2015 NHL Golf Thread

[TorinK92]

I could see Babcock going to Edmonton if they showed him that they were actually committed to getting better via a proper restructuring of the team and getting him the right players, rather than just the flashiest. But I also heard that Babcock would want a GM role.

I don't think Maclean is a good fit for the Oilers (maybe the Sharks though) He's really conservative with his young (and often best) players and it wasn't working at all in Ottawa in his last season and a half.

Bylsma seems like a good choice, he seems to know how to work with star players, and has a winning track record. And besides it's not Ike the Oilers are looking for a deep playoff run anytime soon (/s)

Julien going to Edmonton and helping turn the Oilers into Bruins west would be fun to see. Again he's a winning coach and would have more front end talent in Edmonton than he did in Boston, but I wonder how well he could deal with the Oilers defensive shortcomings.

Watch them get Carlyle though.

[Cosmic]

They reboot more often than Spider-Man.

[TorinK92]

I forgot about Ted Nolan. I'd like to see him behind the Oilers bench. He seems to me a pretty decent/good coach who was trapped in a :censored:ty situation in Buffalo. He'll likely spend some time in the A before his next NHL job, but I honestly don't think it would be a bad fit. He's used to coaching the underdog and this time he'll actually have frontline talent and near NHL-ready top prospects, rather than having his lineup traded for draft picks for a future that the team never included him in.

Of course, every coach mentioned here will have a bad season next year if Fasth or Scrivens don't have a bounceback year or Chiarelli deals with the goaltending problem. I think they're in the same boat as Buffalo on this: Niemi, Raanta, and the Ottawa outcast (best case for them would be Anderson) seem the likely options if they feel the need.

[The_Admiral]

Ted Nolan would be the worst possible coach for a team like the Oilers. He doesn't believe in analytics, studying tape, or really any sort of coaching other than some nebulous "motivation." He's not just unsophisticated, he's anti-sophisticated. You can yell and scream Team Latvia into overachieving for a few weeks, or get the Sabres to be just plain terrible instead of evacuate-the-entire-county terrible, but this situation calls for more than he's capable of bringing.

[monkeypower]

Some insider rumors on McLellan,

It looks like he's planning on waiting for what Babcock does. Babcock will set the bar salary wise and McLellan might want to go back to Detroit if Babcock leaves.

[2001mark]

Dion Phaneuf - playing golf.

Matt Stajan - still not playing golf.

Some insider rumors on McLellan,

It looks like he's planning on waiting for what Babcock does. Babcock will set the bar salary wise and McLellan might want to go back to Detroit if Babcock leaves.

Yep, they're all waiting for that because they want Babcock tide to rai$e all boats.

Which is hopefully enough of a reason he'd want to come to Toronto.

As for Ted Nolan, word is he barely got along professionally with anyone - players, personnel, mgt, etc. It's why they didn't want him near McDavid or Eichel, & why he probably won't land with another NHL club.

[The_Admiral]

Think about what an unpleasant person you have to be for so few people in the NHL boys' club to get you a job. Mike Keenan, for instance, is one of the most repugnant men ever to stand behind a bench, and look how many jobs he got before he was literally exiled to Siberia. Had the Sabres not so desperately needed to extend the fanbase an olive branch (you know, in case investing millions and millions of dollars into the city was insufficient), he wouldn't have even had this gig. He's a relic of a bygone NHL where all you had to do was yell at guys to work harder and also have one of the best goalies in the history of the game. He should be overjoyed to live on the Sabres' severance and go coach junior somewhere.

[Cosmic]

He did manage to get "fired" and exiled from the league in the same offseason that he won the Jack Adams. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that he might not be the easiest person to get along with.

[NEW.ERA]

Dion Phaneuf - playing golf.

Matt Stajan - still not playing golf.

Some insider rumors on McLellan,

It looks like he's planning on waiting for what Babcock does. Babcock will set the bar salary wise and McLellan might want to go back to Detroit if Babcock leaves.

Yep, they're all waiting for that because they want Babcock tide to rai$e all boats.

Which is hopefully enough of a reason he'd want to come to Toronto.

As for Ted Nolan, word is he barely got along professionally with anyone - players, personnel, mgt, etc. It's why they didn't want him near McDavid or Eichel, & why he probably won't land with another NHL club.

5 years later.

Flames won that trade. Only 2 playing the NHL still and Dion has been garbage since 2009.

[BigEd76]

Welcome to the offseason, Nashville and Vancouver

[TorinK92]

Dion Phaneuf - playing golf.

Matt Stajan - still not playing golf.

Some insider rumors on McLellan,

It looks like he's planning on waiting for what Babcock does. Babcock will set the bar salary wise and McLellan might want to go back to Detroit if Babcock leaves.

Yep, they're all waiting for that because they want Babcock tide to rai$e all boats.

Which is hopefully enough of a reason he'd want to come to Toronto.

As for Ted Nolan, word is he barely got along professionally with anyone - players, personnel, mgt, etc. It's why they didn't want him near McDavid or Eichel, & why he probably won't land with another NHL club.

5 years later.

Flames won that trade. Only 2 playing the NHL still and Dion has been garbage since 2009.

It's hard to believe that almost 10 years ago Phaneuf was a calder nomination (and might have won in most other years if not for Crosby/Ovechkin) and viewed of the future face of Calgary. Now he's a shell of his former self and it shows in the stats.

