Quote:
Originally Posted by Rerun
When you look at the number of coaches the Flames have hired in the past 33 years (13 not counting the two interim coaches), is any coach the right coach?
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Average life span for a Flames coach is about 2-1/2 years
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Frankly, I'm a little tired of the revolving door coach here in Calgary.
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Well our very own Brian Burke believes that a coach has a shelf life and the harder the coach is on his players the shorter that shelf life is. So starting with that, the standard contract for an NHL coach is usually between 3-4 years, with 5 years having popped up this summer. In reality, coaches rarely start a season with only one year left in their contract so it's common that coaches get fired with at least one year left on that contract. So in reality a coach who signs a 3 year contract really only has 2 years to prove himself and earn an extension.
As much as successful franchises are accustomed to having the same coach, statistics suggest that if a coach doesn't win a Cup within the first 4 years of coaching the team, the odds are that it's never going to happen with that team. The average is actually less than 3 years. So if a coach doesn't win the Cup by year 3 of coaching the team, the odds are already against the coach winning the Cup with that team.
So if the ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup, you really should look into changing coaches every 3-4 years.