Good coaching is an essential factor in the success of any great team. While the team’s talent may already be present, the coach’s job is to help the players establish chemistry and buy into the system. With the right coach, a good NHL team can become great.
Conversely, a great team can become mediocre with a coach who pushes all the wrong buttons. This can impact a player’s effectiveness in mediocracy and even ruin what they were once known for.
Here are 10 Terrible NHL Coaches who DESTROYED a player’s career.
Which of these 10 NHL coaches gave their players a hard time on the ice?
Teemu Selanne and Bruce Boudreau
While Teemu Selanne was on the Anaheim Ducks and nearing the end of his career, he wasn’t himself back with the Ducks when he was first drafted but still a guy who could put up over 25 goals a season but coach at the time Bruce Boudreau disagreed.
Selanne released a book a couple of years ago that reviewed his career and made clear statements about his former coach and coaching style. He saw a career low in ice time, which amounted to lower season production totals.
Jeff Skinner and Ralph Kruger
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NHL stories via Google! Follow Us
Coming off the best streak point of his career with the Carolina Hurricanes and signing a new $72 million contract with the Buffalo Sabres, Skinner was ready to make significant strides in his second year with the Sabres, but Head Coach Ralph Kruger had other ideas.
He slapped Skinner right to the fourth line for the next two years, and it all went downhill from there, ruining his confidence. Showing flashes of what he once was with this new age of Sabres still took a lot out of Skinner’s career.
Greg Koehler and Paul Maurice
December 29th, 2000, was Greg Koehler’s first and last shift as an NHL hockey player. In four seconds of getting on the ice, Paul Maurice called him back when the opponents were called for a penalty, and he wasn’t on the powerplay team.
After numerous games, losses, and wins, coach Maurice never allowed Koehler to see the ice every game, as that was his only game to this day in the NHL, and he would play in the AHL and the UHL until 2007.
Patrick Marleau and Mike Babcock
An all-time San Jose Sharks player nearing the end of his career sets new eyes on a young, promising Toronto Maple Leafs roster hoping to bring veteran leadership and compete to help the team grow —except their coach is Mike Babcock.
Overplayed Marleau, who was rounding 40, never utilized his skills with growing stars like Auston Matthews. He never saw the light of day with Mitch Marner, as he was always in Babcock’s dog house, further tainted his legacy with even less playoff success.
Patrick Roy and Mario Tremblay
While Roy went on to finish his career as arguably one of the greatest goaltenders of all time, if we are talking careers, technically, Mario Tremblay did destroy Roy’s career with the Montreal Canadiens.
The situation was so bad that it became a topic of discussion throughout the league. Eventually, four days later, the Canadiens traded Roy and captain Mike Keane to the Colorado Avalanche.
Mike Commodore and Mike Babcock
Commodore’s side of the feud starts when he claims that Babcock refused to play him in favor of someone else during his time in the AHL. Nine years later, when Commodore signed in Detroit, the situation worsened.
Babcock only played him in two games over the first three months of the season before GM Ken Holland traded him to Tampa. The NHL coach’s effect on Commodore led to him moving to multiple teams while decreasing his ice time and production, which saw his last season in the NHL in the 2011-12 season.
Ebbie Goodfellow and The Chicago Blackhawks
Ebbie Goodfellow is often considered one of the worst coaches in the Chicago Blackhawks’ history and unquestionably deserves a spot on this list. During his playing career, he played for the Detroit Red Wings.
However, his coaching role in Chicago indicates his willingness to help his former team by coaching their rivals. He coached the Chicago team for two seasons, winning only 30 games. He lost 91 games and tied 19, resulting in a .282 winning percentage.
Akin Aliu and Bill Peters
Akim Aliu accused Bill Peters of using racial slurs towards him during their time together on the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs, sparking a conversation on racism in hockey that continues today.
Aliu’s accusations against Peters led to an internal investigation by the NHL and Peters’ resignation. This event empowered other former NHL players to speak out about their own experiences of abuse by their coaches.
Tobias Rieder and Ken Hitchcock
Ken Hitchcock is often criticized for being an old-school coach who motivates players by using humiliation and anger as tools. He is known for openly reprimanding players for their mistakes on the ice, and he doesn’t shy away from doing it within earshot of other players. The idea is that the reprimand will incite anger and motivate the players to perform better.
It didn’t particularly work for Tobias Rieder when he was coaching the Edmonton Oilers, as he once scored ten-plus goals and finished over 30 points. Still, that year saw Rieder’s lowest production, finishing with 11 points, all coming from assists. He saw his game change and retire just three years later.
Grant Ledyard and Mike Keenan
Mike Keenan was a screamer who thought nothing of singling out one of his players for a personal attack, just to let the team know how upset he was with how the team was performing and thought it was good enough “coaching.”
With permission from the team, defenceman Ledyard went to Dallas to be with his wife, who was undergoing cancer treatments. However, Keenan cleaned Ledyard’s locker room stall and told the players that Ledyard had “abandoned them.” Further, being on a new team each season for the next six seasons before retiring.
