Quote:
Originally Posted by timbit
He was very well liked and appreciated by most of the players.
Very positive and enthusiastic.
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The vets - Lanny and Pepper in particular - apparently absolutely did not like him personally. The rumour is they cracked a bottle when he left. And while he was positive and enthusiastic about hockey, he was single minded and kind of serious at the same time - he didn't appreciate jokes by the guys that detracted from his point). And he was tough on them about the way he wanted them to play. I think, in a way, he was too bubbly and nerdy for their liking. Some of them found his methods a little weird (like dressing a black kid in an oilers uni for practice so they’d get confident about scoring on Fuhr) . Now, of course, you won’t find that in any of those guys’ interviews. And I think they legit respected his coaching.
I think he softened a bit in Pittsburgh.