The Hypocritical Coach

Funny, really, to hear Ron Wilson bleating today about how unfair it is that the media is allowed to watch his practices and report on them.

This is the very same coach, ladies and gentleman, who upon coming to Toronto last season ripped the very same media people for not taking the time to watch practice carefully and to ask questions specifically related to drills and practice techniques.

Then again, Wilson often likes to play both sides. Remember him waving his Canadian passport when he was hired, telling the world about his Canadian roots and love for the country?

Then earlier this week, when asked, he made it abundantly clear his complete and total allegiance was with the U.S. in its joust for junior gold with Canada.

Now, I have absolutely no problem with Wilson being an American and cheering for the Americans in a hockey competition. But why the big show about being Canadian?

As far as his outburst at practice today, it was typical Wilson, lashing out at the media when the media has nothing to do with the state of his hockey team or the very, very mediocre job he has done in 1 1/2 seasons with the club. It was an open question how Wilson would handle the Toronto media situation after previous NHL stops in outposts like Anaheim, Washington and San Jose, and the answer has been fine from time to time, with occasional irrational moments.

Today, quite probably, was a very transparent attempt to deflect attention his team to a phony spat with the media.

Every team in the NHL has open practices. It doesn't seem to bother or slow down the Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks, Washington Capitals or Pittsburgh Penguins.

Just the Leafs. Just Wilson.

And if he really thinks it's unfair that the media gets to watch practice, why in the world would he mock the media last year for not taking the time to watch practice carefully?

As far as centring out Phil Kessel for criticism today, again, that is typical Wilson. Hockey people will tell you his worst tendency as a head coach has always been that when things are good it's about him, and when things are back, it's about them.

Go ahead, dump on Kessel. He probably deserves it. Moreover, he wanted to come to Toronto to be The Guy and get paid like it, so he's going to have to learn that being The Guy isn't always wine and roses.

But Kessel could just as easily fire back and say the team would be much better if the head coach had managed to make the penalty killing something better than absolutely horrific during his entire time with the club.

Could it be that Wilson is completely frustrated that despite his years of experience he has been completely unable to get this Leaf team to improve one iota in more than 120 games?

A better question is probably this: barring significant improvement in this team over the final half of the season, what would possibly motivate GM Brian Burke to bring Wilson back next year?

Comments

[Steve C.]

Wilson is so depressing, even from my sofa I can see the energy is getting sucked out of any room he's in. I can only imagine what it's like in the dressing room. The players are just scared all the time, it's so obvious. If it weren't for Team USA he'd be gone before the end of the year. As for Kessel, how many times a game can he cough the puck up at the blue line?! Yell at him all you want, he has no skill other than a snap shot and it's time we started admitting this was a disastrous trade.

[steve]

one name to come in and try to right the ship Wayne Gretsky. He is just buring to get another shot after how he was treated in Phoenix. He will have instant respect and credibility and he showed in Phoenix he can work with young players.

[PAT]

Posters keep mentioning Quinn as an ineffective coach, he
missed the playoffs one year and did pretty well with what he had to work with. Also, stop dumping on the teachers pension fund - they have nothing to do with the daily business of running this team. Lay the blame where it belongs with coaching and management. Remember the old saying, you can't make a silk purse out of a pigs ear.
They simply don't have the talent, Finger and Exelby have to go and some real defensemen have to be found for starters and then some support for the few good players that they have. Complaining that Stajan is not a first line centre is stupid because there is no first line centre and in the absence of one, he is not doing too bad.

[Jon]

Did Ron Wilson hurt your feelings Damien? Maybe Burke can hire you and you'll finally be able to show us your hockey mind in action. Your not unlike some parents who criticize the actions of a volunteer coach while they themselves won't sacrifice a moment of their own time.

Climb down from your soap box before you fall off and hurt yourself.

[Stephen B]

I suppose a spat is acceptable, but please don't let this turn into a feud. You are much more interesting when you write about hockey.

[Barts]

pathetic. blaming the media for the leafs woes! what a joke. big time teams in big time cities find a way to get the job done despite the media pressure.

new york, chicago, LA, boston all have comparable media hype for their local pro teams and teams still find a way to win championships in those cities.

cox and bobcat are media treasures that at least entertain at a time when the athletes struggle to do so. negative spin is more entertaining than kissing ass and mlse makes it real easy for these guys to entertain.

[bjensendenver]

From afar it appears that Wilson isn't a fit for Toronto and all the pressure of being the head coach, which isn't a slam on his coaching abilities. The Leafs need a coach that accepts the situation for what it is and appreciates being in the role. Wilson appears to be out of place.

