Fans had been hollering for the scalp of Ruff for weeks with the Devils disappointing this season and currently needing to jump three teams to make the postseason, which doesn't seem likely at this point and they got it Monday as Tom Fitzgerald dropped the axe on Ruff.
Former Vancouver Canucks coach Travis Green was promoted from assistant coach to serve as the interim coach for the remainder of the season.
Green coached the Canucks for four and a half years, making the playoffs once, winning one series in the Covid-19 season.
It seems like it's too late to salvage this season with twenty-one games to go and seven points out of the playoffs but I think the move had to be done mainly to get the stink out of the team and give them a fresh start for next season.
That's not to say all the blame for the season goes on Ruff.
Tom Fitzgerald's off-season moves made sense at the time and I still have no issues with the transactions that were made, my problems then and now were these- gambling that Vitek Vanecek could repeat his 2022-23 season ( I was in the camp of that being unlikely) and hoping that Akira Schmid could build off his postseason play and continue to develop (I thought this was possible but not guaranteed) in net to give the Devils solid if unspectacular goaltending.
Lindy Ruff didn't injure Dougie Hamilton and he didn't injure Jack Hughes for portions of the season but he tended to play questionable veterans too much (Brendan Smith for one) at the expense of players who are hoped to be part of the future contender (Alexander Holtz as an example), and what I was surprised to see from a coach with so much experience most was that Ruff just seemed to run out of any ideas to change a season that has been spinning its wheels in the mud.
Lindy Ruff was given every chance to turn the tide and even more chances than he deserved but for the final twenty-plus games, the New Jersey Devils have reached a fork in the road that will tell the tale of who is to blame for a season with unfulfilled promise.
Was the problem created by Tom Fitzgerald by managing a roster that while skilled, lacked physicality?
Or will the team come together and prove that the problem was Lindy Ruff's use of that personnel and his game management?
The answer to that question may not salvage or ruin the season but it may decide the future of Travis Green, Tom Fitzgerald, and some members of the roster in New Jersey.
No comments:
Post a Comment