News Article: Iiro Pakarinen about his time as an Oiler, journalist relates to Puljujärvi (Finnish media)

[RegDunlop]

Because I'm older I'll add that theres often also a best before date. People can laugh at this if they want, and I don't care, but I'm past best used date and so is McLellan. For some of us most of our steam ran out and theres not as much left in the tank. As we get older more of our energy involves quality of life, and less concern about working hard. just being honest

In music its generally considered that an artists best work is pre 40. Anything after that doesn't compare.

Agree wholeheartedly.
I'll add that that was my reason for not exactly giving endorsement to the hiring of Q should it be an option.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Agree wholeheartedly.
I'll add that that was my reason for not exactly giving endorsement to the hiring of Q should it be an option.

Yep, haha, but that's why I stated I would hire even the ghost of Q. He's a smarter dude. Even if he's plum burned out he can defer his quality ideas to the other coaching staff. At least he has them.

Q is a top echelon theoretician of the game. A professor of hockey, even. Theres always a role even as high paid advisor if he would be willing. But I would have him as figurehead coach with this group becase we have a lot of assistants that can be hands on. WE have an assistant that can run the bench.

I like Q because he found a way to transform how hockey was played. Few coaches ever are transformative.

But given how odd the firing is (the Hawks are doing better than they should) I would wonder if it was noted that Q is having problems managing the work. I would think the latter, the Hawks don't run a stupid org. Could be something wrong with Q health wise. Like there was with Pat Quinn here. Sutter is well past it too.

 

[Nordiques1979]

The NHL isn't a development league. Guys like Pakarainen sit because they aren't good enough. Why would the coach waste their time telling a player sorry the other guys are better. Obviously, there are some young players in the league still developing, and those players most likely get more communication. Puljujarvi spent some of the time in his games off watching the game with Viveiros for example.

developing? Isn't what a coach is all about?

 

[Drivesaitl]

It's an early Sunday morning in Edmonton so most local fans are still sleeping.

Even if we forget Pulju's case I believe another kind of a coach would be better for the Oilers as there are several young players with limited cap space for the stars, so maximizing their development would be very important. Some may figure it out by themselves at least to some extent, but some will get confused.

Most of us are hungover on the day of the CFL playoffs starting with our Football team not even in the playoffs in a Grey Cup hosting year. So that collectively theres a wake in the air here. A time where we think we're being punished and spanked for being fans of Edmonton clubs...

That's some background you wouldn't know. A lot of people here, sports fans, just want to change the channel. Focus on anything other than our pro sports teams.

But you know I would show up to comment...

But people are just largely checked out. We used to have 5-10X the amount of posting here on the board.

 

[CycloneSweep]

developing? Isn't what a coach is all about?

At the lower levels yes

 

[Drivesaitl]

I’ve come to expect an incorrect opinion to come from you. The old “Scotty Bowman” hard-ass routine went out 20+ years ago. When players were making $300k a year and were walking on eggshells lest they be sent to Utica forever, it worked. In the salary cap era, you cannot bury your mistakes. Drafting and development is paramount and if you just want to play mind games instead of talking to this generation of players like adults, they are going to quickly tune you out. Vets will ignore you and young players will unravel.

Budbundy is a lot more polite than I remember on Telly..

heh, kudos on the tact used, I got a laugh at that.

cheers

 

[Mav3rick07]

The NHL isn't a development league. Guys like Pakarainen sit because they aren't good enough. Why would the coach waste their time telling a player sorry the other guys are better. Obviously, there are some young players in the league still developing, and those players most likely get more communication. Puljujarvi spent some of the time in his games off watching the game with Viveiros for example.

Todd Mac, is that you ?

 

[Oan]

Coaching philosophies seem to be vastly different in NA when compared to Europe, the hierarchy is much more strict. Same thing in regular office jobs too, I've noticed. Why is that?

 

[rboomercat90]

Yep.

I'm never sure where the opinion that McLellan is a players coach ever got started. he was the one that rolled on Thornton and Marleau after the GM got involved in calling out the Star Sharks players. McLellan sided with management to try to save his job. Every NHLPA rep would know that. Hell, most fans know that.

McLellan actually strikes me as a grumpy coach that typically says very little, always has his handful of favorites and everybody else doesn't even exist. Never struck me as a hard worker either. Law of least effort is in everything he does. He doesn't even match lines typically, never calls out refs. He's about as figurehead a coach as they come. I've often joked we could have a cardboard cutout of him on the bench and not know the difference.

So much truth in this post it deserved to be quoted just for that.

We’ve got a large sample size of what Mclellan is going back to his Sharks days. Based on that there isn’t any reason to think he’s going to start coaching this team any differently and the way he’s doing it clearly isn’t working.

