahlin is 2nd in the NHL in goals (3) and points (10) in the last 12 games.  RK needs to write a book about how to turn a Norris talented defenseman into the NHL’s worst D in 4 easy steps.  

[nucci]

6 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

More proof today of RK’s total incompetence.  Dahlin is 2nd in the NHL in goals (3) and points (10) in the last 12 games.  RK needs to write a book about how to turn a Norris talented defenseman into the NHL’s worst D in 4 easy steps.  

also amazing is how long this was allowed to go on

[LGR4GM]

13 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

More proof today of RK’s total incompetence.  Dahlin is 2nd in the NHL in goals (3) and points (10) in the last 12 games.  RK needs to write a book about how to turn a Norris talented defenseman into the NHL’s worst D in 4 easy steps.  

When Dahlin stopped looking like Dahlin was when I boarded the SS Fire Ralph. 

[LabattBlue]

18 minutes ago, nucci said:

also amazing is how long this was allowed to go on

Top down problem.  What has happened to this once proud franchise is all on the Pegula’s.   
 

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by LabattBlue

[Thorner]

26 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

More proof today of RK’s total incompetence.  Dahlin is 2nd in the NHL in goals (3) and points (10) in the last 12 games.  RK needs to write a book about how to turn a Norris talented defenseman into the NHL’s worst D in 4 easy steps.  

It's funny how many people gave up on Dahlin

[nucci]

1 hour ago, LabattBlue said:

Top down problem.  What has happened to this once proud franchise is all on the Pegula’s.   
 

 

I concur

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

It's funny how many people gave up on Dahlin

Not really, considering how poorly he was playing. We obviously know why now but he looked terrible

[LabattBlue]

11 minutes ago, nucci said:

Not really, considering how poorly he was playing. We obviously know why now but he looked terrible

I agree....and I was one of his biggest critics.  Still have no idea what his ceiling is, but he clearly is playing better post Ralph.

[Stoner]

2 hours ago, Thorny said:

It's funny how many people gave up on Dahlin

I won't beat this drum too much, but can we at least wait until he's playing better this fall when the games count in the standings and there's pressure to get/stay in the playoff hunt and end a long playoff drought and there are 19,000 fans watching every move etc.?

[Buffalonill]

He thought he was Billy Beane and the Buffalo Organisation went with it 

[Thorner]

3 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

I won't beat this drum too much, but can we at least wait until he's playing better this fall when the games count in the standings and there's pressure to get/stay in the playoff hunt and end a long playoff drought and there are 19,000 fans watching every move etc.?

Definitely. 

I'm speaking more along the lines of those who had been declaring him a potential bust, already. Of which there were many.

It was never on the table. 

[Thorner]

1 hour ago, nucci said:

I concur

Not really, considering how poorly he was playing. We obviously know why now but he looked terrible

Nah. I said "given up", ie written him off - which always looked bad, and looks worse now. 

We had already seen what he looked like under non disastrous coaching. Fears of how good he'd be to me made sense, even still do - the idea he wasn't going to amount to being a good player IMO was always ridiculous. 

[bunomatic]

2 hours ago, Thorny said:

It's funny how many people gave up on Dahlin

Its funny how many people put it on Dahlin and not where it belonged.

[Thorner]

3 minutes ago, bunomatic said:

Its funny how many people put it on Dahlin and not where it belonged.

Ya I mean he deserves some of the "blame", too. I guess it's just that the struggles looked to me to be more "par for the course" with a player, as young as him, adjusting to the NHL on a bad team, with a BAD coach to boot, than it did "cause for alarm". 

[bunomatic]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Ya I mean he deserves some of the "blame", too. I guess it's just that the struggles looked to me to be more "par for the course" with a player, as young as him, adjusting to the NHL on a bad team, with a BAD coach to boot, than it did "cause for alarm". 

Yeah I should have mentioned that there were times during Ralphs tenure this season where I thought this was just a historically bad mix of players. But , collectively I don’t think I’d ever seen a team with all the good talent at the top of the lineupall having a terrible season at the same time. Most are youngish and finding their way out of the terrible play and results while still playing under Ralphs tutelage was pretty much an uphill struggle. And a lot of us ***** on the players.

