I think this is a poor assessment of what he brings. It's akin to Babcock being awful for all of Toronto's young players. Look at that Matthews kid struggle, poor guy.
He's a strong defensive systems coach in the same camp as Babcock. If you have offensive horses, it's not a problem, and your goalie is going to look brilliant while your team still produces. If you don't have the offense, get ready for some real slow and muddy hockey.
Tippett's departure was supposed to herald in an offensive era for "held back" players like Trevor Daley on the blueline. Crawford's open system was going to bring in the run and gun needed to bring the team to the next level. The reality was, oops, Tippett actually kept the team way more competitive than they often deserved and they haven't had a coach anywhere near his caliber until Ruff arrived.
Tippett's been coaching a moneyball team down there most of his tenure, so it's hard to evaluate what he could do with a team that actually supplied the budget to keep talent. Alas, the Wings aren't that team presently. But his time with the Stars, when they were a spender, was impressive.
Getting a better coach to build to the future? Look, I think the roster stinks so bad, but I also think Blashill isn't getting much out of his boys. The only players that surprise us are the ones that he seems to want to bench and limit ice time, so that seems more by virtue of their innate talent than coach getting every ounce. I mean, of course our biggest example is Riley "Where's the goal?" Sheahan still somehow unable to produce any shred of offense despite best efforts by everyone involved to get that going.
Last edited:
