May 14, 2015
Thumbs up to the final coaches and the Caps
With the conclusion of the second round of the NHL playoffs, TSN's Dave Hodge dishes out another edition of Thumbs. Today Dave gives thumbs up to the final four coaches left in the Stanley Cup playoffs and also gives thumbs up to the Washington Capitals who should skate away with their heads held high after a hard fought series.
By Dave Hodge
Will the team that has Mike Babcock behind its bench next season be in the hands of hockey's best coach? That perception exists, and his reputation carries that kind of weight, and the last two Olympics help to support it, but who knows if Babcock's teams win because their coach is better than his opposite number?
Assuming that makes it true, I guess. So let's also assume that the four coaches who have a chance to do what Babcock won't do--i.e. win this year's Stanley Cup--are good coaches as well. Thumbs up to Joel Quenneville, Bruce Boudreau, Alain Vigneault and Jon Cooper for getting this far. Should an edge be given to Quenneville as a two-time Stanley Cup winner? It will be. Is Cooper at a disadvantage because he has 
coached in the NHL for only two full seasons? That will be suggested. But Cooper is the only one of the four who hasn't been fired. Ah, but that's because he hasn't been around long enough. And so it goes, round and round, as the coaches become part of the analysis. May the best team win.
And then we'll try to decide if it had the best coach.
Thumbs up to the Washington Capitals, and I'll mostly agree with the popular sentiment that they deserved a better fate, although that's not the same as saying they deserved to beat the Rangers. As game seven proceeded to overtime, it was easy to conclude that the losing team would feel total dejection and yet would have every right to skate off the ice with heads held high.
Sure enough, my first thought, when Derek Stepan's arms went into the air, was for the Capitals, not the victorious Rangers. The only thing Washington didn't do was score the last goal in a series of seven one-goal games. For those who think we should use the term "sudden victory" to describe playoff overtime, last night is why we use "sudden death".