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Tippett: “We were fortunate that Nashville had a major distraction”

radulovgetty

Whether Barry Trotz made the right move or not, many will remember the Nashville Predators’ semifinals defeat to the Phoenix Coyotes as a series where Andrei Kostitsyn and Alex Radulov’s suspensions made the most headlines. Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett didn’t deny that to radio host Willy Daunic.

“We capitalized on our chances,” Tippet said. “We were fortunate that Nashville had a major distraction. That made it harder for them. My opinion was that the distraction was something they had to spend a lot of time thinking about. We just concentrated on winning.”

So, basically, even the Coyotes blame Radulov and Kostitsyn (or at least the distraction around that situation) for Nashville’s woes. At least to an extent. For a coach who has been compared to “Deputy Dog” after losses, Tippett was fascinatingly candid in those remarks.

It’s tough to deny the rumblings when even the opposing coach is highlighting that difference, but do you buy that being the story of the series? Is it possible that this might be a subtle form of false modesty to obscure the fact that maybe - just maybe - the Coyotes were really that much better than the Predators?

Share your own thoughts in the comments.