Pete DeBoer Death Watch (PETE FIRED BY LOU, NEW COACH NOT YET NAMED)

[DevilishWon]

I think it's time.

No matter what you think about the talent level, there is NO EXCUSE for the flat performances the last 3 games.

The team has assumed his personality.....

 

[DevFan60]

Guy shows no emotions at all. No inspiration coming from him. He reached the limits. Let him go.

 

[rp2five]

This guy got a team that was very average to the finals a few years ago. He has a history of getting teams to Over-achieve. (also see the Panther teams he had).

I am fine with firing him. Who will replace him?
Who will want to coach a roster that is old and half of the team with No Trade Clauses?
I am all for playing younger players, but you have even more dead weight on this team than the past few years. You can't even get rid of the dead weight because either nobody wants them or they have NTC. Its tough to sit players who are making 5 million plus with NTC.

Team needs a full makeover, not just coach.

 

[rp2five]

My biggest issue with DeBoer is his patience with younger players. If the vets make a mistake, its ok. Young guy makes mistakes and they send him to the minors.
Also, he loves guys like Fayne, Harrold, or Sestito.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

I've said it before, my beef with him isn't x's and o's and who plays and who is left out of the rotser. There are a ton of variables that go into thos decisions. It's the fact that we consistently play to the level of our competition. We'll play a one goal game against the best team in the league one night and then blow a 2 goal lead to one of the worst that same week. It's astonishing the jekyll and hyde act this team puts on.

 

[Indian Chief]

I've said it before, my beef with him isn't x's and o's and who plays and who is left out of the rotser. There are a ton of variables that go into thos decisions. It's the fact that we consistently play to the level of our competition. We'll play a one goal game against the best team in the league one night and then blow a 2 goal lead to one of the worst that same week. It's astonishing the jekyll and hyde act this team puts on.

Consistency starts with leadership.

 

[DevilishWon]

This guy got a team that was very average to the finals a few years ago. He has a history of getting teams to Over-achieve. (also see the Panther teams he had).


Who will want to coach a roster that is old and half of the team with No Trade Clauses?
.

An average team that had 2 elite scorers and a hall of fame goalie isn't really average.

And assume the who will want the job is a purely rhetorical.

 

[nj_cup]

i wouldn't say the devils team that made the finals was average. i think the 03 team was more average then the 12 team. i do think the devils in 12 just like in 03 had a VERY VERY VERY EASY trip to get to the finals though. i think that if the 03 team faced a legit cup team not the 7th seed ducks they would've lost to say the likes of the wings or whoever was a top seed in 03.


this team is old and your right the NTC is a huge problem. but i think a coach out of work would rather get a job then stay unemployed so there won't be a shortage of coaches out there. they need a bruiser though i think someone like tortarella would be great for this current team. work them work them work them bench people that play like shit. yeah his act will get old fast but face it we are stuck with this team for another 2 years i believe.

buuuuuuuut nothing will really change in nj until lou steps down. am i still the only one that wants to see him retire?

outside of the kovalchuk trade i really can't think of one move he has made that has been a positive to this team. i'm typing this without looking on google at every single move so i'm sorry if you consider carter a "positive" move. i agree his time in 12 was good and clutch in the playoffs but its 2014 time to move on. dont give me cory as a good move yet because 1. he isn't signed long term. 2. he still hasn't been able to convince me he is true #1 worthy of a 7 year 50 million contract. hes flopped twice already this year when given the chance to take things and run. i do have faith though he is as good as we have seen.

but thats it really cory and kovy. clowe? come talk to me in year 3 of that deal. jagr? yeah hes been a stud for us but we should've dealt him for a 1st when we could have. i think him saying he wouldn't report was just a throw away line like parise wanting to stay with us.

how many more coaching issues is this team going to have? when we see claude jullien excel with boston? wish we still had him here. or hell at least seen what he could've done in the playoffs with the squad.

maybe when he gives marty a 2 year deal this summer people will start wondering what hes doing.

also would like to point out that in the 12 cup run we did have not just parise and kovy we also had oates and robinson.


but fire any coaches you want bring in someone new its not going to change UNTIL the mentality of the person making the moves is gone. bring in some coach and then go watch at the deadline next season when we had a 6th line checking center for a 2nd round draft pick. wtf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we have to become sellers but everyone keeps saying "lou doesn't sell lou always wants to win" well newsflash we aren't going to win anytime soon until we can rebuild

 

[MadCaptain]

but fire any coaches you want bring in someone new its not going to change UNTIL the mentality of the person making the moves is gone. bring in some coach and then go watch at the deadline next season when we had a 6th line checking center for a 2nd round draft pick. wtf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we have to become sellers but everyone keeps saying "lou doesn't sell lou always wants to win" well newsflash we aren't going to win anytime soon until we can rebuild

Ponikarovsky part1, trading for Zidlicky, bringing in Carter/Bernier from trash pile, signing Jagr, resigning Elias, bringing back Andy Greene despite despite cries from the fans (and you), passing on Clarkson's demands.

