[Report] Canucks name Mike Yeo, Trent Cull as assistant coaches; name Jeremy Colliton as Abbotsford head coach

[secksii]

Huge loss about Shaw. 

 

Cull finally has good players to work with, I don't know why many of you guys blame him for not producing a superstar when he's given the ceiling of bottom 6 nhl players to work with. If he was constantly given high potential guys to develop like virtanen, gaudette, Hoglander etc. And failed them as nhlers then I'd agree he needs to go. However any players with huge potential was rushed into the NHL and didn't spend much time in the AHL when they should've. The players and fo clearly sees Cull is doing something that we do not see. 

Players like dahlen that was not willing to put the work in to play the right way, is exactly what he is today. A liability winger that can have a hot streak due to talent, but cost the team games.  

 

 

[DS4quality]

Wasn't Jeremy Colliton a mess in Chicago.  He didn't actually employ a strategy and would ask players for advice? 

[Rabbit]

Sorry to hear loss of Shaw, best wishes for his future success.

Yeo's record is not bad, hoping he could help BB.

[davidgoliath]

Yeo in the video = inarticulate  doofus. Not what we need. Depressing.

Edited July 2, 2022 by davidgoliath

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

52 minutes ago, DS4quality said:

Wasn't Jeremy Colliton a mess in Chicago.  He didn't actually employ a strategy and would ask players for advice? 

I’m certainly not an expert on his coaching history, but from what I’ve gathered from reading and listening today, here’s my take:

First sentence, you can probably insert any name and you’d have had the same result. Chicago was a mess. Colliton certainly didn’t succeed there, but I’m not sure how much you can blame the coach (even if the coach usually takes the blame for on-ice failures).

 

Second sentence, the first part isn’t true, but the second part is.
 

He definitely did talk openly to the players and ask for their input. He was also the same age (or younger, in a case or two) than some of the guys he was coaching, so that type of “peer” dynamic probably made sense, especially with the higher profile players.

 

As for strategy and systems, while what Colliton was trying to accomplish had mixed results, I’d say there was more criticism that he was trying to change too much, and was over complicating things, rather than him being an “empty vessel” with no plan. Players reported spending hours more time on video sessions and coaching meetings than they’d ever done with Coach Q, and some apparently felt Colliton was trying to “reinvent the wheel” and doing too much to change the way the team played.

 

There was also criticism that Colliton was too confident in his own methods and failed to shift course and make adjustments, when things weren’t working. He chose instead to stick to his guns and believed his strategies and systems would eventually prove correct and yield the desired results. Whether he was wrong on this, or was right, but ran out of time, is anyone’s guess. Certainly some of the players backed him to the end (including Kane, most notably, IIRC) and he did find success developing a number of the younger players.

Edited July 2, 2022 by SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

[48MPHSlapShot]

38 minutes ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

There was also criticism that Colliton was too confident in his own methods and failed to shift course and make adjustments, when things weren’t working. He chose instead to stick to his guns and believed his strategies and systems would eventually prove correct and yield the desired results.

Geez, that sounds familiar 

[davidgoliath]

When it comes to coaching I realize that various styles can be successful but I look at a gold standard of Bednar, Cooper and aTrotz. If these guys don’t have that intelligent approach then I am not interested. Seeing Mike Yeo ranting like an out of control toddler on the video does not infuse me with confidence. Trent Cull - meh. I really want to be enthusiastic but these appointments are bumming me out (unless we are on the Bedard train).

[Coconuts]

Dunno about this coaching group, particularly once Boudreau is gone. Hopefully this isn't a they're set on grooming someone thing and they'll consider all their options when Boudreau eventually moves on or retires. 

[PetterssonOrPeterson]

I always thought Yeo had a very punchable face when he coached other teams. 

 

Now that punchable face will be behind our bench. 

 

He's an assistant coach so whatever. Cull? Meh. He's just a little worse version of a TG for me in terms of AHL coaching status. 

Would've been nice if Bowness came back as an assistant. Although he's sort of redeemed himself to the head coaching level now.

I'm sad to see Shaw go. The defensive issues were on Baumgartner and Green and got a lot better once they left. 

