Well, the “protest” is over. As Allison said a lot has been written and visit the blogs to review all the points both for and against. My only thought is “6 months ago, Scott Howson was thought to be great after pulling off deals that apparently filled the Blue Jackets needs with only a questionable issue of a goalie” Now is it fire him and Mike Priest and blow up the present team. Lost in all this, is something Claude Noel said,
In discussing his interview for the Columbus permanent coaching position, Noel said, more or less. ” I said I understood the situation in Columbus and could get it under control. ” They disagreed with this and I was not given the position”. Now, Claude is talking like he knew the root cause of the Blue Jacket problems. The statements of “understood , get it under control, and disagreed” are a little ambiguous. But Mr Noel is talking like there is an underlying problem which he identified and that underlying problem was not accepted as the underlying issue and was not agreed with.
There is no question that Claude was an “insider” for about 4 years. If anyone has an idea as to any Blue Jacket “core” issues, it is him. He obviously recognizes that it is not his place to name names or point fingers, but I wonder what might have been different if he had been hired as head coach of the Blue Jackets. I would be incredulous if a “core” issue was 1 or several players. It would seem that if that were the case, then Rick Nash would be the prime suspect. But the biggest fault I see with Rick Nash is that sometimes players want to pass to him rather than take their own shot. And, Rick Nash does not play defense or goal. Which seem to be where a majority of the problems lie.
Maybe the core issue Claude Noel was talking about was the philosophy of the Blue Jackets. The Jackets seem to have been built on a #1 forwards, #2, #3 goalie and defense. Nashville has been semi successful by building #1 goalie, #2 defense and #3 forwards. It seems Philadelphia things similarly or they would not have traded Jeff Carter + to take on a goalie with a great record. But on the other hand, Chicago is shakier in their goalie and strong on forwards and semi strong on defense. Vancover would seem to be #1 forwards, 1A goalie and #3 defense.
Having said all that, it would seem like a winning philosophy might have to be flexible and depending upon the existing talent, and the available talent a winning team can be built. To some degree I still feel the Herb Brooks philosophy of the best team is not necessary composed of the best players must be considered. Is synergy what Claude Noel had in mind?
From everything I have read of Claude Noel’s quotes, I suspect that the chemistry/synergy issue is a lot closer to his meaning than talent. We may never know what was intended as the players are different, the talents are different, and I’m sure the relation ships are different. But looking in the rear view mirror as we as fans have the ability and lack of accountability to do, did we miss some “JOY”?