His offensive numbers have been in decline since his 60 point season, apart from the lockout season (which I'll get to), the valley in the middle being the season that he was traded. However you can't blame it on puck luck at all, his PDO has been level, even climbing, ever since the stat started being tracked. Possession wise it's been a slump as well, he seems to be progressing towards the league average right now, as most players do, but a 45% Fenwick and Corsi for is still pretty unacceptable for a first pairing defenceman if your team wants to win.

The half-lockout season seems like an anomaly, his offensive numbers are the highest they'd ever been with the Leafs, his possession numbers were the worst in his entire career, and the Leafs made the playoffs for the only time in the past decade. Puck luck in a shorter reference period certainly attributed to that, as his PDO was the highest it had been in his entire career, something that seemed to carry on into next season. But also the fact that he seemed to be used mostly on the Powerplay. He had more PP points than EV points for the first time since 2008, his TOI had been the lowest since he joined the Leafs, and his shooting percentage was over 10% (Could be attributed to more chances on the PP, and it supports the good puck luck theory. It should be noted that the next highest S% he's had with the leafs was just 5.9%) All the possession stats are measured at even strength, so it shows how much focusing on his offensive game hurt his defensive game.

In conclusion, Phaneuf is not a 'good' NHL defenseman anymore, and anyone who thinks that is living 7 years ago (but you knew that already). However when the Leafs give Phaneuf a primarily offensive and relieves his defensive responsibilities the team seems to do better. What Phaneuf needs is a solid two way or defensive defenseman who can balance his game out and make up for his mistakes. (Like Methot-Karlsson, or Subban-Markov) and he could reshape himself into a suitable 1st/2nd pairing d-man for Toronto. Same things could be said for defenseman like Faulk, Klingberg, or OEL (and it works wonders, just look at Karlsson's numbers before and after Methot came back from injury, of Yandle's before and after his trade to a solid defensive team). I think Phaneuf could be an asset to the Leafs, they just don't have the right tools to use him right now.

[2001mark]

Sidney Crosby going to play in the World Championships.

Good on him, means he's probably 100% healthy for the first spring in years.

[HedleyLamarr]

Sidney Crosby going to play in the World Championships.

Good on him, means he's probably 100% healthy for the first spring in years.

It's kind of a "F you!" to the NHL and their fans, though.

I get the playing for your country and going for the Triple Gold arguments, and it gives the Worlds some juice. But where's this generosity and "taking one for the better good" each January when the All-Star festivities come around? Crosby can't even be bothered to show up to the host city and sign some things and be around the fans for their event. It's funny how Crosby isn't hurt in January when it's an Olympic year.

[TorinK92]

Sidney Crosby going to play in the World Championships.

Good on him, means he's probably 100% healthy for the first spring in years.

It's kind of a "F you!" to the NHL and their fans, though.

I get the playing for your country and going for the Triple Gold arguments, and it gives the Worlds some juice. But where's this generosity and "taking one for the better good" each January when the All-Star festivities come around? Crosby can't even be bothered to show up to the host city and sign some things and be around the fans for their event. It's funny how Crosby isn't hurt in January when it's an Olympic year.

Playing for pride and country in a major international tournament is a different thing that playing for the neon green goal fest that hundreds of thousands of people pretend to watch.

[The_Admiral]

This is a major international tournament?

[TorinK92]

This is a major international tournament?

It's pretty much the largest tournament the IIHF runs besides the Olympics, fated to be overshadowed by the NHL playoffs every year.

It's major for a sport that's only widely played in about five countries.

[rams80]

Getting back to fixing Edmonton...

If the Oilers ask nicely, they're welcome to Ken Hitchcock and Jake Allen as a package deal.

[Cosmic]

They already have a Viktor Fasth; do they really need a Jake Allen?

[HedleyLamarr]

Sidney Crosby going to play in the World Championships.

Good on him, means he's probably 100% healthy for the first spring in years.

It's kind of a "F you!" to the NHL and their fans, though.

I get the playing for your country and going for the Triple Gold arguments, and it gives the Worlds some juice. But where's this generosity and "taking one for the better good" each January when the All-Star festivities come around? Crosby can't even be bothered to show up to the host city and sign some things and be around the fans for their event. It's funny how Crosby isn't hurt in January when it's an Olympic year.

Playing for pride and country in a major international tournament is a different thing that playing for the neon green goal fest that hundreds of thousands of people pretend to watch.

The All-Star festivities are a weekend-long event held solely for the fans.

Mock the actual game all you want, but it's the only chance there is to see the league's...and the world's....top players all on the same playing surface at one time. It's also the lone chance for all the league's fans to convene in one spot to celebrate their favorite sport, even if they aren't going to the game or the Skills Challenge. (Don't believe me? Take a walk down Broadway next January.)

For Crosby to annually skip the festivities in favor of resting (he and the team will claim some ailment) is just as lame as it is for LeBron and Durant and all the NBA's legit superstars to skip the dunk contest. He couldn't be bothered to go see fans in the closest NHL city to Pittsburgh. He's the face of the league that's gotten a few black eyes lately...the least he could do is show his face to the fans for one weekend. He's not half the man Ovechkin is.

[BigEd76]

Sportsnet says Dallas Eakins is a candidate for the Flyers job. Not sure how I feel about that one

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/flyers-have-dallas-eakins-on-coaching-short-list/