 

[RandomGuy79]

Can we wait around the corner and bust McLellan kneecaps already? Once he is gone, we can start winning!

 

[GameChanger]

Coaching philosophies seem to be vastly different in NA when compared to Europe, the hierarchy is much more strict. Same thing in regular office jobs too, I've noticed. Why is that?

With a few exceptions NHL is the league that collects the best players from all around the world. But AFAIK almost all the coaches are from USA or Canada. I understand why that's the case, but it also means there can be some excellent coaches and good fresh ideas in other leagues too.

In fact I'd like to say the quality of coaching in the FEL is very high and while we're talking about a league with much worse players there are some things going on that maybe deserve a closer look. The quality of the coaches has also helped the national team do better than it maybe should've quite a few times.

A few FEL coaches stand above the others and there are usually some common denominators. Those coaches play modern hockey (with variation when needed), let their players learn from mistakes throughout the season, react during the games, listen to the players and develop them individually and even make sure they live and train professionally.

While I recognize the best NHL coaches are maybe the best ones in the world I believe many coaches don't get even close to maximizing their team's potential. To me McLellan's style looks egoistic, lazy or the both. It may work with a stacked team with a lot of veterans, but I don't see the current Oilers as a good fit. It may work to some extent as long as the team does well and he's got the players' respect.

 

[KCC]

Can we wait around the corner and bust McLellan kneecaps already? Once he is gone, we can start winning!

It’s mostly the roster imo but a coaching change could at least spark a more nightly competitive team which that itself would do wonders. Lol

 

[oobga]

Just what I expect from this HC. This is what Pulju has been going through as well. Even if he spoke english well there would likely still be minimal communication. McLellan just does practice, and if you can't figure everything out from that, you might find yourself out of the lineup. He probably talks directly to the players more via the media than face to face, and that's usually some under the bus throwing. This guy is brutal, management too of course.

Just hope things are a little different now with these assistant coaches that aren't McLellan stooges. Unless he is turning them into that. Gulutzan and Yawney seem like players coaches. Would bet Viveiros is the same way.

 

[CupofOil]

Didn’t Hall also say he didn’t listen to any of the Edmonton coaches?

Having said that, remember Krueger? He went out of his way to try to understand his players. I thought that was great.

Todd is a my way or the highway type of guy and that’s not good for prospects coming into the line up. They can’t figure out what they need to do to be better.

Hall also said that Hinds was giving him feedback that he wasn't getting in Edmonton.

In any event, this method of coaching isn't exclusive to McLellan. I bet there has been a lot of coaches around the league like Quenneville, Babcock, Sutter, Hitchcock etc. who have this dinosaur way of thinking that players need to figure it out for themselves and the only coaching they need to do is drawing up strategies on a whiteboard.

Hopefully these types of coaches continue to get phased out of the league and we see more progressive thinkers with fresh ideas and open lines of communication.

What bothers me most about the Pulju situation is that they drafted him.knowing full well that he not only needed to be coached up but needed to learn the language and have a strong support staff. By many accounts, it appears that he's been alienated his entire time here and I even recall some McLellan quotes saying that Jesse needs to figure it out himself. Why even bother drafting this unpolished talent in the first place if you're not going to put in the work to bring him along?

 

[Frank the Tank]

Yep.

That's pretty relevant to bring up. It screams lack of due diligence in org culture.

Lack of respect as well.

There are some *****e places to work. Probably most people have experienced something like that. But shouldn't be the case in Billion buck orgs.

The astounding thing is we have key assets, in players, who are worth Millions, and the coaching staff that are essentially disposable can't be bothered to speak with them.


I will say something though. Theres a certain amount of *****ebaggery also among pro athletes (and as evidenced in Ottawa) where you could see where a reluctance to be too involved with players might come from. I don't think we have that player attitudinal problem here, but you never know.

If we're now into reading smoke signals from former Oilers, I think this is the reason why the clique was disbanded.

 

[Drivesaitl]

If we're now into reading smoke signals from former Oilers, I think this is the reason why the clique was disbanded.

The clique of players or managers. The managers with issues are still here, with the org.

 

[Frank the Tank]

The clique of players or managers. The managers with issues are still here, with the org.

Players. I agree that the OBC should be next; they should all be moved from management to ambassador roles. I remember that's how Rocky Wirtz handled what can be an awkward transition for both the legends of the franchise and the long-term fans.

 

[GameChanger]

By many accounts, it appears that he's been alienated his entire time here and I even recall some McLellan quotes saying that Jesse needs to figure it out himself. Why even bother drafting this unpolished talent in the first place if you're not going to put in the work to bring him along?

AFAIK alienated is actually a pretty good word. A part of the problem has naturally been the language side, but I'm sure much more could've been done anyway. And to assist with the language aspect too.

