Coaches and their ‘systems’ are making hockey boring
The ice chips were still falling from the 1987 Canada Cup when I flew to Pittsburgh to sit down with the young forward from Montreal who had helped make it the most exciting international hockey series ever played.
It seems incredible now, but Mario Lemieux was happy to sit for an hour and talk about the partnership with Wayne Gretzky that made it possible for Canada to stave off the Soviet Union during the final three-game series played in Montreal and Hamilton.
There was plenty to talk about. Gretzky and Lemieux, playing together, combined for 29 per cent of Canada’s goals in that tournament. The final three games all finished 6-5, with the Soviets winning the first game in Montreal, Canada taking the second in two overtimes and winning the rubber match, again by 6-5.
Lemieux’s overtime goal in the second game (on an assist from Gretzky, of course) ended a game that is one of the candidates for the greatest ever. He finished the series with 11 goals, four ahead of Soviet legends Sergei Makarov and Vladimir Krutov.
I would forgive the NHL some of its many sins if there were any chance this Toronto Cup of Hockey could replicate what happened in 1987. From what we’ve seen so far, it isn’t bloody likely.
The grim efficiency with which Canada dismantled the Czechs Saturday was a reminder of how far hockey has come in the wrong direction. Even before this series began, Pavel Datsyuk was complaining about how hockey was losing its creativity — a complaint I first heard from the Russians in Moscow in 1999.
True, the goalies were less dominant in 1987. American John Vanbiesbrouck was the only goaltender to finish with a save percentage over .900 — even a chap named Dominik Hasek could manage no better than .894 for a very good team from Czechoslovakia. (An aside to Don Cherry: Czechoslovakia ceased to exist almost 24 years ago. Today, it’s Czechs and Slovaks and the Slovaks, as a national team, aren’t part of this.)
But the biggest difference between hockey then and hockey now is in the coaching. Canada’s Mike Keenan and the Soviet Union’s Viktor Tikhonov weren’t exactly famous softies but they tolerated a degree of creativity in their players that would throw a Mike Babcock or a John Tortorella into an apoplectic fit.
Truth is, creativity isn’t dying in the NHL. It’s being murdered by the coaches. Fans here rant about Michel Therrien and his much-maligned system but that system is the norm. The rarity is a coach like Nashville’s Peter Laviolette or Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper who will give talented players some room to manoeuvre. When there’s no room for a P.K. Subban or a Taylor Hall in your “system,” maybe it’s the system that should go.
It’s not that today’s players aren’t skilled or that what we’re seeing from Toronto isn’t good hockey. It’s an incredibly fast and physical game but it’s all paint-by-numbers. Babcock’s method in international hockey is to take all that skill and use it to strangle an opponent, the way a python strangles its prey. An early goal or two can turn it into a rout but the plan is more the 1-0 or 2-1 game. It’s effective, all right – but it’s about as much fun as a tax audit.
MEANWHILE, IN THE CREASE: You could almost hear the sigh of relief in Montreal when Carey Price was still standing after that game against the Czechs. Not merely standing: Price was a tower of power early against the Czechs. After that, the final two periods were simply mop-up duty.
So far, the building looks great but you wonder about the foundation. How solid is that knee? How long will it hold up? How much stress can Price take? What if a Chris Kreider-type decides to run him?
If appearances so far are any indication, Canada could win this tournament with Kelly Hrudey in net, so there’s no reason to risk Price. If he stays healthy, the game action could boost his confidence and kick-start his season after 10 months of inactivity. If he doesn’t, well — golf in November, anyone?
FAILING TO MAKE AN IMPACT:
These should be golden days for the Montreal Impact. Jim Popp’s Alouettes are a complete mess and their season is all but over. But the Impact is going like a Ferrari missing a couple of cylinders — it looks great for a game, mediocre the next, awful the one after that.
I missed the first five minutes Saturday and by the time I turned to the game, the Impact was already down 1-0. “It’s tough to explain,” said coach Mauro Biello, “because 30 seconds, the ball goes in the corner, a simple cross in the box and it’s a goal. Right now you see that there’s a little bit of fragility in the team and to give up a goal like that that quick and that easy against a team that’s right behind us …”
I haven’t lost faith in Biello, but the Impact is a mystery. Certainly Didier Drogba is not the player he was last year but on paper, there’s more than enough offensive talent to take up the slack.
Unlike the Alouettes, the Impact is still in it. But it needs to fix those missing cylinders before it’s too late.
POPP GOES THE SEASON:
So Kavis Reed gives the game ball to Jim Popp and the rumour mill has Popp perhaps stepping down or being relieved of his duties as head coach.
That would be both too late — and too early. Popp should have been replaced by Reed or defensive co-ordinator Noel Thorpe after last season. To saddle either assistant with Popp’s mess now would be a waste.
Bob Wetenhall should let Popp finish the season, then relieve the man of all the posts he holds and start over. At this point, that’s about the only option left. But if I were a betting man, I would bet that Popp will return next season with all the portfolios he now holds, including head coach.
And knowing Wetenhall, he’ll probably give the man a raise.