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When Is It Time To Change a Coach? |
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When you cover NHL teams this is ALWAYS the Elephant in the room...When is it on the coach and when is it on the players?
The NHL is filled with adages and axioms when it comes to this topic...and we all know them.
1. "You can't fire all the players."
2. "You need a tougher coach"
3. "Time for a player friendly coach."
4. "He's never played the game."
5. "He's the kind of coach who comes with an expiration date attached."
6. "He's lost the room."
7. "He makes too many line changes."
8. "He never switches his lines up."
9. "He isn't the right coach for this collection of players."
10. "He can't win at this level."
11. "He doesn't show enough emotion."
12. "He can't coach young players."
13. "He doesn't get along with the star players."
14. "He's doesn't speak French..."
15, 16, 17, 18...
I could go on and on...all of the above (and more) have been told to me at one point or another when describing a coach or a potential coach.
But what is the reality here?
How much difference can a head coach actually make in the NHL?
These are highly skilled players, all of whom have been the best of the best their entire lives. Some will say, why do they even need a coach at this level?
Brian Burke has gone on the record several times over the years about this topic. He doesn't believe in firing coaches during the season...especially not this early in the season...He gets pissed at the players for letting their coach down.
Ed Snider believed coaches were a tactic and he would want one fired whenever the players needed a swift kick in the ass or whenever a better coach became available. No matter what you think of Hakstol in Philly, I can promise you this if Ed were still with us...If a coach like Quenneville became available it wouldn't have mattered if the Flyers were 10 games over .500...Ed wanted the best and believed in getting the best under contract.
Is that the right way to do things?
I don't think there is a right or wrong way....But Ed's way made the players feel like he had their backs. When Ed spoke to them they listened...Some league people felt that killed the Flyers sometimes...Ed lived for the next game and Flyers fans grew used to that method.....Patience was not in the vocabulary.
Ron Hextall is more like Burke than Snider.
Will he make a change soon? I get the sense that he will, but this sense is really just an instinct, not based on any inside information. Hextall is remarkably private about such things.
But when is it time to change a coach?
I am of the school that while coaches are hugely important they don't affect every part of the game as much as everyone sas they do.
But there are some parts of the game for which they are responsible.
* Team starts:
If a team comes out flat game after game and falls behind quickly you can pin some of that on the coach...It is their job to prepare them and make sure they are ready to play.
* Slumps:
How good is a team at getting out of slumps. All teams run hot and cold, but good coaches find a way to get a team out a of a slump and avoid 3 or more losses in a row...
* Goalie Confidence:
Coaches have to deal with the mental well-being of their goalies. Happy Goalies=Happy Team.
* Special Teams:
Often this is taken over by the assistant coaches, but when it isn't going well it becomes the head coaches job to get things going.
* On bench communication:
Players need to have a sense of direction with clear line changes...and a coach does need to bring energy to the bench...yet be calm at all times...calm does not mean quiet.
Fans of course want changes. Head coaches and starting Goalies are always under scrutiny and the grass is always greener.
In the end, since this is the furthest thing from a perfect science, it has to come down to the feel the GM has. Sometimes a coaching change is needed and you just feel it. The players want to be held accountable and they don't want to see anyone fired. But sometimes it’s just time.
Sometimes you can't stop the bleeding any other way. That may not even be the coach's actual fault, but this is a business and everyone who gets hired gets fired...The perfect coach for one team is often the coach who was recently run out of town just down the road...
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