Lindy Ruff RELIEVED Of duties, Green Temp Coach

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I'm to the point where I don't blame Lindy anymore.  Because I've seen enough of him to know what he is and that he has obvious limitations, in terms of gameplanning, system design, roster decision-making, in-game adjustments, etc.  I absolutely think he cares and is doing his best (even if he can seem comatose behind the bench), but caring and doing your best when you're not simply not good enough at your job to begin with means that you shouldn't continue to keep your job, and that the person who hired you should realize that it's time to make a change.

I'm not going to go full barrels on Fitz, but at the same time, he's lost the "fair-haired boy" rep that had everyone (including just about ALL of us, me among them) heartily singing his praises.  Fitz is going to be roundly criticized for 2023-24, from sticking with Lindy too long to not using the cap space made available to him via Dougie's injury to make even temporary fixes.

I plan on posting more on this later, but I think Fitz DOES care plenty, and I think that he will learn from this year and make his own adjustments.  Even if Lindy manages to survive the season, I don't think he'll back in 2024-25; Fitz obviously wanted this to work (to a fault) but I can't see him staking his and the Devils' future on another year of Lindy, especially since I believe that his players have finally lost faith in him.  I think that although is Fitz is also a guy who REALLY resists dealing his more prized assets unless he absolutely has to, I get the feeling that he's going to go very hard after Saros this offseason, even though pieces will be going back the other way that will be painful for him to lose.  He saw his Plan A of "cost-effective" goaltending pay off in 2022-23 but not work out in 2023-24 to the point where I don't think he'll ever go that route again.  I think he'll bite the asset bullet, do what he has to do to land Saros, and then take a "OK, as long as this guy stays healthy and doesn't hit an early decline, I shouldn't have to worry about my goaltending for the next 5-6 years."  That will also give him time to see what Brennan and Malek have.  I also think he goes after a vet backup; basically, even though Daws and Schmid might still remain with the organization, I think they become Utica placeholders until Brennan and Malek (or someone yet-to-be-drafted) are ready to start their development path.

Fitz might be invisible to the point of pissing us all off to an insane degree, but I don't think he's a dummy or is complacent (even though given everything, he can absolutely come off as being content).  I think he knows he still has a lot to prove.  I think he's going to go all out this offseason trying to get this thing back on track, starting with effectively cleaning house with the goalies.  I'll be stunned if anyone who manned the pipes in 2023-24 will be with the big club to start next season.  Doesn't mean that any of them won't find success later elsewhere, just that I don't think any of them will get more chances here.

Edited February 26 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[smelly]

7 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

I'm to the point where I don't blame Lindy anymore.  Because I've seen enough of him to know what he is and that he has obvious limitations, in terms of gameplanning, system design, roster decision-making, in-game adjustments, etc.  I absolutely think he cares and is doing his best (even if he can seem comatose behind the bench), but caring and doing your best when you're not simply not good enough at your job to begin with means that you shouldn't continue to keep your job, and that the person who hired you should realize that it's time to make a change.

I'm not going to go full barrels on Fitz, but at the same time, he's lost the "fair-haired boy" rep that had everyone (including just about ALL of us, me among them) heartily singing his praises.  Fitz is going to be roundly criticized for 2023-24, from sticking with Lindy too long to not using the cap space made available to him via Dougie's injury to make even temporary fixes.

I plan on posting more on this later, but I think Fitz DOES care plenty, and I think that he will learn from this year and makes his own adjustments.  Even if Lindy manages to survive the season, I don't think he'll back in 2024-25; Fitz obviously wanted this to work (to a fault) but I can't see him staking his and the Devils' future on another year of Lindy, especially since I believe that his players have finally lost faith in him.  I think that although is Fitz is also a guy who REALLY resists dealing his more prized assets unless he absolutely has to, I get the feeling that he's going to go very hard after Saros this offseason, even though pieces will be going back the other way that will be painful for him to lose.  He saw his Plan A of "cost-effective" goaltending pay off in 2022-23 but not work out in 2023-24 to the point where I don't think he'll ever go that route again.  I think he'll bite the asset bullet, do what he has to do to land Saros, and then take a "OK, as long as this guy stays healthy and doesn't hit an early decline, I shouldn't have to worry about my goaltending for the next 5-6 years."  That will also give him time to see what Brennan and Malek have.  I also think he goes after a vet backup; basically, even though Daws and Schmid might still remain with the organization, I think they become Utica placeholders until Brennan and Malek (or someone yet-to-be-drafted) are ready to start their development path.

