I was thinking about asking fellow BlueLiners who the worst team in the NHL is but that's too easy--just look at the standings (where did you go so wrong, Philly?). So I think it might be 'fun' to ask who the worst in each spot is over time, or until I get bored, or everyone else gets bored, of miring ourselves in mediocrity.
My nomination for worst coach is Gerard Gallant. There is plenty of young talent on the Blue Jackets but they consistently underperform. Their blueline really isn't so bad on paper; goaltending is an issue but Leclaire has a lot of potential, or so we're told. The fact that this team can't sustain a .500 record in spite of players like Nash, Federov, Svitov, Foote and Zherdev leads me to one conclusion--it's the coach's fault.
Worst NHL Coach
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batdad
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Marc Crawford...hands down now that Hitch is gone. Mike Kitchen sucks too.
Crawford blames the wrong people for his teams dying and will not address problems with stars and effort. Witness the fact that Brent Sopel is again in Marc's doghouse in LA, and he wanted Cloutier so bad he asked Lombardi to go get Danno. Sopel is his whipping boy. When Brent left Vancouver it was Mo. Whipped the Mo to death even though the man was and still is suffering from his hip injury. Mo was the only darn thing that kept Bert and Nazzy from being -1000 last season.
Sopel is not long as a King I am sure. Then he will get a chance to do something.
Cloutier? He will play forever in LA as long as Marc is there. What has Conroy done in LA this season? Norstrom? Blake? Oh must be Sopel's fault.
Kitchen has no chance. He can't reach the veterans and young Blues only play well in the AHL or when they go elsewhere.
Although, Mr Gallant is having a hard time reaching some guys: Carter, Brule, Modin and getting his message across so maybe you are correct there. But people used to say that about Tortorella and Trotz...now look at em.
Crawford blames the wrong people for his teams dying and will not address problems with stars and effort. Witness the fact that Brent Sopel is again in Marc's doghouse in LA, and he wanted Cloutier so bad he asked Lombardi to go get Danno. Sopel is his whipping boy. When Brent left Vancouver it was Mo. Whipped the Mo to death even though the man was and still is suffering from his hip injury. Mo was the only darn thing that kept Bert and Nazzy from being -1000 last season.
Sopel is not long as a King I am sure. Then he will get a chance to do something.
Cloutier? He will play forever in LA as long as Marc is there. What has Conroy done in LA this season? Norstrom? Blake? Oh must be Sopel's fault.
Kitchen has no chance. He can't reach the veterans and young Blues only play well in the AHL or when they go elsewhere.
Although, Mr Gallant is having a hard time reaching some guys: Carter, Brule, Modin and getting his message across so maybe you are correct there. But people used to say that about Tortorella and Trotz...now look at em.
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Minstrel
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Strangely enough afer our stretch of 6 coaches in 5 years "the moron behind the bench in Chicago" is not the automatic answer to this question! 
Kind of refreshing actually...
I do think that Crawford is having a classic bout of not learning from your past mistakes insisting on Cloutier in LA etc. Frolov was playing like an all-start last year and while picking it up recently looked like he'd slot in at third line duty on a good team. Hard to figure how the pieces aren't "adding up" better there.
Doing the least with the most is definitely Gallant though; especially with this year's additions. Granted, they do have a young goalie who is training on job but they should be more competetive than they've proven to be with that roster.
The most baffling to me though is Ottawa so I have to add Murray to the mix as well; no way that roster should lose five freakin games in a row and they've been giving away leads like it's the new cool thing to do as well.
While I respect Trotz and dig that Nashville stuck with him when they should have while otehr teams may have pulled the trigger I seriously question that team's killer instinct as every game I see them play almost they're giving it away late after having a lead and those are the kind of losses that to me say the coach ain't getting it done. He's nowhere near the "worst" list but I still question their inability to hold a lead.
Kind of refreshing actually... I do think that Crawford is having a classic bout of not learning from your past mistakes insisting on Cloutier in LA etc. Frolov was playing like an all-start last year and while picking it up recently looked like he'd slot in at third line duty on a good team. Hard to figure how the pieces aren't "adding up" better there.
Doing the least with the most is definitely Gallant though; especially with this year's additions. Granted, they do have a young goalie who is training on job but they should be more competetive than they've proven to be with that roster.
The most baffling to me though is Ottawa so I have to add Murray to the mix as well; no way that roster should lose five freakin games in a row and they've been giving away leads like it's the new cool thing to do as well.
While I respect Trotz and dig that Nashville stuck with him when they should have while otehr teams may have pulled the trigger I seriously question that team's killer instinct as every game I see them play almost they're giving it away late after having a lead and those are the kind of losses that to me say the coach ain't getting it done. He's nowhere near the "worst" list but I still question their inability to hold a lead.
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Thundercleese
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Minstrel
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And you can now point back to the date of your post and give an official "I saw this one coming" decree 
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Shadd666
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And now, who is your "favorite candidate" for the next firing? 
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Thundercleese
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Bryan Murray I think is the next to go. The Sens are clearly underachieving and he can't seem to inspire them to play to their potential. Muckler might be gone too...the Sens need a shakeup something fierce; they won't be able to trade Gerber based on his contract and sub-par play, they'd be fools to trade Alfredsson as no good ever comes from trading your captain (whether or not he deserves the C is another story), so a staff-related change is the most likely outcome there.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Joel Quenneville go, actually. Everyone seems to accept that Colorado is rebuilding but there's still an awful lot of talent in that lineup. They certainly shouldn't be last in the NW division.
Wayne Gretzky is a wild card. If he leaves his position he'll "step aside" not "get fired", but I think it'll be another season or two before that happens. He doesn't want to be remembered as a failure and I think he enjoys the challenge.
I was going to say Mike Kitchen but I have a feeling that St. Louis has learned from Nashville (being in the same division and all) and intend to keep a coach through the rough times in hopes of maintaining some stability in an otherwise uncertain club, making him the new Barry Trotz.
All this sounds like a lot of fence-sitting so, just to make sure, my answer is Bryan Murray will be the next coach to be fired.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Joel Quenneville go, actually. Everyone seems to accept that Colorado is rebuilding but there's still an awful lot of talent in that lineup. They certainly shouldn't be last in the NW division.
Wayne Gretzky is a wild card. If he leaves his position he'll "step aside" not "get fired", but I think it'll be another season or two before that happens. He doesn't want to be remembered as a failure and I think he enjoys the challenge.
I was going to say Mike Kitchen but I have a feeling that St. Louis has learned from Nashville (being in the same division and all) and intend to keep a coach through the rough times in hopes of maintaining some stability in an otherwise uncertain club, making him the new Barry Trotz.
All this sounds like a lot of fence-sitting so, just to make sure, my answer is Bryan Murray will be the next coach to be fired.