Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
Cooper, Sullivan, Cassidy, Bednar
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I'm all for inexperienced head coaches being given a chance. And I would add Shelder Keefe to that list, despite his lack of postseason success I have no doubt he has the Leafs playing to their potential. And I suspect Playfair might have improved given more of a... chance (kind of tough to follow up Darryl Sutter in a division winning year...)
What I find crazy though is that Ward nor Gulutzan were ever top coaching prospects. The guys you named, at least had some success at lower levels (or in lone che case of Cassidy, was an internal midseason hire who produced immediate quantifiable results).
Gulutzan flopped in the AHL, flopped in the NHL, and his claim to fame upon hiring was, I guess, being associated with Sullivan in their lone Canucks year.
Ward was and is a good assistant, but had no success as a head coach and his interim stint (which was justifiable) saw the Flames' underlying metrics plummet from elite a year prior to bubble team with largely the same roster. So for him to be re-signed was insane.
Even Travis Green had a better AHL resume than Glen Gulutzan and Geoff Ward.