Francis Gone

[WizardOfAz]

Didn't see this coming?!?:

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/0224francis.html

 

[maddogkf]

Originally posted by WizardOfAz
Didn't see this coming?!?:

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/0224francis.html

Coyotes fire Francis
Bowness named interim coach

David Vest
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 24, 2004

The Phoenix Coyotes fired coach Bobby Francis on Tuesday morning. Assistant coach Rick Bowness was named interim coach for the remainder of the season. The team plans to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Glendale Arena to officially announce the firing.

The Coyotes have won just four of their past 21 games and are in 13th place in the Western Conference standings.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Francis got screwed. It's tough to win when you can't motivate a bunch of average players to realize that the only chance they have to win against good teams, is to outwork them. Way too many inconsistent performances, and once again, the coach is the fall guy.

 

[SunCityCarl]

Originally posted by WizardOfAz
Didn't see this coming?!?:

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/0224francis.html

I gotta say it wiz, do they really believe this coaching change is going to help them win? I have come to really dislike the current front office, other than saving $$$ have they done anything for the Season Ticket holders? I am really glad I didn't put money into them this year & I probably won't put money into them until they start

1.) Getting more consistent in the front office...

2.) Getting more consistent on the ice...

Good Luck Bobby!!

 

[Cland]

Originally posted by ASUCHRIS
Francis got screwed. It's tough to win when you can't motivate a bunch of average players to realize that the only chance they have to win against good teams, is to outwork them. Way too many inconsistent performances, and once again, the coach is the fall guy.

Perfectly put.

 

[Gee!]

Well they will have about a year and a half to find his replacement since the NHL is destined for a looong lockout.

 

[Chaplin]

Out of all the pro sports, hockey is the worst when it comes to coaching. This is really the only league that consistently fires coaches even if they took their teams to the playoffs.

 

[SunCityCarl]

Hey Skorp,

It looks like the Coyotes don't want to hear what their fans have to say on there own boards, see message below..

"Sorry, but this board is currently unavailable. Please try again later."

Maybe we should ask them to "come on over" and vent they're frustration about Mike Barnett!!??

 

[Ryanwb]

He got the shaft, management traded all their decent players for underachieving headcases....what do they expect?

Maybe Francis made too much money :roll:

The Coyotes have alienated every casual fan they have

 

[SunCityCarl]

"Maybe Francis made too much money"

Classic Ryan!!!

 

[WizardOfAz]

Which leaves Brenley as the elder statesman of the four majors here in Phoenix.

 

[vince56]

This is why it's hard to get into hockey as an occasional fan IMO. 2 playoff appearances in 4 years, coach of the year honors 2 years ago, and he's fired, while management keeps making huge trades getting rid of star players that got us to the playoffs in the first place.

Mismanagement at it's worst.

 

[AZSportsGirl17]

WOOHOO! its about time that they did something to get the coyotes winning again...francis sucked. he couldnt make anything good happen. with a win every other month and a tie every other day watching the coyotes play was getting tireing but now i have some reason to watch!

 

[cardsunsfan]

I think hokey is the most overpriced sport to go to. Hopefully the lockout will help get prices to a level where casual fans can afford to pay.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Originally posted by AZSportsGirl17
WOOHOO! its about time that they did something to get the coyotes winning again...francis sucked. he couldnt make anything good happen. with a win every other month and a tie every other day watching the coyotes play was getting tireing but now i have some reason to watch!

Hmm.....could you qualify your statment of "Francis sucked" with some reasons? I think the consensus opinion of most is that he is an excellent coach, which helped him win Coach of the Year two years ago. It's the classic problem of, "you can't fire the players, so the coach goes".

 

[AzKarl]

Barnett needs to go

Francis is a good coach. When will Barnett be accountable for the horrific moves he has made. Savage signed to a ludicrous contract, Briere for Gratton , and on and on. The guy may have been Gretzky's buddy and maybe a good agent but he sucks as a GM. The coach they hired to replace him has a losing record and his best season was 36-32? What the heck do they think we are stupid. This team needs to be owned by someone who can afford the cost of a hockey team and these pretenders need to go. What a joke. Scotty Bowman would not win with this ragtag bunch of underachievers. Hope they all sleep well knowing their indifferent and unprofessional effort got a good man fired.

 

[lrk27]

Re: Barnett needs to go

Originally posted by AzKarl
Francis is a good coach. When will Barnett be accountable for the horrific moves he has made. Savage signed to a ludicrous contract, Briere for Gratton , and on and on. The guy may have been Gretzky's buddy and maybe a good agent but he sucks as a GM. The coach they hired to replace him has a losing record and his best season was 36-32? What the heck do they think we are stupid. This team needs to be owned by someone who can afford the cost of a hockey team and these pretenders need to go. What a joke. Scotty Bowman would not win with this ragtag bunch of underachievers. Hope they all sleep well knowing their indifferent and unprofessional effort got a good man fired.

Barnett and Gretzky were given an impossible task to try to get the team out of the red and stay respectable. They tried cutting money, but had an improbable playoff run two years ago. After that, they tried to push it and sign a few guys and win ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, their desire to win often overrides the fact that they can't afford to bring in who they want.

Rick Bowness' record has to be taken with a grain of salt when you look at his previous head coaching gigs. Expansion coach in Ottawa is a tough job, and you can't fault him for not being great.

The team needs to get their money situation figured out first, then build around their youth - Sjostrom, Taffe, Tanabe, Doan, Nagy, Johnson, and hopefully Kolanos. Management is in a very tough situation, and Francis was definitely a scapegoat, but you can only expect so much from a franchise that dug a huge hole trying to win with Roenick and Tkachuk and didn't do enough at the time.

 

[Stronso]

I am sad to see Bobby go. He is a quality coach and a quality person. But the fact of the matter is that coaches are hired to be fired.

I wish him the best of luck - not that he needs it because he will land on his feet.

BTW - this is the first job he was ever fired from.

 

[AZSportsGirl17]

dont get an attitude with me cuz I WILL NOT tollerate it im a little p.o'd at the moment!

 

[Mr.Dibbs]

Originally posted by AZSportsGirl17
dont get an attitude with me cuz I WILL NOT tollerate it im a little p.o'd at the moment!

POed after only 24 posts? Maybe try another forum...

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Originally posted by AZSportsGirl17
dont get an attitude with me cuz I WILL NOT tollerate it im a little p.o'd at the moment!

Who exactly is this directed to?