Author’s Interview with Al Arbour January 16, 2008 MHD: “Mr. Arbour, I gotta ask you this question since you saw both men play. Who was better? Gordie or Gretzky?” Arbour: “Gordie!” MHD: “Why?” Arbour: Gretzky needed a bodyguard and Gordie didn’t!” The death of Gordie...
Matthew Dibiase
Boston Bruin: Toughness in the face of adversity
When the present season started last October I felt that Boston head coach Claude Julien was in a precarious position; his head fitted for the guillotine. The Bruins had failed to reach the playoffs and the new Bruins GM Don Sweeney had not given Claude Julien any...
Bruce Boudreau: finally getting his Ducks in a row
Anaheim is vying for first place in the Pacific Division but what’s surprising is the fact that it took so long for the Ducks to do so. When the present season started, Anaheim was the consensus choice to win the Pacific Division—quite handily the experts predicted....
The KO of Yeo
The firing of Mike Yeo as head coach of the Minnesota Wild last Saturday marked the end of what had been on the surface a promising NHL career. Instead Yeo’s firing revealed deeply concealed flaws that have surfaced only now after being submerged under the icy lakes...
The Tampa Bay Lightning: Jump Starting their Hearts
Before the present season started, I predicted that Tampa Bay would dominate not only the Atlantic Division but the Eastern Conference as well; hell, I thought Tampa had a good chance of going all the way to the Stanley Cup finals and winning the whole shebang. I...
Chicago Blackhawks: The Team With Big Shoulders
When the season started I was not sanguine about the Chicago Blackhawks chances of repeating as Stanley Cup champions. Like he did in 2009/10, Hawks GM Stan Bowman did a cap purge and divested himself of much of the Hawks’ reserve strength. I anticipated a repeat of...
Detroit: Post Babcock
Whisper it quietly but the Detroit Red Wings are in contention for the Eastern Conference playoffs. This is their first season without Mike Babcock at the helm. Babcock had led Detroit for ten magnificent seasons before departing to confront the ultimate challenge in...
Jim Rutherford and the damage done…
Pittsburgh’s firing of Mike Johnston as head coach of the Penguins is the latest half-measure taken by the epitome of managerial mediocrity general manager Jim Rutherford. The blow was not surprising. Rutherford and Johnston had been in conflict since the Penguins had...
Barry Trotz: Trying to Cap His Coaching Career
The White House is besieged. Congress is gridlocked. The courts are clogged up. The only good things coming out of Washington, DC, right now are the Washington Capitals who are vying for control of the Metropolitan Division with the slumping New York Rangers. The Caps...
Earning Lots of Big W’s in Big D
If there was an award for greatest coaching comeback of the year I would nominate Lindy Ruff for that honor right now. After a flaccid 2014/15 season where the Dallas Stars finished tenth in the Western Conference and were two points above the last place Colorado...
Darryl Sutter and the Kings: The Path to Restoration?
History is replete with instances of kingdoms and dynasties being overthrown. Rarer still are those instances when a kingdom is restored after being overthrown like the Stuarts who regained the British throne in the 17th century and the Bourbons who regained the...
Joel Quenneville: The View from Olympus
Chicago’s third Stanley Cup win against Tampa Bay last Monday night was a gritty grace note to a hard-fought season where other teams (and coaches) garnered the headlines while the Blackhawks made off with the Stanley Cup. Just as they did in 2012/13, the Hawks had to...
Giving it the old college try: Dave Hakstol
The Flyers hiring of Dave Hakstol from the NCAA coaching ranks represents the boldest and riskiest coaching move in their franchise history. Totally catching hockey pundits (this writer included) completely unawares the accession of Dave Hakstol to the NHL coaching...
Michel Therrien: greatness within reach
Michel Therrien has a rendezvous with greatness: as long as he can keep the Habs’ collective noses to the grindstone; as long as he can inspire the Canadiens to maintain their hold atop the Atlantic Division standings and ultimately win the division title then he...
The Los Angeles Kings: From the Penthouse to the Outhouse.
The Los Angeles Kings are in danger of achieving one of hockey’s rarest feats: failing to make the playoffs after winning the Stanley Cup the season before. Repeating as Stanley Cup champions is a rare art, given to a precious few. The last repeat winner was the...
