Who is the best/worst Avalanche Head Coach?

[Pokecheque]

Well, now's your chance. Sound off!

Marc Crawford
First-ever Head Coach of the Colorado Avalanche, won the Stanley Cup in the team's inaugural season in Denver. Things came to a rather contentious end between him and the organization after an embarrassing first round exit in the 1998 playoffs, when Crawford was the only head coach in franchise history to be traded (after he was fired), sent to Brian Burke and the Vancouver Canucks for a draft pick. Crawford's legacy in Denver was forever sullied by the Todd Bertuzzi/Steve Moore incident.

Bob Hartley
Until recently, the winningest head coach in Avalanche history, who also led the team to their second Stanley Cup victory in 2001. Fired in 2002 by Pierre Lacroix due to simmering tensions between him and players like Peter Forsberg and Alex Tanguay. Hartley's reputation has taken some hits in recent years, most notably at the hands former player Scott Parker.

Tony Granato
Lacroix's hand-picked successor to Hartley, Granato's tenure definitely qualifies as the strangest, as he is the Grover Cleveland of this list. Initially taking over for Hartley in December 2002, Granato would lead the Avs one more season (notable for having Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne on the roster) before a year-long lockout. In 2005 the Avalanche hired Joel Quenneville, and Granato voluntarily took a demotion to assistant coach until Quenneville and the Avalanche mutually parted ways in 2008. Taking back the reins in the 2008-2009 season, the team missed the playoffs for the first time in Avalanche history and Granato, along with General Manager Francois Giguere, was fired. Reportedly Lacroix offered the head coaching job to Patrick Roy around this time and he refused.

Joe Sacco
Previously the head coach of the Avalanche affiliate at the time, Sacco enjoyed initial success with a retooled Avalanche roster led by rookies Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly. They made the playoffs his first season but not in the next three, and he was fired in 2013. Sacco's tenure might be unfairly judged as the team made it clear they were rebuilding during this time, and also waiting until the next CBA was in place. During Sacco's time, the team abruptly shifted from a more up-tempo style to a more conservative dump-and-chase, defensive scheme, evidenced when they dealt away puckmoving defenseman John-Michael Liles and effectively replaced him with stay-at-home defender Jan Hejda. Players like Erik Johnson had some unkind things to say about Sacco following his departure. It should be noted that of all the bench bosses to have been fired by the Avs, Sacco remains the only one never to get another head coaching gig.

Patrick Roy
Roy, the greatest goaltender in franchise history, is also the only Avalanche coach to win the Jack Adams Trophy during his time behind Colorado's bench. That rookie season appeared to be a portent of things to come, but alas, the Avalanche would fail to qualify for the playoffs the following two seasons, and Roy surprised Joe Sakic and the rest of the organization when he resigned in 2016.

Jared Bednar
Ironically, the winningest head coach in Nordiques/Avalanche history is also the losingest, if you go by single-season records. Unlike the other coaches on this list, Bednar's first season was an abject disaster, not only the worst mark in franchise history, but the worst mark in the NHL's modern era. Luckily for him, things only got better from there, eventually leading to the team's third Stanley Cup championship. He is, as of this writing, the third-longest tenured NHL head coach behind Jon Cooper and Mike Sullivan.


So...let's sound off. Who was the best? Who was the worst? I have my opinions, but for once...I'll shut up and listen for a bit.

Click to read more...

 

[Balthazar]

Granato/Sacco are the darkest era so not them.

I liked all the others for various reasons. Easy answer is obviously Bednar but who knows if he's the best.

 

[BrickNHL]

Bednar best
Sacco worst although the also most hilarious

 

[Tommy Shelby]

Jared

 

[Ceremony]

Bednar is obviously the best and Granato is obviously the worst.

 

[sethro109]

Bednar has his warts and infuriates me sometimes, but he's definitely been the best Avalanche coach. The worst has to be Granato. How do you fail with that good of a roster? It still hurts thinking back ugh. Sakic, Roy, Forsberg, Selanne, Kariya, Tanguay, Hejduk, Blake, Foote, Liles, Konowalchuk. How do you f*** that up?

 

[Foppa2118]

Hard to see an argument for anyone other than Bednar being the best IMO. Great with X's and O's. Great motivator. The players love playing for him. Great system that has influenced the rest of the league. Only coach other than Hartley and Crow to win a Cup with the Avs.

He's got a case for one of the best coach's of all time too, as the only coach to win championships in the ECHL, AHL, and NHL. If he gets the gig at the Olympics and wins Gold, it's gotta put him way up in the ranks.

Hartley probably 2nd for me. Had a great run, and great with the defensive side of the game specifically.

Roy is 3rd for me. I think he's an outstanding coach, just had an imperfect roster, and not enough time to ride it out. Specifically a bad D core that never got fixed during his tenure. He might have more natural coaching ability than Hartley.

Q is probably 4th for me. He was a great coach, just not with Colorado. His system didn't fit the players and he didn't have much success. Too much play below the goal line and not enough opportunity for younger players.

Crawford I'd put 5th. Had some powerhouse rosters in Colorado, and Vancouver, but his underachieving in Vancouver, and elsewhere kind of showed his flaws IMO.

Granato and Sacco are hard to pick for the other end of the scale. Probably have to go with Granato because he unfortunately was just handed the reins too early, and was just too green. Probably would have made a great head coach if he had some more on the job experience.