 

Overall not really excited to see these hires. 

 

This offseason was a gold mine for some solid available coaches. Cassidy, Brunette, Maurice...etc.

I love Bruce and am elated he is coming back but I hope this isn't a missed opportunity because the stars didn't align for our team.

 

Father time remains undefeated and who knows how long he has left in him. I also DO NOT want to see Yeo being the big guy behind the bench. 

 

[PetterssonOrPeterson]

11 hours ago, AV. said:

List of Brad Shaw accomplishments in Vancouver
- recommended the former regime pay 4 x 2M for a 6th defenceman
- did absolutely nothing tangible to fix the defensive structure

Safe to say, we're probably better off with this separation.

Welcome to the new guys, I guess.

huh?

[Jaimito]

9 hours ago, grandmaster said:

Glad Shaw is leaving. His hype was ridiculous. Our defence was piss poor. Also like Yeo. He is experienced and has won a Cup

Didn't know that. Had to look it up.  

 

 

[Jaimito]

11 hours ago, North Kariya said:

 

Between him and Bruce, who is going to drop more F bombs? 

[Dazzle]

5 hours ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

I’m certainly not an expert on his coaching history, but from what I’ve gathered from reading and listening today, here’s my take:

First sentence, you can probably insert any name and you’d have had the same result. Chicago was a mess. Colliton certainly didn’t succeed there, but I’m not sure how much you can blame the coach (even if the coach usually takes the blame for on-ice failures).

 

Second sentence, the first part isn’t true, but the second part is.
 

He definitely did talk openly to the players and ask for their input. He was also the same age (or younger, in a case or two) than some of the guys he was coaching, so that type of “peer” dynamic probably made sense, especially with the higher profile players.

 

As for strategy and systems, while what Colliton was trying to accomplish had mixed results, I’d say there was more criticism that he was trying to change too much, and was over complicating things, rather than him being an “empty vessel” with no plan. Players reported spending hours more time on video sessions and coaching meetings than they’d ever done with Coach Q, and some apparently felt Colliton was trying to “reinvent the wheel” and doing too much to change the way the team played.

 

There was also criticism that Colliton was too confident in his own methods and failed to shift course and make adjustments, when things weren’t working. He chose instead to stick to his guns and believed his strategies and systems would eventually prove correct and yield the desired results. Whether he was wrong on this, or was right, but ran out of time, is anyone’s guess. Certainly some of the players backed him to the end (including Kane, most notably, IIRC) and he did find success developing a number of the younger players.

Overall, this is an interesting perspective to Colliton. As for the bolded, this sounds too much like Green. Green was a coach that never truly adapted, regardless of the rosters he was given.

[Jaimito]

3 hours ago, Muttley said:

Hey!  To the two dudes that gave me sicky face responses. Listen to what Jack Rathbone had to say about Trent Cull. / There's a few spots but the the one at 7:30 min.

 

 

This article may shed some light on why too... https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/canucks-coaching-staff-changes

Lot of connections.   Looks like they will work well as a team. 

 

"Yeo was head coach of the Minnesota Wild from 2011-12 to midway through the 2015-16 season, he was eventually replaced by current Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau, who was hired the following summer.

 

Boudreau said that Yeo stayed in the Twin Cities after he was fired by the Wild and so the two coaches would run into each other at community events. From there, a friendship developed."

 

"Boudreau pointed out Cull had been teammates with Yeo in their playing days in Houston."

[Jaimito]

[Canucks Central] Emergency Podcast: Boeser re-signs, Canucks make coaching changes on Canada Day #canucksCentral 

https://podcastaddict.com/episode/141931875 

 

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

58 minutes ago, Dazzle said:

Overall, this is an interesting perspective to Colliton. As for the bolded, this sounds too much like Green. Green was a coach that never truly adapted, regardless of the rosters he was given.

Yeah, I had the same feeling, when it comes to echoes of Green.

 

Although tbh, I still think Green is a good coach. A flawed one who ran well past his “best before” date in Vancouver, but a good coach nonetheless, and one that I think we’ll eventually see back in the NHL, and finding success one day.

