Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporterMar 6, 2024, 07:50 AM ET
CloseRyan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.
Lindy Ruff is no longer the coach of the New Jersey Devils, becoming the seventh NHL head coach to be fired during the 2023-24 season.
He is also the latest example that being behind an NHL bench might be the most disposable position in all of sports. In the last five years, there have been 25 head coaches who have been fired during the NHL season.
How does that compare to other sports? Major League Baseball, the NBA and the NFL have had a total of 32 in-season coaching/managerial changes combined in that same amount of time, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. The NFL has had the most with 13. The NBA is second with 10 while Major League Baseball has had nine.
“Actually, I thought the number would have been a little bit higher to be honest with you,” former Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “I know it’s been a lot in the last 16-to-18 months. It’s a lot. But, it happens.”
Several items have been attributed as to why NHL organizations burn through head coaches at a rate that’s rapidly higher compared to its MLB, NBA and NFL counterparts.
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Each situation has its nuances. The common denominator that nearly every in-season coaching change shares is management has reached a breaking point. The seven teams that have fired coaches this season all entered the season with playoff aspirations ranging from a preseason Stanley Cup front runner in the Edmonton Oilers to a team such as the Ottawa Senators that had one of the more active offseasons in the league.
That eventual point of separation came either because of a slow start or a team was going through a free fall. Getting off to a poor start is what prompted the Oilers to make a change by mid-November after losing 10 of their first 12 games. The Senators did the same after losing five of six games in mid-December for an 11-15 start that saw them gradually fall out of…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39659120/nhl-coaches-fired-more-nfl-nba-mlb
Author : Ryan S. Clark
Publish date : 2024-03-06 13:28:48
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