Unhappy (big shocker there huh
).
I heard Mike Sullivan during an in-game interview say something very interesting. I've heard the phrase before and it sort of struck a nerve with me. While speaking about a player when down by a goal (IIRC), he said (paraphrasing):
"I want him to make better decisions, but I don't want to take the stick out of his hands"
To me that's what Claude can't balance in his coaching style. In the course of trying to execute his game plan (even a hybrid version of it), the players begin to make the decisions they believe make him happy. They start to not trust their own instincts and become far too mechanical. While last year was a different and more offensive version, it was still of the same ilk.
I get the whole bootcamp style mentality. Break em down and rebuild them in the image they need to be in order fit into the system. But it just takes too long to find the players able to, and/or willing to do that. It's an arduous process that seems non-condusive to offensive minded players. It's as if the stars have to align so perfectly for his philosophy to go deep, it isn't worth the wait anymore. And just how many picks, prospects and drafts go by the wayside in the process? Or how many simply don't get a shot, or worse don't ever come here? In contrast, at the beginning Jon Cooper's tenure with the Bolts, when asked about a gameplan/philosophy he essentially said he didn't have one. That he wanted assess his team before imprinting anything on them. It's not the end of the world if you simply let players use their instincts honed over 1000s of hours since childhood. And in a few short years their going deep
and without Stamkos.
To me the NHL is like modern Jazz. In that the performers/players are a culmination of their previous experiences. For the untrained ear it sounds like only slightly organized chaos (as I'm sure you've all heard from other sports fans at times). In reality it's a group of men using their long practiced talents in a loosely themed objective. Each with a certain forte they temper in order to mesh well with the others. Hopefully while still not losing that individuality. But unlike Jazz the NHL seems to be more easily enjoyed by the average viewer/listener. Or at least that's what the game has become with the influx of talent over the past 3 decades. Gone are the days of rigidly defined game plans and philosophies, where every part is written out and adhered to (Duke Ellington Swing as an analogy). A sound that is the aspiration of one leader (Dorsey, Miller, Goodman). The NHL today is more like the post-Swing era of Beboop. Which was comprised of musicians from the previous era, the best of the best who wanted to break away from the more rigid confines of one man's quest for a certain sound. BeBoop musicians fed off of each other, loosely held together by a common theme. They improvised longer, more often and in places determined by the that particular jam session or performance.
O.K I just re-watched Ken Burns' "Jazz". But you get the idea, and can see it firsthand while watching these P.Os. The amount of turnovers would give Claude apoplexy. But for every truly bad turn over that a goaltender can't bale you out of created are dozens of potential starts to exciting chains of events. Even if only a few result in goals. Nobody tees up a blind drop pass for a blistering shot on goal if that drop pass is never made. No one is going to make an outside move on the weakside if someone doesn't blindly fire a pass across the ice east to west without really knowing the exact recipient.
I like Duke Ellington, but that era is gone and the genius of one man isn't what players need anymore to create entertaining music. I just don't see Claude as being part of any of this unless he changes drastically. For various reason he's a stabilizing force we need at the moment. But is giving him one more year only delaying for year where we need to be?
