Tyler Cameron: Youth and Innovation Movement
Just a heads up, I will be taking a few days off this week and sneaking away for a little vacation. The family and I need a change of scenery, so we're heading to the cottage.

The wifi is not very good there, so I have asked Theo (aka AEL_Fox) to guest write a couple of blogs for me this week to help out.

Foist

Congrats Theo , your blog was exceptionally well laid out , with lots of great information.

The debate over JC , imo his record would be a great tool to gauge his future with chicago. While he might have some refreshing ideas , I'm of the belief that he is not ready or the right person to be behind the bench .

Time and experience are a absolute necessity for anyone who wants to succeed as a head coach along with the willingness to reflect back to certain situations and learn as well as it creates confidence in the coach that passes down to the players.


Examples of poor coaching choices Dirk Graham was a great captain but his record as head coach wasn't a winning one.


Dennis savard hof player but not a great coach. Coach Q vast experience showed once he took over .

That's why I believe chicago needs a well laid out plan that touches on every aspect of this team and how they can become a championship team again

Congrats Theo , your blog was exceptionally well laid out , with lots of great information.

The debate over JC , imo his record would be a great tool to gauge his future with chicago. While he might have some refreshing ideas , I'm of the belief that he is not ready or the right person to be behind the bench .

Time and experience are a absolute necessity for anyone who wants to succeed as a head coach along with the willingness to reflect back to certain situations and learn as well as it creates confidence in the coach that passes down to the players.


Examples of poor coaching choices Dirk Graham was a great captain but his record as head coach wasn't a winning one.


Dennis savard hof player but not a great coach. Coach Q vast experience showed once he took over .

That's why I believe chicago needs a well laid out plan that touches on every aspect of this team and how they can become a championship team again
- Taylorst1

This is the only part of your argument with which I take issue. I'm not sure how you separate time and experience, but the league is/has been littered with coaches that have a lot of experience and not much to show for it (Ron Wilson, Paul Maurice, Bruce Boudreau, to name a few) . There are also a number of coaches that have been great right out of the gate with very little experience(Coach Q - when he started in STL, Rod Brind'amour, Craig Berube, etc).

There are a number of factors that go into the success of a team. Look how many different ways that teams like EDM and BUF have tried to build a winner. You need good coaches, good support staff, good players, buy-in from said players, etc. The actual tenure of the coach is a factor, but one that I believe is far overblown.

I'm a crusty old school guy - I believe the guy at the top charts the course and the subordinates follow the plan to the best of their ability ... but that's just me ... and don't bother trying to change me - it won't work.

Totally agree Chunk, there are 8 coaches in the NHL that have over 10 years experience (lead by Q with 22), and how many Cups have been won by those coaches? ^, Q has 3 of them, Torts, Trotz and Julien one each. Crawford has one, so as far as having experience behind the bench, Crawford would qualify for having the experience.

Also, the Hawks were in rebuild mode (restructure whatever you want to call it), and I don't think Q is (was) the right coach to inject and live with youth and its inherent mistakes. Nor would Hitchcock, Sutter or whoever else with experience would be at the time.

I'd like to know how Colliton is innovative Being innovative is fine as long as it plays to the players' strengths and the teams strenghts. I don't think putting Kampf on 2nd or 3rd line center is innovative .... or moving Strome to a wing position, when he clearly is better at center. Playing man to man defense for awhile, and finally changing the system and getting better results with the new system is not being innovative in a positive way

I work in a technology field and innovation is a word that gets thrown out a lot. It is going to mean different things to different people. It can mean simply furthering discoveries, finding new and more efficient ways of doing things, or even developing a good or service that can render "previous" goods or services obsolete.

In Colliton's case, I think he is talking about his interactions with the players and the manner in which he wanted to construct and use his lineups. Innovation isn't always good, and it often has unintended consequences. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. It just means that it needs to be continuously honed and adapted to the current situation.

Congrats Theo , your blog was exceptionally well laid out , with lots of great information.

The debate over JC , imo his record would be a great tool to gauge his future with chicago. While he might have some refreshing ideas , I'm of the belief that he is not ready or the right person to be behind the bench .

Time and experience are a absolute necessity for anyone who wants to succeed as a head coach along with the willingness to reflect back to certain situations and learn as well as it creates confidence in the coach that passes down to the players.


Examples of poor coaching choices Dirk Graham was a great captain but his record as head coach wasn't a winning one.


