The Future of....Bryan Murray & Cory Clouston

SpezDispenser wrote:
For example: now that Clouston has a real goalie + a group of young players who don't question him, they're having success and being a really hard group to play against. Does that take Clouston partially off the hook? IMO, yes it does, it really does. The old guard were NOT taking to his system (or perhaps lack thereof) and there wasn't enough hard work being shown and the goaltending was at a pee-wee level. Should we re-sign Clouston? Doubtful unfortunately for him. We have a clean slate to work with this summer, doubt he makes the cut.

I've never had Clouston on the hook to begin with I just don't think he has the character to be a winner. He doesn't strike me as a good motivator and communicator, this team has rarely looked comfortable or confident on the ice. They play like a bunch of robots. It's all about the system, if you play it you get ice time, that's why 3rd/4th liners flourish under him.

The power play is by far the most frustrating, it's like they don't even practice it. I watch other teams (including NJ) moving around far more effectively and trying to get the puck to their "go to" guys like Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, Chara etc. We can't even get in the zone half the time and when we do we screw around on the boards passing the puck aimlessly back and forth.

And then people blame Bryan Murray why Gonchar (pretty much a $5.5M PP specialist) aren't working out in Ottawa.

Hoags wrote:I've never had Clouston on the hook to begin with I just don't think he has the character to be a winner. He doesn't strike me as a good motivator and communicator, this team has rarely looked comfortable or confident on the ice. They play like a bunch of robots. It's all about the system, if you play it you get ice time, that's why 3rd/4th liners flourish under him.

The power play is by far the most frustrating, it's like they don't even practice it. I watch other teams (including NJ) moving around far more effectively and trying to get the puck to their "go to" guys like Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, Chara etc. We can't even get in the zone half the time and when we do we screw around on the boards passing the puck aimlessly back and forth.

And then people blame Bryan Murray why Gonchar (pretty much a $5.5M PP specialist) aren't working out in Ottawa.

Yeah, I completely agree. I don't think he's a good enough communicator at all. In fact, I agree with everything you've written - which is why I doubt we'll see him back. Although, Spezza certainly is flourishing under Clouston - or maybe that was just his time to put it all together.

Malcolm Gladwell is one of "the most effective communicators of our time." Might he be the solution behind the bench?

SpezDispenser wrote:
Yeah, I completely agree. I don't think he's a good enough communicator at all. In fact, I agree with everything you've written - which is why I doubt we'll see him back. Although, Spezza certainly is flourishing under Clouston - or maybe that was just his time to put it all together.

Well he is a good coach, it just seems he's more about molding the team into what he wants rather than taking stock into what he has on the roster and try to use it effectively where possible.

Some players may flourish being given more responsibility and non-traditional roles, others may not (and may even resent it).

Ultimately we can either build a team around Clouston's philosophy or get a coach who maximizes what we have and play to our strengths. We could conceivably win either way. It just seems Clouston's been shoving some square pegs into round holes in his time here.

Hoags wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:
Yeah, I completely agree. I don't think he's a good enough communicator at all. In fact, I agree with everything you've written - which is why I doubt we'll see him back. Although, Spezza certainly is flourishing under Clouston - or maybe that was just his time to put it all together.

Well he is a good coach, it just seems he's more about molding the team into what he wants rather than taking stock into what he has on the roster and try to use it effectively where possible.

Some players may flourish being given more responsibility and non-traditional roles, others may not (and may even resent it).

Ultimately we can either build a team around Clouston's philosophy or get a coach who maximizes what we have and play to our strengths. We could conceivably win either way. It just seems Clouston's been shoving some square pegs into round holes in his time here.

Probably not by choice. I think he can make choices now and that he's making the right ones for the most part.

My only knock on Clouston is his fixation on playing Shannon on the point on the PP when he has tons of options back there, including Derek Smith now. And the PP, in general.