Who is the greatest coach of all time?

[Varan]

The 99-2000 blues finished 1st overall that year which makes your post a lie

i stand corrected!

 

[The Panther]

I mean, Scott Bowman is the "winningest" coach in NHL history, right?

Let's see, he coached a new expansion team (St.Louis) to the top of the expansion clubs (when 50% of the NHL was expansion teams) and therefore into the Finals in each of its first three seasons.

He then coached Montreal for eight years, going .744, and winning five Stanley Cups.

He then coached/managed Buffalo for seven years, with the team going .594.

He then coached Pittsburgh to its second Stanley Cup, followed by its greatest-ever regular season, going .628 in two years.

He then coached Detroit for nine years, going .655, winning three Stanley Cups and four Conference championships.


So: Nine Stanley Cups with three franchises in the post-expansion era, and a career record of (pre-Bettman inflated) .657 in thirty years behind the bench (That would be around .710 today for thirty years' total).


I'd say that's your hands-down winner, although cases can be made for Toe Blake, Al Arbour, and a couple of others. Bowman's only minor disappointment is the final game of the '81 Canada Cup, and the relative good-but-not-greatness of the Sabres after the early-80s.

But when you're the best coach in 1968 and still the best coach in 2002, you win hockey.

 

[CanuckGame39]

Lol cant believe it took 4 posts before the GOAT Scotty Bowman got mentioned.

Its Bowman AINEC.

 

[Bood12]

Al Arbour without a doubt, he took over an expansion team (back when expansion teams were expected to suck and have to pay their dues in the league) who finished with 30 points in their first year, by his 2nd year coaching that team (their 3 season in the league) he brought them to the conference finals where they were 1 win away from making the SCF and that team never looked back and went on to win 4 straight cups and 19 playoff series in a row, Arbour did not jump on an already established/good team like Bowman has done, he took a team that was a laughing stock their first year and soon made them one of the best dynasties of all time, and check out the 1993 playoffs, Bowman had taken over the stacked Penguins who had won the previous 2 Cups and were just expected to win their 3rd in a row, Arbour was coaching an Islander team who had barely made the playoffs and whose only really good player Pierre Turgeon had been knocked out by Dale Hunter in the previous series and the Islanders pulled probably the biggest upset in NHL history.

 

[Ciao]

My favourite is Toe Blake, but it's probably Scotty. If not him, then Al Arbour.

 

[NeelyWasAWarrior]

Scott Bowman

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Bowman. Not close.

The man has 14 Cups... Nine as a coach. If he were a carpenter he wouldn't have enough fingers for his rings...

 

[93LEAFS]

Without thinking to hard............ Bowman

 

[the_fan]

Patrick Roy

 

[Terry Yake]

no love for regis?

 

[SotasicA]

Great, as in the opposite of small. Ken Hitchcock is the greatest if you go by volume/size.

 

[LordNeverLose]

Al Arbour without a doubt, he took over an expansion team (back when expansion teams were expected to suck and have to pay their dues in the league) who finished with 30 points in their first year, by his 2nd year coaching that team (their 3 season in the league) he brought them to the conference finals where they were 1 win away from making the SCF and that team never looked back and went on to win 4 straight cups and 19 playoff series in a row, Arbour did not jump on an already established/good team like Bowman has done, he took a team that was a laughing stock their first year and soon made them one of the best dynasties of all time, and check out the 1993 playoffs, Bowman had taken over the stacked Penguins who had won the previous 2 Cups and were just expected to win their 3rd in a row, Arbour was coaching an Islander team who had barely made the playoffs and whose only really good player Pierre Turgeon had been knocked out by Dale Hunter in the previous series and the Islanders pulled probably the biggest upset in NHL history.

Nah dude I'm an Isles fan but this is Bowman for sure

 

[The Panther]

Full respect to Al Arbour, but...

Arbour did not jump on an already established/good team like Bowman has done

Bowman coached St.Louis in its first 3-and-a-bit seasons of existence. Not an established/good team.

Also, when he took over in Detroit, the Wings hadn't won the Cup in nearly 40 years, and hadn't finished in 1st overall in 40 years.

check out the 1993 playoffs

Again, full points to Arbour for coaching the Isles in '93, but... they only won two series. (Also it's not even close to being the biggest playoff upset in history.)

 

[ThePhoenixx]

Wanted to throw in Glen Sather's name.

 

[ole ole]

Blake / Bowman. Either can't be wrong

 

[Laineux]

Jukka Jalonen.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

he never had stacked teams before chi-town bro

those Blues teams were stacked. or are you conveniently forgetting things like 99 when they won the Presidents Trophy by 9 points

 

[Perfect_Drug]

But the coaches today are faster and have better training than in Bowman's days.

He was a good coach back then, but the game is so much faster today, and the goalies give nothing to shoot at. So he's not as good as the coaches today that have access to bettet diet and better equipment.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Btw isn't Bowman the only coach to win the cup with more than 1 team?

Dude replicates his success everywhere he goes.

 

[dr robbie]

Hard not to give the nod to Bowman. Guy is a legend for winning

 

[HOUSUTON]

Wayne Gretzky

 

[MartyOwns]

Wayne Gretzky

- michael scott

 

[Butch 19]

Bob Pulford

 

[JianYang]

It's Bowman. He won in the 70s. He won in the 90s, and he won in the 2000s. The ability to win in such different eras is the mark of a great coach.

Granted, he had stacked teams, but it's not as easy as we think to mould highly talented teams into cup champions.

 

[Mandar]

too many obvious choices mentioned.

But how can this topic be discussed without the inclusion of Pierre Creamer?