Writer attempts to debunk myths about Dave Tippett

[ClassLessCoyote]

http://arizonasports.com/story/438255/busting-some-myths-about-coyotes-coach-dave-tippett/

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The show, MythBusters, uses scientific methods to test the validity of rumors, myths or claims. Maybe the show’s hosts, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, could dispel a pair of persistent myths about Coyotes coach Dave Tippett.

A couple years into his Arizona tenure, Tippett became known as a defensive coach, a guy who wouldn’t know what to do, or how to succeed with an abundance of skill and offense. Around the same time, he gained a reputation as a coach who didn’t trust young players.

“I think it got going when I came here because we had young players who weren’t ready to play in the league but they had played in the league already,†Tippett said, referring to such players as Kyle Turris, Peter Mueller and Mikkel Boedker, who were infamously rushed to the NHL by the previous regime. “Everybody tells me ‘you don’t like young players.’ Well, at that time, we were trying to save a franchise and make it competitive again. What was happening in the past wasn’t working.â€

Within three seasons, Tippett took a veteran-laden team to the Western Conference Final and energized the local hockey community like never before. That team relied on a strong blue line and the goaltending of Mike Smith, so let’s start with that first myth about Tippett: that he is a defensive-minded coach who struggles with offensive players.

“I think that’s a horse(expletive) rumor,†said Hall of Fame center Mike Modano, who played for Tippett in Dallas from 2002-2009. “Being around him for so long and hearing his philosophy on the game and how it’s played, I can tell you he loves nothing more than a skilled player. Like any coach, he just wants his skilled players to have a little bit of responsibility and roundness to their game, rather than being one-dimensional.â€

Tippett’s Dallas years fly in the face of the notion that he can’t coach offense. In three of Tippett’s first five seasons in Dallas, the Stars finished among the NHL’s top nine teams in scoring because they had the personnel to do so with players such as Modano, Jere Lehtinen, Bill Guerin, Brenden Morrow, Jason Arnott, Sergei Zubov, and later, Mike Ribeiro and Loui Eriksson. In the 1998-99 season, while coaching the IHL’s Houston Aeros, Tippett led his team to the Turner Cup and the Aeros scored a league-leading 307 goals — 22 more than any other team.

New York Rangers coach Alain Vigneault laughed at the perceptions that sometimes exist about coaches due to the personnel and situations they are dealt. Vigneault believes most NHL coaches preach a very similar style, making adjustments when the personnel they have dictates such tweaks.

“I know that Dave Tippett is the same way as I am,†Vigneault said. “We don’t like to trade chances. Youâ™ve got to be able to play at both ends.â€

Read the article and give your thoughts.

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[Dr Pepper]

He definitely was wary of rookies while in Dallas.

I remember him basically running Turco into the ground while our young backup goalie barely played. Not surprisingly, Turco ran out of steam and the team suffered as a result.

I also recall him giving a boatload of special teams minutes to Mark Parrish, while Fabian Brunnstrom was stapled to the 4th line and getting less than 10 minutes of ice time per game.

It was very frustrating to watch as a Stars fan, and his departure from the team wasn't a surprise at all. I'm glad he's managed to stick around in Arizona, even if they're still struggling to catch on there.

 

[ck26]

He definitely was wary of rookies while in Dallas.

Like Trevor Daley? And Loui Eriksson? And Jussi Jokinen? And Matt Niskanen? And Nicklas Grossmann? And Steve Ott?

Which one of Mike Modano, Bill Guerin, Jere Lehtinen, Pierre Turgeon, Brendan Morrow, Mike Ribeiro, Brad Richards, Scott Young, Jason Arnott, Ladislav Nagy and Stu Barnes should Tipp have benched to give more ice time to Niko Kapanen, Joel Lundqvist, Mathias Tjarnqvist, Chris Conner and Vojtech Polak?

I remember him basically running Turco into the ground while our young backup goalie barely played. Not surprisingly, Turco ran out of steam and the team suffered as a result.

2009? The year when Sergei Zubov, Jere Lehtinen, Brendan Morrow and Brad Richards all missed significant time + the Sean Avery cameo? We're putting that season on goaltender fatigue?

And that backup? Tobias Stephan? What league did he play in in 2010?

