Canning first-year coaches
Ottawa coach Craig Hartsburg, fired last week as the Senators continued their puzzling slide in his first season, has two additional full seasons on his contract.
I don’t feel sorry for the guy.
But when a general manager wants to fire a coach that early in his tenure, the question from the owner or CEO should be: “Well, doesn’t that make the man who hired him a fool? Either stand behind the guy or quit, too.”
Senators general manager Bryan Murray has been a part of two firings since he stepped upstairs after coaching Ottawa to the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.
At some point, and everyone seems to get this in Ottawa, the buck stops in the GM’s office.
In Denver, the same principles apply.
Tony Granato got a second crack at the head coaching position in part because his optimistic view of the organizational talent and how the Avalanche should play jibed with what GM Francois Giguere wanted to hear.
In that sense, he hitched himself to Giguere. The Avalanche GM decided to hire Granato then, instead of waiting until after the Stanley Cup Finals to talk directly with Detroit assistant Todd McLellan, who (when I asked) had been forthright enough to admit that, sure, he’d be interested in the job.
That’s always been my beef with the Granato hiring — that refusal to wait — and not the choice itself. McLellan almost certainly would have chosen San Jose over Colorado, given the talent levels, but it wouldn’t have hurt to try.
The point now?
We can debate the quality of the job Granato has done this season — I happen to believe that under the circumstances, it has been solid — but if Giguere is tempted to deflect heat coming from above to make Granato the scapegoat, that wouldn’t be very honorable.
My feeling is that Giguere understands that, and it’s one reason you’re not hearing much of the often self-fulfilling speculation about whether Granato is “in trouble.”
Terry Frei, The Denver Post