[JohnC]

2 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

I won't beat this drum too much, but can we at least wait until he's playing better this fall when the games count in the standings and there's pressure to get/stay in the playoff hunt and end a long playoff drought and there are 19,000 fans watching every move etc.?

Absolutely not! If Dahlin is playing well whatever the circumstances for this season then he is playing well and exhibiting what he is capable of in the future. Are you not going to credit Mitts, Thompson or Cozens for exponentially stepping up their games (especially under Granato) because it was done under a lost cause season? When you exhibit talent you are showing that you have talent. That certainly is a reason for optimism for these young players (and others---most notably the young defensemen) rather than being uncertain about their prospects. 

[nfreeman]

3 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

I won't beat this drum too much, but can we at least wait until he's playing better this fall when the games count in the standings and there's pressure to get/stay in the playoff hunt and end a long playoff drought and there are 19,000 fans watching every move etc.?

I fear the years of betrayal and disappointment have left you dead inside. 

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

I fear the years of betrayal and disappointment have left you dead inside. 

PA is right though. We need to be careful how much we attribute to a small sample size. There are about 3 defenders on this team who are apparently on a better track than Dahlin if you read the game day threads. Why even sign Dahlin when we have better-Dahlin Bryson. Why keep Eichel as captain when we have Mark Messier’s son Samuelsson. Why protect a good player in the expansion draft when we have all around star Borgen that Seattle couldn’t possibly pass up. 

I’m not bullish on Dahlin because of the last month, I’m bullish on him simply because I’ve always felt that way. It’s great to see, of course. And it’s great to see the above players mentioned do well. I am very hopeful for ALL of them. 

But @Claude BallsI believe had it right when he said the highs get so high and the lows so low 

[Stoner]

16 hours ago, nfreeman said:

I fear the years of betrayal and disappointment have left you dead inside. 

I am very much alive. I like a lot of things I'm seeing. But it's cotton candy before dinner.

I'll be wearing adult diapers in the fall if trendlines are still good. (OTOH DM's record is not good. Funny .... no blame after losses.)

 

[LGR4GM]

19 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

I won't beat this drum too much, but can we at least wait until he's playing better this fall when the games count in the standings and there's pressure to get/stay in the playoff hunt and end a long playoff drought and there are 19,000 fans watching every move etc.?

Nope. Dahlin isn't a bust and will be the best offensive defender on the team. Pair him with Borgen and let it fly. 

[Stoner]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Nope. Dahlin isn't a bust and will be the best offensive defender on the team. Pair him with Borgen and let it fly. 

Did I say the b-word?

Also, I agree with the bolded.

[Weave]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

Did I say the b-word?

Also, I agree with the bolded.

That was a 

[Thorner]

On 4/26/2021 at 7:47 AM, LGR4GM said:

Nope. Dahlin isn't a bust and will be is the best overall defender on the team. Pair him with Borgen and let it fly. 

 

[JohnC]

7 minutes ago, Thorny said:

 

At first I thought that the Joki and Dahlin pairing was an odd mix and that it wouldn't work well. Surprisingly, it liberated Dahlin who is playing with confidence and expanding his game and it has seemed to stabilize and uplift Joki who was struggling. Why not keep this pairing together?

[Thorner]

Just now, JohnC said:

At first I thought that the Joki and Dahlin pairing was an odd mix and that it wouldn't work well. Surprisingly, it liberated Dahlin who is playing with confidence and expanding his game and it has seemed to stabilize and uplift Joki who was struggling. Why not keep this pairing together?

Ya that's fine, the substance of my post was the correction I made

[Drag0nDan]

On 4/25/2021 at 10:10 AM, LGR4GM said:

When Dahlin stopped looking like Dahlin was when I boarded the SS Fire Ralph. 

For me - it was constantly parading cody eakin out there even though it was like 100% clear that he was the worst player on the ice every night.