RoyalDude wrote:
It was a nice win for AV as well cause Gallagher has already started the Lets Fire AV campaign. Gallagher has a weird-on/hate-on for coaches.
I don't get Gallagher's hate for AV.
Sure he makes some unorthodox decisions, but the guy has a tremendous track record as Canucks coach. They've started slow this year, but the special teams have been outstanding and it's clear this team is pretty fucking good when it gets going.
Coaching will not prevent this team from winning the cup. He consistently gets the best out of the vast majority of his players. Just look at how many great players have developed under him and risen to great things. Yes, he's been fortunate to have good talent on his teams, but not many coaches are able to create an environment that allows that to happen. It's clear he has the respect of the players even if they may not be all that close with him. It's not an easy thing to command an NHL roster.
When you have a coach that produces like AV has done you just don't let him go. There's no guarantee the next guy you bring in will be able to do the same thing, let alone produce better results.
We're not talking about a team that's severely underachieving. The toughest loss they've had in the playoffs was Boston, and that came in the Stanley Cup finals. It was the only series, that going into it, the Canucks were the clear favorites and ended up losing.
RoyalDude wrote:
He doesn't have much going on in the lateral/peripheral game along with zero puck handling and play making skills, he's pretty much, bust down the wing with the puck, blinders on hoping that he can bust to the net around the D-man.
That's a fair assessment of what he's shown so far.
But I still think we need to be patient with Jude. He has more than he's shown so far, and I think it's a matter of confidence since he's only scored 1 goal so far. Like every goal scorer he's streaky, and when he gets going he shows better puck handling skills and moves.
He has a lot more to give, and until we see how much that is, it's too early to write him off.