Colorado Rockies 1976

In the NHL it kinda does. Upsets aren't that uncommon...hell, Boston was taken down by the Panthers...yeah, that team turned out to be plenty damned good, but Boston put up a beastly record in 2022-23.

The bolded is where I think you can REALLY get on him. Even before personnel moves, I would've at least liked to have seen him try a different coach. Dougie being on LTIR freed up enough money that I think Fitz could've brought someone decent in that was on an expiring deal (as to not see his cap buggered up the following season). Of course it would have been nice to see Miller and others not get scratched on occasion so fvcking SMITH could play. If there was a move to help the Devils this year and beyond, I would've been up for such a move. But I agree in that I wasn't looking for any "All In" moves, based on everything else (the injuries, etc). Was looking more for this season not to be so easily allowed to fall apart.

What kinda sucks is that it looks like whatever they needed to learn from having lost to the Devils in the first round last season, they seem to have learned it. Hopefully the playoffs turn out to be a different beast yet again, and another year ticks off their window without a championship. And what REALLY sucks is that Lafreniere appears to have turned the damned corner. He finished this season with 18 points over his final 17 games, and 26 points over his final 28. And unfortunately this time it's not mostly due to great puck luck, which is what led to most of his prior "surges" (none as pronounced as this most recent one of course). His shooting% is up there (18.2%) but not outrageous, and he's been putting up more SOG. Hopefully he doesn't get too much better than he is right now.

That's not happening and you know it. He's going to get at least one more coaching hire and an offseason to course-correct. If this team struggles next season and he's not finding ways to turn things around, his seat will get very warm. Said it before but this season became his mulligan. He'll need to have the Devils consistently making the playoffs for a while before he gets another one. Agree. At least I know once Green is out, the process is underway.

Short answer: he probably genuinely felt like the answer was in the room, especially with that 14-6-2 run that helped to solidify the Devils in the standings at the time. And obviously not easy to go to ownership and say “Remember the guy who I backed and signed to an extension? Well I fvcked up, you mind eating some money on this one?” Where of course this “insanely patient/hopeful to a destructive fault” approach backfired the most is that now the crosshairs are firmly on Fitz himself. Last year’s GM darling is this year’s whipping boy, and his regular season is going to continue to be picked apart by just about EVERYONE. And not so much for the moves that he made, as much for the ones that he didn’t. If he had made a real coaching change earlier and not gotten results, he gets much more of a pass due to at least having done what everyone would’ve thought made complete sense.

There's guys out there for sure. I have no idea how Fitz's HC depth chart looks, but this can't be an offseason of pivots and Plan B and Cs. If it turns out that he doesn't want Berube and never did, I wouldn't get it, but OK...but who DO you want Fitz? Assuming that guy's available right this minute, START THE fvckING CONVERSATION.

Yeah I think if he had just TRIED to do something (starting with a coaching change, from OUTSIDE the organization, while the season was still alive), he'd be taking a lot less heat from the fans.

Ok Fitz…one team has already moved on from its head coach. I’m sure their search for a new one will begin in earnest. Please don’t waste time with any “maaaaaaaybe Green” nonsense. Devils need a new coach too. Green’s not your man, and everyone from the fanbase to the media can see it. Start the picking process while the pickins are good.

Hope we see a tweet like this about Groan sooner than later.

For now I’m just happy that this season didn’t end before it ever had a chance to begin. You fall to 10 games below .500 early and it’s plenty hard to come back from that…that felt like a real possibility at 0-5. The Mets are only 2.5 games out of first and only a game back in the wild card. Crazy early but nice to not be where a team like the Marlins are. I’m not sold on the Mets, but at least they’re not dead in April.

I wouldn’t worry about Green too much…that part was more about being sure not to burn a bridge, just in case…but the Devils’ HC gig is attractive enough that it’s hard to imagine that multiple candidates won’t emerge as far better options than Green. I’d be stunned if he got the job. As for the guys not available…that’s Captain Obvious stuff. Everyone knows none of those guys were going to be dealt…all have multiple years left and none were really the issue this season; Luke and Simon had rookie struggles and that was to be expected, especially with both being asked to do more once Dougie was done. And you also know that no real tough questions were coming in that interview, and at this point it’s much more about actions than words anyway. There’s nothing Fitz can say that’s going to wash out the bad taste of 2023-24; the only way that’s going to start to happen is with moves to address team weaknesses. If I have any beefs in particular with that interview, it’s that Fitz can’t tell me it’s playoffs or bust, yet sit on cap space and do very little to try to will the team into the playoffs. Also, BIG difference between fighting to stay in the hunt and the other teams allowing the Devils to hang around…they closed out their season by going 2-6-1 over their final 9 games.

I don’t think he does it, but for the love of God, this should no longer be a thing by week’s end.

Hear ya, I really wanted to see the Devils beat at least one of either the Flyers or Isles, but they’re just cooked and yeah, I’m burned out too. Yeah hopefully Fitz doesn’t continue this “Well maaaaaaaaaybe Green” charade for long. There’s no reason at all for it.

Bahl’s been frustrating as fvck at times but I would’ve played him simply because he still is a “young guy”. Smith being blindly dressed yet again was a fvcking joke. It feels like pure trolling at this point. He ruins EVERYONE he’s paired with.

Back to .500, needing just 11 games to do it after that 0-5 start. Credit to them for digging out of the hole that quickly. Hope that they can avoid falling back.