COLUMN: Hockey musical chairs is almost ridiculous
It’s been almost five months since the first NHL coach was fired this season. Nov. 10, less than a month into hockey season, David Payne was fired by St. Louis Blues’ upper management. Payne became the first casualty of the 2011-12 season just 28 days after their first game was played.
The reason: a slow start.
A few weeks later, amid rumors of feuding between head coach Bruce Boudreau and star Alexander Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals let go of their decorated coach. Then, just hours later, Montreal Canadiens fired head coach Jacques Martin.
Los Angeles Kings head coach Terry Murray was the next to go followed by Carolina Hurricanes leader Paul Maurice. Then came Randy Carlyle of the Anaheim Ducks. All this happened within seven days.
Then it gets a little complicated.
Boudreau took over Martin’s job with the Ducks, while the other four coaches began sending out their resumes to other teams. Now the total firing is set at eight head coaches. The most recent, the departure of Ron Wilson, opened up a spot in Toronto that was quickly filled by Carlyle.
It’s not just head coaches who are losing their jobs, the total of bench position changes is closer to 15. That’s nearly one-quarter of all NHL teams who have made a coaching change this season.
If you take a closer look at the more controversial firings, deeper issues come to light.
Boudreau was fired from the Capitals after he sat Ovechkin following sub-par play by his starter. You have a very good coach – under Boudreau the Capitals were 201-88-40 – challenging a player who has been destined for the hall of fame since the day he stepped onto the ice.
This is a problem in sports. Star power gets much too much credit in the game and coaches lose their jobs for doing something I would expect them to do on any stage. If a player isn’t performing, then put someone else in the game.
Boudreau was let go after a humbling 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, bringing their season record to 12-9-1, early on in the year. It seems illogical to fire the coach who became the fastest coach in the history of the game to win 200 games.
Ron Wilson’s departure from Toronto is also puzzling. The Maple Leafs general manager actually said his decision to let go of Wilson was based largely on fan reaction to a loss during which spectators chanted for their coach’s firing.
There have also been rumors swirling around that Wilson didn’t have enough homegrown Ontario talent on the roster. If this is part of the case for his firing that is simply ridiculous. A coach’s responsibility is to field the best team he can.
Fans in Toronto may be appeased for now. Wilson’s replacement, Carlyle, is from Ontario.
The fact is that much of this coaching turnover leads to improvements.
As the coach of Anaheim, Boudreau is 21-14-6 – much better than their previous 7-13-6 record. Ken Hitchcock is 34-11-7 since taking over the Blues, although they only had 13 games under their belts when Payne was fired.
I guess these improvements are kind of a slap in the face to the former teams, especially the Capitals who have not improved since Boudreau was released. I would bet they are kicking themselves for that one.
– Meredith Kinney is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism, and she’s an avid hockey fan. She hopes to one day be a bigshot sideline reporter working for ESPN. Send any comments to meredith.kinney@aggiemail.usu.edu.