 

But I think probably both were guilty of having blind spots and not recognizing when something stopped working for the rosters they were coaching, regardless of whether the strategy was sound or not, on paper.
 

They were also guilty of playing favourites with their players.

 

None of which is surprising, really. All coaches do this, at least to some extent.
 

And all coaches eventually get fired.

 

Colliton’s biggest error, it seems, was his unwavering belief in moving the team to man-to-man, when Quenneville had used zone defence, and that’s where the players were comfortable. That’s a major shift and one that can have some real growing pains, especially if you don’t have the right personnel, or don’t get total buy-in and commitment. He apparently did adjust to more of a hybrid man-to-man defensive system, to his credit, but the Hawks still bled a lot of high danger chances, and their D-zone coverage never became anything close to a strength of their game, despite Colliton’s belief that the scheme would eventually pay off for them.

 

I don’t think any of this disqualifies him, especially for coaching in the AHL.
 

And often people learn the most valuable lessons of their careers (and lives) from their failures and they are better for it.

 

I also think he was just in a really tough spot, given the flawed roster and insufficient personnel he had to work with (particularly when it comes to the systems he wanted to use), the down cycle the Hawks were entering, the unclear messaging from management (like in Vancouver, Chicago seemed confused on whether they were rebuilding, retooling, or trying to win now), the overall taint of the Blackhawks sexual abuse scandal, the unique challenges of playing during the pandemic, and just coming in and replacing Quenneville, while being one of the youngest and least experienced head coaches in the NHL. 

 

But despite the failure in Chicago, I think this will likely prove to be a very good hire for Abby. I really like what I’ve read about Colliton, at least prior to some of the hatchet pieces in the Chicago press that came before and after his firing.

 

Articles like these give a good breakdown of what there is to like about Colliton:

 

https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/1646629

 

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/25619627/inside-jeremy-colliton-journey-become-chicago-blackhawks-head-coach?platform=amp
 

He seems like a very bright, hardworking, young coach who’s well acquainted with the direction the game is heading toward, in terms of modern strategies, systems, and approaches. He’s also proven successful (at least prior to the Blackhawks gig) at getting the most out of his rosters and helping you g and developing players reach their full potential.
 

Probably his promotion to the NHL was just a little too much too soon.
 

And it was definitely not the easiest landing spot for a first NHL head coaching gig.

 

Apparently, this is an Allvin hire, although one coming with Ryan Johnson’s blessing (and also RJ gets to see his guy, in Cull, moved up to the bigs). But word is that Allvin and Colliton have been talking for months, and that Allvin has been closely watching Colliton, and impressed by him, since the days he was coaching in Sweden.

 

A lot has been made of the Mike Yeo assistant coach hire and how the brass might be plotting a replacement for Bruce, with Yeo stepping into the head coach role if and when Boudreau falters. But given how much Allvin seems to be invested in this hiring, I have to wonder if Colliton is possibly even being groomed for a more long term plan, where the AHL coach eventually gets moved up, assuming he proves himself in Abby?

 

We’ll see…

[tas]

1 hour ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

Yeah, I had the same feeling, when it comes to echoes of Green.

 

Although tbh, I still think Green is a good coach. A flawed one who ran well past his “best before” date in Vancouver, but a good coach nonetheless, and one that I think we’ll eventually see back in the NHL, and finding success one day.

 

But I think probably both were guilty of having blind spots and not recognizing when something stopped working for the rosters they were coaching, regardless of whether the strategy was sound or not, on paper.
 

They were also guilty of playing favourites with their players.

 

None of which is surprising, really. All coaches do this, at least to some extent.
 

And all coaches eventually get fired.

 

Colliton’s biggest error, it seems, was his unwavering belief in moving the team to man-to-man, when Quenneville had used zone defence, and that’s where the players were comfortable. That’s a major shift and one that can have some real growing pains, especially if you don’t have the right personnel, or don’t get total buy-in and commitment. He apparently did adjust to more of a hybrid man-to-man defensive system, to his credit, but the Hawks still bled a lot of high danger chances, and their D-zone coverage never became anything close to a strength of their game, despite Colliton’s belief that the scheme would eventually pay off for them.

