Scenarios for how Mo could Go, and why none of them would work.

After last night's shoot out loss, a lot of folks here at Canes Country are left scratching their heads at the coaching staff.  The decision to go with Captain Rod Brindamour in the 3 spot last night has been widely discussed, criticized, and even defended by some.  Beyond that decision , however, there seems to be a lot of similarities between this team and other teams Maurice has unsuccesfully coached.  The way the team plays to hold on to a lead or tie, instead of building on it, the lack of offensive creativity or rush, and let's not forget that Power Play impotence was a hallmark of ealier Mo coached Canes squads. 

If the problem is largely behind the bench, though, how do we fix it, considering the fact we have a 3 year commitment to him, and still have Laviolette under contract as well.  After the jump we will look at 3 possible solutions for "Life without Mo," and why all of them leave us in a bad situation.

1.   Go with one of our other coaches ( Francis, Daniels, Rowe, or McCarthy)

The obvious advantage to this scenario is that we would get a new Head Coach, without increasing our payroll.  Obviously this team is spending more money than ever, for very little return at this time.  This makes the cheapness of a replacement a top priority.  The first major flaw with this plan comes in the form or experience, or lack there of.   Between the the 4 of them, they have exactly 0 games of head coaching experience in the NHL. Mcarthy and Rowe have the most experience as AHL coaches, with stints in Hershey, Springfield,  and New Haven for Mcarthy and Lowell and Albany for Tom Rowe. Jeff Daniels, is in only his second full year as head coach of Albany and Francis has yet to head coach in any professional league.  Also of note, none have been head coach for a championship team in the minors (though a  nod to McCarthy's Calder Cup win as a Player-Assistant in 88 w/ Hershey).

Though some first time head coaches do wonderful things out of the gate, this is a team that is in need of an experienced steady hand. You have obvious locker chemistry issues between vets and younger players ( alluded to by Maurice himself in an press conference earlier this year), your chief point getters are in slumps,  Marquee players are injured, and the team is mired in one of it's worst starts ever.  This is not the scenario you want a first time coach coming into.  While I feel this is the most likely of the options I offer in this post ( and all of the options are long long odds at best), the lack of head coaching experience makes none of these folks qualified to take the reigns at this point in time.

2.  Crank up the revolving door, introducing Lavilette 2.0!

I know Paladin just crapped his pants reading the statement above, but hear me out before you click to the next fan post.  Laviolette is under contract with us, and therefore would not require an additional payroll commitment.  As mentioned in option one, this is a must.  Additionally, his coaching style directly addresses a lot of what ails this team now.  He knows how to implement a system that has and  emphasis with keeping the foot on the gas pedal.  He is good at building team chemistry and has experience in dealing with locker room rifts ( see K. Adams Hedican).   However, things start to fall apart from there.   He is a coach that like to do his thing, free and clear of front office influence.  Compound that with the fact that this teams front office has already thrown this man under so many buses, he has a future in auto repair!  There are some who also believe that he "lost the room" towards the end of his stint with our club.   That is debatable, but still areal possibility.  It would do us no good to replace one coach no one is listening to with another.  The biggest obstacle, however, is Laviolette's desire to come back to a team that just last year blasted him publicly.    For this reason, more than any other, I feel this is the longest odds solution.

3.   Let's pull a Luo, Head Coach and GM Jim Rutherford.

Of all the scenarios this makes the least sense and could prove to be the most detrimental to our club.  This also makes it the most likely to occur ( sarcasm....sort of).

In this scenario you have a pretty astute hockey mind (though that has been recently called into question) calling the shots for this club.  The advantage to this is that you have the system/style that the front office has been trying to instill by proxy, being applied first hand.  However, the advantages end there.  In the past other franchises have tried this trick (Florida, Atlanta, and New Jersey all within the last 4 seasons) and none have fared that well as a result.  Additionally,  JR's only coaching credential are at the OHL level and that was over 15 years ago.  The game is much different at the NHL level than at the OHL level, and even then, the game has changed drastically in all of these years.

4.  Bargain Bin Bench Bosses.

In this final scenario, we look for our savior in the trash heap.   Finding a coach like  a Nolan, Carboneau, or Therien who are on the outside looking in, we might ( biiiiig might) get away with a low dollar short term commitment.   I can not offer pro's and Cons, as just the three guys I mentioned above bring very different good and bad qualities to the table.  However, convincing any of these experienced castoffs to sign in for cheap and short term would be challenging.  At any rate, I think the better of these coaches will hold out for better offers, and the ones who would jump at the chance, bring to much of their own baggage to a locker room full of it. 

So is there another solution?   Can we find a way for Mo To Go?  I'm all ears.