All of those are important moves by Lou over the past 3 or so years that I think worked out very well.


Do you really want to watch bad hockey for the next 10 years just so you can say the team is rebuilding? These BS '5 year' plans is just GM talk for "I'm learning on the job so keep me hired for the next 5 years while i learn how to be a GM". They have NEVER EVER worked. The closest was Pittsburgh getting Crosby/Malkin at 6 years and that was started as a bankruptcy firesale and not a rebuild.

 

[nj_cup]

Ponikarovsky part1, trading for Zidlicky, bringing in Carter/Bernier from trash pile, signing Jagr, resigning Elias, bringing back Andy Greene despite despite cries from the fans (and you), passing on Clarkson's demands.

All of those are important moves by Lou over the past 3 or so years that I think worked out very well.


Do you really want to watch bad hockey for the next 10 years just so you can say the team is rebuilding? These BS '5 year' plans is just GM talk for "I'm learning on the job so keep me hired for the next 5 years while i learn how to be a GM". They have NEVER EVER worked. The closest was Pittsburgh getting Crosby/Malkin at 6 years and that was started as a bankruptcy firesale and not a rebuild.

poni was a good move. its gets canceled out by the fact he wasted 2 more draft picks a year later to get him again. when he could've RESIGNED HIM!

zidlicky was a good pick up your right. but again move him at the deadline this year for a 2nd or 1st.

carter/bernier was good in 12 but 2 years later they are still on this team? ok enough already with them.

elias will be 40 years old making 5.5 million on this team. hes got a whopping 45 points.

fine even if all those moves were "good" they are just dressing on a bad wound. this team is rotten to the core. how many years has it been where everyone knows the problem is leadership and lack of it. lack of accountability?


no i dont want to watch bad hockey for 10 years. but then again i dont want to watch mediocre hockey for 10 years and "hope" the team makes the playoffs only to get booted in the 1st round. which is what would happen even if we made it this year.

like i said this team is rotten to the core that there is no quick fix no deadline fix. everything does need to be taken down and that starts from the top. with lou the scouting the coaching and the veterans on this team that let it get this bad. everyone knows there is no leadership on this team? how can that be? we are the OLDEST TEAM IN THE NHL!!!!!!!!!!!! they should be nothing BUT LEADERS!!!!!

just like anything the first in solving the problem is admitting there is a problem! until lou realizes this and sells some of the key pieces he could've at the deadline nothing will get better.

everyone is happy we have a draft pick this year? except they forget the fact we are really going to lose out on a top 10 pick all because lou wanted to keep #29 3 years ago!



heck everyone on your list minus elias and greene. they were key to the 12 run. what are they doing now! i know zidlicky leads the team in points this year on d but carter bernier? you want to hang your hat on them as positive moves of 2 years ago? they should've been released that summer after the cup run when they served their purpose.

 

[MadCaptain]

Lou has been well above average GM recently. Hell, he's had more success the past 3 years than Sather has had in the past 20 years. Firing management sets teams back in the immediate 1-2 years as they try to bring in people that fit their agenda. After that, you're not even guaranteed that the management is good quality. Its not necessary.

A lot of your dislike for the team is the same as mine and its mostly because of DeBoer. Pete plays favorites, doesn't like teaching the players, and only depends on reliable veterans. Thats why Larsson is in the AHL, Gelinas and Merrill are being yo-yo'd around, Josefson hasn't had a decent chance to play since Lemaire, and Loktionov was run out of town. He doesn't develop young guys so there's very little young talent coming in. The team is old because Pete doesn't allow new players to step up and replace the old ones.

Meanwhile, Pete has been sabotaging the team's wins all season because of his favoritism and his refusal to change his play style. He has been on record saying that he likes to put out the 4th line after goals to provide energy and keep his top lines rested. This leads the the 'strange' occurrence losing momentum by letting in goals right after scoring. His favoritism allows players to play key minutes when instead Pete should be shortening his bench. That final minute goal that could have saved the season and persuaded Lou that maybe he shouldn't sell on the deadline? Scored by Stephen Gionta with 40 seconds left. He shouldn't have even been on the ice to score the goal if managed by a smart coach. Meanwhile, he still tries to use a forecheck and puck control strategy that was used to perfection with Parise and Kovalchuk despite now replacing the two quick, aggressive forwards with slow guys like Clowe, Ryder, Jagr, etc.

You can ask any Florida fan what they thought of Pete and they would all say the same exact thing I'm saying. The guy doesn't change and I do not expect him to. Luckily he got run out of town in Florida after his favoritism got Grabner sent off to NY for free.

