Ron Wilson New Leafs Coach?

[slowandeasy]

A lot of good coaches never did "much" as an NHL player ... as a sidebar .. other than Gretsky .. are any coaches ex "superstars" coach of the year was Budreau a guy who couldn't crack the Leafs lineup !!

Its not that he was not a great player... most great players never go on to become great coaches.... its that he did not seem the type who was a "scholar" of the game... will he be able to make that transition?

 

[Neverenuff$]

Well hunter got plenty of time to watch players on the ice , and listen to the coaches on the bench .

Now he gets to apply that, plus he's part of Wilsons team.. so there is co-herance in the new coaching echlon ... so lets see how the leafs fans, media, upper management etc shred them whenthey are not in first place overall at x-mas 2008

 

[slowandeasy]

Hell Scotty Bowman couldn't even skate...

Wasn't it Bowman who could not even read? Or was it Jacques Desmers? I remember seeing a show about a major sports management figure who could not read or write...

 

[slowandeasy]

Well hunter got plenty of time to watch players on the ice , and listen to the coaches on the bench .

Now he gets to apply that, plus he's part of Wilsons team.. so there is co-herance in the new coaching echlon ... so lets see how the leafs fans, media, upper management etc shred them whenthey are not in first place overall at x-mas 2008

Most athletes who have progressed to a high level of competition can make the claim about time to watch players and coaches, regardless of whether they are a star or not... it is the processing of the information and the translation of that info into action that makes the difference...

Just the fact that Hunter is still in the game at this level speaks well of him. In a way, I was a fan of Tim Hunter the player in that he know his role and did not "put on any airs". However, the blue collar mentality and management are two completely different things.. I don't like Tim's odds to overcome this challenge. I worry that he still thinks about the "good old day" of clutch and grab hockey...

I am just saying...

 

[slowandeasy]

Former NHL coach Jacques Demers admits he's illiterate

Isn't that just amazing?

 

[Neverenuff$]

This organization's goal is not to make the playoffs this year and so why should it be the fans goals ....

Funny thing is they might overachieve this year and be a feel good story ....

true... My point is that anything "Leafs" is in a fishbowl ... like no other Hockey venue and I'm sure that will take some getting used to for the new coaches, but I suspect Wilson will be interesting.

Overachieving ... okay .. whats overachieving .. making the playoffs..

 

[slowandeasy]

Barry Melrose the new coach of the Lighting ... Ya Old news ... I know ... Rick Tochett is leaving his buddy Wayne to join Barry Melrose as an assistant .. new news ...

My guess would be that after Wayne stopped placing bets with Rick, there was no reason for him to stay in Phoenix. With all the Canadians in Florida there is probably more betting action there anyways....

 

[customer]

Wilson's new deal on hold

Two months ago, when Brian Burke was telling one and all that Ron Wilson would most certainly be behind the Maple Leaf bench next season, it was indicated and expected that a contract extension for the veteran coach would follow.

Well, it hasn't. And it won't.

Wilson, sources say, won't get more years on his already lucrative deal for a 56th birthday present on Saturday — and if he does eventually get an extension from the Leafs before his contract expires on June 30, 2012, he's clearly going to have to earn it by winning hockey games with far greater consistency than in his first three seasons at the Air Canada Centre.

Once, having a “lame duck” coach working in the final year of his contract would have been anathema to Burke. But something changed.

Maybe the Leaf president/GM looked more closely at his team's situation and Wilson's performance, and reassessed his position. Maybe the corporate landscape around him shifted.

The Leaf boss had to have been watching with interest over the course of the NBA season as his basketball counterpart within Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, Bryan Colangelo, twisted in the wind without a new contract beyond the conclusion of the NBA season. When the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan later put their majority stake in MLSE on the auction block without Colangelo getting a new deal, the intrigue deepened.
http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/nhl/mapleleafs/article/997961--wilson-s-new-deal-on-hold

This story and Colengelo story means something in the power structure has changed at MLSE

You would be nuts, to try and sign unproven people to long term deals before selling the club. The new owners may not want them, and make their removal (and the associated financial implications of it) a part of the sale agreement. Remember Teachers bought the Leafs to make money not win hockey games, that is why I am surprised that the player budgets are as high as they are. I would limit the salaries to about $45 million, or even less if I could get away with it. The salary savings would more than make up for lost playoff revenue, and I would still have a sellout every night.