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Forums :: Blog World :: Paul McCann: Time's A Wastin'
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Paul McCann
Nashville Predators
Location: Nolensville, TN
Joined: 09.15.2005

Nov 21 @ 9:34 AM ET
Paul McCann: Time's A Wastin'
FoxMulder
Nashville Predators
Location: Christiana, TN
Joined: 02.26.2018

Nov 21 @ 10:00 AM ET
"Regression to the mean"

You ain't kidding, brother. This team reminds me of the midling teams we had back in the day that just had a hard time scoring timely goals. Sure there are a ton of shots on net, but most are either center mass on the goalie or five feet wide. I get that you can't score if you don't shoot, but how is it that they miss so badly, so often?

I don't think they'll meet the American Thanksgiving requirement, Paul. Which brings up interesting scenarios...like the trade deadline. To blow it up, or not, that is the question. I say if we're solidly out, get rid of Lavy, dump some salaries, let the kids play and regroup for next year. Also, why not try that goalie we got from Tampa, the supposed head case? I mean it's not like Juuse has been lights out. Let's see what we have in the system if we're not going anywhere.

just my $.02
gramps
Location: Chandler, AZ
Joined: 10.10.2006

Nov 21 @ 10:01 AM ET
How is Vancouver getting hit for cap recapture on Schneider?

NJ signed him to his last contract.
wrister
Joined: 12.28.2011

Nov 21 @ 10:58 AM ET
Babcock is available.
FoxMulder
Nashville Predators
Location: Christiana, TN
Joined: 02.26.2018

Nov 21 @ 11:10 AM ET
Pass. I'm in the camp that thinks we get an up-and-coming coach rather than old blood. Unless Q would've been available, then hell yes.
wrister
Joined: 12.28.2011

Nov 21 @ 1:00 PM ET
Pass. I'm in the camp that thinks we get an up-and-coming coach rather than old blood. Unless Q would've been available, then hell yes.
- FoxMulder



Not sure any coach can survive in Toronto ? Sometimes a change of scenery is needed. A great quote from their new coach last night....about everyone showing up to play every night and everyone playing a full 60 minutes. Hmmmmm.
I remember when we had no offense but D was playing great or goalies would save the day. From what I've witnessed everyone is bad.
FoxMulder
Nashville Predators
Location: Christiana, TN
Joined: 02.26.2018

Nov 21 @ 1:15 PM ET
Not sure any coach can survive in Toronto ? Sometimes a change of scenery is needed. A great quote from their new coach last night....about everyone showing up to play every night and everyone playing a full 60 minutes. Hmmmmm.
I remember when we had no offense but D was playing great or goalies would save the day. From what I've witnessed everyone is bad.

- wrister


IMO, Babcock was a scapegoat. The GM hasn't done the teams any favors and the cap hell they're about to enter will really handcuff whoever the coach will be. Sometimes coaches lose the room **cough** Lavy **cough**.

I just hope that the Preds aren't doing the same, taking on these contracts (Turris) and then having no wiggle room when it hits the fan. That's why there's a part of me that wants to see it blown up.
Squatchy
Nashville Predators
Location: Clarksville, TN
Joined: 05.09.2018

Nov 21 @ 8:10 PM ET
IMO, Babcock was a scapegoat. The GM hasn't done the teams any favors and the cap hell they're about to enter will really handcuff whoever the coach will be. Sometimes coaches lose the room **cough** Lavy **cough**.

I just hope that the Preds aren't doing the same, taking on these contracts (Turris) and then having no wiggle room when it hits the fan. That's why there's a part of me that wants to see it blown up.

- FoxMulder


Blowing the team up is going to be hard because of those inflexible contracts you mentioned. The guys you want to get caught in the explosion are unmovable, and the guys you can move aren't necessarily the guys you want to move or are part of the problem.

The losing streak could prove to be a blessing in disguise. Poile is extraordinarily patient with his coaches, and it might take a long hefty losing streak in the middle of a crucial season for him to pull the trigger. Of course, I'd rather see the team turn it around without having to do any anything drastic, but the team hasn't exactly been dishing out a lot of reasons for optimism lately. Lavy is already past his typical expiration point. The team needs a coach who'll coach them their strengths, and not ask them to skate into walls until the wall either breaks or they pass out. That's what it feels like Lavy's been doing for a while now.
BluemanGuruu
St Louis Blues
Location: trustinjarmo knows nothing, MO
Joined: 06.28.2007

Nov 22 @ 7:16 AM ET
Babcock was the problem in Toronto. He kept tring to force a square peg in a circle hole. One Cup in all those years in Detriot, with all that talent and what gold medals with those rosters makes him talented?