I also recall him giving a boatload of special teams minutes to Mark Parrish, while Fabian Brunnstrom was stapled to the 4th line and getting less than 10 minutes of ice time per game.

The same Fabian Brunnstrom who couldn't crack the Leafs or Wings lineup after he left DAL and who didn't even lead his team in scoring when he went back to Sweden?

 

[Antropovsky]

He definitely was wary of rookies while in Dallas.

I remember him basically running Turco into the ground while our young backup goalie barely played. Not surprisingly, Turco ran out of steam and the team suffered as a result.

I also recall him giving a boatload of special teams minutes to Mark Parrish, while Fabian Brunnstrom was stapled to the 4th line and getting less than 10 minutes of ice time per game.

It was very frustrating to watch as a Stars fan, and his departure from the team wasn't a surprise at all. I'm glad he's managed to stick around in Arizona, even if they're still struggling to catch on there.

fabian brunnstrom is the best you could come up with in terms of frustrations over Tippett in Dallas?

 

[Dr Pepper]

Like Trevor Daley? And Loui Eriksson? And Jussi Jokinen? And Matt Niskanen? And Nicklas Grossmann?

Hey I'm not saying he hated rookies, just saying there were many times where he would stick with the veteran (like Parrish, as I said earlier) instead of going with a rookie.

Which one of Mike Modano, Bill Guerin, Jere Lehtinen, Pierre Turgeon, Brendan Morrow, Mike Ribeiro, Brad Richards, Scott Young, Jason Arnott, Ladislav Nagy and Stu Barnes should Tipp have benched to give more ice time to Niko Kapanen, Joel Lundqvist, Mathias Tjarnqvist, Chris Conner and Vojtech Polak?

Come on now, Ladislav Nagy doesn't count.

And Young had one decent year in Dallas. One. You think it was worth the ice time allotted to him in that second year, that could have been used to further develop younger players instead of watching them burn out, and point us towards a five year playoff drought?

It's a stretch, of course, but who knows, maybe those players get more ice time instead of handing it to a vet, they develop into more serviceable players and this team doesn't enter that dark stretch that they're only now putting behind them.

2009? The year when Sergei Zubov, Jere Lehtinen, Brendan Morrow and Brad Richards all missed significant time + the Sean Avery cameo? We're putting that season on goaltender fatigue?

You don't think it was a factor?

Turco played 74 games, with a sub-.900 save percentage. Find me one team that made the playoffs with a goalie who played as many games as Turco did, with those numbers.

And that backup? Tobias Stephan? What league did he play in in 2010?The same Fabian Brunnstrom who couldn't crack the Leafs or Wings lineup after he left DAL and who didn't even lead his team in scoring when he went back to Sweden?

Stephan was pissed with how he was treated, no wonder he didn't come back. Sure he didn't exactly wow the crowds during his minimal usage, but when you're put in cold after being stapled to the bench for three weeks, I'm willing to bet his game suffers just a tad. For the record, Stephan's save % has been averaging over .920 ever since he went back home to Switzerland. He also was named to Switzerland's 2014 Sochi Olympic Team. Maybe he wasn't the problem.

As for Brunnstrom, who knows. I just remember that awesome debut, and then it just went downhill from there, really.

Well, how could it not, I guess, right? Hattrick in his debut, can't really keep up that kind of production.

I just felt he had more to offer, and wasn't being utilized properly. Guess his post-Dallas runs have put a stop to that, though.

fabian brunnstrom is the best you could come up with in terms of frustrations over Tippett in Dallas?

I simply provided an example, that's all. Not sure what's hard to grasp.

 

[Thrive]

Dave Tippett is an excellent coach. I'd love to have him on Boston's staff should he be canned at the end of the year. Getting rid of that bum Joe Sacco would be the icing on the cake.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Admittedly i haven't paid much attention to the Yotes/Tippet outside of their 2012 runObviously some bitterness because Tippet's team beat my favorite team but watching that 2012 team was so frustrating. I hated the play style he used. It was so passive, just sit back and let them make mistakes while Mike Smith puts up a .95 SV% every night. Very frustrating and very boring.

