Amerks Name New Assistant Coaches

[Brawndo]

 

[Doohicksie]

I just saw that.  My first reaction was favorable and then I realized Peca got away.  Blergh.

[SabresBaltimore]

Any idea if Prospal speaks Russian?

[dudacek]

Patches has already been working with Johnson and our other young D, so there should be a nice transition there.

I guess we now need a new development coach.

Prospal had a good NHL career and 3 years as a head coach in the Czech league. Smart, versatile player no idea of what sold him for this job. All the young Euros in the system may have been a consideration.

Edited July 10, 2023 by dudacek

[Pimlach]

25 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Patches has already been working with Johnson and our other young D, so there should be a nice transition there.

I guess we now need a new development coach.

Prospal had a good NHL career and 3 years as a head coach in the Czech league. Smart, versatile player no idea of what sold him for this job. All the young Euros in the system may have been a consideration.

Good moves in that one is a logical promotion from within, and the other was recruited from outside to bring in a fresh perspective.  
 

[GASabresIUFAN]

I had forgotten what a good player Vinny was. 
 

I read on the net that Vinny still lives in Florida. Maybe he wants to break into the NHL and this was the best opportunity.  With Rousek and Kulich in Rochester plus the Russians, it probably feels like a good fit.

 

 

[Buffalonill]

Vinny Prospal is going to be Scooped up after this year he's gonna be a gem

[Mr. Allen]

5 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Vinny Prospal is going to be Scooped up after this year he's gonna be a gem

Haha.  You’re negative even while praising. 

[Buffalonill]

11 minutes ago, Mr. Allen said:

Haha.  You’re negative even while praising. 

Welp I wasn't he is going to be very good 

[Mr. Allen]

34 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Welp I wasn't he is going to be very good 

But by saying he’ll be scooped up after only a year is not very positive. 

[Taro T]

Paetsch is a very logical choice.  They've seen him in action on the development side of things, so expecting he'll be a good fit in this new role.

Prospal is a very intersting choice.  Always liked him as a player.  Hoping he's as good of a coach as he was an NHLer.

On paper, both look like very good additions.

[Buffalonill]

15 minutes ago, Mr. Allen said:

But by saying he’ll be scooped up after only a year is not very positive. 

That just means hes gonna be really good 

[That Aud Smell]

3 hours ago, SabresBaltimore said:

Any idea if Prospal speaks Russian?

3 hours ago, dudacek said:

Prospal had ... 3 years as a head coach in the Czech league. 

[SabresBaltimore]

I'm not sure what to take from that. Isn't Czech the main language in the Czech Republic? I assume he speaks that, which is great for Kulich and Rousek.

 

He may have had Russian players on his team, but that doesn't answer my question. We have Russians on the Amerks and our head coach doesn't speak much Russian.

 

I was just thinking it'd be more likely Prospal does speak some Russian, which would be a nice bonus for helping with some of our upcoming Russian prospects.

[That Aud Smell]

20 minutes ago, SabresBaltimore said:

I'm not sure what to take from that.

If you're talking about my post: I was mostly just clowning around. Mostly. As was discussed in the Hasek thread, Czechs apparently despise Russians, in general. And little wonder. 1968 wasn't that long ago - certainly well within the lifetimes of some of those who post here.

[SabresBaltimore]

Yeah. I get it. But a lot of Europeans speak multiple languages. I couldn't find statistics on how common Russian is in the Czech Republic. 

When I was looking to see what languages he speaks I found this page:

https://www.visitczechrepublic.com/en-US/57cff387-4684-472a-be8a-bd86d792898e/page/language

 

Which says:

 

Quote

Although the vast majority of the population of the Czech Republic (96%) speaks Czech, you can also hear Slovak, Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, or Vietnamese as these are languages of the largest national minorities in the Czech Republic.

[Taro T]

6 minutes ago, SabresBaltimore said:

Yeah. I get it. But a lot of Europeans speak multiple languages. I couldn't find statistics on how common Russian is in the Czech Republic. 

