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The chatter is definitely increasing. We here at the National Avalanche Security Agency are picking up lots more, especially when it comes to Joel Quenneville’s coaching decisions the other night in Minnesota.
I’m not as big a Q basher as many fans, but I will say this: He had the wrong lineup against the Wild. He probably had one Cody too many, and his benching of Wojtek Wolski was, at this point in the season at least, counterproductive.
He then goes on at length, naming each and every flub Coach Q made against Minnesota, which resulted in a 3-1 loss and a setback on the road to the playoffs.
My favorite part:
About the lineup the other night, not only was the wrong personnel in the game, but I didn’t like Q’s line combos much. Playing Ryan Smyth on a third line, with guys like Lappy and Tyler ("if it ain’t Edmonton, I ain’t scoring") Arnason was a disaster. Finally, by the end of the game, Smitty was back on a line with Stastny and Hejduk, but by then it was too late.
Welcome to Sandy Clough's shit list, Adrian.
I may live with my mom and only wear underwear when I sit at the computer, but I do watch a lot of Avalanche games, and this crap has been going on all season. It was plain to see for months, injuries or no injuries.
It's impossible to imagine how good the Avalanche could have been this season with a different coach behind the bench (even with the same number of injuries). The fear is that a playoff appearance will result in a renewed contract for Coach Joel Quenneville, especially if the Avs---purely through the players' hard work and dedication---make a deep run. And then what? Next season, more of the same underachievement. Is that what this franchise needs?
SPECIAL NOTE: I want to apologize to my colleague Mike at MHH for making this post at the exact same time that he made one linking to Dater's blog post above. I deleted Mike's entry because it was redundant, but I still think he's a swell guy. He gets the credit for posting about this two seconds before I did, so let that be small consolation to him.