I was one of the few, actually,probably, the only one there that at the *beginning* of the season was actively criticizing Coach Torts and the actual utility of implementing his collapse, "6 goalie system" of shot blocking defense among other issues which included his apparent lack of self-control -- you know, anger management issues, how the Sedins were being miscasted/misused etc.. ...
Time does reveal the truth, does it not?
Anyway, after several locked threads on said issues I had with the Torts' system, it was and is my perception that there is a certain segment of fans who participate in social media who would blindly eat whatever crap sandwiches they are served (a repeat of the best tweet ever by Botchford) ... that's sick and should not be supported!!!
ICYMI (In case you missed it), I found it very interesting to read the comments of newly appointed President Trevor Linden and Pat Quinn on how Coach Torts' style of play may have negatively affected the Vancouver Canucks' season when they were interviewed on the Bill Good Show on CKNW a couple of weeks ago:
via transcript and interpretation of said comments via VanCityBuzz.com:
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2014/04/canu ... nn-linden/
and ...1. Linden part 1 – thoughts on coaching
Were the Sedins misused this year?
“I think you have to use your people where they will best excel, and good coaches understand that. I haven’t talked to John about it. I think most people would say you put your best offensive players in the most offensive positions you can.”
Was it a good idea to use the twins to block shots and kill penalties?
“It’s one of those things where I probably felt personally it was a misuse of their abilities, but I’d have to dig deeper into it.”
Good: “But you know they’ll do anything they’re asked to do.”
“Exactly, but I have to get the information. I’m not sure if John feels that was a mistake or not, I mean if he feels strongly about it… (trails off).”
On usage of depth players and running the bench:
“When I think about the coaches that were most influential for me, if you take Pat Quinn for example, his greatest strength was to use his whole bench. I think certain players can take big minutes, and certain players start to economize.
When you save yourself because you know you’re going to play X amount of minutes, it’s not a great thing for your bench. I think when you take other players out of the game by playing them such small minutes, that can detract from the overall team identity.”
Side note: Scott Rintoul recently asked Ryan Kesler if playing so many minutes affects him. He said: “There wasn’t a game where I felt like I didn’t have legs or I couldn’t go. There’s a certain way you need to play when you play that many minutes. Is it tough playing that many minutes every night? Yeah, but I welcome that.”
So Kesler pretty much agreed with Linden’s thoughts on economizing to handle the playing time.
Does the team need to get bigger and faster?
“Big and fast is always a good thing in any sport. The model never changes. I think we need to support the core guys with people from underneath, and I think that’s been part of the disconnect in the last couple of years”
3. Quinn part 1 – on coaching
Before I start here, if you’re wondering why Quinn’s voice is even relevant any more, it’s because he’s Linden’s mentor. When the new Pres needs advice, he’ll be picking up the phone (or perhaps walking down the hall – more on that below) and talking to the man who drafted him.
Why did the Canucks perform so badly this year?
“During the first part of the year, (the Canucks) played (their) veterans until their noses were bleeding, and then we started to hit the injuries. I talked to (team doctor) Mike Bernstein and he said the injuries are terrible. He said so many of them are coming from the blocked shots and they’re fractures, and they’re not easily healed.”
Thoughts on divvying up playing time:
“I think you don’t leave half your bench. I wanted all of our bench to play. I wanted everyone to be involved.”
“I knew that Mats (Sundin) was at the top of his game if he played about 20 minutes… I think that’s the same with these players here. There comes a point where your play will drop off, whether it’s in the third period or whether you coast a little bit so you reserve energy in the third period, you’re not at the maximum you can bring each night… That’s why I knew in ’94 we were going to beat Toronto, because they wore Gilmore out. He could hardly play against us in the semi finals.”
“The players want to play. They love being out there. I know when I used to play I wanted to be out there every shift… I like the way Detroit approaches it, Chicago approaches it, Boston approaches it – everybody gets used. The better players get to play more, but everybody gets used.”
On using everyone on the bench (including fourth liners):
“I know this: you don’t get confidence sitting on the bench and watching the play go on or getting two minutes of play, or being sent out because it gets rough out there. I don’t buy that style of coaching, and yet it exists.”
His thoughts on bringing in Tortorella to coach the team in the first place:
“To assess your team like you need a hammer – now we need the tough guy – well it’s like bringing Mike Keenan in… to pull the whip out and play the tough guy with them didn’t seem the right way to approach this group of players.”
Conclusion: Linden basically said if Tortorella doesn’t admit to and agree he made huge mistakes, he’s gone, while Quinn compared him to Mike Keenan and disagrees with everything he’s ever done… pretty sure they’re already removing Torts’ murphy bed as we speak.
BTW, I'm not sayin' I think I got it right, I'm saying I got it damn right!
Tell me I'm wrong.