Quote:
Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache
The likelihood of Iggy being an above average head coach is higher than that of Ward doing so.
Good enough for me. Would prefer someone more likely, but they may be a threat to Tre.
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I don't know that there's any truth to that. Iggy, at least based on history, isn't likely to be a good coach. Most good coaches are guys that were almost good enough, or guys that had to work their nuts off to be in the league. Gretzky's the easiest example, he couldn't understand why guys couldn't do what he wanted them to. The guys who are the best coaches are the guys who had to work the hardest to have a chance, because they already had to study the game to even be in the conversation.
Boudreau played parts of 15 years in the minors, Gallant was more or less a grinder with a few solid years in the middle, Tortorella was in the precursor to the ECHL for a half dozen years after college, Quennville was a defensive defenceman in the most offensive period in hockey (you damn near had to try to not score more than 30 points in the early to mid 80s), and Trotz as far as I can tell never played beyond Juniors.
I don't know any top coaches that were also top players, because the guys that had it naturally come to them could never help the guys who didn't. I'd wager of all the great Flames in my lifetime, Mark Giordano is the only one who has a hope in hell of being a great coach, because he had to work his nuts off for every chance he got. Gelinas definitely had talent, but he also had to work and learn, so he might not be half bad. Geoff Ward, well, he doesn't have any history as a player, which is irrelevant until he sucks. He may suck.