[Locke]

Some players love hard-ass coaches, some dont.

But as a coach you have to pick your spots and evaluate your players.

I remember having some players, the harder I rode them and the meaner I was the more they loved me, but I also had one kid...tons of talent but he was soft.

So...you treat him differently. I was really nice to him. There is no 'one-size-fits-all' when it comes to coaching. Some people need a kick in the ass and some need an arm across the shoulders and kind words. As a coach you have to know which.

That kid was so talented but if you were hard and beat him, he'd recoil, but if you treated him kindly he'd run through a wall for you.

Thats coaching.

You just want the players to be the best they can be, both as players and as people, and its the coach's job to find out how to do that to the betterment of the entire team.

Thats the gig.

We can villainize Hartley if we want, but the leaders on the team dont show up in the hallway for a fight willing to go to War for someone they don't respect.

The biggest problem with Hartley was that he hit his ceiling. Okay. That happens. Time to move on.

Keenan? He seemed like a bad coach. Only stick, no Carrot.

Sutter is a different story. I have incredible respect for him, but his actions, attitude and personnel decisions at the end of his tenure were baffling. There was something else going on there and I have no idea what it was.

In my own experience, coaching requires an incredible amount of mental energy.

To me...it looked like he wanted to get fired. Thats a personal opinion. I have no information to support that other than...he apparently mis-treated the office and backroom staff. That to me is unacceptable. They are there to help you.

At the moment Huska is looking good. Calm, measured but also intense when the moment requires it.

He makes odd decisions, but he knows his players, he knows his team. Lets see where it takes them. He also doesnt have immense pressure to win either, thats a huge part. If he understands his expectations and is working towards them, then thats great!

I dont think I've seen Huska out-coached.