Fairly or not, Tippet's reputation as a defense only coach stuck with me until I read this article

 

[glovesave_35]

He definitely was wary of rookies while in Dallas.

I remember him basically running Turco into the ground while our young backup goalie barely played. Not surprisingly, Turco ran out of steam and the team suffered as a result.

I also recall him giving a boatload of special teams minutes to Mark Parrish, while Fabian Brunnstrom was stapled to the 4th line and getting less than 10 minutes of ice time per game.

It was very frustrating to watch as a Stars fan, and his departure from the team wasn't a surprise at all. I'm glad he's managed to stick around in Arizona, even if they're still struggling to catch on there.

Stephan was terrible. Tip played a lot of rookies. Haven't read the whole article yet but the quotes in OP are dead on.

 

[LT]

He definitely was wary of rookies while in Dallas.

I remember him basically running Turco into the ground while our young backup goalie barely played. Not surprisingly, Turco ran out of steam and the team suffered as a result.

I also recall him giving a boatload of special teams minutes to Mark Parrish, while Fabian Brunnstrom was stapled to the 4th line and getting less than 10 minutes of ice time per game.

It was very frustrating to watch as a Stars fan, and his departure from the team wasn't a surprise at all. I'm glad he's managed to stick around in Arizona, even if they're still struggling to catch on there.

Stephan was terrible. Tip played a lot of rookies. Haven't read the whole article yet but the quotes in OP are dead on.

Yea, I don't think Tippett was any more stingy with rookies than we've seen out of any coach since him. Probably about average. That's not a Tippett theme, its a league-wide theme.

 

[DonskoiDonscored]

For some reason most around here refuse to believe that coaches can change how they operate after time.

 

[Reinhart]

For some reason most around here refuse to believe that coaches can change how they operate after time.

Exactly this.

I remember when Calgary hired "Iron" Mike Keenan. Calgary was in need of a tough coach like Hitchcock or Darryl Sutter himself (who a year earlier moved up permanently into the GM role). "Iron" Mike Keenan probably would have helped the Flames.

Instead, the Flames got "Pillow-soft" Mike Keenan. Or "Semi-Retired" Mike Keenan. The results speak for themselves - they were a disappointing team every year.

A couple of years after he was fired, he finally opened up about it on the air. He basically stated that in today's NHL, it is always much easier to fire a coach than to trade a player who has a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract.

Who would have ever though Iron Mike Keenan would have turned into a coach that was too soft?

Good article by the OP. I too was of the opinion that Tippett was too defensive (and boring). Thanks for sharing!

 

[glovesave_35]

For some reason most around here refuse to believe that coaches can change how they operate after time.

Or based on personnel.

Modo, to add to my other post. Tip drove me crazy one time regarding playing young players and that was the case of Loui. He was being scratched or used more lightly in favor of clearly lesser players. I wanted him fired because of how obvious his mistake was. Armstrong got canned and Les Jackson said play Loui and Grossman and live with the results. It seems like before maybe he was coaching not to get fired maybe? Anyways, he did and then relied on him more heavily during the rest of his time in Dallas.

 

[skolgoar]

Tippett was in charge of the PP when he moved up to the NHL in LA. Not usually the job you give to a defensive coach. Perhaps someone can relate what Tippett's coaching style was like in the AHL when he was coaching the Aeros.

 

[ClassLessCoyote]

Right now there is more youth on the Coyotes this season because the team is in a position where they have no other choice but to. So far it seems early on that Tippett is willing to adapt to any changes in his coaching necessary to make the team a championship contender in the future, but still, it's just a small sample size as only time will tell if he has really changed for the better of the franchise. If I see the youth getting less playing time in the future along with a much more veteran presence in number, then that's just another reason for him to be canned.

Personally, I think Tippett should have been fired by now considering it's now 3 straight seasons of not making the playoffs since going to the WCF of 2012. Speaking of opinions on to keep a coach or not, I notice something as of late that doesn't make any sense. Lots of hockey fans say the Head Coach of Anaheim should be fired now even though he got the Ducks to the WCF last season but Tippett should be given a free pass once again despite missing the playoffs since the 2012 season.

 

[awfulwaffle]

You are really comparing the Ducks to the Coyotes? Have you compared the rosters?