Lou's biggest problem is he kept Pete and showed his confidence by bringing in more Pete guys "Ruutu"

 

[nj_cup]

last time i checked lou hires these coaches and since burns 11 years ago its been fiasco after fiasco with coaches on this team. is it really that hard to find a good coach and keep him?


what i really want to know is what is the goal of this team next year? we are going to come back with most likely the same roster. not many teams in the nhl win the cup as the oldest team in the nhl. but what is our goal? to win the cup? i think we can all agree that wont happen. and while its nice that our team sets such lofty goals i want to know what is realistically the goal for this team. to just fight for a playoff spot year after year? because thats what it seems like we will be doing for a good time now.



when people compare the success lou has had to other gm's my answer is this i dont care. success 3 years ago doesn't make up for the mess we have now. i dont care if sather hasn't done anything in 20 years for the rangers. i'm not a ranger fan! i dont care if the stars gm hasn't won a cup in 13 years. i'm not a stars fan. i'm a devils fan! its going on 10 years without a cup. and outside of one "fluke" finals run we have missed the playoffs 3 of 4 years i dont see it getting any better. and outside that finals run we haven't got past the 3rd round since 03 and only got out of the 1st round a handful of times. thats not really what i call "cup contending" material.


we are back to the division formats its kinda fitting that we are going back to the early 90s devils. teams that were mediocre at best and would squeak into the 4th spot in the patrick division only to get dismantled by the pens in the first round.

 

[MadCaptain]

I think you'll find that veteran teams are usually the ones to win the cup. The youngest teams tend to fall apart in the playoffs or at the halfway mark of the season if they don't get in the playoffs. The talent is here on this team. Its just utilized poorly.

We should be in a transition period right now since we just lost Parise and Kovalchuk. We're no longer front-heavy. We have a lot of D prospects that should be transitioning in to provide a base for the next generation of Devils. Pete hasn't even attempted to transition though. I wasn't expecting to compete for the cup but I was expecting to develop a new style that fits with the team's changing identity. It has been a wasted year because DeBoer doesn't want to teach the young guys and he just alienates them by not communicating effectively. Lou needs to finally find a great coach because we need it in the upcoming years.

Lou has always had a habit of changing coaches all the time but he's not the only person to do it. Coach changes has actually been in the majority recently. He's made some stinkers (MacClean) and some good hires (Lemaire); mostly leaning towards mediocre with Julien, Sutter, and DeBoer. Coincidentally, this time he's staying too long with a coach rather than tossing them away each year.

 

[nj_cup]

the hiring of a coach should be tied completely to the ideas of the gm. if i'm a gm i want a coach that likes what i like thinks what i think does what i would do.

so you tell me how that looks. if hes keeping pete around this long or if hes been through what 5 coaches in 8 years?


this team wont compete for a cup until lou retires thats my prediction. and no compete for a cup isn't simply making the playoffs. i will also make the prediction the devils wont compete for a division title ANY REMOTE time soon. best we can hope for is the 7th 8th seed which in a weak eastern conference isn't much to brag about.

 

[CalamityX11]

Not getting help on the offense was a dagger if we wanted to make a serious run.

 

[HammerDown]

It's past time. He needs to go home and take a year off and try again later.

 

[rp2five]

In 2012, the rest of the league thought the Devils were average. Experts picked the Panthers to beat the Devils first round. I don't think the Panthers were above average to most.

Sure we had Kovy and Parise, but they didnt play that great that post season. The reason the team went far was because of the excellent forecheck system put out by DeBoer. He outcoached both Philly and New York, which neither had an answer to his forecheck. The other teams defense had no idea what hit them.

I agree its time and I don't love DeBoer, but give credit where credit is due.
Also, time to blame Lou and the team. This does not just fall on one guy.

 

[rp2five]

I don't think this team needs a 10 year rebuilding plan.
But the team had an opportunity to sell, didn't do it, and now it will take a miracle to make the playoffs, and are picking last in the draft.
I know about the hindsight is 20/20, etc, but unfortunately, that is how fans judge a team. After the fact.

 

[nj_cup]

you are right the fore check definitely did help win the games. having kovy and parise out there at all different times of the game is what put them over the top though. compared to having gionta and carter out there now.


if the coach gets fired then lou really should get fired too. or hell just have him "retire" always find it funny that a gm can continually get passes yet have his decisions go bad.

drafting on this team sucks
development of the prospects suck
free agents suck
ntc suck
age of this team suck
the coaching staff suck


sell lou sell! but hey we have another 2 years of tumu ruutu. man carolina fucking fleeced the "greatest" gm of all time.

 

[nj_cup]

go marty! i like it!

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...h-parise-leaving-as-free-agent-181759855.html

throw that shit right on lou's lap.

i find it AMAZINGLY impossible that signing kovalchuk meant losing parise. like lou can't multitask or something? when they still had 2 years before he left?

parise leaving is 100000000000000000000000000000000% on lou. just like it is with gomez and nieds. marty says it perfect


“You see around the league some of the guys, the (Steven) Stamkos and etc., they don’t wait. They get them done. And we let him walk to free agency"


yes the money parise got was insane same with gomez. the point is you lock them up BEFORE they can get an insane contract offer! i dont want to hear anything about finance of beek either because he still somehow got the kovalchuk deal agreed upon when he didn't have the money. supposedly if i remember correctly the devils offer was "close" to the wild's how close? we'll never know so obviously beek was throwing a number out at him. just too late though when your that close to testing the market you test it 100000000000000% of the time