I think it's perfectly fair to compare Coach Whitehead to Coach Walsh, but
it has to be with regards to his record and achievements. To imply that one
coach is better because he yelled more isn't a fair comparison. That's all
I was trying to say.
But, you're absolutely right. Until Whitehead wins 2 titles, he and every
other coach on that bench will be compared to Coach Walsh, and that's only
right. It would be an honor to be in the same sentence as Coach Walsh. I'm
just saying, every year we have the same "He doesn't yell as much as Shawn
Walsh" comparison. It's always that same line that comes out that drives me
crazy. The way Jim stated it (and again, I don't mean to point out Jim, but
I don't have the time to find the old posts from previous years) is the same
as it always is. "He doesn't yell as much...not that he needs to...but..."
Well, if he doesn't need to yell as much, why constantly point out the fact
that he doesn't?
I think the fact that the teams tend to always have a slide during the
season is a problem that needs to be addressed. I think that comparing him
to the best hockey coach to ever set foot at this school is completely fair,
especially when you were hand picked by said coach to essentially be his
successor. But, I'm just asking if we can let go of the comparisons of how
they coach. You're almost never going to find 2 coaches with the exact same
approach and philosophy. We can expect Coach Whitehead to deliver the
results we demand as a top-tier school, but I don't think we should expect
him to do it the exact same way that Shawn Walsh did.
-----Original Message-----
From: The Maine Hockey Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Deron Treadwell
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2005 10:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Is Maine too distracted?
I think the reason the comparison with Shawn Walsh comes up every year is
because he was a tremendous coach and that will be the standard that Tim
Whitehead and every other coach (for the forseeable future) will be held to
(and should be held to) in Orono.
Whether that is fair or not is a different debate, but until Tim wins two
national titles and garners the kind of respect and admiration from his
players (past and present) that Walsh did, he will not be in the same class.
Do you think the next coach of Duke will not be constantly compared and
contrasted with Coach K? C'mon.. it will become sport in N.C.
We seem to be constantly lowering our expectations for this team and this
program. Shawn Walsh set the bar high and we should continue to strive to
reach those same lofty goals. When Maine doesn't play with passion and
can't seem to "get up" to play that deserves to be commented on and must be
corrected.
-Deron
P.S. - Our (un)motivated Black Bears dropped another one tonight, 4-2 to
Providence that by the account I heard on the radio sounded pretty darn
ugly.
--- Original Message ---
From: "Adam Parker" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2005 9:51 PM
Subject: Re: Is Maine too distracted?
>I would say this: It comes down to motivating the team. Some coaches
>motivate by being vocal on the bench, yelling during the games, etc.
>But, I think the fact that one coach yells and the other doesn't is
>completely irrelevant. Mike Krzyzewski is a fantastic college
>basketball coach, and he rarely yells while he's on the court
>coaching a game. He tries to coach and motivate the kids in other
>ways, and he's successful. On the other hand, Bob Knight is another
>very successful college basketball coach. Like him or hate him, he
>yells, motivates his kids that way and gets results. Two different
>philosophies, two great coaches. Sometimes, one coach would have to
>use different strategies to motivate different players/teams.
>
> Also, I think we can all agree that it's frustrating to see a team
> with so much talent go through what seems to be the same funk every
> year. They always hit a stretch where they seem to play slow and sloppy
hockey.
> They'll lose a few games they probably shouldn't and it hurts them
> later in the year (lower seeds, lots of travel, etc.). However, it's
> not like this team has been at the bottom of the division. It's not
> like we consistently have to struggle to be above .500 for the season,
> or fight to make the HE & NCAA tournaments. We've been a top-tier
> program for years, and we expect the best. Even the best teams have
> growing pains for one reason or another.
> This year, we have a pretty young team, and I'm sure the growing pains
> will be tougher than years past. We just have to continue to cheer
> for and support our team.
>
> And, I know that I can speak for at least a few other people on this
> list when I say this, but I'm tired of hearing the same comment year
> after year about the "yelling" and the difference between Coach
> Whitehead and Coach Walsh. They are different coaching styles, and
> even though he doesn't have a national title yet, Coach Whitehead
> helps this team win games. But, regardless of what he does, it seems
> that once a year for the past few years, the same type of comment
> comes out. "Shawn would be [insert action here, such as yelling,
> throwing things, etc.] but Tim doesn't do that.
> I'm
> not saying he should, but..." I'm not trying to point out anyone in
> particular or start a fight with anyone else on the list, but I just
> can't understand why we get the same comparison year after year. I'm
> sure that someone will say that "CoachWalsh's teams never had the same
> pattern of a mid-season slide..." or something to that effect. But,
> the bottom line is that they are different coaches, and they coached
> different teams. There is no way of knowing what Coach Walsh would do
> with the current team, or how successful he'd be. On the same lines,
> there is now way of knowing how great Coach Whitehead would have been
> with the '92-93 team or the '98-99 team. They can't be compared, and
> continuing to do so doesn't make sense to me.
>
> Adam Parker - Class of 2003
> Section U Season Ticket Holder
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