Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Random
In itself, that's not ridiculous. Jacques Lemaire was a point-per-game player on one of the highest-flying offensive teams of all time, then turned around and became perhaps the most stifling defensive coach of all time.
The real problem is that Paul Coffey isn't all that bright, which may be why he never got a sniff at an NHL coaching job until he was 62. Even then, it took the combination of a truly desperate GM and an owner who wants to collect all the old boys in the club.
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And Coffey didn't even want to be a coach right now. They pretty much told him he had to do it.
The game plan is obviously to cover up for their poor goaltending and defensive short comings by going full on offense. That might have worked back in the 1980s when the talent pool was fairly shallow. A team could hoard offensive players and it was difficult for other teams to match. It's true that the Oilers have two of the best offensive players in the league right now, but I think they under estimate just how much talent other teams also have these days. The gap between McDavid and other star forwards isn't like what the gap was between the phenoms and other stars back in the 80s. It's a lot closer these day.