Is Maurice Worthy of Jack Adams?
by Bob Wage on Apr 7, 2009 3:21 PM EDT
14 comments
Now that the Carolina Hurricanes have qualified for the post season, there is little doubt that coach Paul Maurice has earned himself a new contract. He took over a team which was wallowing in mediocrity and guided it to a franchise record winning streak at home, as well as to a highly sought after playoff birth.
Last season Washington coach, Bruce Boudreau, won the Jack Adams Award after the Capitals reversed their early season misfortune and made it to the playoffs with him at the helm. Is Maurice just as worthy?
Boudreau coached the Caps for a total of 61 games and finished with a regular season record of 37-17-7. Maurice's record since taking over for the Hurricanes in early December is 32-17-5 and he still has a chance to add three more wins to that total. While Washington had a worse record than the Canes did before the respective coaching changes took place, the challenges were similar. Both coaches needed to get more out of their players and they needed to get everyone playing as a team. Both succeeded, although perhaps not in similar fashion.
Maurice certainly has had ample help. Hall of Famer, Ron Francis, was designated Associate Head Coach and has been by the head coach's side since day one of the regime change. The two assistant coaches, Kevin McCarthy and Tom Rowe have considerable input. And last but not least, "Goaltending Coach" Tom Barrasso also seems very active with his contributions. The term "goaltending coach" is in quotations because it's doubtful that other coaches around the league with similar designations would be making suggestions for specific line changes in the middle of games and would be as actively involved in the system as Barrasso is.
While the Hurricanes blueline has been called a "defense by committee", one could certainly make the same statement about the coaching staff. Ron Francis and Tom Rowe join Maurice behind the bench, while McCarthy and Barrasso keep an eye on things upstairs in the booth. Not only does Francis wear an ear piece, so he can listen to advice from upstairs during game action, (just like an NFL team), but Barrasso and McCarthy go downstairs to the dressing room during every intermission for strategy sessions. Their input is not just taken into consideration for possible use at some point in the future, it could be utilized at any given moment.
When the announcement about the number of coaches was first made, some critics thought that there might be too many voices in one room. You know the old saying, "too many cooks spoil the broth?" But apparently these "cooks" share just enough ingredients to make things work. Most importantly, the Hurricanes Head Coach, who is ultimately responsible and whose job is on the line, has enough humility to listen to the advice, and heed it if he feels it is necessary. It is a talent in itself to be able to sort out suggestions from four keen hockey minds, and be able to make a decision about what ideas to use, and what not to use, and still keep everyone happy and contributing.
In December, the team seemed like a fragmented group. There were reportedly "cliques" on the club, and perhaps a couple of the new players felt like they were not fitting in. But after the coaching change, everyone was in the same boat. There was no longer any favoritism, and each player had to earn their playing time and prove themselves to the new staff. For instance, Chad LaRose went from being a healthy scratch to being a regular on the second line. Anton Babchuk and Joni Pitkanen started seeing more action, got to feeling more comfortable, and their production went up accordingly.
The Hurricanes were notorious for slow starts, so Maurice re-instituted morning skates before games, and focused everyone on starting games out with more intensity. The strategy has worked.
Another important improvment is that the Canes have looked much more organized on the ice. Gone are the numerous breakdowns which occurred several times a game, which allowed odd man rushes coming back the other way. The team also seems more adept at bringing the puck out of their own end because the forwards are coming back deeper and are helping out the blueliners.
While Maurice used to be known as a defense orientated coach, it appears that he has adapted his coaching style to the current talent level on his team. Under his watch team defense has improved, but the offense has not dropped off a bit. Defensemen, Joe Corvo, Anton Babchuk, and Joni Pitkanen continue to have the freedom to attack in the offensive zone, something that was rare for blueliners during his first term in Carolina.
More importantly than anything else, the Canes are playing like a "team" now. And thanks to Paul Maurice and company, it's a team no one wants to face in the postseason. Does that make him worthy of winning the Jack Adams Award? What do you think?
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Okay, just added him for you. You can now vote with a clear conscious. :-)
(although he would not be my choice. Where were the Wings expected to finish this year?)