Fitz might be invisible to the point of pissing us all off to an insane degree, but I don't think he's a dummy or is complacent (even though given everything, he can absolutely come off as being content).  I think he knows he still has a lot to prove.  I think he's going to go all out this offseason trying to get this thing back on track, starting with effectively cleaning house with the goalies.  I'll be stunned if anyone who manned the pipes in 2023-24 will be with the big club to start next season.  Doesn't mean that any of them won't find success later elsewhere, just that I don't think any of them will get more chances here.

I agree with this. Big learning year for everyone, especially Fitz. 

Edited February 26 by smelly

[Devilsfan118]

 

Damn Novo, okay.  Guns ablazing on this Monday morning.

If he stands pat yet again, those Fire Lindy’s could soon morph into Fire Fitzy’s.

 

Edited February 26 by Devilsfan118

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

What I'm hoping for is something similar to what happened with the Nordiques/Avs.  In 1992-93, they took a major step forward, only to fall backward sharply in 1993-94.  They recovered in 1995, won a Cup in 1996, and never looked back, as far as that specific era in their franchise history goes.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

40 minutes ago, Devilsfan118 said:

 

Damn Novo, okay.  Guns ablazing on this Monday morning.

If he stands pat yet again, those Fire Lindy’s could soon morph into Fire Fitzy’s.

 

Admittedly I don't think that the Devils phoned it in those first two periods, as much as I think they were trying to play low-event, somewhat "safe" hockey.

But in a third period where so much was on the line, Tampa just out-everything'ed the Devils.  At the very least, I wanted to see pure desperation, everyone skating as hard as possible.  Got none of that.

 

Also, given past interactions, Lindy's going to be on full blast from here on out, when it comes to Novo and Politi.  Not saying that they're wrong for wanting Fitz to make a change, just that neither one of them are going to sugarcoat it in the slightest.  I think Novo has made it personal.  

Edited February 26 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[smelly]

15 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

What I'm hoping for is something similar to what happened with the Nordiques/Avs.  In 1992-93, they took a major step forward, only to fall backward sharply in 1993-94.  They recovered in 1995, won a Cup in 1996, and never looked back, as far as that specific era in their franchise history goes.

Even Vegas last two years on a more limited scale. 

[Satans Hockey]

43 minutes ago, Devilsfan118 said:

 

Damn Novo, okay.  Guns ablazing on this Monday morning.

If he stands pat yet again, those Fire Lindy’s could soon morph into Fire Fitzy’s.

 

Can't blame Ryan here, people in here talking about disrespect and calling people names meanwhile Lindy absolutely disrespected Ryan for a question that wasn't even remotely offensive or tough to answer when Lindy has one of the easiest sets of "reporters" to answer to since half of them are team employees. 

Edited February 26 by Satans Hockey

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

2 minutes ago, Satans Hockey said:

Can't blame Ryan here, people in here talking about disrespect and calling people names meanwhile Lindy absolutely disrespected Ryan for a question that wasn't even remotely offensive or tough to answer when Lindy has one of the easiest sets of "reporters" to answer to since half of them are team employees. 

Yeah I just touched on this...I think Novo's made this personal.  A lot of his colleagues in his position probably wouldn't go that far...not saying that Lindy hasn't been out of line at times when dealing with Novo and Politi, just that more seasoned beat reporters have a way of letting that stuff roll off them.  It's easy for us to say "Damn you GO Novo!", as we're frustrated with Lindy too, but for the sake of job longevity, Novo should probably reign himself in a little...not entirely, he's absolutely allowed to be critical when it's appropriate, just that the whole Novo-Lindy thing is taking on a weird vibe...weird enough that I think Novo might want to reconsider how he goes about his business.  Generally I like what he brings and I want to see him continue to cover the Devils. 

Imagine Novo covering the Flyers with Torts?  

[jagknife]

1 hour ago, smelly said:

The point has nothing to do with hockey. 
 

it’s that regardless of what you think about the hockey, remember that it involves a human being. 
 

no one need change what they think about whether Lindy should go or not because of this history. But maybe they should think about how they say it. 
 

not pointing at you specifically,  but there has been a lot of commentary about the civility of the dialogue here, ironically and hypocritically from the very people who have been the most personal, gratuitous, nasty and classless about Lindy in ways that really don’t add anything, aren’t that funny, and are totally uncalled for. 
 

