Next to being an enforcer (in the pre lock out NHL) being a head coach has the least amount of job security. The avalanche corrected an error that should have not been made in July of 2004. The avs and Joel Quenneville parted ways. After the dreadful ASS KICKING of epic proportions by the Western Conference Champion Redwings, I had the intentions of writing a blog about the changes the Avs need to make in the offseason, by the title, this is the coaches segment. Quenneville was good in St Louis, he benched bossed the blues to the president’s trophy in 2000, which lead to a bow out to the sharks in a 7 game 1st round series. And the next year the Blues where, for all purposes, blown out by the eventual Stanley cup champs Colorado avalanche, the post season has not been nice to Quenneville ever. Nor has the 2nd round been nice to the avalanche since the 2004 playoffs. Quenneville is a good coach, but his inability to stick with lines and the same goaltender hurts his team. The avs had lost over 300 man games this season and Quenneville hot potato-ness with the lines hurt the avs chances of developing team chemistry, which (aside from no powerplay quarterback) KILLED the avs PP, in my eyes.
Who to replace Quenneville? Patrick Roy? Pat Burns? Barry Melrose?
I say the avs should reach out to the Tampa Bay Lighting. The lighting will be under new owners soon, and they appear, to be willing to let John Tortorella walk. Avalanche GM Francois Giguere made it public he would love for his team to have a wide open, skating team on the ice next season. Tortorella seems to fit that bill the best. By the way, Barry Melrose will NOT coach in the NHL any time soon, that’s from a rumor a few weeks back that the Lighting would interview Melrose and his mullet to be the next Tampa bay bench boss.
The avs have won 2 cups with coaches that had no prior NHL coaching on their resumes, Marc Crawford and Bob Hartley. Both coaches were not shy with their sailor mouths they would tear into players if they sneezed at the wrong time. This is a reason why I don’t like Patrick Roy as a coach. Roy has A LOT of passion and he will not be shy when it comes to verbal ass kicking’s on both his players and the refs, hell I’m sure Roy would jump the boards and to get in a fight, as was proof with his son a few months back in the brawl that got both Roy and his son suspended. Hartley was a decent coach, but his chewing out of players, more so young players hurts the team, proof young players such as Alex Tanguay, Vaclav Nedorost and Radim Vrbata all seemed to have their confidence crushed by Bobby Hartless. Keep in mind that Nedorost is a HUGE stiff and was a BEYOND over rated prospect (thanks to a Denver magazine putting Nedorost on the cover) Roy will also be good at drawing fans out to Chopper Circle and putting asses in the seats of Pepsi Center, hey the “blast from the past” didn’t work with Forsberg and to a lesser extent Adam Foote, WHY would it work with St. Patrick?
Another name is Pat Burns. Burns is a good coach but he plays a defensive trap and I doubt that’s the type of team that the avs will want to be, nor will the trap help the avs even contend with the redwings I feel, you need speed and an open style of play to even contend with the wings. (It was a Pat Burns Devils coached team that beat Mike Babcock’s mighty ducks in the 2003 Stanley cup finals) And again, the powerplay has been horrible since Rob Blake went back to the kings, this is another issue that the avs NEED to deal with during Free Agency, I don’t think Burns will help. Another prospect should be just fired from the sharks Ron Wilson. Wilson is in the same boat as Quenneville, a good coach but has unproven post season success. A long possibility is having Tony Granato return as head coach, Granato does have the highest winning percentage among the 4 avalanche bench bosses but, in my perspective, the type of player Tony was, he seems to be more a buddy to the players than a coach, plus he was schooled in the 2003 playoffs, by Wild coach Jacques Lemaire. Granato will be head coach again in the NHL, I doubt it will be for the Avalanche, but, I would be shocked if he’s not an assistant next season
Obviously John Totorella has post season success, having coached the Lighting to the 2004 Stanley cup, many will point out Tortorellas recent failures with the Lighting, I blame POOR management on the bolts down fall, you can’t put ALL your eggs in 3 baskets (brad Richards, St. Louis and Lecavalier) also the bolts have had horrible goaltending since they lost Khabibulin to the ‘Hawks. Even though Tortorella is still the lightings property, and YES Tortorealla ALSO rips into his players (such as Crawford, Hartley) I feel he should be the next coach of the Colorado Avalanche. He has, to me, the best tools to “restore” the Avalanche as a threat in the NHL.
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4 months ago
i don't think the avs will go with any head coach out there right now. granato is the best prospect/rumor thus far. I could see him coaching at least one season if no suitable coach is found.
roy definately won't come in and coach. he hasn't been proven enough as a head coach on any level to warrant it, and it wouldn't help the avs. coach q's style didn't work for the players. sure, joe sakic had a 100+ point season last year, but its joe sakic, and he can adapt to any coaching style. brunette did really well because he didn't go along with q's coaching style. the avs can't play a dump and chase game. that's obvious. i hear rumors that if detroit walks away with the cup, then teams will switch to puck possession. the key is to not let the other team have the puck, but more importantly, for your team to do something with the puck. that's what colorado didn't do. pass, pass, pass, pass, think about shooting, pass, pass, skate around for a few seconds, pass, powerplay is over...annoying.
they need to figure out what kind of team they want first off....then get a coach that can coach that style....then sign the players as needed. i was glad to see salei on the team because he will take a shot on the pp....something most players were afraid to do. as far as the "reunion tour"...pointless. foote was worth it because he is still one of the leagues leading shot blockers. forsberg was a waste. i hear people say that forsberg was the only reason they made it to the playoffs....no. it was adding salei and foote (who don't play q's style game) who boosted others like them (brunette and hannan) to play the way they should have been. the team needs an overhaul, and i would start by dumping forsberg....he is not worth the money, nor the game time decisions of whether he will play or not. take last season, the avs missed by a point....you know that if forsberg is kept on the team, it could be because of a missed game by him that they could be out. develope the young players, and don't sign shakey and/or "what-if" players.
they need a coach who has more than one game style. that can make things happen with lines already made up instead of randomly creating lines on the fly...try and build chemistry.
4 months ago
First of Joe Brunette is a forward, not a defenseman, and Brunette never needed anyone to kick start him, just wanted to clear that up.
Forsberg was far from a waste. In his last four games alone he had 11 points with a +8 ratiing. Maybe just maybe, had he not been thrown into games and played for 20+ each game, he would have been heathly, but Q put him in and had him play a stupid amount of minutes. Forsberg made a difference everytime he was on the ice, the dude was playing with two TORN groins and still made the plays, so stop with that.
I agree that Salei was a GREAT addition to the team, his shot from the point was welcome and if Sakic was standing in front of the net, that made it even better. We are missing that offensive defensemen, but when Leopold was heathly and actually put in the game, he made a difference. Since the trade deadline, John Michael Liles was AWSOME. I think we have to get rid of Kurt Sauer and put in a better defenseman, or here is an idea, let Cumensky have some time to develop. The kid is fast and he will have to play the game to get better.
Patrick Roy could bring so much to this team. He would light a fire under the players. If he can take a team of young kids and have them be successful, he could do it with grown men. As for his antics and all that stuff, he would have to change no doubt, but I think he could. Would it really be so bad to have a coach that will call people out? Would it? I am not saying to totally chew a player out, but don't be afraid to bench them and let them know what is up. It would work!
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