GM of CanesCountry.com
Yea, not that it’s worth much, but I think Julien is the guy, too. I love Mo and what he has done as much as the next guy, but I don’t think he will really be considered. Julien has brought the B’s together for the long haul and when they started slumping 10 games ago he got them to refocus.
by hotchipsnsalsa on Apr 7, 2009 6:46 PM EDT up reply actions
just to play devil’s advocate, Cory, you picked the Bruins to win the Northeast. Does Julien deserve it for doing pretty much what was expected, or does someone like Mo deserve it for finishing above expectations? also, why Julien and not McLellan? This is the first year for him being an NHL coach, not an easy task.
GM of CanesCountry.com
Well, Mo didn’t have expectations b/c he didn’t have a job ;)
I think the thing for me is Julien didn’t win with a defense-first team … he didn’t sit on his laurels with the B’s (modest) success last year. He opened up their offense and took the reins off. The same could be said for Sutter. Both did brilliant, brilliant jobs this year, IMO.
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by Cory Lavalette on Apr 8, 2009 9:16 AM EDT up reply actions
Mo didn’t do it from start to finish. I wasn’t a fan of Boudreau winning last year b/c so much of getting a team to win is getting them to buy in start to finish. That doesn’t take away from the job Mo did, but I think Julien has been masterful this year. And losing Brodeur and still winning your division? Amazing.
CanesCountry.com: An Eye On Carolina Hockey
by Cory Lavalette on Apr 8, 2009 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions
Not sure what you need for the Jack Adams then. I agree, Julien did a fine job and had adversity. But, gee whiz ain’t that the name of the game? I see no diff and maybe even more of an accomplishment for Mo. He took a failingt team that missed the PO’s 2 yrs in a row, setting a new losing record and he got the to thePO’s first try. I find this to be an extremely fine example of coaching. Lavi did his best to pound this team into nothing and was doing a right good job. Mo comes in, changes the strategy, has almost zero hope of any job security unless he wins, gave up a nice check to do it, turned the team around and the PO’s with a team at the time of his hiring didn’t have a chance. So when you say “He didn’t do it from the start” I wonder what he has to do, he started farther back when he took over and with less talent and injuries. It will be interesting in how it plays out. If we get shit canned in the first round, Mo ain’t the man, but get’s to keep his job. Every round the team makes after that is chips in his basket for the JA, I think, anyway. Ask yourself this: If you could of stepped in Juliens shoes at the beggining and knew Martin would miss serious play or step into Mo’s shoes, which would you rather? I think Julien had a far easier time, under alot less pressure.
Just my .02. I started the Mo for the JA thing so I feel I best defend it.
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Mo didn’t give up any money … he still gets the balance of what Toronto owed him. That’s how coach contracts work.
I’m not taking away from the job Mo has done, but I think Julien has been the best coach this season. He meshed veteran players with young ones (and many of those young players have blossomed under him) and had a two-goalie situation with a guy (Fernandez) who wanted out of his last team to get away from that kind of time-sharing set up. And he made it all work … no bickering, no sideshow. Just a boatload of wins.
You made the argument way back when that Laviolette was the one behind the Canes struggles. So while Mo has exceeded expectations, couldn’t I deduce that any new face in the room could’ve turned the team around and returned them to the postseason?
Also, I think all the individual awards are voted on prior to the postseason, so playoff performance shouldn’t factor in.
CanesCountry.com: An Eye On Carolina Hockey
by Cory Lavalette on Apr 8, 2009 10:22 PM EDT up reply actions
correct, post season does not count. The voting for this award is done at the end of the regular season.
GM of CanesCountry.com
Correction noted, thought post season was included. Cory, while I may feel any carbon unit could of done better than Lavi, I think the turn around was nothing short of spectacular. With the vote coming pre-post season, I’d vote for Bab’s, but think Julien will take it then, for the reasons stated. Bummer though, if Mo made it to the conf. finals and that was taken into consideration…oh well, if my aunt had a peter she’d be my uncle!
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