Mike Babcock: His Last Bang in Detroit?
In the movie Amadeus F. Murray Abraham (who plays Salieri) gently chides Mozart (played by Thomas Hulce) about a symphony or opera Mozart had performed before the public; telling Mozart, “You didn’t even give the audience a good bang at the end to let them know the...
Toronto: The Emptiness After the Fireworks
When the history of Brendan Shanahan’s reign as President of the Toronto Maple Leafs is written the early chapters of that history must been seen as an exercise in vacillation, uncertainty, and lousy timing in making command decisions. Never was this more blatantly...
Bob Hartley: Reigniting the Flames and a Career
After playing like hell with the fire out for the past five seasons, the Calgary Flames have started to burn anew. Led by sharpshooter Jiri Hudler and the defensive dynamic duo of Mark Giordano and T. J. Brodie, the Flames are nestled comfortably in Western Conference...
Willie Desjardins: His Time Has Come
One of the best things that happened during the past off-season this past summer was the hiring of Willie Desjardins as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks. After a long apprenticeship in junior and the minors, Desjardins finally reached the big time when the new...
The Latest Hit from Nashville: Peter Laviolette and his Predators
Who would have thought that the latest hit act to grace Nashville is Peter Laviolette and his Nashville Predators? Amazingly but not surprisingly Peter Laviolette is making his mark as the second head coach in Predators franchise history; overseeing Nashville’s...
Pittsburgh: A New Era or the Beginning of the End?
I’m going to stick my neck out and make an audacious prediction: that by 2019 the Pittsburgh Penguins will no longer be winners and playoff contenders; that the once proud franchise will be severely humbled, broken, and desperately trying to rebuild; that Pittsburgh...
Bruce Boudreau and Todd McLellan: When Will the Heartbreaks End?-January 23, 2014
The 2013 playoffs provided a dubious honor for Anaheim’s Bruce Boudreau and San Jose’s Todd McLellan. Both men entered the heartbreak coaching ranks when they suffered their fifth playoff eliminations in as many appearances. Boudreau and McLellan are now the 13th and...
Vigneault and Tortorella: A Game of Musical Coaches-February 7, 2014
Last summer, it was mildly amusing to watch Vancouver and the New York Rangers basically trade coaches in the hopes of jump-starting both teams in the hopes of abandoning their underachieving ways. Vancouver had dominated the Northwest Division; won two President’s...
St. Louis: The Stealth Team-March 7, 2014
Whisper it quietly but the St. Louis Blues have stealthily taken over first place in the Central Division. Although they have gone 2-2-0 since resuming play after the Olympic break, the Blues have retained their lead in the division and are four points behind Anaheim...
A Feast for Saint Patrick?-March 21, 2014
With less than a month to go in the regular season it becomes that time again to determine who should win the Jack Adams award as the NHL coach of the year. One can postulate nominations for Flyers interim head coach Craig Berube for taking a last place team with zero...
Boston Strong and Hungry-April 4, 2014
Before the Olympic break the Pittsburgh Penguins were the dominant team in the Eastern Conference but now a month after the Olympic break the Boston Bruins have surged with a vengeance going 15-2-2; not only to taking control of the Eastern Conference but the NHL as a...
Barry Trotz: The End of an Era-April 18, 2014
The firing of Barry Trotz was the inevitable end to a second straight underachieving season for Trotz and the Nashville Predators. The team, despite a late season surge, faltered out of the gate and was never a factor in the Central Division. Injuries plagued the team...
Darryl Sutter: King of Kings-May 2, 2014
While contemplating the amazing comeback by the Kings against the Sharks in round 1 of the playoffs I am reminded of something the actor Michael Douglas said in the movie American President about the U.S. Presidency being entirely about character. One can apply that...
Michel Therrien: Giant Killer-May 15, 2014
I would like to add a new term to the hockey lexicon: Giant Killer. The definition is as follows: Giant Killer, n. A hockey coach (and team) capable of defeating the President’s Trophy winner in Stanley Cup playoff competition. (Before the President’s Trophy was first...
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