Wild relieve head coach Bruce Boudreau of duties

[lynxrattle]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/bruce-boudreau-wild-make-coaching-change/

 

Why? I'm waiting for a pretty good explanation for this one. Not unexpected, but what is the point? 

[FD19372]

[EJ0226]

I have been listening to this for little bit. My honest opinion. BG was looking for any way to dumb Bruce. He just figured it would be ok after a loss.

 

But we all know Bruce was the least of the issues on this team. Bruce wasn't perfect and made mistakes but every coach does. The issue being is this franchise/owner somehow bought into the notion that Parise and Suter were franchise/game changers that could take over games. It didn't take much research to see this wasn't true before they offered them contracts. Those contracts completely anchored the team to having those guys become Kane, Crosby, Ovechkin level players when they are the guys between average players and actually star players. Once those lines were signed it was clear it made the franchise take one step forward to winning a cup but they were still a good 3 or 4 steps away from making a run at the cup. They never moved forward from that. Then young guys coming in and showing promise had to be paid and soon it became a balancing act as the bloated contracts of those 2 on top of overpaying Koivu and Dubnyk and other buddies of those vets and the team literally plateaued. No chance of getting better unless a rookie contract guy blew up and carried the team. So Bruce had to make due with what he got. He got a group of players with a overall average or below average talent that would be a flash in the pan once in a blue moon. Even the mighty Scotty Bowman would have one hell of a time getting this group out of the first round. I feel for Bruce and even guys like Yeo. Clearly the organization isn't being ran correctly and some players have shown they have more power then the coaches. Perfect example is Parise/Suter/Oates and Yeo ordeal. Those two got no punishment and Yeo ended up losing his job not to far down the road.

 

Yes I am not happy how they did this with Bruce. 7-3-1 the last 10 games and got this team within 3 points of a playoff spot and let him go. I figured they would let him go at the end of the year and I could understand it. I hope the Wild honestly don't win another game this season. I hope it bites BG in the butt on this. It was done dirty and deserves to have this above his head in the future. If you want to make a change BG then give permission to make 11, 20, 9 and 40 as healthy scratches and tell them not to come around team meetings anymore. Give the keys to the young guys and develop them. We know 11 and 20 are not good at helping other players out. Don't need them for anything.

[Icechipper]

Would love to see Bruce stay with organization.....or is he just out the door?

[EJ0226]

5 minutes ago, Icechipper said:

Would love to see Bruce stay with organization.....or is he just out the door?

He's out the door. Honestly would you want to stay with a organization that is nothing but coach killers?

[ClusterChuck]

I figured this was part of Guerin's plan when he got here. It all depended on how the team did this season to how long Bruce would remain.

Bruce probably will get another head coaching job, But I'd like to see him stay also.

Edited February 14, 2020 by ClusterChuck

[Lonkkis]

Expected this to happen, though not this soon. Not that BB lost the room or anything but he didn't seem to have any solution to the lategame crashing this team constantly suffers from. Among other small things.

 

Wondering who BG is going to pursue to hire as the next Wild head coach.

[lynxrattle]

Here's a measurement of what Guerin had to say about Boudreau's firing.

[CreaseAndAssist]

44 minutes ago, Lonkkis said:

Expected this to happen, though not this soon. Not that BB lost the room or anything but he didn't seem to have any solution to the lategame crashing this team constantly suffers from. Among other small things.

 

Wondering who BG is going to pursue to hire as the next Wild head coach.

 

But is that entirely on him?  Was he saying to the players?  Oh when you're out there on the power play...just throw the puck on the boards...just skate around ok?  No, of course not.  So now you boot the coach?  If the threat of dealing players for quitting was a threat to kick them in the arse, then what message does firing the coach send?  It says we're screwed.  For what?  For going 7-3-1 in their last 10 games?  That's stupid.  

 

You don't want Bruce around, sure...but wait for the season to be over.  Evason isn't going to inspire this team any better, most likely it will be worse.  His last few seasons in Milwaukee were terrible.  

 

For all of the positive mojo he created with the Zucker trade, he certainly threw that down the shitter with this move to dump Bruce.  I think most fans could tell it wasn't his fault.  

