yave1964 Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Former Lightning head coach Guy Boucher is who Brendan Shanahan had waiting in the wings as a consolation prize if he missed out on Babcock, he nabbed his man and now it appears that Ray Shero may be looking to make Boucher the coach of the Devils. It makes sense. The Devils are a defensive team with a great goalie and poor offense, his 1-3-1 system he used in Tampa would be a perfect fit for the Devils. Shero seems smitten with the young coach who went and coached in Switzerland after being relieved of his duties by the Bolts. “Boucher coaches teams the same way the Devils have been coached for years. He doesn’t care about having 5+ goal games or making it exciting, he cares about winning. He does that by frustrating the hell out of the other team to the point where they lose confidence in their offense.” So the most boring offensive team in Hockey is considering bringing in a system coach who would make them even more boring. But he has a decent track record both with the Bolts and with SC Bern in Switzerland who he turned around from a 70 point team to a 96 point club in one year. It may not be pretty, it may be the most boring hockey played since before they allowed for a forward pass, but the Devils would be an improved team with him behind the bench. Looking at the teams that had vacancies, if Boucher winds up in New Jersey it would mean that he, Babcock, McClellan, Bylsma and Deboar all veteran NHL coaches landed new gigs, the only team to give an unproven, untested coach a chance would be the Flyers with Dave Hakstol. Of course the Wings still have no head coach in place but it seems a foregone conclusion that AHL wunderkind Blashill will move up to replace Babcock. Of course Boucher is not a foregone conclusion but it is looking more and more likely that he brings his zany version of the trap and keepaway up north to the Devils this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 @yave1964 Great. We get to be bored out of our fecking minds 4 more times a year. Can Pronger play in those games? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 If the Devils do indeed end up hiring Guy Boucher, don't be surprised if NJ has a glaring turnaround points-wise in the standings. Personally, I think Boucher gets a bum rap on the whole "boring trap style" schtick.Did he coach traps? Absolutely.Was it his one and only trick? Not by a long shot. I've watched very closely what he did with the Lightning (obviously)...listened to his critics as well. His mindset seems to be defense first, yes (whether by coverage or trap methods), but he also has a "flip switch" for lack of a better term, where he then suddenly has his team go on offensive rushes or simply go all out offense once the other team thinks he is going to sit back.He had the PERFECT mix of forwards for that with the Bolts too. The man seems to have very complicated schemes.And not every NHL player may be cerebral enough to grasp his concepts.That said, Boucher could probably use some toning down of being TOO convoluted. I think that's what ultimately got him into trouble with the Lightning when he was fired following a real good season prior.He continued to use defensive and offensive schemes that were about 10 layers too deep and simply didn't have the personnel (or at least the same personnel playing the way they had the previous season) to carry out the plans that he drew up. His schemes seem to depend HEAVILY on having a goaltender clean up lots of mistakes.His goalies will either get a TON of help, or none at all....almost no middle ground with this coach. Dwayne Roloson was outstanding the year the Bolts went to the Finals against Boston.....but he used up his last good year, because the following season, he wasn't worth the ice shavings that are scraped away during commercial breaks!And without the proper goalie, Guy Boucher's systems fall completely apart. If hired, he will have that in Cory Schneider with the Devils.Of course, in addition to the goalies, he will need smart defensemen.The ones in NJ are young enough and moldable enough to where he just may be able to get them to grasp and buy into his concepts. He will need some explosive forwards when he decides to go all out attack mode....NJ has LOTS of work to do there. Sorry for the long rant here, but I've always felt Boucher has an unjust reputation based on ONE game against the Flyers where he had his team sit back and then everyone says "That is his entire coaching style"Not fair, IMO. He should get another look by an NHL team to redeem himself, and I think the Devils would do well to get him.NJ was clearly a deserving bottom feeding team last year, not many other places for them to go but up.And Boucher has a track record of taking on a new team assignments and having them see massive improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 @TropicalFruitGirl26 Agreed, he got a bum rap, it is all about wins, about points, and making the postseason. He did an admirable job after the Melrose fiasco of turning the team around and removing the laughingstock label. That said, I am not a fan of 1-0 or 2-1 games as a rule unless it is 30-35 shots per team and a couple of goalies locked in a duel. A 2-1 game with 30-35 shots between both teams with most of the play in neutral ice bores the living crap out of me. I would rather win 2-1 than lose 5-4 tho and that is what Shero would be thinking if he brought in Boucher. @flyercanuck I agree, the Devils were unbelievably boring last year and would not be more palatable with Boucher, that said, he does win, he might be the absolute best coach for the style the Devils play, if you can call it a style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 @yave1964 How bad were the Devils last year? Adam Henrique lead the entire team in scoring with 43 points. Only Henrique and Cammalerri topped the 40 point plateau. Andy friggin Green was tied for 10th in team scoring, with 19 points. That is a MONUMENTALLY bad offense, one of the worst in NHL history I'd say. Any coach coming in will HAVE to play a trap, defense first style....that team SUCKS on offense. It is literally the only way they have any hope of winning at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDevil Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 So it sounds like John Hynes will be the Devils next head coach. From what little I know about him it seems like a good hire. I admit I hadn't heard much about him until the last few weeks. Any Pens fans or AHL fans around here that are more familiar with him?I do have to say though that it's kind of funny they'll have the youngest head coach in the league given how ancient they've been at forward the last couple years. Hynes is only a year older than Patrik Elias. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 So it sounds like John Hynes will be the Devils next head coach. From what little I know about him it seems like a good hire. I admit I hadn't heard much about him until the last few weeks. Any Pens fans or AHL fans around here that are more familiar with him?I do have to say though that it's kind of funny they'll have the youngest head coach in the league given how ancient they've been at forward the last couple years. Hynes is only a year older than Patrik Elias. Well, then, all that REALLY means is the Devils need to do some serious re-tooling at the forward position and get a group that falls more in line with what they have on defense and have the team grow together for long term sustained success. Young forwards (once the old are peeled away), young defense, young coach....it's high time for NJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDevil Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Well, then, all that REALLY means is the Devils need to do some serious re-tooling at the forward position and get a group that falls more in line with what they have on defense and have the team grow together for long term sustained success. Young forwards (once the old are peeled away), young defense, young coach....it's high time for NJ. Now, if Marner could just fall to the Devils at #6 in the draft... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Now, if Marner could just fall to the Devils at #6 in the draft... Jeebus, the last thing I want to see is Marner in our division for the next 15 years....NOOOOOOOOO!!! I think Poporov is a much better pick for you guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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