[Sunny]

Cory Smith:

Even though I don't necessarily agree with his comment, why the nasty personal remarks about Down Goes Brown? His comment wasn't rude or attacking Mr. Cox, he calmly disagreed. I'm not a blogger myself, but the whole "writing out of the basement" thing is uncalled for, & not just b/c it is a worn-out cliché. Mr. Cox's piece was actually a blog post itself, and as far as the anonymous nature of blogging, you could say virtually the exact same thing about posting a comment on a newspaper website.

Like I said, I don’t have a blog & I've never been involved in the whole 'blogger vs traditional media debate'. (And I don't know DGB either!) Instead of pointing out legitimate reasons his comment was incorrect you just took a few personal shots at him. Hmm, diverting attention from the real topic by bringing up an irrelevant issue...now who does that remind me of... ;-)

[Eric]

CLAP CLAP CLAP

well said

[Rick Baldesarra]

Grandizar....you have alot to learn about the game of hockey and about the tradition of a once proud and very successful hockey organization. Conn Smythe would not have tolerated the now common losing trend....43 years of losing and counting. The only time these Leafs had a chance at playing for the Stanley Cup were in 78 and 93/94. For the other 40 years it has been abysmal. You have no clue about the past of a once proud Leaf organization operated by winners. These bozos now only care about one thing...the bottom line. But the attendance will start to fade...a good example was the recent Florida game...hardly anybody in the seats. When it starts to hurt them in the pocketbook, then we MIGHT start to see some improvement. But until then, we will be fed MEDIOCRITY. Hopefully by then we will have another hockey team in the GTA and then I don't have to read such ignorant comments like yours "Grandizar"!!!!!

[Dave]

I'm really, really tired of all the excuses. Fact is, this team has no real chance of succeeding. The simple reason is that these players have no personal pride, or work ethic. Competition at this level of sport cannot be coached, or bought with multi million dollar contracts. You either have the "true grit", i.e., testosterone, pugnacity, truculence and tenasity that Burke values so highly, or you don't. The current cast of Leafs didn't have it before Burke and they aren't going to develop it. They appear to be perfectly happy playing the illusion of professionals by saying the right things and then continuing to float through the season. Wilson doesn't help at all. I've never seen anyone respond well to a constant diet of criticism. The answer.....there is none. This franchise has peddled mediocre hockey for big profit for over forty years and the fans continue to fill the arena and pay top dollar to witness it. Why change such a lucritive investment return.

[Steve]

Jeez what a bunch of whiners! Cox and everyone else who left a comment. This team is in rebuild mode. It will take a few seasons and the improvements will come bit by bit.
Relax, have some patience, and get over yourselves.

[Badge]

Cox...ok, I rarely agree with you but I did always accept that you are a relatively intelligent individual. Which makes me ask, when did you get so stupid.

Wilson was waiving his Canadian passport when he got here because when he was hired, the BIGGEST angle on the story was that the LEAFS hired and AMERICAN coach. EE GADS said the media, blasphemy! Morons.

Now, being the head coach of team USA for he Olympics, if Wilson were to put forth anything other than complete and wholehearted support for the American JRs he would instantly lose the room at the Olympics. Seriously Cox, I know you are not this dumb.

Has it really been that long since anyone was at a hockey practice? Newsflash - Practise is WORK. That is where you teach and discipline your team. Yes, that sometime requires yelling. Ripping the team at practice is NOT ripping them in PUBLIC.

Oh, and for all of you calling for Wilson to be fired - this team sucks. You do;t fire your coach when you have exactly ONE first line player among all your forwards. They are losing because they are not very good. Period. The wins they do put together are exactly what Wilson says they are - complete 60 minute efforts where nobody makes mistakes and they get exceptional goaltending. And yes, for those who are slow, that means good coaching.

[Badge]

Good coaching can make a bad play well and the coach should be praised.

Bad coaching can cause a good team to play poorly and the coach should be fired.

Neither is the case with the Leafs. When a bad team lacking in elite talent plays badly, or inconsistanly, it is not bad coaching. They are a weak team.

That said, there are really only 2 players that need to be added to make them a much better team. Leafs currently have 1/3 of a 1st line. Adding 2 more elite players and widdling the rest of the roster to make room will dramatically impove this team. Beyond Kessel, there is no consistent scoring threat, which makes checking the Leafs a very easy task. Before Kessel, the Leafs knew they had no one to lean on for offence, so they all worked harder. Now, they look to him for all the offence - problem is, so does the opposition. Kessel will not break out again until another scoring threat emerges.

[Terrible Ted]

We just don't understand what a brilliant hockey mind Ron Wilson has. I mean he is so brilliant he has Richard Wallin centring their franchise player. The guy has 3 assists this season. Watch and see. Wallin will score his first goal of the season some time in the next month and we will all see for ourselves the genius that is Ron 'Uncle Sam' Wilson. Further to his American flag waving when he was asked what his best moment in hockey was, he responded that it was winning the World Cup as coach of Team USA in Montreal in 1996. He then said as he smirked at the camera he was looking forward to doing it again this year in Vancouver at the Olympics. I don't begrudge the memory, just the obvious taunting. It just shows the type of person he is. Sarcastic and self centred.