I don't know if that's true, but the former Finnish head coach Lauri Marjamäki said last spring that Puljujarvi hadn't got the coaching he'd needed in the AHL. He said Pulju had been left pretty alone there. I certainly hope (and actually somehow believe) that's different this time.

 

[Barrsy]

I’ve come to expect an incorrect opinion to come from you. The old “Scotty Bowman” hard-ass routine went out 20+ years ago. When players were making $300k a year and were walking on eggshells lest they be sent to Utica forever, it worked. In the salary cap era, you cannot bury your mistakes. Drafting and development is paramount and if you just want to play mind games instead of talking to this generation of players like adults, they are going to quickly tune you out. Vets will ignore you and young players will unravel.

Mike Babcock says hi.
As do numerous other NHL coaches.
Pay attention

 

[LemmyUlanov55]

Those comments about a lack of communication between players and the coaching staff are something I've read waaaay too often about in the last years/decade.

No matter what coaches and GM's you hire, if your club's not properly run when it comes to basic stuff like proper communication, you're never going to build a "winning culture".

 

[Cypress]

I can get why a coach wouldn't bother to regularly remind a guy "You are the 14th best forward on this team, you will be in the pressbox again" He may think he wants an explanation, but he would have liked that even less.

Just a fringe NHL player deflecting blame away from himself as to why he couldn't cut it.

 

[CycloneSweep]

I can get why a coach wouldn't bother to regularly remind a guy "You are the 14th best forward on this team, you will be in the pressbox again" He may think he wants an explanation, but he would have liked that even less.

Just a fringe NHL player deflecting blame away from himself as to why he couldn't cut it.

We seem to keep hearing this from fringe players which makes it seem like sour grapes.

 

[rboomercat90]

What bothers me most about the Pulju situation is that they drafted him.knowing full well that he not only needed to be coached up but needed to learn the language and have a strong support staff. By many accounts, it appears that he's been alienated his entire time here and I even recall some McLellan quotes saying that Jesse needs to figure it out himself. Why even bother drafting this unpolished talent in the first place if you're not going to put in the work to bring him along?

Somebody from this organization should be forced to get in front of a microphone and answer this question because it’s happened twice now. They have the opportunity to interview these kids before they draft them to find out what kind of players and people they are. That they’re struggling with the language shouldn’t be a surprise for them and they should be prepared in how to handle it. I always found it concerning that Jarmo Kekelainen, the only GM in the league capable of interviewing Jesse in his own language, passed on him when he was rated to be a full tier above anybody else left in the draft. Most passed it off as Columbus really wanted a Center over a winger but it should have been a red flag.

 

[Sweetpotato]

This article is the embodiment of why some players young or old are lost in some organizations and find their game and succeed in others. Every organization of any kind thrives on development of talent and sinks due to a lack there of. Doesnt matter whether theyre veterans they can still be coached coaches and improved you don't just forget how to learn and develop at age 27. If this is actually staff distancing themselves from players to make tough decisions easier theyre cowards and flat out shouldn't have a job. Hall, Auvitu, Pak, etc have all had similar experiences.

Somebody from this organization should be forced to get in front of a microphone and answer this question because it’s happened twice now. They have the opportunity to interview these kids before they draft them to find out what kind of players and people they are. That they’re struggling with the language shouldn’t be a surprise for them and they should be prepared in how to handle it. I always found it concerning that Jarmo Kekelainen, the only GM in the league capable of interviewing Jesse in his own language, passed on him when he was rated to be a full tier above anybody else left in the draft. Most passed it off as Columbus really wanted a Center over a winger but it should have been a red flag.

I don't think these players magically lose talent and they had to get there some how. It's how they're handled. I have no doubt that the handling of Jesse has been a joke like we think it has and I don't really blame him for how he's played thus far.

 

[rboomercat90]

This article is the embodiment of why some players young or old are lost in some organizations and find their game and succeed in others. Every organization of any kind thrives on development of talent and sinks due to a lack there of. Doesnt matter whether theyre veterans they can still be coached coaches and improved you don't just forget how to learn and develop at age 27. If this is actually staff distancing themselves from players to make tough decisions easier theyre cowards and flat out shouldn't have a job. Hall, Auvitu, Pak, etc have all had similar experiences.

I don't think these players magically lose talent and they had to get there some how. It's how they're handled. I have no doubt that the handling of Jesse has been a joke like we think it has and I don't really blame him for how he's played thus far.

I’m not trying to blame Puljijarvi for anything. He is who he is. Maybe Kekelainen interviewed him and thought he’d be someone who’d struggle learning English or would struggle learning systems play in North America. He’d be able to get a better read on him than anybody else would.