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Originally Posted by MBates
Not taking issue with anything else in your post but only addressing this part...a mid season coach firing (perhaps even especially one that is not entirely deserved) can send a shockwave through a dressing room. Players who don't want to find themselves shipped out or sent to the minors or just benched or given less minutes going forward are suddenly reminded what happens when results are not delivered in the business of NHL hockey.
Unless you believe the players are inherently soft and actually incapable of getting ready to play games then it is a motivational / mental issue. Firing coaches is not a magical sure-fire technique to jolt players out of underperforming complacency...but it CAN work.
There is risk / reward in anything...including just staying the course. I have no idea what has the best chance of making a difference long term, but a mid-season coach firing is not an unreasonable option to have on the table.
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You could be entirely correct, but my belief is that this has little to do with coaching and everything to do with the players themselves.
The reason i believe this is simple. I look at last year and how once the club figured out what GG wanted, they had tremendous success despite getting horrific play from the most important position. What changed? Did GG change the message for some unknown reason? Or did the players not want to commit to what made them successful last year?
With this organization it has been coach after coach after coach with very little responsibilities placed on the guys on the ice. And here we are once again. Players skating by ...because while a guy most have regarded throughout the hockey world as a very good coach gets tossed aside once again because of the prima donnas making all the money who know they cant all be turfed.
I guess I just think its time they tried something else instead of taking the easy way out.
/rant
All this being said i dont believe Treliving is the kind of guy to bail on his coach so quickly, regardless of results thus far. GG has been the head coach in Calgary for less than a year and a half. Most coaches get at least 2 seasons to show what they can do, and i expect the same in this situation.