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McKenzie: Change for change sake
TSN.ca Staff
2/24/2004
There's not a lot to read between the lines in the firing of Joel Quenneville. It was done for the oldest reason in the book -- desperation. Panic, call it what you want. The Blues, with a hefty payroll, are desperate to make the playoffs and going into Tuesday night's NHL action, St. Louis was on the outside looking in, ninth in the Western Conference. It's as simple as that.
It's not like the second longest serving NHL coach was unpopular with his players or that he had lost the room. And it's not like his replacement, Mike Kitchen, represents a significant change in direction, though Kitchen, long thought to be a prototypical assistant coach, will be a new voice. And as an aside, wouldn't Al MacInnis make a good assistant to take Kitchen's spot?
But at the end of the day, the Blues have 21 games to make hay, to get into the playoffs.
It was, quite simply, change for change sake, a desperate attempt to jump start a team that should be closer in the standings to the contenders than the pretenders.
It's tough to forecast if the move will pay with playoff dividends, but this you can take to the bank: Joel Quenneville won't be out of work too long.
For TSN.ca, I'm Bob McKenzie
McKenzie: Change for change sake
TSN.ca Staff
2/24/2004
There's not a lot to read between the lines in the firing of Joel Quenneville. It was done for the oldest reason in the book -- desperation. Panic, call it what you want. The Blues, with a hefty payroll, are desperate to make the playoffs and going into Tuesday night's NHL action, St. Louis was on the outside looking in, ninth in the Western Conference. It's as simple as that.
It's not like the second longest serving NHL coach was unpopular with his players or that he had lost the room. And it's not like his replacement, Mike Kitchen, represents a significant change in direction, though Kitchen, long thought to be a prototypical assistant coach, will be a new voice. And as an aside, wouldn't Al MacInnis make a good assistant to take Kitchen's spot?
But at the end of the day, the Blues have 21 games to make hay, to get into the playoffs.
It was, quite simply, change for change sake, a desperate attempt to jump start a team that should be closer in the standings to the contenders than the pretenders.
It's tough to forecast if the move will pay with playoff dividends, but this you can take to the bank: Joel Quenneville won't be out of work too long.
For TSN.ca, I'm Bob McKenzie
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