Will the NHL ever see a female head coach?

[SoupNazi]

Will the NHL ever see a female head coach?

With baseball seeing their first female GM recently, I got to thinking about the NHL, and what the chances of a female head coach are. How would the players and media react? Would you support your team hiring the first female head coach?

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[LaVal]

The same thing I say for all the "female _____ in the NHL" threads. If there's one good enough to produce results at the NHL level, it wouldn't be a problem. However we're likely far away from that happening simply because hockey in general isn't as popular with females as it is with males. Very few women continue with a form of hockey past the collegiate level.

 

[Viqsi]

Don't see any reason why not.

 

[OppositeLocK]

I think a woman would be a terrible choice to seriously coach a group of young, high testosterone men.

The best female hockey player will never be able to match the best male hockey player. It's not even close. You have 16 year old boys that dominate the best women have to offer.

Women should be left to their own domains, such as women's sports. No need to be involved in the male version.

 

[heysmilinstrange]

Probably, but it'll be after we see female GMs, female assistant coaches, female athletic trainers, etc.

 

[Blitzkrug]

I don't see why not.

Might take a bit of time to break through the glass ceiling for a potential female candidate but if they know the game and how to reach their players there's no reason why they can't be effective as a male coach

 

[SoupNazi]

I think a woman would be a terrible choice to seriously coach a group of young, high testosterone men.

The best female hockey player will never be able to match the best male hockey player. It's not even close. You have 16 year old boys that dominate the best women have to offer.

Women should be left to their own domains, such as women's sports. No need to be involved in the male version.

So what you're saying is that because a woman hasn't done it before, they shouldn't? Is there any reason you can argue that a woman SHOULDN'T coach in the NHL, other than that they should stick to women's sports?

By this logic, how can women teach "young, high testosterone men?" Are you saying that high school and college athletes shouldn't have female teachers/professors?

 

[Jacob]

Don’t think so.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Of course.

The best female hockey player will never be able to match the best male hockey player

A lot of coaches who were former players were also not even close to matching the best male hockey players.

 

[OppositeLocK]

So what you're saying is that because a woman hasn't done it before, they shouldn't? Is there any reason you can argue that a woman SHOULDN'T coach in the NHL, other than that they should stick to women's sports?

Because they are physically unable to compete on the same level. What could they possibly have to offer over the next best male counterpart other than political optics?

 

[SoupNazi]

Because they are physically unable to compete on the same level. What could they possibly have to offer over the next best male counterpart other than political optics?

As someone stated above, most of the male coaches aren't able to compete with the best players. So should we dump those coaches and just let the Sidney Crosbys of the world coach?

 

[OppositeLocK]

Of course.



A lot of coaches who were former players were also not even close to matching the best male hockey players.

Yes, but they still played hockey at a very high level. OHL is very high and far better than any female hockey player in history.

 

[OppositeLocK]

As someone stated above, most of the male coaches aren't able to compete with the best players. So should we dump those coaches and just let the Sidney Crosbys of the world coach?

Doesn't matter because said male coach is still better than any female counter part.

 

[Blender]

Probably some day, but it will take a long time as the NHL is such an old-boys club for coaching that they don't even take European coaches seriously most of the time. The development pathway also isn't really there at the moment, but some day it will happen. There are of course already women working in various hockey operations and analytics/scouting departments, and Barbara Underhill for example has worked as a skating development coach for various teams and individuals and is highly regarded for it.

 

[SoupNazi]

Doesn't matter because said male coach is still better than any female counter part.

Actually, it does matter since you're arguing that women can't compete with the highest performing men. Again, most, if not all, current male coaches, couldn't compete with today's players. So what if they're better than their female counterparts? They still aren't good enough to compete with today's players so what you're saying is they shouldn't be coaching unless they can.

 

[Stealth1616]

Hire the best person available but I don’t think any women have the credentials to be named head coach of an NHL team yet.

If it did happen would she command the same respect ? If she rips into her team at practice after a poor game will she be taken with the same respect as a man? At this stage I really doubt it. Having Pierre McGuire as a head coach would be a good comparable.

 

[Viqsi]

Doesn't matter because said male coach is still better than any female counter part.

Based on what metric? Keeping in mind that coaching is about knowing how the game is run - knowing what to do, not necessarily ability to do it. One does not need to be a super-athlete to be a great coach (altho it can help in some cases); we've got plenty of information on that score. So what possible further objection is there?

 

[Panthaz89]

So what you're saying is that because a woman hasn't done it before, they shouldn't? Is there any reason you can argue that a woman SHOULDN'T coach in the NHL, other than that they should stick to women's sports?

By this logic, how can women teach "young, high testosterone men?" Are you saying that high school and college athletes shouldn't have female teachers/professors?

because charismatic knowledgeable men in coaching are far superior than their female counterparts and will actually be able to get a rise out of the team/players when they need to motivate it'd be awfully hard to get NHL players to buy into what they are selling.

 

[MXD]

I think a woman would be a terrible choice to seriously coach a group of young, high testosterone men.

The best female hockey player will never be able to match the best male hockey player. It's not even close. You have 16 year old boys that dominate the best women have to offer.

Women should be left to their own domains, such as women's sports. No need to be involved in the male version.

Barry Trotz is also a very bad hockey player at this point, and at any p0int really, and he appears to be doing quite good himself.

 

[Viqsi]

Hire the best person available but I don’t think any women have the credentials to be named head coach of an NHL team yet.

If it did happen would she command the same respect ? If she rips into her team at practice after a poor game will she be taken with the same respect as a man? At this stage I really doubt it. Having Pierre McGuire as a head coach would be a good comparable.

Ever been motivated to do something better because your mother was disappointed in you?

 

[Blitzkrug]

Yes, but they still played hockey at a very high level. OHL is very high and far better than any female hockey player in history.

The same OHL where most players are one and done and/or never even come close to making it to the show? That OHL?

That might be the worst take I've heard in a while lmao.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Yes, but they still played hockey at a very high level. OHL is very high and far better than any female hockey player in history.

But the quality of the person as a coach isn't entirely commensurate to their quality as a player. It's easy to find examples of this: Barry Trotz is one of the best coaches out there right now, and he was only good enough to get a pity AHL camp invite after his junior career. Paul Maurice scored 6 points in 32 games in his final season in the OHL (I'm going to assume that's terribad like it is now), and immediately went into coaching because of injury after his junior career.

 

[MXD]

Yes, but they still played hockey at a very high level. OHL is very high and far better than any female hockey player in history.

There's a pretty good argument to be made that Shannon Szabados had a better hockey playing career than Barry Trotz.

 

[Stealth1616]

The same OHL where most players are one and done and/or never even come close to making it to the show? That OHL?

That might be the worst take I've heard in a while lmao.

The worst OHL players would absolutely dismantle a team of the best women players in the world

 

[TheGreenTBer]

I think a woman would be a terrible choice to seriously coach a group of young, high testosterone men.

The best female hockey player will never be able to match the best male hockey player. It's not even close. You have 16 year old boys that dominate the best women have to offer.

Women should be left to their own domains, such as women's sports. No need to be involved in the male version.

If the best hockey players made the best coaches, than Wayne Gretzky wouldn't have been a complete failure in Arizona. That's not how it works.

There's no reason why a female cannot understand and teach the game at the same level as a male.