Coaches deserve no more blame than their bosses

Sporting News, The, May 17, 2004 by Kara Yorio

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury: You have seen the evidence. You watched as the Flames and Sharks piled on each other in celebration. You watched as the Avalanche and Red Wings players--some of the greatest hockey players of all time--looked to the ice, heads hung in defeat. They collected themselves. They shook hands and left the ice for the final time this season. You saw their respective coaches do the same. These are the lasting images.

There is no doubt the Red Wings and Avalanche were failures based on their expectations. They were failures based on money paid for players. They were huge disappointments in what might have been the final season of the superstar roster, the last of the great payrolls. Of course, the Avalanche and Red Wings were not alone among the highly paid and hurried-home this playoff season--the Stars and Blues left early, and the Leafs didn't last. The Rangers and Capitals were disappointments, then dismantled, never even getting a chance at the playoffs.

But expectations were higher for the teams from Denver and Detroit. Since last July, when huge free-agent acquisitions donned their jerseys, these teams were expected not only to win, but to dominate their divisions. The battle for the Stanley Cup was expected to be played out in the Western Conference finals--the Red Wings and Avalanche in one final, dramatic and definitive series as the climax to this free-spending era.

Instead, too many of their stars came up short, and the will and want and talent of the opponents overcame a couple of eras of greatness. The experience didn't matter on the scoreboard.

Does all this mean coaches Tony Granato and Dave Lewis should pay with their livelihoods? Granato's job supposedly is safe for next season, but that vote of confidence from above always signals the start of "Taps" for the coach.

Was it the coaches' fault that offenses dried up and superstars were injured? Were these coaches--who took over for Stanley Cup-winning coaches--the reasons for the failures, the men who should pay with their jobs and reputations? Should they be found guilty of stealing the dreams of fans and players and be sentenced to years of television commentary?

No, they should not.

Sure, the coaches made mistakes. What was Granato thinking, for example, when he told a Denver writer there was no such thing as being outcoached in the playoffs, that the players were all that mattered. Could he really believe that? Does he think coaching has that little of an impact? If it's true, why not just put a fan behind the bench and let the players run themselves, choose their own lines, create a system--or more likely not--and just go play a little shinny for Stanley?

In the end, the responsibility lies with the man behind the bench. Granato must know that. Lewis does, too. But what about those who put him there and gave him the players on the bench? Look to the higher power. Look to the bosses, their pride and gluttony and their ultimate failure.

Give Colorado general manager Pierre Lacroix and Detroit's Ken Holland their due for making the Avalanche and Red Wings great teams. Those clubs have been fun to watch and have provided great hockey and great entertainment. They have given us great champions in the past and shadows of those championship teams in the past couple of years.

These men had the money to spend and did. Who among us wouldn't have rushed to sign Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya had they offered themselves so economically? How many would have said "Thanks, but no thanks" to Dominik Hasek? Who can stop himself from creating a roster of All-Stars, future Hall of Famers and legends, when the assets are there to attain them?

Lacroix and Holland acted as most of us would. Then again, most of us aren't in charge of an NHL team. These men had too much to offer and too little restraint. Their judgment was clouded by daydreams of stars performing before their eyes, doing wondrous things on the ice, carrying the Stanley Cup one last time before the league would be shut down and the haves and have-nots would be forced together to make every market a "have-some."

These men hired these coaches, who now stand on the plank. Was it another in the string of poor choices? Why not wait and see? Give the coaches more time and a different group of players. Give them a chance to make up for their mistakes, as their bosses, no doubt, will be given to atone for theirs.

Do not convict Granato and Lewis. They are guilty of nothing more than growing pains, learning on a job perhaps given to them too soon, being dealt a hand that was too good to be true and having to live up to the unbelievable expectations.

SPEED READS

* When Red Wings defenseman Derian Hatcher plays next season, a referee must watch Hatcher's elbows at all times. If he can't find them, he need only look for the vulnerable head of an opponent. Hatcher is a danger--elbows always high (last seen in Game 6 against the Flames)--and he must start getting the penalties that might dissuade such dirty behavior.