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Calgary, AB • Canada • 55 Years Old • Male

STOP THE MADNESS

Posted 1:07 AM ET | Comments 10
Why is it so easy for teams to fire coaches? I mean, the moment the team starts losing its edge, it is always the coach that gets the ax before the gm. I think it is really hypercritical. Think about it - who is the guy who hired the coach in the first place? Now come on, what are you saying about yourself when you fire the person you hired? This kind of reminds me about when I was a kid, and when in trouble my brother and I blamed each other, and no one took responsibility for their own actions.

Too often, the teams are really taking the easy way out by firing the coach. When do we start holding the players responsible for their actions? So many new coaches, and yet the same old same old. It just seems to me that the NHL should have to have cause before they can fire a coach. Now I know that the coaches do still get the rest of their pay, but the team still has an incompetent General Manager.

More often than not, I see these General Managers go through coach after coach, and yet he still stays. I just do not understand the owner; has it not clicked that just maybe it is not the coaches that are causing the problem. After all, who are the one who signed the players in the first place, for the coach? A new General Manager comes in to a new market and fires his coach. More often than not, he starts bringing in his players before he brings in his coach; why, I do not know. So the coach comes in with the new team that the GM has built, and fails miserably and gets canned, yet the General Manager gets off scott free.

Tell me why does one get off and other pays the penalty? In reality, someone has to pay the price. It is just easier for the team to blame the coach than the players. I am not saying this is always the case. Granted, sometimes it is the coach. The general manager is often just as much at fault as the coach is. What really bothers me is when the new coach comes in, the team will all of sudden get on a hot streak. Well, what happens? Everyone points and says yeah see the coach was doofus. But what happens if the team still struggles? Then we say that the new coach just needs time to put in his new system. Yes, I am a cynical person, but I am old and I have seen this happen more times than most of you have had girlfriends. Sorry but when I was young there were more bikes than cars on the road.

I know how it goes. It's an old boys club, and sometimes they don’t play nice. The players have to take some blame too, but how can we hold the players accountable on how they play? I know you can send them down to the minors, but no team can do that very often, because of the players' one-way contracts.

So what is the solution to the fire-the-coach problem? Simple -- make the General Managers take IQ test before they get hired. I am sure most of bad ones would fail. Okay, I am being facetious. You really can’t force them to take an IQ test. So trick them into taking it. Seriously, ask them if they would take nimrod and hire them as a coach. Wait, they already did that. In all reality, the problem will never end, so yes, we will always see what I like to call the madness of a general manager.

FLAMESTR
Filed Under:   GENREAL MANGER   FIRIING COACHES  
February 24, 2009 1:21 AM ET | Delete
Sometimes it is sad but true the coach allways gets it first as that saying goes you can't fire 21 players but it is easy to get rid of the coach.
February 24, 2009 1:24 AM ET | Delete
Well put. Keep on writing.
February 24, 2009 10:44 AM ET | Delete
hmm... well seeing as what a coaching change did for the caps last year, the hawks early this year, and the sens of late, if you are on the fence about ur coach, and the team is under performing, it can prove to be a useful tool. In my opinion, all coaches mentioned were on the fence this/recent years, so not complete blindsided moves....
February 24, 2009 12:19 PM ET | Delete
Interesting note by tsn that all four teams that started in europe fired their coach this year. And they say it doesn't affect anything! Flamstr you are missing one very crutial piece of info here...these guys still get paid!! If i got paid to stay at home during a recession, and get paid very very well, i'm all in!!! You're right though in that they are the fall guy too often, renney wasn't even a losing coach this year!! Sather is an article in himself and he is being looked at as one of the worst g.m.'s in the game today.
February 24, 2009 2:47 PM ET | Delete
Or in the case of the NYI, TBL or TMLs, they should fire the owners first.
February 24, 2009 3:14 PM ET | Delete
Good job flames!
February 24, 2009 3:21 PM ET | Delete
Obviously Sather bears some (if not most of the) blame in the NYR situation but if you'd seen the way the Rangers played their previous 10 games as opposed to the first 50, you'd agree that it was time for a change behind the bench. Also, teams fire coaches because the impact is immediate. A change in GM won't show results on the ice for quite some time.
February 24, 2009 5:07 PM ET | Delete
One way to look at it from the owner's perspective is that there are a lot more talented coaches out there to choose from than there are GM's. Bringing in the wrong GM could have a much more detrimental effect than the wrong coach.
February 24, 2009 9:15 PM ET | Delete
Flamstr great job. Keep up the good work. Love reading your blogs.
February 25, 2009 11:30 PM ET | Delete
Good perspective FLAMESTR. I guess ultimately the players draw the fans to the seats which pays the bills. Fire a player, potential revenue jumps ship. As an owner, bottom line is to draw revenue by winning and with marquee players. Coaches are obviously important to motivate the troops, but players drive the sales.
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