Sunday, July 23, 2006

COACHES - 66.6% TURNOVER! Part 1 of 3

I'm surprised not much has been made of this so far!
I'm talking about the coaching changes to Canadian teams. Since last season, it has spread faster than a rash on Paris Hilton's ass!
Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal have all done the suit and tie juggle. Coaching changes are a 50/50 thing. Half the time the coach being replaced lasts no longer than 2 years. Sometimes a coach impresses in his first year and earns an extension which enables the lucky stiff to wait until his third year to turn into an idiot. It's always funny how only brilliant coaches are hired and dumb ones are fired. Like a backwards metamorphosis from Einstein to Forrest Gump!
Pat Quinn went from the "coach who will finally bring a Cup (R.I.P. 1967) to Toronto", to, "we'll never win as long as youth isn't given a chance!"
You get the idea!
Nevertheless, consider this a pre-autopsy for future firings, free of charge.
Starting with the 33.3% who got to stick around for another kick at the can.
EDMONTON:
Craig McTavish is rightfully rewarded with a four year deal for getting his Oilers within a 7th game win of the Cup. The simplest translation is GM Kevin Lowe has found a compatible coach. As it is unlikely McT will fulfill the entire deal's length, the contract does send a strong message to Oiler players that he will stick around for at least the first two years. With the Oilers being such an unlikely finalist last year, it is doubtful they can regain such heights this year. Throw in the losses of Chris Pronger, Mike Peca, and Sergei Samsonov, and the 2006-07 squad is a touch less experienced. They have smartly resigned all of their core young players, making them a solid contender, but it is hard to repeat and surprise as they did. Ask Calgary!
OTTAWA:
The Sens Bryan Murray would have been my choice as the first coach in Canada to get axed. Simply because, after an awesome regular season, he failed miserably at bringing out the blood and guts mentality out of a team such as Ottawa. With their supposed stature, he couldn't dig out of them what they needed to go beyond the second round. It must be noted that in over 10 years of coaching, Murray has never seen the 3rd round. There is a reason for such failings. Murray just doesn't have the knowledge or the ability to squeeze balls tight enough to convince his team of what it takes to plow through adversity. How do you talk it if you haven't walked it? A healthy Alfredsson-Spezza-Heatly trio will all accumulate 100pts, but until 2/3 of the line learn how to lose teeth, they will again, thanks to Murray's passiveness, be final four spectators. If Murray makes it past 82 games without a Cup to show for it in the spring, he will be bounced. There is a whole other rant from me on this later. Trust me, I'll get to it!

1 comment:

Robert L said...

The losing coach in a game is rarely plauded! Martin had his detractors but never gave in to emotions. His calm wasn't always the cure. Murray is at the mercy of the talent at his disposal. He's never improved a team in my eyes. the same thing happened with him in Detroit as it is now with Ottawa. He's a heck of a talent scout - witness the Ducks crop of young guns!