No I didn't know but thanks!
Any thoughts on if he could adapt well to the NA game? Has there ever been a euro coach in the NHL??
Well, as you said first, Jukka Jalonen (coached Team Finland to World Championship gold in 2011, also he was the coach of the U-20 team this year which won gold) could adapt his game well to the NA, but about Kari Jalonen, I don't think he could, his playbook is too old to succeed in a fast league.
Sure, but Strome had comparables this season, and 80% of them went on to have full on NHL careers. That's really good. But Kyle Connor's comparables are 100%. Every similar player has had a successful NHL career.
Meanwhile, Aho and Marner have no comparables. There have been no similar players (age, size and scoring rate in the league they played in). Ever.
Not sure about Aho, but besides size Strome and Marner had similar stats this year.
If you take out Marner's small size you can find comparables if you adjust for team/scoring levels - Dylan Strome, Toffoli, Ryan Strome, Cody Hodsgon. Marner scored at a higher level than those guys, but the league scoring is up and he plays with a bunch of 1st/2nd round NHL picks while the others didn't (i.e Toffoli led the lead in scoring in his +1 year, Marner was second in PPG). So really unless you consider being small a good thing, there's comparables out there.
That guy had one skill: he could talk himself into any job. He also coached Team Finland and has had several coaching jobs in several hockey leagues. He has also been a theater director, a writer, a gallery owner and the head organizer of a sizable jazz festival. He was pretty consistently mediocre or flat out bad at everything he did (and quite often got quickly fired), but that never stopped him from getting another gig, usually with a sizable salary. That combination of arts and sports background of course made him a TV darling as a commentator. Such an annoying windbag.
His two Swiss championships as a coach are for me the biggest proof that team success doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the skill of the head coach.
Yeah Don Cherry got in a bit of trouble with Alpo.
"Is your NHL career over? Looking for something to do? Live in Exciting places and meet interesting people? Come and play hockey for a tiny and remote former Soviet Satellite state! We pay in Rubles! No TAX! In the spirit of fairness and full disclosure we should mention that we do not win very often. If ever. And theres a lot of crime. People get knifed in the spleen going to and from the rink every day! But hey! If you're an NHL washout you dont have anything to lose! Except your spleen! But you dont technically need that, we checked on WebMD, who also happens to be Team Physician!"
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"Is your NHL career over? Looking for something to do? Live in Exciting places and meet interesting people? Come and play hockey for a tiny and remote former Soviet Satellite state! We pay in Rubles! No TAX! In the spirit of fairness and full disclosure we should mention that we do not win very often. If ever. And theres a lot of crime. People get knifed in the spleen going to and from the rink every day! But hey! If you're an NHL washout you dont have anything to lose! Except your spleen! But you dont technically need that, we checked on WebMD, who also happens to be Team Physician!"
It's not tiny. Actually the 9th largest country in the world
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