I can be snarky, and I will absolutely aggressively call out or respond to hockey-related thinking that I absolutely disagree with, but I will never stoop to make fun of another poster, player, coach or manager in an ad hominem, gratuitous, nasty manner about a personal characteristic just because I can anonymously hide behind a message board hundreds of miles away. I wish everyone felt that way. But I also wish that those that clearly don’t were not so unjustifiably sanctimonious. 

But who has gone as low as saying anything about his deceased family member? Even the scummy of scum on twitter and Reddit haven’t attacked his family, etc.

i have 100% called him incompetent, said he’s bad at his job, and sarcastically said he has Alzheimer’s. All things I’d comfortably say if I was having a conversation with anyone in person.

a reporter asked him, very fairly, in plain English why the team struggled and Lindy didn’t provide any respect to him for it.

you and I bicker, a lot, thanks to the goalie vs coaching thing. I never insult your intelligence or anything extreme cause it’s valid points.

I just don’t see the need to highlight Lindy’s family history when it has no bearing on his ability to manage this team, or in this case his inability to do so.

[smelly]

11 minutes ago, jagknife said:

But who has gone as low as saying anything about his deceased family member? Even the scummy of scum on twitter and Reddit haven’t attacked his family, etc.

i have 100% called him incompetent, said he’s bad at his job, and sarcastically said he has Alzheimer’s. All things I’d comfortably say if I was having a conversation with anyone in person.

a reporter asked him, very fairly, in plain English why the team struggled and Lindy didn’t provide any respect to him for it.

you and I bicker, a lot, thanks to the goalie vs coaching thing. I never insult your intelligence or anything extreme cause it’s valid points.

I just don’t see the need to highlight Lindy’s family history when it has no bearing on his ability to manage this team, or in this case his inability to do so.

Go back and look at some of the nasty things said about Lindy’s demeanor, mental capacity etc and you will see exactly what I mean. In literally every game thread and most of the others as well. Can’t miss them. They are entirely inappropriate. That’s the point. 
 

And I also haven’t ever said anything I wouldn’t say in person. That’s not stopped people from some harsh judgments sent my way. 
 

and I said I wasn’t talking about you. I’m still not. 

Edited February 26 by smelly

[Satans Hockey]

23 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Yeah I just touched on this...I think Novo's made this personal.  A lot of his colleagues in his position probably wouldn't go that far...not saying that Lindy hasn't been out of line at times when dealing with Novo and Politi, just that more seasoned beat reporters have a way of letting that stuff roll off them.  It's easy for us to say "Damn you GO Novo!", as we're frustrated with Lindy too, but for the sake of job longevity, Novo should probably reign himself in a little...not entirely, he's absolutely allowed to be critical when it's appropriate, just that the whole Novo-Lindy thing is taking on a weird vibe...weird enough that I think Novo might want to reconsider how he goes about his business.  Generally I like what he brings and I want to see him continue to cover the Devils. 

Imagine Novo covering the Flyers with Torts?  

To be fair though, Lindy made it easy for Ryan too, on and off the ice. The results aren't there, he treated Ryan like sh!t, never apologized for it to our knowledge and he has the balls to whine about our unfair our media is to the team when Amanda asks the majority of the questions which are absolutely nothing burgers because she works for the team. 

Plus the fans calling for Lindy to be fired last night made it even easier. It's time for him to be fired. His body of work here is absolutely sh!t besides 1 season and that 1 season had Jack breaking a franchise points record and wins record. Certainly looking like more a fluke season than anything else unfortunately. 

[Satans Hockey]

18 minutes ago, smelly said:

Go back and look at some of the nasty things said about Lindy’s demeanor, mental capacity etc and you will see exactly what I mean. In literally every game thread and most of the others as well. Can’t miss them. They are entirely inappropriate. That’s the point. 
 

And I also haven’t ever said anything I wouldn’t say in person. That’s not stopped people from some harsh judgments sent my way. 
 

and I said I wasn’t talking about you. I’m still not. 

If it bothers you that much there is an ignore feature here that half ass works. 

I don't recall myself taking shots at Lindy like that besides wanting him to be fired but I'm not gonna lie and say that I give a sh!t if people do. 