Dennis savard hof player but not a great coach. Coach Q vast experience showed once he took over .

That's why I believe chicago needs a well laid out plan that touches on every aspect of this team and how they can become a championship team again
- Taylorst1

Thank you very much, Taylor!

While I was in the camp that Q's shelf life as an effective coach had expired and was also in the camp that a fresh perspective was needed at the head coaching role rather than break out the NHL coaching retread list, I also did not expect Colliton to be named head coach given how he had just started to really turn things around in Rockford for the prospect pipeline.

I would have preferred Colliton had remained as Hogs head coach to keep that train running and replaced Q with an up-and-coming coach who had been an NHL assistant for a while (and had a favorable track record as far as running special teams, taking charge of defense, or whatever their duties entailed) or a successful AHL coach who needed the next challenge.

Alas, Colliton is the head coach and still has time to prove his worth. He didn't come out guns ablazing being an immediate coaching savant but I don't think he is worthless with zero potential either.

I'd like to know how Colliton is innovative Being innovative is fine as long as it plays to the players' strengths and the teams strenghts. I don't think putting Kampf on 2nd or 3rd line center is innovative .... or moving Strome to a wing position, when he clearly is better at center. Playing man to man defense for awhile, and finally changing the system and getting better results with the new system is not being innovative in a positive way
- chuckdahammer

I would have to agree with Chunk's response above about innovation being about trying new things while learning on the fly to adapt.

Stay the course with necessary tweaks or abandon the innovative idea and try something else.

Innovation and adaptation go hand in hand. Listening to your players is part of the recipe, too.

So the question could be can Colliton adapt and listen to his players while being innovative?

I work in a technology field and innovation is a word that gets thrown out a lot. It is going to mean different things to different people. It can mean simply furthering discoveries, finding new and more efficient ways of doing things, or even developing a good or service that can render "previous" goods or services obsolete.

In Colliton's case, I think he is talking about his interactions with the players and the manner in which he wanted to construct and use his lineups. Innovation isn't always good, and it often has unintended consequences. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. It just means that it needs to be continuously honed and adapted to the current situation.
- Chunk

Excellent perspective. Totally agree.

I would have preferred Colliton had remained as Hogs head coach to keep that train running and replaced Q with an up-and-coming coach who had been an NHL assistant for a while (and had a favorable track record as far as running special teams, taking charge of defense, or whatever their duties entailed) or a successful AHL coach who needed the next challenge.

- AEL_Fox

Exactly.

JC was thrown in way over his head. I'm a big Q fan. If you're going to replace the 2nd winningest HC in NHL history with a young coach, it better be a young coach who has proven that he (or she) knows what he (or she) is doing, and is ready to take the next step.

JC met none of those qualifications when he was promoted.

I wish that Alieu had a better approach in successfully playing NHL hockey when he was in the Chicago organization

I suspect that he had the preresiquite skill set to make it but circumstances in his life
likely had much to do with his ability to overcome a stigma and play with a healthy happy go - luck attitude. Of course I am far from an expert on the issues he had faced in his career and which he today still addresses when there is a topic which he cares to elaborate upon

His scouting report was attractive and I wanted to see him advance to the NHL.

Nowadays more than ever young people need counseling and support to deal successfully with the challenges which do arise always somewhere in the sports world. All lives matter is my belief but you won't see me demonstrating or getting involved; that is more for those with an agenda; I just choose to live the best way I can according to my beliefs.

July 30th can’t come soon enough! Hawkey Time!

July 30th can’t come soon enough! Hawkey Time!
- Assman22

Awfully concerned that the NHL's plan isn't going to work. See a lot of cases starting to pop-up at colleges who have let athletes back to begin preseason wrkouts, etc.

It will be awfully tough to get through the NHL's postseason plan without at least a handful of players getting COVID-19.

If it happens to a teams stars/top line players that kind of ruins the postseason experience.

July 30th can’t come soon enough! Hawkey Time!
- Assman22

I'm not trying to be Debbie Downer here, but I wouldn't put any money on that. They still need to approve the sites, organize testing, and make sure that safety of everyone involved can be accounted for. I would like nothing more than to have hockey to watch, but the longer this goes, I think we are going to be without sports for a while.

Lots of talk about JC but as the HOF coach before him had little success, we don't have the horses especially on the back end. Loved Q but he is not a developmental coach, who knows how many games these young kids would of been scratched last year. JC is the interim coach who will play young talent until they develop and just like Savard once the org can smell playoff success they will make their move to the next coach.

