While mid-season awards won’t hold much weight if things change drastically over the next 40-or-so games for each NHL team, it is an interesting pathway into the general hockey consensus. Both Joe and I provided our picks for the league’s trophies if the season ended this weekend, with two Southeast surprise smash success stories (Guy Boucher in Tampa Bay, Craig Ramsay in Atlanta) earning our imaginary Jack Adams trophies for coach of the (half) year.
Much like perennial “who was snubbed from the all-star team?” columns, sometimes it’s more interesting to see who didn’t make lists than it is to discuss who did. Considering the expansive nature of hockey discussion on the Internet, we cannot say that we read every mid-season awards article. That being said, beyond our choices, names such as Vancouver’s Allain Vigneault, Pittsburgh’s Dan Bylsma and Detroit’s Mike Babcock surfaced often along with Boucher and Ramsay.
There are two other coaches who haven’t gotten enough credit for their work through the halfway point of the 2010-11 season, though: Marc Crawford in Dallas and John Tortorella with the New York Rangers. We’ve heard a little more buzz for the former than the latter, but let’s briefly discuss why each coach would be worthy of some votes if they kept up the great work.
The case for Crawford
One thing Crawford and Tortorella have in common (beyond a Stanley Cup on their resumes, of course) is that I absolutely didn’t see either one’s success coming. Most of the hockey world viewed the Stars as a talented but flawed team that was strong on offense, awful on defense and fragile in net.
Maybe Crawford has gotten a little lucky with an unusually healthy Kari Lehtonen, but the former Avalanche coach is maximizing the potential of stud talents like Brad Richards to surprising success. The best part is that the Stars aren’t coasting on winnable games and coughing up tough ones either; they are currently on a seven game road winning streak.
Anyone who picked the Stars to lead the Pacific Division who isn’t a blind pom-pom waver can pat themselves on the back today, because few saw their impressive start coming.
Touting Tortorella
For everything Crawford accomplished, Tortorella’s work has been just as impressive (even if his results are more subtle). If there’s one word that jumps out regarding the Rangers’ solid start it’s “resiliency.”
Adding Saturday’s win against the St. Louis Blues to an observation made by Lou Korac, the Rangers are a stunning 10-1 in the second installment of back-to-back games this season. Furthermore, the Blueshirts are boisterous outside of Broadway, with a staggering 15-7-1 record on the road.
The best example of resiliency comes from looking at their roster, though. When you look at the club, there aren’t many players you’d point to as stars beyond great goalie Henrik Lundqvist and injury-prone stud Marian Gaborik. Don’t get me wrong, most NHL teams would love to have guys such as Brandon Dubinsky, Marc Staal and Ryan Callahan. They just don’t jump out as stars.
Yet Tortorella is making it work, as Dubinsky is the only Rangers player vaguely approaching a point per game pace (36 points in 43 games). Coming in third in the Atlantic and sixth in the East might not seem that impressive, but they’re 10 games over .500 with a shaky but spirited group of hockey players. That, to me, speaks to Tortorella’s motivational and teaching abilities.
***
Again, it’s too early to talk about Jack Adams (and other trophy) possibilities for anything more than fun. Still, voters and fans shouldn’t forget the impressive work by Crawford and Tortorella so far this season.