I think this is a very succinct way of viewing PV's coaching achievements. He's shown that he can win when winning was the aim, and that he can steward player development to a very high level when that was the aim. His players think very highly of him and he has consistently shown himself to be an astute thinker of the game with the ability to analyze players' development curves and explain those curves to interested observers -- he's never been a folksy soundbite guy, and seems to treat others with respect -- these all speak to his capacity to coach effectively at higher levels.
I found myself puzzled, once again, by the "But what has he done at the NHL level?" posts given that we have been advised often in these very threads to set aside what PoMo has done for more than two decades at the NHL level, because goaltending, injuries, unfair reffing, no fans in the stands, who are these AHL defensemen anyway, etc. Should we compare PV's record in the bigs to Maurice's at this point? Of course not. But if PV hasn't yet succeeded at the NHL level yet, he hasn't failed either.
Shout-out to
@ps241 for putting so eloquently what should probs be the last word on this:
Vincent was my favorite coach personality wise in our system. He will be a head coach in the NHL one day and I really hope he makes the best of it. All the best Vinny you were a total class act.
Amen.