Sutter is the problem

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

He was winning hockey games when Markstrom wasn't.

If the goal is to squeak into the playoffs you need to win. He kept going back to a goalie some people referred to as the Swedish sieve here.

That's on Sutter thr team and goalies don't pick the lines and starters.

But he did go to him.

Only two starts in October, but 5 in November, and 6 in both December and January when he had some wins. Kept with him in February too, but without results.

That is certainly altering course towards the backup.

There are plenty of things to point at with the man that is tangible (ice time, PR, some line combinations)

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Flamesfan05

Hindsight but that was clearly the wrong decision. We are now stuck with a 30 yrs old 50 pt scorer for the next 8 years for 10.5M

So 8 more 50 point seasons huh Nostradamus?

[Major Major]

Of all the hilarious Sutter misconceptions, the notion that he doesn't activate Dmen on offense is probably the dumbest.

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by Bingo

So 8 more 50 point seasons huh Nostradamus?

Well, that’s what he is today. It may be better but he is about to turn 30, they usually don’t get better after that.

What is your prediction boss?

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Flamesfan05

Well, that’s what he is today. It may be better but he is about to turn 30, they usually don’t get better after that.

What is your prediction boss?

I think it quite likely that a guy that has averaged a point per game or better for four straight years and 0.90 for his 11 year career probably bounces back from 50 points for a year or two.

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by Bingo

But he did go to him.

Only two starts in October, but 5 in November, and 6 in both December and January when he had some wins. Kept with him in February too, but without results.

That is certainly altering course towards the backup.

There are plenty of things to point at with the man that is tangible (ice time, PR, some line combinations)

Yeah this one is debatable

Sutter rides his number 1 hard. Eventually, Markstrom was so bad, it forced his hands. But then he was right Markstrom is the better goalie as he is now. Vladar is just not a #1

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I think it quite likely that a guy that has averaged a point per game or better for four straight years and 0.90 for his 11 year career probably bounces back from 50 points for a year or two.

Hopefully you are right. I think you are but watching him this year I don’t know anymore

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Bingo

But he did go to him.

Only two starts in October, but 5 in November, and 6 in both December and January when he had some wins. Kept with him in February too, but without results.

That is certainly altering course towards the backup.

There are plenty of things to point at with the man that is tangible (ice time, PR, some line combinations)

You seem to have soured on him as well, what happened?

I thought it would strange for him to coach the season like he has a axe to grind but it sure is starting to feel that way especially with his shots at Huberdeau and Andersson making a point of saying Backlund is the leader of the team.

He is giving off serious Mike Keenan vibes when he tried to get Neil Smith fired and take over as GM as well.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

You seem to have soured on him as well, what happened?

I thought it would strange for him to coach the season like he has a axe to grind but it sure is starting to feel that way especially with his shots at Huberdeau and Andersson making a point of saying Backlund is the leader of the team.

He is giving off serious Mike Keenan vibes when he tried to get Neil Smith fired and take over as GM as well.

Just his stuborness.

He's an excellent hockey coach, coaching a hockey team that has had an odd season ... most of which has nothing to do with coaching.

The team outplays the opposition on most nights, generates enough to score goals but hasn't had the finish or the save most of the season.

But it almost seems like he makes choices to enrage fans, the media, Treliving on most nights.

Gets old.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Just his stuborness.

He's an excellent hockey coach, coaching a hockey team that has had an odd season ... most of which has nothing to do with coaching.

The team outplays the opposition on most nights, generates enough to score goals but hasn't had the finish or the save most of the season.

But it almost seems like he makes choices to enrage fans, the media, Treliving on most nights.

Gets old.

Disagree with this point but we just keep repeating ourselves now but the lineup, lines, matchups and ice time is coaching. Big part of the game.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Disagree with this point but we just keep repeating ourselves now but the lineup, lines, matchups and ice time is coaching. Big part of the game.

To a degree for sure.

But if you're out playing the opposition on a nightly basis you're not leaving that much out of the mix towards winning.

[Jiri Hrdina]

I admit the whole LW/RW thing with Huberdeau is mostly what is annoying me.
There is probably a valid POV that it doesn't matter much. But the bottom line is if your star player, who the organization made it's largest commitment to EVER, says he's more comfortable playing in a certain place they for god's sake try it.

I think Huberdeau is a "feel" player. Reminds me of Tanguay in that way. And clearly he hasn't been feeling it this season. So it's to everyone's benefit to put him position where he's the most comfortable and his confidence can return.

That's the stuff that has me irritated. The goalie stuff less so because I don't think the team was going to ride Vladar to a playoff spot.

And sh** like rolling 4 lines when you are down late in a game. At that point you have to count shifts left, and when you see Lucic and Lewis hop over the boards, you know that's a shift lost.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Just his stuborness.

He's an excellent hockey coach, coaching a hockey team that has had an odd season ... most of which has nothing to do with coaching.

The team outplays the opposition on most nights, generates enough to score goals but hasn't had the finish or the save most of the season.

But it almost seems like he makes choices to enrage fans, the media, Treliving on most nights.

Gets old.

This is it for me in a nutshell. He's a really good coach but it's like he's always trying to show everyone that he's the smartest man in the room and sticks with decisions and combinations that aren't working almost out of spite at times. I just don't understand why he chooses to make things more difficult than they have to be. I would rather a coach that has a bit of humility and accepts that he can be wrong.

[Ferarri]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Just his stuborness.