[MadDog2020]

https://newjerseyhockeynow.com/2024/02/26/devils-gm-time-to-act-past-due/?fbclid=IwAR3bumfi4JIbPzU7lvWUyjM2jmxexjI7G6QE5MAS9xY0VDY6tFVxUOjdxpc_aem_AZ3xPZJcii2IMkYRqW4Gk85bnFkxmBYeo1S-rOkNfHM4v7M4tkg6X-2GM7vVd_WL8yw

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

17 minutes ago, Satans Hockey said:

To be fair though, Lindy made it easy for Ryan too, on and off the ice. The results aren't there, he treated Ryan like sh!t, never apologized for it to our knowledge and he has the balls to whine about our unfair our media is to the team when Amanda asks the majority of the questions which are absolutely nothing burgers because she works for the team. 

Plus the fans calling for Lindy to be fired last night made it even easier. It's time for him to be fired. His body of work here is absolutely sh!t besides 1 season and that 1 season had Jack breaking a franchise points record and wins record. Certainly looking like more a fluke season than anything else unfortunately. 

Oh I'm not giving Lindy a full pass, and I read the article and much of what Novo wrote is fair (both about Lindy AND Fitz).  I think more time has to be given to see how Timo works out, before that deal is categorized as a potential mistake. 

That being said, Novo's gotta remember who he works for...it's not like he's some podcast guy, or one of us.  Yeah Ruff was a d!ck to him, but he can't take that sh!t personally.  

Another way to put it:  if on a scale of 1-10, if this was Novo at near a "10" partially based on personal history with Ruff, he's probably better off in the 8-8.5 range.  Even I agree with much of what Novo had to say in his article.

[ButlerBulldog]

5 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

https://newjerseyhockeynow.com/2024/02/26/devils-gm-time-to-act-past-due/?fbclid=IwAR3bumfi4JIbPzU7lvWUyjM2jmxexjI7G6QE5MAS9xY0VDY6tFVxUOjdxpc_aem_AZ3xPZJcii2IMkYRqW4Gk85bnFkxmBYeo1S-rOkNfHM4v7M4tkg6X-2GM7vVd_WL8yw

While this article makes some good points, its assertions that Jack is present and Timo is healthy aren’t necessarily correct, as Jack isn’t himself, and Timo likely hasn’t been healthy all season.

[MadDog2020]

6 minutes ago, ButlerBulldog said:

While this article makes some good points, its assertions that Jack is present and Timo is healthy aren’t necessarily correct, as Jack isn’t himself, and Timo likely hasn’t been healthy all season.

True. But they’re playing. And if you’re playing, you’re healthy enough.

Edited February 26 by MadDog2020

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

The irony is that I think part of the reasons GMs don't always fire coaches is because the crosshairs are probably going to be set on the GM next.

But that's exactly what's happening mostly in part because Fitz WON'T move on from Lindy.  As early as 6-8 weeks ago, Fitz could've made a change and I don't think many (if any) would've criticized him for doing so...even if it didn't have an immediate impact.

[MadDog2020]

1 minute ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

The irony is that I think part of the reasons GMs don't always fire coaches is because the crosshairs are probably going to be set on the GM next.

But that's exactly what's happening mostly in part because Fitz WON'T move on from Lindy.  As early as 6-8 weeks ago, Fitz could've made a change and I don't think many (if any) would've criticized him for doing so...even if it didn't have an immediate impact.

Fitz appears to have learned NOTHING from Shero. 

[Satans Hockey]

24 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Oh I'm not giving Lindy a full pass, and I read the article and much of what Novo wrote is fair (both about Lindy AND Fitz).  I think more time has to be given to see how Timo works out, before that deal is categorized as a potential mistake. 

That being said, Novo's gotta remember who he works for...it's not like he's some podcast guy, or one of us.  Yeah Ruff was a d!ck to him, but he can't take that sh!t personally.  

Another way to put it:  if on a scale of 1-10, if this was Novo at near a "10" partially based on personal history with Ruff, he's probably better off in the 8-8.5 range.  Even I agree with much of what Novo had to say in his article.

He doesn't work for the Devils either and them taking away his access would come across way worse. I'm sure NJ.com is happy with his work because it's probably getting more views and interactions than any previous Devils reporter. 

We need it, too many absolutely mundane questions from Amanda, Erika, Bryce and Catherine that dominate the press conferences. 

