deadhead
Registered User
- Feb 26, 2014
- 49,215
- 21,617
I don't buy the line that AV's a bad playoff coach, at least in NY, he didn't have great teams to work with and got them deep into the playoffs.
He had solid forwards, but no superstars, one top defensemen and a bunch of marginal types and a very good but aging goalie.
Zuccarello, Stepan, Brassard, Kreider, Hayes, Hagelin, JT Miller, Zibanejad broke out at age 25, after AV left.
So a lot of 2nd/3rd line guys, solid group but anyone you'd want on your first line?
Same on defense, McDonagh, but Girardi, Staal, Klein, Yandle, Holden, Skjei arrived at the end of his tenure and he's not top pair material.
In Vancouver he had the Sendin boys and Kesler, Bieksa on defense, Luongo in goal. And not a whole lot else.
In neither places did he have the kind of talent that you'd say how did he fail to win a Cup or get to the SC Finals on multiple occasions?
Compare to Sullivan in Pittsburgh or Trotz in Washington.
He had solid forwards, but no superstars, one top defensemen and a bunch of marginal types and a very good but aging goalie.
Zuccarello, Stepan, Brassard, Kreider, Hayes, Hagelin, JT Miller, Zibanejad broke out at age 25, after AV left.
So a lot of 2nd/3rd line guys, solid group but anyone you'd want on your first line?
Same on defense, McDonagh, but Girardi, Staal, Klein, Yandle, Holden, Skjei arrived at the end of his tenure and he's not top pair material.
In Vancouver he had the Sendin boys and Kesler, Bieksa on defense, Luongo in goal. And not a whole lot else.
In neither places did he have the kind of talent that you'd say how did he fail to win a Cup or get to the SC Finals on multiple occasions?
Compare to Sullivan in Pittsburgh or Trotz in Washington.