Well at least Colliton had some pro coaching experience before becoming head coach, which Montgomery (before he was fired for some indiscretion) and Quinn did not have (only college).

Lots of talk about JC but as the HOF coach before him had little success, we don't have the horses especially on the back end. Loved Q but he is not a developmental coach, who knows how many games these young kids would of been scratched last year. JC is the interim coach who will play young talent until they develop and just like Savard once the org can smell playoff success they will make their move to the next coach.
- BetweenTheDots

If Q was still the coach Stan would of never traded Manning for Cagiula. I think the Hjarmelsson trade and Q's reaction encapsulizes what Q thought of any "rebuild on the fly".

Lots of talk about JC but as the HOF coach before him had little success, we don't have the horses especially on the back end. Loved Q but he is not a developmental coach, who knows how many games these young kids would of been scratched last year. JC is the interim coach who will play young talent until they develop and just like Savard once the org can smell playoff success they will make their move to the next coach.
- BetweenTheDots

From my perspective, Q seemed to play the guys who he thought gave him the best chance to win. I agree with you saying that he wasn't a "developmental" coach. But I don't think he scratched younger players simply because they were young.

If Stan doesn't add Kunitz, Manning, Ward, and bring back Kruger then Q doesn't have the chance to play them over younger guys. So, it's not ALL on Q. I will say that if a rookie and vet were seen as equal, it appeared that Q leaned toward the vet.

As an aside, I've had this recurring thought in my head of whether Q would still be the coach if the Hawks went after de Haan before 2018. I think just having another steady D-man back there would have made a world of difference.

Awfully concerned that the NHL's plan isn't going to work. See a lot of cases starting to pop-up at colleges who have let athletes back to begin preseason wrkouts, etc.

It will be awfully tough to get through the NHL's postseason plan without at least a handful of players getting COVID-19.

If it happens to a teams stars/top line players that kind of ruins the postseason experience.
- bhawks2241

There will be no conclusion to the 19-20 NBA or NHL seasons. MLB is a long shot to even begin playing. NFL has a 50/50 chance at playing their season.

Gonna be PGA and NASCAR for the foreseeable future. COVID-19 spreads too easily.

From my perspective, Q seemed to play the guys who he thought gave him the best chance to win. I agree with you saying that he wasn't a "developmental" coach. But I don't think he scratched younger players simply because they were young.

If Stan doesn't add Kunitz, Manning, Ward, and bring back Kruger then Q doesn't have the chance to play them over younger guys. So, it's not ALL on Q. I will say that if a rookie and vet were seen as equal, it appeared that Q leaned toward the vet.

As an aside, I've had this recurring thought in my head of whether Q would still be the coach if the Hawks went after de Haan before 2018. I think just having another steady D-man back there would have made a world of difference.
- Chunk

I'm not trying to be Debbie Downer here, but I wouldn't put any money on that. They still need to approve the sites, organize testing, and make sure that safety of everyone involved can be accounted for. I would like nothing more than to have hockey to watch, but the longer this goes, I think we are going to be without sports for a while.
- Chunk

Being a realist is not being a downer .Just saw were Arizona does not have the testing ability to keep up to demand .And the NHL wants to grab up more testing when city and states can't keep up . It like Bettman is taking his cue from Trumpet

From my perspective, Q seemed to play the guys who he thought gave him the best chance to win. I agree with you saying that he wasn't a "developmental" coach. But I don't think he scratched younger players simply because they were young.

If Stan doesn't add Kunitz, Manning, Ward, and bring back Kruger then Q doesn't have the chance to play them over younger guys. So, it's not ALL on Q. I will say that if a rookie and vet were seen as equal, it appeared that Q leaned toward the vet.

As an aside, I've had this recurring thought in my head of whether Q would still be the coach if the Hawks went after de Haan before 2018. I think just having another steady D-man back there would have made a world of difference.
- Chunk

To me Q ego over took his coaching and he started a power struggle with the Bowmans . And that was not going to end well for Q . His last games looked like he was pulling names out of a hat for line-ups .
I can't say I was impressed with Stan choice to fill Q shoes . At least Stan and JC seem to be on the same page

July 30th can’t come soon enough! Hawkey Time!
- Assman22

Can't wait to watch the Hawks play 3 games then have another extended period of time without hockey.