Edited February 26 by Satans Hockey

[MadDog2020]

6 minutes ago, Satans Hockey said:

He doesn't work for the Devils either and them taking away his access would come across way worse. I'm sure NJ.com is happy with his work because it's probably getting more views and interactions than any previous Devils reporter. 

We need it, too many absolutely mundane questions from Amanda, Erika, Bryce and Catherine that dominate the press conferences. 

💯💯💯💯💯

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

36 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

True. But they’re playing. And if you’re playing, you’re healthy enough.

Technically, by virtue of being "only" five points behind the Flyers with a game in hand, the Devils aren't dead yet (even though we know they pretty much are already).

But VERY soon, the Devils have to make a decision on Jack and Timo, if they're not 100%.  It's one thing if you're legit fighting for a playoff berth.  If not, no reason to fvck around.  I say if the Devils don't come away with six points on this trip (yep, gotta win them ALL), call it a season for those two.

 

34 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

Fitz appears to have learned NOTHING from Shero. 

This offseason is a huge one for Fitz.  And at the very least, he's gotta start making himself more visible/available.  The whole "Where the hell is Fitz?" thing when everything's going to sh!t is just not a good look, especially since he has no issue being out and about and making appearances in better times.

 

19 minutes ago, Satans Hockey said:

He doesn't work for the Devils either and them taking away his access would come across way worse. I'm sure NJ.com is happy with his work because it's probably getting more views and interactions than any previous Devils reporter. 

We need it, too many absolutely mundane questions from Amanda, Erika, Bryce and Catherine that dominate the press conferences. 

Agree in that I think Novo is exactly what this fanbase needs, as far as press coverage goes.  The rest are largely company shills...I like Erika, but she and Amanda are not the ones to try to get to the bottom of team issues...they're the ones who are going to try to give fans reasons to remain enthusiastic about the team, no matter what the results.  There's a place for them, but not in postgame conferences after sh!tty losses.

Novo's the guy who will ask tough but FAIR questions.  But at the same time, Novo has to expect some jabs when he does that; I think Lindy stung him more than he should have allowed.  But I get the feeling that will be less of an issue as he gains experience and grows into the job.  

Edited February 26 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

The tough thing with calling it personal is writers get to have opinions too, Chere once printed it’s time to show Lou the door, TG called us Mickey Mouse over the way we handled the blackout game. It’s easy to say ‘Novo made it personal’ but if Politi writes that are we saying it? Btw Novo also said in the article Lindy was respected in hockey and didn’t deserve to have fans calling for his job on a nightly basis so it wasn’t as personal as being made out.

Where I’m surprised Novo went that far was referring to Fitz being in hiding. While I completely agree with that point, it does sound more fan blogosphere than news writer.

 

Edited February 26 by NJDevs4978

[MadDog2020]

6 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

The tough thing with calling it personal is writers get to have opinions too, Chere once printed it’s time to show Lou the door, TG called us Mickey Mouse over the way we handled the blackout game. It’s easy to say ‘Novo made it personal’ but if Politi writes that are we saying it?

Where I’m surprised Novo went that far was referring to Fitz being in hiding. While I completely agree with that point, it does sound more fan blogosphere than news writer.

 

He called them out and you know what- GOOD. It’s time for some damn accountability around here; if Novo sounded more like a ‘fan blog’, so fvcking be it. It’s long overdue. Also- he’s 100% correct.

Edited February 26 by MadDog2020

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

2 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

The tough thing with calling it personal is writers get to have opinions too, Chere once printed it’s time to show Lou the door, TG called us Mickey Mouse over the way we handled the blackout game. It’s easy to say ‘Novo made it personal’ but if Politi writes that are we saying it?

Where I’m surprised Novo went that far was referring to Fitz being in hiding. While I completely agree with that point, it does sound more fan blogosphere than news writer.

 

Yeah not saying Novo can't have opinions, more that he comes across as "bloggier" than he probably should (maybe he'd actually be BETTER as a pure blogger), and I do think he has a personal beef with Lindy...there's writers who "like" and/or respect the coach they're covering but eventually might feel that it's time for a change, and they'll say it in a way that reflects that.   I think with Novo, Lindy really got to him that day...enough that I sense it in the way Novo writes about Lindy.    

I'd say that Novo just needs a little more polish.  Like I said previously, not like I disagree with much of the article at all.  He's definitely saying what many fans are thinking.  

[MadDog2020]

6 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

I'd say that Novo just needs a little more polish. 

He’s a young guy; that’ll come with experience.