Should Gretzky coach in 2010?

[MXHockey]

http://sports.sympatico.msn.cbc.ca/a...anada-olympics


My apologies in advance to the moderators for not doing the link thing.............................

Wondering what others think of Gretzky coaching Canada in 2010:

As you can see in my avatar and in the Greatest 5 Ever in my sig, I think Wayne is the greatest. He\'s not saying he should get the 2010 coaching job in the article, but thought I\'d post it for some discussion since he is likely to at least be considered.

Personally I\'m not sure if Gretz is a good fit to coach Team Canada. I think he needs to do more to prove himself as an elite coach. Considering Gretzky\'s status here in Canada, Stevie Y is going to be in tough to pick someone over Gretz if that\'s what he decides. Whatever happens, I do think Yzerman is a great choice to take on the lead management role.

Curious to hear what others think.

Cheers.

[mister_mcgoo]

call me crazy but when you have the best of the best on your team I think it leaves alot less to actually \'coach\' and alot more to inspire and lead by example. Gretz has been there himself MANY times, so has Stevie Y, I think they\'ll be fine. I mean think about it, when your 3rd/4th lines are better than most NHL team\'s 1st line how much pure coaching is involved?

[natgeo]

Thanks for posting this thread MolsonX. I have to admit, I\'m a little surprised at the reaction Gretzky\'s comments have received on sports programs and hockey forums. On TSN an article seemed to suggest Gretz was pushing for a consultant role to Team Canada, where he would recommend who should be named to the team. In this article the press seems to be suggesting he wants to be coach.

Here\'s my take: Gretzky is not expecting or pushing for either role. I think he still feels the disappointment of Canada losing in the 2006 games, and I\'ve had the impression he doesn\'t want to take responsibility for this again. I\'m guessing he would rather somebody else take the reigns this time around. However, there\'s probably a lot of people in the hockey world who are pressuring him to come back.

Bottom line is that I can\'t see Gretz putting any pressure on anyone to be a significant part of the Olympic Team. For that reason I can\'t see him named as coach, and even if he was asked, I would be surprised if he accepted. I think he would feel more comfortable this time in a smaller advisory role, which is probably the perfect place for him right now.

One a side note, I don\'t feel Gretz is to blame for Team Canada\'s failure in 2006. I think he tried to balance the team with both veterans and younger players because he realized just how much pressure can be put on a team during something as big as the Olympics. And a veteran presence can be really important in pressure cooker situations like that. In hindsight, an Eric Staal here or a Sidney Crosby there might have made some difference. But how much? Unfortunately, we\'ll never know.

But of course, it\'s easy to say that in hindsight. And it\'s always easier to lay blame than to accept blame.

[repenttokyo]

i can;t read anything in this thread, can the original poster please fix their link?

[mister_mcgoo]

natgeo wrote:

One a side note, I don\'t feel Gretz is to blame for Team Canada\'s failure in 2006. I think he tried to balance the team with both veterans and younger players because he realized just how much pressure can be put on a team during something as big as the Olympics. And a veteran presence can be really important in pressure cooker situations like that. In hindsight, an Eric Staal here or a Sidney Crosby there might have made some difference. But how much? Unfortunately, we\'ll never know.

But of course, it\'s easy to say that in hindsight. And it\'s always easier to lay blame than to accept blame.

agreed, and to be fair it wasn\'t solely his choice of players, it was a collective decision. The thing that struck me most about that team was how poorly they gelled for some reason, they never seemed to be on the same page. That and it seemed a poorly chosen team for international play, too many grinders, old timers, too much toughness and not enough speed and shiftiness. Pronger for one looked like he was standing still on that big ice as swedes and fins and russians cut around him almost effortlessly. I\'m hoping they learn from the mistakes they made last time round so they dont repeat them.

[The Comish]

At this point in time, there are better coaches out there. I love Gretzky, but he\'s not the best choice to coach the team. If he wants to be involved in choosing players, cool, he\'s likely to do as good a job as the next guy.