Do you believe in the term "Playoff Coach"?

[end]

A good regular season coach comes up with a game plan that exploits his team's talents and advantages, no matter who they play.

A good playoff coach comes up with a gameplan that exploits the other team's weaknesses and disadvantages, because you know who you're playing for the next 4-7 games.

 

[Devils090]

DeBoer always comes to mind for me, 3 playoff appearances and 2 trips to the finals.

 

[SEALBound]

Yes. Absolutely 100%

Exhibit A: Mike Sullivan

Exhibit Anti-A: Dan Bylsma

 

[Makar Goes Fast]

yes, playoffs are about adjustments and tweaks, some coaches arent good that.

 

[rduck1]

Being able to beat most teams on most nights, versus being able to beat four specific teams four times out of seven. I would say that there are some differences in the skills that are emphasised between those situations, and also that the allocation of those skills is uneven. Therefore, there are coaches that are better suited to elimination formats, and others who are more suited to league formats, though it must be stated that the real-world scenarios have a great deal of complexity to them, so it is fairly simplistic to think of this as some kind of binary disctinction.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Lol. no... And for people mentioning Boudreau- he never coached SC contender in his entire life... So how can he be "choker"??? If any, he overachieved with mediocre teams...

You could make the argument that he's a good example. Great at coaching teams to be successful when you're playing different opponents in one-off games night after night, not so great when having to make adjustments against the same opponent repeatedly.

But it is more dynamic than that, obviously, due to the moving parts of players and so on.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I don't believe its a thing. You're either a good coach or not. The things that make you a good coach in the regular season are the same things that make you a good coach in the playoffs.

The idea of a "playoff coach" is just something people have made up in their heads to justify why certain teams win / lose - it makes the world simpler for them. The human brain is hard wired to look for patterns, even in the most limited of data sets.

Boudreau and Trotz are both great examples of people seeking to categorize and label things they don't fully understand. Trotz's Caps were a hot Fleury away from beating the best team of the last decade, and BB has had god-awful puck luck in game 7's. These guys were both a few bounces away from success, which would have turned the entire narrative on its head, yet here we are. Both guys have coached championship teams at the AHL level - you would think the same coaching principles that are required in an NHL playoff series would be required in the AHL, yes?

I find it funny that there is one group of people who seem to think that you need to tank to have a chance at winning, and another group who blame BB for Anaheim's lack of playoff success (ignoring the fact that they haven't tanked their way to the top). In reality, both groups are wrong, yet they still exist.

 

[BHD]

Adjustments, which are an important part of coaching, are magnified in the playoffs.

 

[TB1299]

100%

Jacques Martin was a CRAP playoff coach. He lacked confidence, got flustured and was out done by Pat Quinn.

You need a real leader like Boucher at the helm. Not one that projects a insecurity and scaredness behind the bench.

You need to know how to motivate your players, how to play the media, and how to adapt in a 7 game series.

Very different.