Lindy Ruff, Gerard Gallant and Jay Woodcroft all took the coaching heat. Surviving is another story.
A Year ago New Jersey Devils fans chanted, "Fire Lindy," as in Ruff. General Manager Tom Fitzgerald ignored the pleas.
Guess what? Lindy led the Devils to one of their best seasons in years. (And he still has his job.)
Last spring Rangers fans implored The Boss, Chris Drury, not to fire Gerard Gallant but Drury did. Drury was right. His new (also old) coach Peter Laviolette has the Blueshirts running away with the Met Division.
A week ago respected Sportsnet's reporter Mark Spector urged Oilers' biggie Jeff Jackson to can Jay Woodcroft and within two days Woody got chopped.
His replacement, Kris Knoblauch got the gig and McDavid, Inc. started winning again -- briefly, of course.
But that didn't make "Hockey Insider" Pierre LeBrun happy; not happy at all. Lucky Pierre's comment came all the way across the continent -- "B*llsh_t!"
-“I think it’s b*llsh_t that Jay Woodcroft was fired when he was. I think he should have been given more time. I think the under-lying numbers suggested a team that was about to turn it around. I do not believe he lost the room. The guys were still playing hard for him. And I would have given Jay Woodcroft more time. Now Kris Knoblauch may end up being the greatest Oilers coaching hire ever. Let’s not take away from him. It might be unbelievable. And then people are going to go back and say, ‘Well, there you go. That was exactly the right move at the right time.’ How do you know? How do you know if there’s not another week of Woodcroft that the Oilers aren’t on a run? I didn’t like it. That’s my opinion. I could be wrong.”
LeBrun argues that the Oilers should have given Woodcroft a couple more weeks to straighten out the whole, ugly Edmonton mess...
Translated, it means that coach-firing is no easy task.
But The Maven knows. If you're running a team headed by the greatest player in the world -- and a few other clever fellows -- and it's expected to be located where the "experts" said it would be -- on top. Not this year; at least not yet.
And most certainly not on the bottom where the Oil leaked.
If you run the team, you must, in the end, depend on your gut. And your gut simply must tell you whether your decision is the best one for the team.
Fitz of New Jersey believed that Ruff could straighten things out and he did.
Jackson of Edmonton broke speed records dumping Woodcroft's contract into the round file.
Which brings me to the question raised by Lord LeBrun, "B*llsh_t or Not?"
If the Oil windsup in first -- Not!
I'm Just Sayin'
* Kyle Dubas made the new-boss-big-splash-move by importing Erik Karlsson.
* What he should have done was sign a first-class competent goalie.
* Pittsburgh veteran hockey reporter Vince Comunale assures me that Tristan Jarry certainly is not one. Come to think of it, neither is Karlsson.
* With Jack Hughes sidelined, Quinn Hughes is the best of the brothers. But Luke is catching up in a hurry.
* The Blue Jackets should be smiling... The next sellout outdoor game is being targeted for Ohio State's 102,000-seat stadium.
* Just by personality alone, Patrick Kane will be the biggest headline-maker in the next couple of weeks.
* And if you''re wondering about which runaway he's landing on, ask Kevin Weekes.
* The "Insider" -- how about Weekes, Dreger, Friedman, LeBrun -- who gets it first, wins the Maven's November wooden medal for Having The Best Leaker.
* If Dubas can't land a first-rate goalie in a deal, he could do worse than move Alex Nedeljikovic into Jarry's overpriced role.
* Any one who thinks having the NHL in the 2026 Olympics is a sure-thing-no-brainer should check the minutes of previous NHL-IOC meetings.
* Hint: It's as simple as threading a sewing needle with ship rope.
* Rookie coach Greg Cronin's keys that have turned the Ducks into a competitive club: 1. Outwork the foe; 2. Be transparent; 3.Be uplifting.
* Jack Hughes' return to the Devils means that there's a tie for the annual "Best Hughes Award," Quinn, Luke; or Jack.
* If Connor Bedard fails to score in a single game, does that mean that he's in a slump?
* Answer: Yes; a one-game slump.
* The Red Wings Justin Holl was asked why he was booed as a Maple Leaf and now not booed as a Detroiter?
* In two little words, Holl shot back: "That's Toronto!"
* A pal asked me which was the best hockey fight of all time; so I picked two -- the longest and most intense.
* Longest by far was Chicago's Johnny Mariucci vs. Detroit's Black Jack Stewart. Glen Sonmor's book, "Old Time Hockey," clocks it at 20 minutes. The Maven says 15 minutes, tops.
* That was in 1946 and I did not see it. But I did see Rangers defenseman Lou Fontinato go at it with Gordie Howe in 1959.
* Leapin' Louie spent the night at St. Clare's Hospital while Mister Hockey was on the Red Wings sleeper train to Detroit. I was there and called it a TKO for Howe.
* After the dust cleared. Gord and Lou became best friends.
* I can't say enough good things about Jim Montgomery's bench work in Beantown. (Just don't ask me about the first playoff series.)
* Don't say I didn't warn you about the genius of Marty St.Louis? I call him "The Poor Man's Jacques Lemaire."