Quote:
Originally Posted by mrzeigler
Worth quoting.
I just caught up with the late additions to Cole's +/- thread, and the comparison in there of DB to Tortorella had me scratching my head. Sure, Tortorella's teams have had enough success to make the playoffs, but he isn't a perennial cup winner. Having him behind the bench doesn't give his team a considerable advantage over other teams. Which leads me to this:
If you believe Tortorella would be an upgrade over DB but agree he's not a legendary coach, would it be worth suffering through his soul-crushing brand of hockey for 82 games (or, as it may be, 48) year after year to enjoy slightly improved odds in the postseason?
I don't know how to quantify the odds, but since one coach's style might have a huge positive against one playoff yet a significant detriment against another team, I'll estimate the overall impact at 3-5%.
I know everyone aspires to the cup, but I watch the sport and pay to attend it because I love the game itself. I don't love the game nearly as much when it's played like Tortorella has his team play.
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The thing abouts Torts being appealing for the Pens is that right now they're lacking discipline, motivation and basic fundamentals; they've become horribly lax in their play and attitude. A hardass like Torts is more likely to correct this thigns at this point than a be-you-buddy guy like Bylsma. Just look at Therrien: bad Xs and Os, but he taught the team all those things above that they are lacking now yet seem to have forgotten.