Peter's numbers with his roster make no sense but thinking that Rinne can hold up forever also was. Let's see if Poille makes another mistake and hires Babcock instead of a coach who can get the most off this roster.
FoxMulder
Nashville Predators
Location: Christiana, TN
Joined: 02.26.2018

Nov 22 @ 7:47 AM ET
Blowing the team up is going to be hard because of those inflexible contracts you mentioned. The guys you want to get caught in the explosion are unmovable, and the guys you can move aren't necessarily the guys you want to move or are part of the problem.

The losing streak could prove to be a blessing in disguise. Poile is extraordinarily patient with his coaches, and it might take a long hefty losing streak in the middle of a crucial season for him to pull the trigger. Of course, I'd rather see the team turn it around without having to do any anything drastic, but the team hasn't exactly been dishing out a lot of reasons for optimism lately. Lavy is already past his typical expiration point. The team needs a coach who'll coach them their strengths, and not ask them to skate into walls until the wall either breaks or they pass out. That's what it feels like Lavy's been doing for a while now.

- Squatchy


The first two periods of that game was about the worst thing I've seen out of a Preds team since the first few years. Have they hit bottom? Not likely, they play the champs next. They were booed off the ice after the second. It's amazing how far this team has fallen. I was hoping to wake up to news Lavy's been let go. At this point I think it's just a matter of time and how far out of it we are by next weekend.
FoxMulder
Nashville Predators
Location: Christiana, TN
Joined: 02.26.2018

Nov 22 @ 7:56 AM ET
Babcock was the problem in Toronto. He kept tring to force a square peg in a circle hole. One Cup in all those years in Detriot, with all that talent and what gold medals with those rosters makes him talented?

Peter's numbers with his roster make no sense but thinking that Rinne can hold up forever also was. Let's see if Poille makes another mistake and hires Babcock instead of a coach who can get the most off this roster.

- BluemanGuruu


There was a conflict in styles that Dubas wanted versus Babcock, but they hired the man to coach, not Dubas. I think it's like what we have here, a team that has either tuned him out or just flat out quit playing.

My worst thought was that they waste Peks prime years, which seem to have been the last 5. But he's starting to show his age, which means no more covering up for terrible play, as we saw last night. The only good scenario now is to get Poile to act in some way. The status quo isn't going to work.
Squatchy
Nashville Predators
Location: Clarksville, TN
Joined: 05.09.2018

Nov 22 @ 11:51 AM ET
The first two periods of that game was about the worst thing I've seen out of a Preds team since the first few years. Have they hit bottom? Not likely, they play the champs next. They were booed off the ice after the second. It's amazing how far this team has fallen. I was hoping to wake up to news Lavy's been let go. At this point I think it's just a matter of time and how far out of it we are by next weekend.
- FoxMulder


A Couple more loses like this, and he just might be. Knowing the Preds, they'll go a mini win streak at some point, and then be just mediocre enough that Lavy probably survives to the end of the season. I know some of those goals last night were fluky, but the Preds kept putting themselves in situations for Vancouver to get those goals and they capitalized. It's going to take a lot to get DP to fire Lavy in the middle of the season, he just doesn't make knee jerk decisions like that. He's going to have to do something soon though, if things keep trending south. As untouchable as DP's appeared to have been in recent years, if the situation gets ugly enough, management is going to start looking at him. He's the one who was insistent on locking up a lot these 'core' players while dealing out virtually unmovable contracts that don't appear to be working out.
Squatchy
Nashville Predators
Location: Clarksville, TN
Joined: 05.09.2018

Nov 22 @ 12:10 PM ET
There was a conflict in styles that Dubas wanted versus Babcock, but they hired the man to coach, not Dubas. I think it's like what we have here, a team that has either tuned him out or just flat out quit playing.

My worst thought was that they waste Peks prime years, which seem to have been the last 5. But he's starting to show his age, which means no more covering up for terrible play, as we saw last night. The only good scenario now is to get Poile to act in some way. The status quo isn't going to work.

- FoxMulder


You know, I had the same feeling about Pekka earlier in the season. He just doesn't seem to have the reflexes or reaction time to bail out sloppy defensive play or penalty killing anymore. He's still a serviceable goaltender, but his days of standing on his head and absolutely saving this team's collectives arses are probably done.

I have mixed feelings on Babcock, mostly because I feel coaching is both overrated and underappreciated at the same time. Too much credit is given when a team is successful and too much blame is heaped on the coach when the team stinks. There are obvious cases though, when the coaching does appear to be actively affecting the teams play. (Like what we're seeing in Nashville right now) Babcock is the spoiled brat of the NHL. He's been in two ludicrously lucrative positions with all those great teams in Detroit and the ridiculous amount of offensive talent he had in Totonto. It's hard to say if he's a good coach or not, as he essentially had Stanley Cup contenders handed to him throughout his entire coaching career, and the results are debatable... I'd be interested in seeing Babcock go to a middle-tier team that's not so stacked, and maybe then we'll see if he actually is good or just a babysitter to the stars.
FoxMulder
Nashville Predators
Location: Christiana, TN
Joined: 02.26.2018

Nov 22 @ 12:29 PM ET
You know, I had the same feeling about Pekka earlier in the season. He just doesn't seem to have the reflexes or reaction time to bail out sloppy defensive play or penalty killing anymore. He's still a serviceable goaltender, but his days of standing on his head and absolutely saving this team's collectives arses are probably done.

