Is it time to change assistant coaches?

by b.orr4 on May 18, 2009 10:47 AM EDT

Yesterday, I posted the column from Kevin Paul Dupont suggesting that it might be time for Bruce Boudreau to go, which just about everyone, including myself, thought was absurd. So now, I'm going to move down the ladder to the more realistic suggestion of making a move to bring in a new assistant coach. As Ken Campbell of the Hockey News noted:

But what the Capitals need most is for someone to teach them there are rewards to playing diligent hockey without the puck and inside your own blueline. But it must be done without stifling the creativity and spontaneity that has made the Capitals the most exciting young team in the league....Now, Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau is not the man to instill that philosophy on the Capitals and there’s nothing wrong with that. He brings so many other positive attributes to the job and has such loyalty from the players that there is no doubt he is the right man to be behind the bench. But what Boudreau needs now is someone to help him get that message across to his team. What he needs is an assistant coach such as Craig Ramsey or Perry Pearn, a guy who’s perfectly content to be the second-in-command and is willing to stand by and quietly do his work, while all those around him get rave reviews for their work. There are a lot of those kinds of guys out there and the Capitals would be well advised to get their hands on one of them.
-THN

Keep in mind, Leach and Evanson were not Bruce's choices. They were kept on after Hanlon was fired. I assume the reasoning was that Boudreau needed some experienced NHL assistants to help him understand how a big league team was run. There's no denying that the three have formed a successful partnership, but you have to wonder if the time hasn't arrived for another voice behind the bench, particularly someone with strong defensive instincts. So the question is, do the Caps need to add one or two new assistant coaches as they try to make the move to a true Stanley Cup contender? Fire away.

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I saw that this morning and thought Campbell had a fantastic grasp of some of the issues facing this team. I was actually shocked to see a national guy “get it” to a degree even many of the locals seem to miss.

The obvious name that comes up here is Dale Hunter, though that would set up an awfully weird dynamic, given that he’d be viewed as the obvious heir apparent.

Btw, keep your eyes peeled for a new, somewhat related post at noon…

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by J.P. on May 18, 2009 11:23 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah, it makes so much sense you have to wonder if someone in the Caps organization (initals GM) isn’t thinking the same thing. I don’t know if Evanson and/or Leach have to necessarily go but maybe one gets moved to the press box and the new defensive guy becomes Bruce’s right hand man behind the bench.

by b.orr4 on May 18, 2009 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions

The dynamics will be an issue either way, although certainly Dale as an assistant would raise the stakes a bit.

The question would be: Does Bruce bring in loyalists (assuming he’s the one making the call) that use similar tactics or not? If not then Bruce would need to validate those new tactics in order for them to be effective and, in the process, admit the limitations of his own.

One way or another the team culture has to become more ambitious, attentive to details and unafraid to highlight, expose and correct areas of weakness. If that means saying goodbye to Leach & Evason then I’m all for it.

by Langway on May 18, 2009 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

I feel really uninformed on this topic, and would like some answers if any of you guys have them. Mostly I am unfamiliar with Leach and Evason’s work and their specialties. What exactly do they bring to the table? From my uninformed view of things, it doesn’t seem like anything truly game altering. They stunk it up standing right next to Hanlon, and had great success along with Boudreau.

That said, I understand that team success doesn’t fall on the assistant coaches, but they must have a clearly defined role, and if that’s true we should be able to pull up some team stats over the years that at least partially reflect their effectiveness.

Am I off here? My gut tells me to go along with the notion that BB should pick his own guys, and the weaknesses we have could probably be addressed with a new, strong voice specializing in those areas, but what proof do we have that we wouldn’t be losing something valuable by replacing or diluting the guys we already have?

by Love and Osechkin on May 18, 2009 1:33 PM EDT reply actions

In football terms: BB can be the HC and run the offense. Our assistants can be the defensive coordinators and run the defense. We need an expert on playing team defense and an expert on PK/PP strategies. I’m for giving it a go.

Russian Machine Never Breaks

by macvechkin on May 18, 2009 2:10 PM EDT reply actions

So which is Leach and which is Evason? Do we know?

by Love and Osechkin on May 18, 2009 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Leach deals with the D’s, Evason the F’s (to oversimplify).

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by J.P. on May 18, 2009 4:32 PM EDT up reply actions

I always thought Leach was the the defensive guy and Evason worked with the forwards. Ironically, they both were forwards during their playing days; Leach in college and Evason for 13 years in the pros. It should be noted that the both of these guys have had long careers in the coaching ranks both as head coaches in the minors and juniors and as assistant coaches in the NHL. Leach is by far the more seasoned coach having been doing it since 1984. Evason has been coaching for ten years first in the juniors and then in the pros. It’s not like these guys aren’t experienced. It’s more a question of can they instill the defensive responsibility in the players needed to make the next step.

by b.orr4 on May 18, 2009 4:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Evason

While not to state my opinion either way because I really don;t have one at the moment…

Once Bruce took over, there was a little blurb about how Evason’s first task was to work on faceoffs which eventually led to Steckel being 5th in % won last year and Gordo doing well. Also this year we’ve seen Nicky get a lot better as well.

I don;t know how much Evason runs the offense, thinking Bruce does most of the lifting.

Just a little thought on the assistants.

by MetalCap on May 18, 2009 4:45 PM EDT reply actions

Does anyone know who is out there (aside from Dale Hunter)? The Hockey News guys says these Craig Ramsey types are all over the place. OK: where? Name some . . .

by erniefive on May 19, 2009 10:37 PM EDT reply actions

Mark Tinordi is coaching juniors. Don’t think he has the pedigree to be an NHL assistant yet, but he’s heading that direction.

by Gould Old Days on May 20, 2009 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Interesting tidbit from Tarik:

Dean Evason re-signed midway through the season, I’m told, so he’s expected to remain as one of Bruce Boudreau’s assistants next season (and beyond). I’m unclear on the status of Jay Leach, who heads up the D-men, and the Caps do not comment on coach/management contracts. When asked about the status of his assistants on Breakdown Day, Boudreau would only say that everyone, including himself, would be evaluated in the coming days and weeks. Boudreau inherited both Evason and Leach from Glen Hanlon’s staff.

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by J.P. on May 20, 2009 3:28 PM EDT reply actions

Nice blurb, JP.

by Love and Osechkin on May 21, 2009 9:43 AM EDT reply actions

I wouldn’t mind a coaching change on D and the PK.

The caps had that atrocious streak of allowing a PK goal for how many games this winter? Add the fact that they carry 2 defensive forward specialists in Gordon and Steckel, this part of the game should be better. Remember when it was just one guy in this role – Mike Eagles?

Perhaps a different coach could get more out of the defense, which this season consistently was bad clearing the zone, clearing the crease, and causing delay of game penalties with pucks over the glass….all of these are also symptoms which plagued the PK as well.

by Stormblue on May 25, 2009 10:33 PM EDT reply actions

Well, it looks like this will be put to the test as Jay Leach won’t be back.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitalsinsider/

by Ames on May 26, 2009 3:08 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah saw that too and my mind came right back to this post. I think a shake up was needed and now the pressure’s on Bruce to find a better (fit) D coach

by MetalCap on May 26, 2009 3:29 PM EDT up reply actions

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