A head coach can be just as valuable as a goaltender, in that they can make a good team great, mediocre, or unbelievably bad.
We are seeing coaches make just as much as players now-a-days and why not, they are the ones that usually get the blame when a team isn't rolling.
With that in mind I decided to pay some respects to one of the toughest gigs in pro sports and name my top 5 coaches.
5. Bruce Boudreau (Washington Capitals)
It may be too early to tell just yet, but Bruce Boudreau may be a modern day Albert Einstein for what he did with Alexander Ovechkin and his group of merry AHL men. When Boudreau and his cast of call ups took over the Caps were a dreadful 6-14-1 and looking like the doormats of the Eastern Conference.
Not only did Boudreau light a fire under Ovechkin, but the rest of the team followed suit going 37-17-7 the next 61 games, eventually finishing 1st in the Southeast Division. Not bad for a team full of nobody's and cast aways, if he can make Jose Theodore good again next season he may just be the messiah of Capital city.
4. Jacques Lemaire (Minnesota Wild)
The teams he coaches usually play a defensive brand of hockey that makes the average fan wish they had bought tickets to the New Kids on the Block reunion tour instead of a hockey game, but Lemaire continues to make his teams compete even when they have no business being there.
Right from day one the expansion Wild were competitive, and have finished in the top of the Conference the last two years with 104 and 98 points respectably. For someone that never has permanent lines, rotates a captaincy from month to month and plays a variant of the trap Lemaire has sure had no problem adapting to the new rules, he may just be the second coming of Scotty Bowman.
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3. Dave Tippett (Dallas Stars)
I don't think the Dallas Stars should have even made the playoffs this season, let alone finished with 45 wins, take out the defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks and make the Conference finals, but Tippett got the most from his cast of players like he seems to do every season.
In his 5 years coaching the Stars he has never won less than 41 games, won at least 50 twice and made the playoffs every single year. Not too shabby for a guy who's number one line was centered by Mike Ribeiro. Maybe he will turn Avery into a 50 goal guy next season if he can take a break from his modeling career for at least 70 games or so.
2. Mike Babcock (Detroit Red Wings)
The Red Wings have themselves a beauty in Babcock, although some would argue Ken Holland and his staff are the sharpest in the game right now. It takes more than talent to win though, and that is all this guy has done since taking over the ranks from Scotty Bowman.
The Wings have never won less than 50 games in his stint with the club and finished 1st in the Central each year. His record is unheralded with a combined 162-56-28 regular season record.
He made Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Michel Therrien look like a fool in the finals, which if you heard his rant on obstruction may not be that hard to do. Never the less Babcock has made this very good Wings team great without the services of Steve Yzerman and that is a huge hole to fill.
1. Tom Renney (New York Rangers)
If Tom Renney was coaching a team like the Wings he may just have three Cup rings right now. Glen Sather knows this, which is why the drastic changes in the off season so far for the Rangers.
He is nicknamed "the professor" which should give even the least knowledgeable hockey fan a clue. Not many could conduct a dressing room with the likes of Avery and Jagr, let alone have the two call him their favorite coach.
Since taking over the bench job for the blue shirts Renney has won 44, 42 and 42 games respectably and put them in the playoffs in each of his three years, which is more than any other coach in the clubs recent history. He is due for big things in Broadway, heck Markus Naslund knows it that's why he chose to sign there.
Many will argue that Renney has yet to achieve hockey's greatest prize, but for me he did what probably no other coach could do and that was teach Jaromir Jagr how to back check, Sean Avery how to be a useful NHL player and turn a bunch of ego's into a pretty good hockey club.
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2 months ago
As a Ranger fan I do think Renney is one of the best coaches in the league, but he doesn't deserve top billing. On the plus side he has a system and everyone who wants to play on his team, buys into it. When the Rangers are on their game, everyone hits and everyone backchecks. At the start of last year with the weakest offence in the league (having removed Nylander from Jagr) they were winning games by soccer scores for weeks on end.
The down side is that he will stick with non-productive and often incompetent players much too long. The worst case was Marcel Hossa. The guy was a bust from day one. Renney kept him in for no return, saw him on the PK in the Olympics, and used that as an excuse to continue playing him. It took two years and a half to get rid of him (and the joke was Hossa must have incriminating pictures of Renney.) The other two were Ozolinsh and Backman, two total disasters picked up at the trading deadlines, both wrecked the defence, and were finally benched in the playoffs only when it was too late.
In his first year and a half he seemed to think he was playing by women's hockey rules. He would not dress Orr nor bring in any other pure fighter. Instead he just whined about the officials letting opponents get away with murder on Jagr and other stars. Finally Shanahan stepped up and fought Brashear. Dolan, the owner, in his only act of interference with the team, sent a memo to play Orr, and he's been in the lineup ever since. And they brought in Avery. Renney's still not much in the area of proactive mayhem, but Avery did that on his own, and now there's Voros.
The upside of Renney is that he does seem to grow in the job. And despite his mild-mannered appearance, he's got control of the team. When Pock complained publicly about not playing, he was history. When Malik refused to shake his hand after a game, he lost his spot on the roster (which led to Backman, but that was Sather's mistake.) But Renney still has to make it past the second round to rank as number one. Lundqvist let the team down against the Pens, but maybe he was overplayed during the year? If so that too is Renney's fault. We don't have an Osgood as backup so there is room for error
2 months ago
i agree with you dov. this was very well written, but i think that renney should be somewhere down near number 6 or 7. guy carbonneau has proved that he is a top coach this year, and he should be somewhere in the top 3
2 months ago
Mike Babcock took over for Dave Lewis. Lewis was Bomans successor for 2 years and was fired and moved to the Bruins, so there was a time between Bowman and Babcock for the Wings
2 months ago
Kudos on putting Tippett at number three! I think he is and extremely underrated coach.
2 months ago
Good list.
I'd be tempted to put Claude Julien up there as well considering the job he did with the Bruins this last season. I'd also be tempted to put Lindy Ruff there too since he has had such longevity and has guided a Sabres team that has gone up and down like a roller coaster the past few years.
Good read!
2 months ago
Dear Editor,
I concur that Babcock is a great coach. I also find the article false in the theory that he made Pittsburgh and Therrien look like fools. That is a complete bull…. Pittsburgh has come along way in 2 years with these young skill players. By signing the core they will compete for years to come. I felt that Pittsburgh looked like deer in headlight for the first two games of the finals and got stronger as the series went on. The first two games can be chalked up to Pittsburgh’s youth. How much media coverage was exerted on Detroit’s experience? Well that is where the experience made the difference. So as for Babcock being a great coach, I agree. As for him making Pittsburgh look silly, I politely disagree. Mark my words that Pittsburgh will be a force and won't be lost in the awe of the Stanley cup next time the play for it. And a key point as well is the team will all be old enough to go out for a beer after they win!
Steel City Mick
2 months ago
What did you do, watch one season of hockey and make a list? Renney has been undressed in the playoffs twice now, and a top 5 list which includes Bruce Boudreau, a bunch of coaches who lose in the playoffs a lot, and doesn't have Peter Laviolette, Randy Carlye and/or Lindy Ruff is laughable
2 months ago
well yea i am a rangers fan but can't u c that guy carboneau is one of the nominees for jacks adam? and bruce boudreau should be that no.1 cause he is...
it's good u did have mike babcock...
for this year, i think he deserve the jacks adam
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