I have mixed feelings on Babcock, mostly because I feel coaching is both overrated and underappreciated at the same time. Too much credit is given when a team is successful and too much blame is heaped on the coach when the team stinks. There are obvious cases though, when the coaching does appear to be actively affecting the teams play. (Like what we're seeing in Nashville right now) Babcock is the spoiled brat of the NHL. He's been in two ludicrously lucrative positions with all those great teams in Detroit and the ridiculous amount of offensive talent he had in Totonto. It's hard to say if he's a good coach or not, as he essentially had Stanley Cup contenders handed to him throughout his entire coaching career, and the results are debatable... I'd be interested in seeing Babcock go to a middle-tier team that's not so stacked, and maybe then we'll see if he actually is good or just a babysitter to the stars.

- Squatchy


I'm indifferent to Babcock, but the arguments I'm hearing right now make no sense. His entire career is being trivialized because he happened to coach great players. Don't remember anyone saying this of Q last year. Or Bowman, ever. Toronto needed a scapegoat because on paper that team should be dominant. But they aren't. Sometimes you can be a good coach but lose the room. See Lavy for evidence. I can buy that sometimes a change is good for both sides, but the venom which people are going after him is ridiculous. Social media lynch mob revisionist history. That's so 2019.

If Poile had hired Babcock instead of Lavy, Preds fans would've estatic. Just as Leafs fans were. I've been a Leafs fan since the early 90's, they're always fanatical about coaches/players, but the way other fans are going after him is crazy. And somehow Dubas has been given a free pass. Completely insane.
Squatchy
Nashville Predators
Location: Clarksville, TN
Joined: 05.09.2018

Nov 22 @ 1:33 PM ET
I'm indifferent to Babcock, but the arguments I'm hearing right now make no sense. His entire career is being trivialized because he happened to coach great players. Don't remember anyone saying this of Q last year. Or Bowman, ever. Toronto needed a scapegoat because on paper that team should be dominant. But they aren't. Sometimes you can be a good coach but lose the room. See Lavy for evidence. I can buy that sometimes a change is good for both sides, but the venom which people are going after him is ridiculous. Social media lynch mob revisionist history. That's so 2019.

If Poile had hired Babcock instead of Lavy, Preds fans would've estatic. Just as Leafs fans were. I've been a Leafs fan since the early 90's, they're always fanatical about coaches/players, but the way other fans are going after him is crazy. And somehow Dubas has been given a free pass. Completely insane.

- FoxMulder


The only difference I can see is that Q & Bowman won multiple cups while Babcock's teams have been perceived to have under achieved. In markets like those, Cup Wins are the only metrics that seem to mater. There was definitely some scapegoating going on, but Toronto was in a position where they had to do something. I agree about Dubas, but crap was that guy ever in a no-win situation with all that young talent coming due... Don't sign them and let them take off for another team, and the fans riot because you let potential superstar players slip away and succeed elsewhere. Do your best to sign them all, and the fans riot because your in cap Hades and can't afford to put an NHL level defense on the ice. Man, being the Coach or GM in Toronto sounds fun.
PREDX1
Nashville Predators
Location: Rock City, TN
Joined: 10.05.2011

Nov 23 @ 3:07 PM ET
dump Ellis, Turris, "Hammer", Lavy (I hate to say) We miss the playoffs this year for sure. Our defense is weak due to size.... retooling is required.... games are not even fun to watch anymore.
Squatchy
Nashville Predators
Location: Clarksville, TN
Joined: 05.09.2018

Nov 24 @ 3:11 AM ET
Well that was fun. Winning that game is just classic Preds though isn't it? Go on a long losing streak, look awful doing it, and then break out of it by winning a game pretty much everyone assumed they were going to lose. Not that I'm complaining, it was good to see the guys play 60 full minutes of mostly competent hockey. Hopefully they can roll some of that over into the next game.
FoxMulder
Nashville Predators
Location: Christiana, TN
Joined: 02.26.2018

Nov 25 @ 11:07 AM ET
Well that was fun. Winning that game is just classic Preds though isn't it? Go on a long losing streak, look awful doing it, and then break out of it by winning a game pretty much everyone assumed they were going to lose. Not that I'm complaining, it was good to see the guys play 60 full minutes of mostly competent hockey. Hopefully they can roll some of that over into the next game.
- Squatchy


It just seems like they have to try so hard. As much talent as they have, it should be easier. It's almost as if we had a team full of head cases.

I'm just saying.