He's an excellent hockey coach, coaching a hockey team that has had an odd season ... most of which has nothing to do with coaching.

The team outplays the opposition on most nights, generates enough to score goals but hasn't had the finish or the save most of the season.

But it almost seems like he makes choices to enrage fans, the media, Treliving on most nights.

Gets old.

Darryl has too much respect for the game and integrity as a person to get caught up in sticking it to the fans or GM in my opinion. I truly think he believes in his strategies (right or wrong) and is determined to not break course even if the results aren't there. He is definitely stubborn but I don't take his moves as devious.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Ferarri

Darryl has too much respect for the game and integrity as a person to get caught up in sticking it to the fans or GM in my opinion. I truly think he believes in his strategies (right or wrong) and is determined to not break course even if the results aren't there. He is definitely stubborn but I don't take his moves as devious.

How do you explain the passive comments in regards to Pelletier and even last night in regards to Huberdeau being happy playing on LW? Seems kind of unnecessary to me.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I admit the whole LW/RW thing with Huberdeau is mostly what is annoying me.
There is probably a valid POV that it doesn't matter much. But the bottom line is if your star player, who the organization made it's largest commitment to EVERY, says he's more comfortable playing in a certain place they for god's sake try it.

I think Huberdeau is a "feel" player. Reminds me of Tanguay in that way. And clearly he hasn't been feeling it this season. So it's to everyone's benefit to put him position where he's the most comfortable and his confidence can return.

That's the stuff that has me irritated. The goalie stuff less so because I don't think the team was going to ride Vladar to a playoff spot.

And sh** like rolling 4 lines when you are down late in a game. At that point you have to count shifts left, and when you see Lucic and Lewis hop over the boards, you know that's a shift lost.

This bothered me the most during the Edmonton series. We had the clear cut advantage behind the bench and in goal.

He didn't game plan at all to shutdown McDavid and Leon just rolled 4 lines and said its too hard to match lines to shadow him. Like WTF you have done this your entire career and you decide all of sudden naw lets just roll 4 lines.

That was the time to strike with that group and he left a lot on the table, yes Markstrom was bad but his strengths as a coach he just didn't go to them.

[Strange Brew]

I do find it easier to deal with Sutter's stubbornness by simply not listening to anything he says at all. If I have the radio on and he is interviewed, I turn it off. Because i just find it irritating and the lack of honesty just kind of bugs me.

I don't hate the way the team plays, just don't really care for the results.
I try not to focus much on line combos but I kind of understand what he is doing. We have one line consistently play well and another player (Toffoli) who is excelling on his line.
Obviously Huberdeau has been a disaster this season and Sutter hasn't been able to unlock anything with this guy. I doubt he hates him, or it's personal. I don't get the position thing either. I get that Huberdeau is on a massive contract and the org made a huge commitment to him. But if you ask me to pick between him and Sutter as to who is more likely to know what it takes to play a winning style, I'm going with the coach.
I know some people hate how he plays the 4th line, my guess is that it goes against everything that Sutter believes in to reward the Huberdeau/Kadri line with extra 5 on 5 shifts.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

How do you explain the passive comments in regards to Pelletier and even last night in regards to Huberdeau being happy playing on LW? Seems kind of unnecessary to me.

I don't recall any comments about Pelletier that were negative or passive aggressive.

I actually think any sharpish comments from Sutter are more about the question or questioner than the player. The man absolutely hates opinion disguised as a question. Or reporters digging for praise of a player. ask him a real hockey question without any agenda and he will go on for a while. Ask him what he thinks (rightly or wrongly) is a silly or irrelevant question and he will give the answer he thinks it deserves.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I admit the whole LW/RW thing with Huberdeau is mostly what is annoying me.
There is probably a valid POV that it doesn't matter much. But the bottom line is if your star player, who the organization made it's largest commitment to EVER, says he's more comfortable playing in a certain place they for god's sake try it.

I think Huberdeau is a "feel" player. Reminds me of Tanguay in that way. And clearly he hasn't been feeling it this season. So it's to everyone's benefit to put him position where he's the most comfortable and his confidence can return.

So much this. You know how many players have had more assists than Huberdeau in a season in the last 25 years?

Thornton x2
Kucherov

That's it, that's the list. The only other guys that have broken the 80A barrier are Crosby, Sedin, and Jagr.

Huby is a special player. From that short media interview you can tell he really understands his craft...I'm sure he could elaborate in much more detail to another hockey mind.


If you want to challenge the player to do new things, that's fine. But it would probably be good if the player understood what the challenge actually was (I have to imagine there were at least some convos with AC's, but still...)

Aside from Int'l tournaments, Huby has only played for 2 teams since he was 16: Panthers and Sea Dogs. He's not a journeyman who has managed to adapt himself to a dozen different teams - which is a tough skill in itself that takes time to develop (and usually doesn't happen in the top 6 in the NHL). With hindsight, it is especially absurd to have thrown additional/unnecessary obstacles in front of him.

[Bingo]

So funny last night that Huberdeau's assist was from outside the blueline on the RIGHT side.

I've said it before but I just don't get what Huberdeau's issue is with right side vs left side.

If he said I can't get the puck out of my own zone because my body is in a different position than I'm used to on the left side (facing the net and his defenseman more than the opposing defenseman) and with that we spend too much time in the defensive zone and it's killing my offence ... I'd get it.

But once you get across the blueline hockey becomes a F1, F2 and F3 thing without any real lanes.

Puzzling to me.