Sacco at least had some years as an assistant and a head coach in the AHL. I think he might have gotten more out of that 03-04 team. As long as they started on time.

 

[Bonzai12]

Going Hartley in a close one for me, but if Bednar wins another cup there's zero argument hes the best.

Granato laps the entire field in being the worst. What a mistake that was.

 

[UncleRisto]

Bednar is the best/worst.

 

[avalanche_country]

I still laugh when I think of Granato getting moved from HC to assistant while hiring Q to be the HC.

 

[Avs91]

Bednar. Only coach to win at every level.

 

[Bonzai12]

Roy is 3rd for me. I think he's an outstanding coach, just had an imperfect roster, and not enough time to ride it out. Specifically a bad D core that never got fixed during his tenure. He might have more natural coaching ability than Hartley.

I very much agree with ya on Roy. He got a bad rap here but I think he just was so frustrated and wanted to prove everyone wrong. Can’t figure out why he thought the Islanders were his chance to redeem himself though. I think with the right roster at the right time he could be one of the best coaches in the NHL but he seems to love to find a good dumpster fire too.

 

[katfude]

It's Jared. We've had some damn good coaches, though. Roy was peak entertainment.

That said, fire Bednar

 

[John Mandalorian]

Bednar. And if Denver has a Mt Rushmore for coaches (all sports), Bednar is on it.

 

[McMetal]

Bednar has got to be the best. It's important to note that Crawford and Hartley inherited pretty amazing rosters for their tenures as they matched to championships. Bednar had pre-breakout MacKinnon, rookie Rantanen, and a fat lot of nothing to start with, as well as a fractured and toxic locker room. He was instrumental in building the Avs up from nothing and earning another Cup. Head and shoulders above the rest.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

Bednar for sure, and it's not particularly close in my opinion.

 

[HockeyFan100]

Best: Jared Bednar

Worst: Joe "we didn't start the game on time" Sacco

 

[Balthazar]

Not sure how someone could pick Sacco over Granato or the other way around. They are the same.

 

[Hasbro]

Worst human being: Crawford

 

[Markster]

Bednar. And if Denver has a Mt Rushmore for coaches (all sports), Bednar is on it.

Hmmmmmmmmmm..........

Bednar, Mike Shanahan, Michael Malone and ?????

So who is the 4th? The Rockies haven't had a manger I'd put up there. For all of their entertainment values, Doug Moe and George Karl never accomplished much. The thought of Dan Reeves makes me want to vomit. Kubiak had far too short of a run. Who else was big-time enough to be it? Bill McCartney?

 

[John Mandalorian]

Hmmmmmmmmmm..........

Bednar, Mike Shanahan, Michael Malone and ?????

So who is the 4th? The Rockies haven't had a manger I'd put up there. For all of their entertainment values, Doug Moe and George Karl never accomplished much. The thought of Dan Reeves makes me want to vomit. Kubiak had far too short of a run. Who else was big-time enough to be it? Bill McCartney?

McCartney would be a Boulder Mt Rushmore.

Three candidates for the 4th spot: Crawford, Hartley, and Kubiak.

For me, it would be Kubiak because of his contributions as an OC under Shanahan in addition to his SB as head coach. That was a very underrated coaching job in 2015 with Peyton struggling and not an ideal fit for that offense.

Honorable mention also to Doug Moe and Dan Reeves.

 

[Grigowski]

Comes down to Sacco and Granato.

But i take Granato. That guy had one of the best teams ever assembled and f***ed it up.

 

[Bonzai12]

For me, it would be Kubiak because of his contributions as an OC under Shanahan in addition to his SB as head coach. That was a very underrated coaching job in 2015 with Peyton struggling and not an ideal fit for that offense.

Gary Kubiak not being in the ring of fame yet slays me

 

[Bender]

Going Hartley in a close one for me, but if Bednar wins another cup there's zero argument hes the best.

Granato laps the entire field in being the worst. What a mistake that was.

Yeah and they made it TWICE.

With Sacco, expectations were low... I kind of always believed they knew he sucked so let's put him in there and get a bunch of top picks and then start cotending again - when your scouting isn't great, there aren't too many other ways to do it. (He got us Landeskog and MacKinnon)

Oh and by the way - thanks for this thread, I had finally been able to purge him from my memory until today. It's kind of funny he ended up one of those assistants in Boston that can survive ANY head coach firing/hiring.

 

[Pokecheque]

Hmmmmmmmmmm..........

Bednar, Mike Shanahan, Michael Malone and ?????

So who is the 4th? The Rockies haven't had a manger I'd put up there. For all of their entertainment values, Doug Moe and George Karl never accomplished much. The thought of Dan Reeves makes me want to vomit. Kubiak had far too short of a run. Who else was big-time enough to be it? Bill McCartney?

I dunno…I’m heavily biased toward Don Baylor. He took a ragtag expansion team and made them one of the best-hitting ball clubs in Major League Baseball. And he did all this despite a micromanaging egomaniac GM doing everything possible to sabotage him.

But maybe he’s not Rushmore worthy. I’d put him there but I could understand why others wouldn’t.

What about Fisher DeBerry? Dude had consistently one of the most successful college football programs around despite not having the recruiting advantage that so many other schools had.