[dissonant duality disposition]

Ron Wilson explained on am640 that he was frustrated, he lost it and understandably went off on his team and in particular Kessel. He retracted the 'media shouldn't watch' part of his tirade. He is a professional hockey coach and he is allowed to rip into his team a bit or a lot if they are not performing and this team is, for the most part, not. He should be allowed to use, or try to use, the media to the teams advantage. Journalists are legally entitled stalker storytellers that aren't legally bound to speak truth or even try to. You should be thankful when you have a person who delivers ready to serve hyperbole for you. He's very good at it. This is 'story' is easy and lazy and a non-event is being blown way out of proportion and focus. Again. Go Leafs.

[Long time leafs fan]

The leafs will never succeed until the NHL does not need them to support Ottawa and the American based teams. Does it do the league any good if the leafs make the playoffs and the teams that need the fans and the money to sit on the sidelines --- no way. The league needs the leafs money and can't afford them to have any success on the ice. Take a look back 5 yrs to the Bruins , the Hawks and many more teams whose attendance was down 25% if they didn't win. Look at the Wings ,if they don't win their attendance will drop off the planet. You can't tell me that the NHL doesn't favor some teams over others. Look back to the sixties when Montreal was allowed to take the top two players from Quebec because they were termed cultural picks. What would have happened if the Leafs could grab the best two players from Ontario every year. Why was Montreal a special case---? ask the NHL.Take a look at the schedules the NHL sets up. Some teams are forced to play nearly double the back to back games as others. Last year Montreal played 11, Columbus 19 , the Devils 12, this has gone on for years with no balance from one year to the next. This is one way the NHL awards certain teams a couple extra points a year. The NHL picks the teams it needs to win and always will. We need a Canadian League, or we will never see the great young superstars play on Canadian Teams or will we ever see a Canadian Team win the cup because the Edmonton Oilers spoiled it for all of the Canadian teams by winning more than their allotted share of cups .Until we have a Canadian league where there is some honesty and fairness we will always support the American Teams one way or another.

[Matt B]

Angleo wrote (about 10 comments above): "How many Stanley Cups have you won, Damien?"

The same amount as Wilson: Zero.

This is Damien's job. If you don't want someone writing with confidence and an opinion, don't read him.

[david998]

In my opinion Burke is absolutely the wrong guy to be GM here.
He is driven by ego and that ego demands that his team makes the playoffs.
Last year the leafs were in contention for a high draft pick..maybe even tavares.
Now you can't tell your team to tank..you can't tell your coach to tank...that would be a problem for any organization.
But when toskala got hurt that meant Joseph and Pogge were your goalies...and that team would almost certainly have lost more games than they did...because burke and his ego wanted to make the playoffs..so he brought in gerber who played well enough to win them a few games and ruin their draft prospects.
That should tell you all you need to know about Brian Burke.
Nuts!!

[John Traficante]

Ron Wilson's rants are the only thing that keeps a dull season interesting. Cox count your blessings that you have something to keep you motivated.

[Don777]

Damien: I have said it other places but it bears repeating. Wilson is in the process of destroying both Schenn and Kessel. He will not give them what they need to bring out the best in them.
Schenn needs seasoning in the AHL and will become a top-notch defenceman - not a Bill Gadsby or Doug Harvey but a good defenceman; Kessel needs what he had in Boston, wingers who can get the puck to him in the slot.
Both are being hung-out-to-dry at present by an inept coach.

[John Mullrooney]

Wilson's comments on the media we hardly "lashing out". Cox should be the last person to label one a flip flopper. He flip flops more than anyone

[Jack Carnahan]

FIRE DAMIEN COX. I have read nothing but NEGATIVE comments. My father used to say, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything!"

I get so sick of all his leaf bashing.

Damien, YOU'RE the reason I cancelled my star subscription.

I can't imagine why anyone would PAY to hear your b.s.

[Tabber]

Hey Jack, looks like you were a disappointment to your father. And you and your ilk, sir, are the reasons I seldom read the comments, the exceptions being when I need a laugh at the expense of the self-proclaimed experts. Keep it up boys, keep proving just how incredibly stupid the human race can be - this ain't just you, Jack, but a whole slew of your fellow know-nothing wastes of flesh. The planet is over-populated as it is, so do a favour to those of us with a clue - OFF YOURSELVES! Now post this, Star - but you won't, you don't have the guts. Damien, keep up the good work, and ignore the ignoramuses.