 

I don’t think any of this disqualifies him, especially for coaching in the AHL.
 

And often people learn the most valuable lessons of their careers (and lives) from their failures and they are better for it.

 

I also think he was just in a really tough spot, given the flawed roster and insufficient personnel he had to work with (particularly when it comes to the systems he wanted to use), the down cycle the Hawks were entering, the unclear messaging from management (like in Vancouver, Chicago seemed confused on whether they were rebuilding, retooling, or trying to win now), the overall taint of the Blackhawks sexual abuse scandal, the unique challenges of playing during the pandemic, and just coming in and replacing Quenneville, while being one of the youngest and least experienced head coaches in the NHL. 

 

But despite the failure in Chicago, I think this will likely prove to be a very good hire for Abby. I really like what I’ve read about Colliton, at least prior to some of the hatchet pieces in the Chicago press that came before and after his firing.

 

Articles like these give a good breakdown of what there is to like about Colliton:

 

https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/1646629

 

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/25619627/inside-jeremy-colliton-journey-become-chicago-blackhawks-head-coach?platform=amp
 

He seems like a very bright, hardworking, young coach who’s well acquainted with the direction the game is heading toward, in terms of modern strategies, systems, and approaches. He’s also proven successful (at least prior to the Blackhawks gig) at getting the most out of his rosters and helping you g and developing players reach their full potential.
 

Probably his promotion to the NHL was just a little too much too soon.
 

And it was definitely not the easiest landing spot for a first NHL head coaching gig.

 

Apparently, this is an Allvin hire, although one coming with Ryan Johnson’s blessing (and also RJ gets to see his guy, in Cull, moved up to the bigs). But word is that Allvin and Colliton have been talking for months, and that Allvin has been closely watching Colliton, and impressed by him, since the days he was coaching in Sweden.

 

A lot has been made of the Mike Yeo assistant coach hire and how the brass might be plotting a replacement for Bruce, with Yeo stepping into the head coach role if and when Boudreau falters. But given how much Allvin seems to be invested in this hiring, I have to wonder if Colliton is possibly even being groomed for a more long term plan, where the AHL coach eventually gets moved up, assuming he proves himself in Abby?

 

We’ll see…

especially since, per imac, yeo was a boudreau guy and management needed to be convinced. 

[Ilya Mikheyev]

3 hours ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

Yeah, I had the same feeling, when it comes to echoes of Green.

 

Although tbh, I still think Green is a good coach. A flawed one who ran well past his “best before” date in Vancouver, but a good coach nonetheless, and one that I think we’ll eventually see back in the NHL, and finding success one day.

 

But I think probably both were guilty of having blind spots and not recognizing when something stopped working for the rosters they were coaching, regardless of whether the strategy was sound or not, on paper.
 

They were also guilty of playing favourites with their players.

 

None of which is surprising, really. All coaches do this, at least to some extent.
 

And all coaches eventually get fired.

 

Colliton’s biggest error, it seems, was his unwavering belief in moving the team to man-to-man, when Quenneville had used zone defence, and that’s where the players were comfortable. That’s a major shift and one that can have some real growing pains, especially if you don’t have the right personnel, or don’t get total buy-in and commitment. He apparently did adjust to more of a hybrid man-to-man defensive system, to his credit, but the Hawks still bled a lot of high danger chances, and their D-zone coverage never became anything close to a strength of their game, despite Colliton’s belief that the scheme would eventually pay off for them.

 

I don’t think any of this disqualifies him, especially for coaching in the AHL.
 

And often people learn the most valuable lessons of their careers (and lives) from their failures and they are better for it.

 

I also think he was just in a really tough spot, given the flawed roster and insufficient personnel he had to work with (particularly when it comes to the systems he wanted to use), the down cycle the Hawks were entering, the unclear messaging from management (like in Vancouver, Chicago seemed confused on whether they were rebuilding, retooling, or trying to win now), the overall taint of the Blackhawks sexual abuse scandal, the unique challenges of playing during the pandemic, and just coming in and replacing Quenneville, while being one of the youngest and least experienced head coaches in the NHL. 

