I wrote a piece for Bleacher Report yesterday spotlighting the top storylines of the Stanley Cup Final. Click here if you'd like to take a look.
One of the slides is dedicated to Alain Vigneault and his trip from the unemployment line to the Stanley Cup Final in just one season.
As of this moment, it's impossible to deny that the Rangers won the "coach trade" between Vigneault and John Tortorella but that doesn't mean I wish Vigneault was still here in Vancouver.
Last year, before I knew you all, I was completely in favour of Vigneault being let go. The final straw for me, was when the Sedins went to Sweden for the World Championships after doing nothing in the playoff series again San Jose. They immediately started scoring, fired up a struggling power play and turned around a struggling Swedish squad, which went on to win the gold medal on its home soil.
"See? They can play! They can win!" I reasoned. "They just need someone different to run the show here in Vancouver."
That someone was *not* John Tortorella. I was on team John Stevens last summer—and was open to the idea of Glen Gulutzan. Torts brought plenty of drama, but I thought his hiring was a bad idea right from Day 1.
Some have argued that Torts did the team a favour, running it so deep into the ground that now, finally, real change has to come. I think there is some merit to this line of thinking—as long as we're now at rock bottom. If AV had stayed, the Canucks probably would have been first-round losers once again. And he probably would have played Roberto Luongo in the Heritage Classic, which would have meant that the trade to Florida didn't happen—and maybe MG would still have his job?
My favorite celebrity gossip site, LaineyGossip.com, refers to this line of thinking as "Sliding Doors." How would the course of events change if one decision had been made differently?
All told, I think the Canucks organization has learned some harsh but important lessons this year, which I'm hopeful will improve the product both on and off the ice going forward. While I think Gillis fired Vigneault and his staff last spring as a last-ditch effort to save his own job, I'm at peace with the move.
Are you?
As far as the current coaching vacancy, I'm not hearing much beyond Willie Desjardins and John Stevens. Trevor Linden has said that he'd like to have someone in place by the draft, and both these candidates are still working. Stevens has a couple more weeks to go in the Stanley Cup Final—and I wonder if the Kings would give him permission to talk with Vancouver?
I can't remember—did he interview for the job last year? I think he did.
Meanwhile, Willie Desjardins and his Texas Stars are hosting Game 7 against the Toronto Marlies in the AHL's Western Conference Final tonight. Game time is at 5:30 PT.
Now—what about Vigneault's chances here in the Stanley Cup Final?
The conventional wisdom all season is that the Western Conference Champ should have no trouble taking home the big prize against an inferior Eastern Conference opponent. It might not turn out to be quite that clear-cut, but I don't think that'll be due to coaching.
The Rangers' biggest advantage is in net. Henrik Lundqvist hasn't been super-consistent, but he's been able to deliver for the Rangers in key situations and now boasts some of the best goaltending numbers of the playoffs. The Kings have been treated to less-than-Grade A goaltending so far from Antti Niemi and Alex Stalock, Frederick Andersen, Jonas Hiller and John Gibson, and Corey Crawford. A world-class netminder should slow down the prolific Los Angeles scoring machine.
New York's second advantage is the rest they've just enjoyed. The Rangers played their last game on Thursday, so they'll have had six days off when they take to the ice at Staples Center tomorrow night. The Kings are coming off a hard-fought seven-game series that, in some ways, *was* their Stanley Cup Final. They'll be tired and banged up, and they're prime candidates for the same kind of emotional letdown that Montreal suffered after its big win over Boston.
Behind the bench, though, I definitely give the advantage to Darryl Sutter. Not only has he hit on some magic formula to bring out the best in his players when the situations get toughest, he owned Alain Vigneault when the eighth-seeded Kings met the Presidents' Trophy-winning Canucks in the first round in 2012.
Vigneault may be in the Final, but I don't feel like his coaching style has been a major component of the Rangers' success. Yeah—he's rolling his lines more than Torts would have, using a fuller roster, but his team has barely squeaked by two teams that were missing their No. 1 goalies for most of their series—Philadelphia and Montreal—and the Rangers were in a deep hole against Pittsburgh before the death of Martin St. Louis' mom gave the group something to play for.
Sliding doors once again. If not for the emotions brought on by St. Louis' tragedy, I think Pittsburgh would have carried on and won that series.
I'm deeply curious to see if Vigneault's familiarity with Sutter's players and his coaching style will help him to prepare his team, but I'm skeptical. Lundqvist could be a factor but I expect Sutter to find ways to exploit Vigneault's lineup. The Kings should prevail, leaving Vigneault as a two-time finalist who has yet to win the big prize.