Alexander Holtz and Luke Hughes Move Into Prominent Roles 

I mean, under his watch it's hard to argue that he hasn't helped develop players by trusting in them and having them play his way. 13, 63, 86, and 91 have all successfully progressed their games & numbers. I don't know if he's the one to take us across the finish line - he might be. But I don't share the disdain of him or desire to blame him every time the team struggles. For me it comes down to player execution playing below their abilities. As far as Holtz goes, he has a short leash. His mistakes do greatly affect game results rn, and they aren't always glaring or catch your attention. He would've had more slack if the team still sucked to play through it and learn in-game, but for better or worse he doesn't have that grace bc of overall team expectations.

Lol so it's not his fault they did well it's the players who succeeded last year. And now it's his fault they're "bad" missing their top 2c's and not the players fault... am I interpretating this right? 😂😂

@jeffa.7618 Question. If Jack Hughes year one (remember how bad he was,, people called him a bust...lol) was sitting on the bench right now, would Lindy play him?

I am a firm believer that Andrew Brunette and Sergei Brylin had more to do with the winning season than Ruff did. Lindy has underperformed as the Devil's coach every year but one. Injuries and illness are no excuse, THAT'S where coaching is distilled into meaningful action. Ruff has consistently come up short where it mattered most.

@@Hobomuskrat No, you aren’t. I give full credit to Andrew Brunette (who *should* have been the coach this season,) and the rest of the new guys (McGill, etc.) Do you think it’s merely coincidental, that Fitzgerald foolishly allows Nashville to poach Brunette, and suddenly all of the teams BAD habits return? How many seasons, do we watch this team come out, completely flat, unable to put a full 60 minute game together, etc. You can be a Ruff apologist all you like, but the results speak for themselves. Also, PLENTY of teams face losing their star players: do they fall flat on their faces too?

The one thing he has going for him is he has been lights on on the penalty kill. I think we can all agree he leaves more to be desired 5 v 5. Let’s see how he plays with Bahl tonight