 

But despite the failure in Chicago, I think this will likely prove to be a very good hire for Abby. I really like what I’ve read about Colliton, at least prior to some of the hatchet pieces in the Chicago press that came before and after his firing.

 

Articles like these give a good breakdown of what there is to like about Colliton:

 

https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/1646629

 

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/25619627/inside-jeremy-colliton-journey-become-chicago-blackhawks-head-coach?platform=amp
 

He seems like a very bright, hardworking, young coach who’s well acquainted with the direction the game is heading toward, in terms of modern strategies, systems, and approaches. He’s also proven successful (at least prior to the Blackhawks gig) at getting the most out of his rosters and helping you g and developing players reach their full potential.
 

Probably his promotion to the NHL was just a little too much too soon.
 

And it was definitely not the easiest landing spot for a first NHL head coaching gig.

 

Apparently, this is an Allvin hire, although one coming with Ryan Johnson’s blessing (and also RJ gets to see his guy, in Cull, moved up to the bigs). But word is that Allvin and Colliton have been talking for months, and that Allvin has been closely watching Colliton, and impressed by him, since the days he was coaching in Sweden.

 

A lot has been made of the Mike Yeo assistant coach hire and how the brass might be plotting a replacement for Bruce, with Yeo stepping into the head coach role if and when Boudreau falters. But given how much Allvin seems to be invested in this hiring, I have to wonder if Colliton is possibly even being groomed for a more long term plan, where the AHL coach eventually gets moved up, assuming he proves himself in Abby?

 

We’ll see…

Thanks for this and the links

 

I have a feeling no one is being explicitly 'groomed' to replace BB. I'm guessing Allvin will make that decision when the time is right, and for now is just trying to staff the team with good hockey people.

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

4 hours ago, Teemu Selänne said:

Thanks for this and the links

 

I have a feeling no one is being explicitly 'groomed' to replace BB. I'm guessing Allvin will make that decision when the time is right, and for now is just trying to staff the team with good hockey people.

Yeah, I agree. Possibly I stated that part poorly. I really don’t think management is looking to install replacements for Bruce or really itching to move on from him (at least to the extend some have speculated). There’s just been a lot of fan discussion and hand wringing to that effect. And when Yeo’s name started circulating, there were quite a few people here (and around Canucks fandom) who worried that he was being brought in as the eventual replacement.

 

I was more observing that, if we’re speculating about possible replacement candidates, within these new hirings, people shouldn’t sleep on Colliton, given how high Allvin appears to be on him. 
 

But these hires are, like you said, about staffing the team with good hockey people. Having people in-house who might be capable of stepping in, should Bruce retire or get fired, is just an added benefit. And prudent management, given that Boudreau is 67 years old and no spring chicken. However, Bruce still seems to have a lot of drive and energy, likes the city and team, and probably wants to see things through, bringing this team to contention. I’d imagine he has several years on the bench still left in the tank, assuming he continues to be successful coaching this group.

[Goal:thecup]

3 minutes ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

Yeah, I agree. Possibly I stated that part poorly. I really don’t think management is looking to install replacements for Bruce or really itching to move on from him (at least to the extend some have speculated). There’s just been a lot of fan discussion and hand wringing to that effect. And when Yeo’s name started circulating, there were quite a few people here (and around Canucks fandom) who worried that he was being brought in as the eventual replacement.

 

I was more observing that, if we’re speculating about possible replacement candidates, within these new hirings, people shouldn’t sleep on Colliton, given how high Allvin appears to be on him. 
 

But these hires are, like you said, about staffing the team with good hockey people. Having people in-house who might be capable of stepping in, should Bruce retire or get fired, is just an added benefit. And prudent management, given that Boudreau is 67 years old and no spring chicken. However, Bruce still seems to have a lot of drive and energy, likes the city and team, and probably wants to see things through, bringing this team to contention. I’d imagine he has several years on the bench still left in the tank, assuming he continues to be successful coaching this group.

I don't even want to contemplate losing Boudreau.

We finally have a coach who inspires the best out of the team.