 

As long as #11 and #20 are there, the culture will be whatever they wish it to be.  Doesn't matter who the bench boss will be, those two will have veto / i.e. coach canning authority anyways.  

 

Yeo

Torchetti

Boudreau

 

Let me guess...Suter almost laughs as he says Bruce, "is a great guy"

[Alexandron]

29 minutes ago, Lonkkis said:

Expected this to happen, though not this soon. Not that BB lost the room or anything but he didn't seem to have any solution to the late game crashing this team constantly suffers from. Among other small things.

 

Wondering who BG is going to pursue to hire as the next Wild head coach.

Agree . Last night our game loss was really frustrating to get for the team as well as we had few of them very similar during the season. Was not the best season for Bruce Boudreau. And of course, other small things are always following that fire we even do not know about them. Last 2 seasons I was more worry about his health (a heart condition and an arterial hypertension), because he was always under  a consistent/continuous stress with our team.

 

I think, Laviolette is an interesting very experienced (having one win of Stanley Cup; he also brought 3 NHL teams to a Stanley Cup finals; 10 times playoff  appearances) and 10 years younger candidate to hire as the next Wild head coach.

Here is a link from Wikipedia about him:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Laviolette

 

 

[CreaseAndAssist]

Quote

“The most important thing is the players are going into this stretch run on a high, and I felt like they just needed a different voice right now,” Guerin said at a news conference.

 

Let me translate this...a few players contacted me that they were annoyed Bruce was playing the 3rd and 4th line last night because even though their line hadn't done a damn thing all game they thought they should be playing.  Those players may have recieved power play time...and threw it away with sloppy passes and mishandles of the puck...but they feel Bruce should've spent more time working on the power play said a player who wished to remain anonymous.  

 

Quote

“The one thing I really do like about Dean is his passion, his fire for the game,” Guerin said. “I am hoping that that translates to the players. I think these guys really like Dean a lot.

 

The two players thought Dean might be a better fit.  They said they talked to Dean and he said he'd be playing the Top 2 lines almost all of the time while the 3rd and 4th lines would only get intermittent opportunities and are confident this will help the team win more games.  But if it doesn't, then Dean sucks and you can replace him with another guy we'll try to control like all of the others.  

 

Did I really miss anything.  The ******** meter is 100% correct.  

[Alexandron]

If I am not wrong, our Central Division fired this season 3 or 4 not a bad coaches. It is like a trend for this year. 

[Lonkkis]

2 minutes ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

But is that entirely on him?  Was he saying to the players?  Oh when you're out there on the power play...just throw the puck on the boards...just skate around ok?  No, of course not.  So now you boot the coach?  If the threat of dealing players for quitting was a threat to kick them in the arse, then what message does firing the coach send?  It says we're screwed.  For what?  For going 7-3-1 in their last 10 games?  That's stupid.  

 

You don't want Bruce around, sure...but wait for the season to be over.  Evason isn't going to inspire this team any better, most likely it will be worse.  His last few seasons in Milwaukee were terrible.  

 

For all of the positive mojo he created with the Zucker trade, he certainly threw that down the shitter with this move to dump Bruce.  I think most fans could tell it wasn't his fault.  

 

As long as #11 and #20 are there, the culture will be whatever they wish it to be.  Doesn't matter who the bench boss will be, those two will have veto / i.e. coach canning authority anyways.  

 

Yeo

Torchetti

Boudreau

 

Let me guess...Suter almost laughs as he says Bruce, "is a great guy"

 

Oh, don't get me wrong, like I mentioned I expected Bruce to be gone but after the season. The blame of this firing goes to the severely underperforming vets. But as it has been said by people many times before; in this business, it's easier to fire the coach than the players (especially those with multiyear NMC contracts). Sad but true.

 

Now there's talk that this firing was done just so we won't reach the playoffs, only to drop out in the first round. It's certainly possible.

[Lonkkis]

And I doubt Evason gets promoted from interim status, considering he's been in charge of the special teams, and we know how they've been this season.

Kinda hope they hire Gallant, he's a good coach who's able to get the best out of younger players. Laviolette is good too but he tends to lose the lockerroom after a few seasons for whatever reason.

