Sunday, July 23, 2006

COACHES - 66.6% TURNOVER part 2 of 3

Similar scenarios emerge out of Calgary and Montreal. Last seasons coaches are now/again full time GM's and have promoted their assistants to bench bosses. Both Jim Playfair (CAL) and Guy Carbonneau (MON) have previous NHL experince as players. Comparisons between the two are quite futile as they are coaches in opposite conferences. For the sake of Leaf mentality, I'll render this distinction; Playfair has played more games (21) in six seasons than Carbonneau has won Stanley Cups (3) in 19 seasons. Just goes to show that stats don't mean squat and that Cups (Hello Leafnation!) don't mean much!
CALGARY:
Playfair will be a drop in intensity from the overbearing and attention-to-detail paying Sutter. An accent on offense will suit the need for regular season wins. Still a sturdy team, the playoffs may be a crapshoot. The team has three pillars of envy in Kiprosoff, Phaneuf, and Iginla. How the supporting staff plays off this will impact the effect of Playfair's abilities. They will miss Chris Simon, oddly enough, but still win their division. The shadow of Sutter will loom large in the teams style of play. If they begin winning more games by a 5-4 score than they do 3-2, look for Sutter to bring his scarecrow face back behind the bench before the season is out! It is to be seen whether Playfair has the same intolerance level as his GM.
MONTREAL;
GM Bob Gainey, it is commonly believed, is a patient man. After chucking a good coach in Claude Julien, he will surely not be rash in his evaluation of Carbonneau behind the bench. Good thing - because Carbonneau will be a cunt to deal with! Players who are prone to take a night off, such as Alexei Kovalev, be forewarned - the new boss won't mince words or icetime. Carbonneau is hardly afraid of the over-analitical Habs media horde, and isn't likely to give them a dimes attention. Players such as Koivu, who were around during Carbo's first assistant coaching stint will fare better than those who are new to his demands. Defense, in the Hab tradition, will always be the first responsability. Those who defy it will see press box time. I see two different beginnings to the Habs season. They will either fly from the gate like last year or go through an adjustment period of unprecedented turmoil. The wildcard in all of this is how well the abundance of youth adjusts to the new coach. How do you say "La Galerie de Presse" in Russian?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Oh, but Sutter will be breathing down Playfair's neck the whole way I'll bet! You could kind of sense that at the news conference when they announced Playfair as coach.