When I was looking to see what languages he speaks I found this page:

https://www.visitczechrepublic.com/en-US/57cff387-4684-472a-be8a-bd86d792898e/page/language

 

Which says:

 

At least until '89 when the Iron Curtain fell, Russian was the 2nd/3rd language for the people over there.  Guess it would depend upon which part of Czechoslovakia the person was from whether Slovak or Russian was the 2nd language.  The Russians made sure the citizens of all of their satellites could speak it.

Though the people there hate Russia (understandably), it might still be their 2nd language today.  (Much like most French people can speak English even though they dislike them even more than they dislike Germans.  (Still pissed over them not sticking around to get slaughtered at Dunkirk when the Brits decided to live to fight another day.))

[LGR4GM]

10 minutes ago, Taro T said:

At least until '89 when the Iron Curtain fell, Russian was the 2nd/3rd language for the people over there.  Guess it would depend upon which part of Czechoslovakia the person was from whether Slovak or Russian was the 2nd language.  The Russians made sure the citizens of all of their satellites could speak it.

Though the people there hate Russia (understandably), it might still be their 2nd language today.  (Much like most French people can speak English even though they dislike them even more than they dislike Germans.  (Still pissed over them not sticking around to get slaughtered at Dunkirk when the Brits decided to live to fight another day.))

Dunkirk is an interesting note to the final opening phase of WWII. The French still had a large standing army after Dunkirk but there was no leadership or will to continue the war. The main lesson from the German penetration through the Ardennes in 1940 was that you needed defense in depth to blunt a blitzkrieg which is something 4 years later the Americans had when the Germans tried again. The French actually did a great job once they were compressed of holding different parts of the advances into Dunkirk but at that point it was too little and too late. Simply put the lack of modern mechanized units (tanks with small guns aren't great), proper combat command and comms (the French were SLOW), and the inability of the French to react strongly anywhere is why they lost. Tactics and communication were the big issues. Blaming the British for the very British pragmaticism they showed at the end is silly but understandable, the Nazis looted France and sucked. Still there was almost nothing the British could do once the French had no counter thrust to the thin German breakthrough.  

There was a belief by some, not most, in Germany that the Americans would react like the French in 1940, in that once the front was penetrated, they would retreat on all sides or at least stop attacking and fall back from Antwerp leaving the British 21st Army group to be destroyed. Unfortunately the Americans instead blocked every road, bridge, and tract wide enough for a tank from Clervaux to LaRoche all while setting up depth in defense as fast as was possible. The Elsenborn ridge which was a key part of getting to Antwerp just dug in, pre-sighted every available artillery piece within a 100 miles and shot to ***** anyone who tried to go through them. The 99th infantry division did major work and gets little credit for the truly remarkable job they did in stopping the German advance. 

This is a long way of saying while I understand the French being upset, they were partially if not fully to blame, and the British ended up being correct in their withholding of air support (fighters) and moving the bulk of their manpower back across the channel. 

[Getpucksdeep]

On Paetsch, as a footnote / reminder / fyi to our newer fans, https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/09/04/nathan-paetsch/71591544/

For me, obviously gambling laws are loosening and are questionable in the first place.  I guess I'm a little surprised the Pegula's are deciding to look the other way and pay the man what I assume is a handsome salary.  Meanwhile, the ring leaders got 9 years in jail.

[Porous Five Hole]

2 hours ago, Getpucksdeep said:

On Paetsch, as a footnote / reminder / fyi to our newer fans, https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/09/04/nathan-paetsch/71591544/

For me, obviously gambling laws are loosening and are questionable in the first place.  I guess I'm a little surprised the Pegula's are deciding to look the other way and pay the man what I assume is a handsome salary.  Meanwhile, the ring leaders got 9 years in jail.

Remember when Vanek signed over his paycheck to settle up a debt from this? Wild. 
 

[dudacek]

Some good info from Hoppe

https://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/new-amerks-assistant-coaches-vinny-prospal-nathan-paetsch-offer-sabres-prospects-notable-experience/

[French Collection]

9 hours ago, dudacek said:

Some good info from Hoppe

https://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/new-amerks-assistant-coaches-vinny-prospal-nathan-paetsch-offer-sabres-prospects-notable-experience/

Awesome!