I wanted to wait before I weighed in what Teemu Selanne wrote in his autobiography about Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau. In the current witch hunt media climate, I thought it prudent to let the situation settle a bit. The excerpts I use are from the LA Times and Sportsnet, who translated the content from Finnish to English.
Selanne had issues with the way he was used by Boudreau all season. According to Selanne things seemed to reach a boiling point in March. On the heels of his performance in the Olympics, he claims the coach promised him more playing time. He skated four games with Getzlaf and Perry and things went well, but was removed from the line and “after, all continued as before,… he said.
In his final season, Selanne averaged a career low 14:08 of ice time. In the playoffs, his time dropped to 12:17 yet he still managed six points in 12 games. He was even scratched in game four of the Dallas Stars series. His comments give insight in to what you might call “the heart of a champion.…
“I waited after everyone else had left the ice and skated to Boudreau,… he said. “I yelled at him right to his face with what I was thinking. I asked what he has against me. I told him that since he became our coach, he has not respected me one bit. You never put me on ice when we play 5-on-3 or 4-on-4 or when we are one goal behind in the end of the game. Be honest for one time and answer.
“He just stammered that decisions were not his alone and it was a group decision. I asked which group and he said GM and scouts. I yelled at him ‘Whoa, what kind of a coach are you if you don't even decide the lineup?' He tried to skate away but I just yelled that I wasn't finished. “I told Boudreau if you ever want to win something in a playoffs, you're going to need me. Nobody else wants to win as much as me.…
So angry he even said he wouldn't have retired if someone else was coaching the Ducks.
“If we had any other coach, I'd still play,…
I understand where Selanne is coming from. The guy is a Hall of Fame lock and has climbed the summit of the sport in the past. In his mind he knows he can help the Ducks win.
In my opinion the key part is “in his mind.… At 43 years old, Selanne isn't the player he was 10 years ago or even five years ago. In hindsight many athletes will tell you that at the end of their careers, their hearts were writing checks that their bodies couldn't cash. That isn't to say Selanne wasn't better than other players on the roster, what I am saying is that he probably wasn't as good as he thought he was.
Successful people don't get to the top by thinking “maybe I can,… they get there because they “know they can.… Athletes are no different. As a matter of fact, when you spend your adult life competing against the very best in the world, you better be confident or you won't be competing at all. Call it fire, call it desire, call it ego; its what separates the best from the rest.
I have coached many sports. I appreciate players that want to win, especially those who want to be an active part of winning. That is an intangible. What a coach must do is use the tangible with consideration to the intangible. This needs to be done in a non-biased and if you will, calculating fashion. Fielding the best possible to team game after game is the detail in the overall scheme of winning. Simply put, Boudreau thought the team was in a better position to win with Selanne in a more limited role than what Selanne would have liked. It is Boudreau's decision about who plays and how often they do.
I'm not letting Boudreau completely off the hook. His failings with Selanne is something that plagues many coaches, lack of communication. Coaches have egos just like players do and often fall in to the habit of “do it because I said so.… Players get frustrated when their role isn't clearly defined to them. Part of being paid the big money to coach at the NHL level is to make tough decisions. One big decision was to limit Selanne's playing time. It was incumbent upon Boudreau to sit Selanne down and explain to him what was expected. That either wasn't done or wasn't done properly.
Also not flattering to Boudreau was the exchange after game four of the Stars series. That was a communication issue as well. We have all been caught off guard when someone confronts us. Still the buck stops with him, he's the coach. What is lost here is that the issue should have been handled before the game. Something like “Teemu, I'm going to give you a rest tonight. We are in this for the long haul and I want to keep you fresh.… Maybe Boudreau did say it, but if the message wasn't received, he has to find a way. Alienating an icon is not the way to rally a team.
Selanne has since apologized for his harshness. Boudreau has taken the high road saying that he understands Selanne's frustrations. As so often in these matters, the fault lies somewhere in the middle, just not how it is explained by Selanne in his book.
-Ed