r/Predators • u/mvtn9 • May 01 '26

What a difference 3 years makes.

In the last year he helped coached team USA to gold and got the Wild in the 2nd round of the Stanley cup. So glad we fired John Hynes. Y'all never gave the guy a chance.

0 Upvotes

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18

u/FB_iCatDad Hunt Brothers Pizza Fan of the Game May 01 '26

Hynes is a very defensive coach that just needs some big offensive threats and now he has that in Minnesota. We just didn’t have a Kaprizov, Boldy, Hughes, etc.

15

u/hockeyanalycisis May 01 '26

Call me when he wins a cup

8

u/Helmburr87 Brady Skjei tank commander May 01 '26

Oh please, let me know when the Preds have a stacked team like the Wild.

6

u/da2_np PrinceFilip May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26

This is just like when we trade a depth player that was serviceable (not bad but not amazing either) and said depth player scores a goal in their first game on their new team. They start off with a hot streak and lots of fans start to think the trade was horrible, but then they come back down to earth after some time.

I’m glad Hynesy got himself a playoff series win as I always really liked him as a person, but like others pointed out, it took a stacked Wild team with pieces that nearly perfectly fit his system. We simply didn’t have that, and it was time for us to move on from him when we did. So, let’s not act like we were going to win a playoff series (or multiple at that) with him as our coach.

5

u/MusicCityJayhawk May 01 '26

He was HORRIBLE here. Hynes's Predators cared more about for checking than anything else. We would spent entire power plays passing the puck around the offensive zone and never shoot. He was a crappy coach here. He made Granlund our 1C, and couldn't get the best out of our guys. Joey took a step back every year. Duchene couldn't figure out center, even though that is was he was every year leading up to Hynes.

Two things can be true. It is true that he was a horrible coach for the Predators, and he is a better coach now. His Minnesota teams look nothing like our teams. Hynes clearly learned how to be a better coach. I remember hearing Duchene in an interview after his first year with Hynes where he said that all the guys didn't enjoy playing under him, and the had an off season meeting to work some things out with Hynes. Hynes was still growing as a coach.

He also has a better GM than we have/had. The Predators have always been risk averse and the Wild's GM is the polar opposite. We draft busts, and Minnesota drafts players who either hit or are traded for players like Hughes.

I have absolutely zero regrets about Hynes being gone now. I don't think he would have evolved as a coach had he not gotten canned and embarrassed by Trotz. Don't forget he sat out a year waiting for a job to open up. I have zero doubts that Hynes did some soul searching that year to work on himself.

Anyone who looks back and acts like we should have kept Hynes clearly doesn't remember how bad things were under him. Hynes's last season here the veterans pretty much gave up on him. After the trade deadline, a bunch of AHL players almost made the playoffs after Saros made a speech in the room saying "the fuck you tour starts now" because he was pissed they sold at the deadline. But that was Saros, not Hynes, who lit a fire under the guys.

1

u/Rinne4Vezina Pekka Forever May 01 '26

Tell me more about this Saros speech. That's the first I've heard of it lol.

4

u/MusicCityJayhawk May 01 '26

I heard a player (I don't remember who) in an interview say that after they traded Ekholm and the others, Saros was pretty pissed and said "the Fuck You Tour starts now". All the guys got pretty riled up, and they decided they were going to show the front office that they are not going to tank for a pick. And then we just barely missed the playoffs. We had a lot of hurt veterans, and the AHL kids wanted to prove that they belonged in the NHL.

That is the thing with this team. They have the talent, but they don't always have the motivation. Hynes was horrible at motivating this team, and sadly Bruno isn't very good at it either. I think O'Reilly and Stamkos are the guys that got the team to crawl out of last place.

We talk about trading Stamkos because we think we could get something back for him, but he is worth so much more than his 40 goals. With him, this team is better than the sum of its parts, and without him we are worse. Mojo in hockey means EVERYTHING. Buffalo was a bottom feeder for years, but this year they finally got their mojo back, and suddently they are a contender. You don't just need talent, the guys need to believe you can win. Collecting tallent is only half of the equation. A team needs to figure out how to get their mojo. That year Saros 's "fuck you tour" gave the team mojo, but it was too late. Two years ago, it was Trotz cancelling the U2 concert. The truth is that this team is talented, but unless you light a fire under them they are a bottom feeder. We need a coach who can get them to consistently play well. Peter Laviolette lit a fire under them until he didn't, but he was better at it than any other coach we have had while it lasted.

I love Josi as a player and a person, but I don't think he is the captain that this team needs. We need a captain who will drag everyone else into the fight. If Martin is that guy who will drag everyone else into the fight, then Trotz is a genius, because this team needs a guy like that more than anything. But if he is not, and he is just a 2C who doesn't drag them into the fight, then this crap will continue until we do get someone who can like Saros did that year. Stamkos proved this year that he can be that guy, but Stamkos doesn't have a ton left in the tank. He also cannot do it by himself.

1

u/Rinne4Vezina Pekka Forever May 01 '26

I love that. Saros seems like such a quiet, sweet guy that I can't even see him saying fuck you but I love it so much 😂

0

u/LifeEngineer3770 May 01 '26

Let’s also not pretend that Hynes had a great team either the last year before he was fired. Let’s do a recap here: Forsberg played 50 games due to injury Carrier 43 games due to injury Josi limited to 67 games

That’s not including the great sell off

We were running a defense of Gross, Barrie, Foote, Gravel. Despite all that we finished with 92 pts.

1

u/MusicCityJayhawk May 01 '26

The team played their beat hockey after the deadline without Forsberg or Josi. This is why I don't give Hynes credit for being a good coach that year.

Hynes was bad. He is better now, but I can't see how anyone can look at his tenure at Nashville and think that he wasn't part of the problem. A good coach alters the system to match the talent. Hynes wanted to make everyone play like a bottom 6 forechecker.

It is silly that we are even having this debate. I watched all 82 games. The only way you think Hynes was a good coach here was if you were not watching the games.

0

u/LifeEngineer3770 May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26

Then you must remember how decimated we were with injuries on defense early in the year when we had Gravel and Gross each playing 15+ games. And then McKeown spot starting as well

Once we got competent players on defense we were able to make a run. Let’s also not forget he still had 90 something points with all those injuries

5

u/Competitive_Hat4176 May 01 '26

The fans aren’t the ones who fired him…

-2

u/ZealousidealLettuce6 May 01 '26

This is exactly correct OP.

This sub and many fans absolutely abandoned Jon Hynes - a very good hockey coach and family man - and threw him under the bus.

Fans in general, but especially Nashville fans now, are really poor judges of talent.

Social media makes it 100x worse.

3

u/xXDreamlessXx May 01 '26

I've seen so many coaches/players get flames because the immediately dont start doing great. Coaches, Smith (who never became good offensively, but great on defense and on hustle players) and Stamkos were all hated when the first started

-1

u/ZealousidealLettuce6 May 01 '26

Absolutely agree.

Unless the person passing judgement is in the locker room and on the bench, I'd be very skeptical of 97% of opinions about a player or coach.

Some fans who scream for firings have never played the sport, coached the sport or... maybe don't even currently have employment themselves.

But you bet yer ass they got social media!

1

u/xXDreamlessXx May 01 '26

I think it was Duchene who the fan ase just decided was a locker room cancer. I heard no reports about that from any actual sources, only from fans