Edited February 14, 2020 by Lonkkis

[Alexandron]

4 minutes ago, Lonkkis said:

 

Oh, don't get me wrong, like I mentioned I expected Bruce to be gone but after the season. The blame of this firing goes to the severely underperforming vets. But as it has been said by people many times before; in this business, it's easier to fire the coach than the players (especially those with multiyear NMC contracts). Sad but true.

 

Now there's talk that this firing was done just so we won't reach the playoffs, only to drop out in the first round. It's certainly possible.

I would hire Laviolette even if we will reach playoffs and will drop out in the first round. First of all , to see if he is capable to improve the fighting mentality of the team when it gets the chance.  Otherwise other teams will take him before us at the end of the season. Sincerely, I do not see any better experienced available candidate at this crucial moment. 

[MNSOTA]

Since today is one of my days off, I caught a bunch of the talk about the firing on KFAN.

 

One of the things discussed, is that Guerin is waiting for his buddy Doug Weight to finish his year off from coaching...meaning that Evason finishes out the season and we'll see a coaching announcement sometime during the offseason that Weight is the new coach.

 

But of course, no one is going to be successful coaching this team until #9, #11, and #20 are gone. You could be as peace-loving as Pope Francis or the Dali Lama or as tyrannical as Stalin, and you will still fail with this roster. Hell, I don't think Jesus Christ, Allah, Buddah, (insert deity of your choice here) would succeed. 

[4Check]

Looking forward to the onion being peeled (probably very slowly) to find out the real reason for the firing.  Hard to believe it's their recent play (7-3-1)  It's been suggested that Guerin and Boudreau were not on the same page.   LOVE to know the specifics on that!   And would also love to know if short term team success is of any concern to Guerin.

[lynxrattle]

It certainly is a job you wouldn't wish for even to your worst enemy.

[IllaZilla]

Doug Weight does not inspire a lot of confidence.

 

Was named Islanders interim head coach after Jack Capuano was fired in 2017 and over 40 games went 24-12-4 and missed the Playoffs. The following year he was named head coach and over 82 games went 35-37-10, missed the Playoffs and was subsequently fired.

[Lonkkis]

12 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

Doug Weight does not inspire a lot of confidence.

 

Was named Islanders interim head coach after Jack Capuano was fired in 2017 and over 40 games went 24-12-4 and missed the Playoffs. The following year he was named head coach and over 82 games went 35-37-10, missed the Playoffs and was subsequently fired.

 

Guerin also has a history with Gallant from his Islanders days

[wildstars95]

bruce can take a deep breath and live life now "and watch this trainwreck of a team fail for the next 4-6 years"

only so much you can do with crap junk parts that pose as hockey players

[Oregonwildfan]

Best of luck to Boudreau, im a big fan of his and hope he continues with whatever he wants to do. The timing of this is odd but im willing to give Guerin the chance to fix this mess. This group isnt winning squat anyway. What bothers me more is why arent some of these older vets not wanting out? NTC or not isnt the goal to win the Stanley cup? To me thats more telling of a country club atmosphere thats being run by overpaid players content collecting a paycheck. Thats the gutless leadership thats been running this team for years. Bruce Boudreau isnt the problem, neither was the last 3 or 4 coaches including Yeo. I just find it so strange that the Stanley cup dosent seem to be number 1 with these vets. Its strange 

[EJ0226]

2 hours ago, Lonkkis said:

Expected this to happen, though not this soon. Not that BB lost the room or anything but he didn't seem to have any solution to the lategame crashing this team constantly suffers from. Among other small things.

 

Wondering who BG is going to pursue to hire as the next Wild head coach.

Rumor has it Babcock could be in.

[4Check]

26 minutes ago, EJ0226 said:

Rumor has it Babcock could be in.

Source?

[EJ0226]

58 minutes ago, 4Check said:

Source?

I will have to try and find it again but read it earlier. Honestly, Babcock doesn't inspire hope with this group either. Right now I think the Wilds best bet is find a fill in guy for the next 5 years and let the anchors fall off and then get serious.