Why Firing Coaches is not always the answer to improving performance -NHL Special
In the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, it has become a trend to start firing coaches whenever it seems like the teams is going downwards in terms of performance and game play, but is it really worth it in the end when teams let go
of their heads in the coaching department?
Up until now this season, various teams around the professional hockey league have fired six coaches, which is certainly something shocking when put into perspective since such figure heads of the team are not people who can be replaced easily since the
team dynamics depend a lot on how they work.
The Washington Capitals let go of Bruce Boudreau in late November, a little over a month after the new season kicked off, which is definitely not enough time to judge the performance of a team and especially like that of the Capitals, who have led the Eastern
Conference at the number one place the past two years.
Washington certainly lost a lot of talent when they let Boudreau go just because the Capitals were slumping in the lower ranks of the Eastern Conference.
One of the other reasons Boudreau was fired was due to his team chocking whenever they entered the NHL Playoffs by being eliminated in the first round after being the Eastern Conference leaders in each regular season.
The Capitals certainly were not in the most idealistic situation but to be fair, the credit must be given to Boudreau for lifting the team and making them one of the best in the league.
Players must also be pin pointed and given due thrashing in terms of their performance because in the end, it comes down to how they play and how well they can communicate on the ice.
"It's shocking and it's disappointing, but in the end, you're responsible for all the areas of your hockey team," for St. Louis Blues coach, Davis Payne, said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after being
fired. "There were pieces that weren't firing on all cylinders and it's under my umbrella of responsibility."
One example of a team not improving at all after replacing the head of coaching are the Carolina Hurricanes. Since it has been nearly a month since they fired Paul Maurice and replaced him with Kirk Muller, Carolina has just fallen down even further to the
point where they now stand at the number 15 spot of the Eastern Conference with 26 points.
Since Muller joined the team as their new head coach, the Carolina Hurricanes have lost seven of nine contests, definitely proving the point that sudden and unplanned decisions to fire coaches and immediately replace with others does not always have a positive
effect.
On the positive side, there are some times of need when replacing the coach becomes rather a need than a want, which we could see in regards of the St. Louis Blues team which have certainly showed a boost in performance ever since letting go of Davis Payne
and replacing him with a coach like Ken Hitchcock, who is well known for setting a team straight in the time of desperation.
Whatever the case might be, coaches all over the league are now in fear of their jobs with the sudden and drastic measures taken by some franchises over the past few weeks.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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