Hugs, after all, can be good. Even for a no-nonsense taskmaster in the macho, testosterone-fuelled, frat-boy world of the National Hockey League.
And I'm thinking that Noel, the rookie head coach of 17 Wing Winnipeg, could use some comfort because his universe is not unfolding as it should. His club has won just once in its six assignments to date, and the latest stumble came against the Ottawa Senators, who, until his Jets arrived in the nation's capital, were considered the free space on the NHL's bingo card.
Post-loss, Noel stood before a bank of microphones and notepads and looked like an ol' hound dog who'd lost the scent. Baffled, bewildered and demoralized, his baritone voice droned on in a monotonal autopsy. No highs, no lows. Just a string of matter-of-fact mutterings.
"A 19-year-old player is our best player," he said of Alexander Burmistrov. "He’s the one guy that I’m probably happy with."
His words came across more as a lament, rather than praise. It was as if having a teenager as your leading scorer is a glass half empty, not a glass half full. Shouldn't Andrew Ladd be showing the way? Nik Antropov? Dustin Byfuglien?
Well, of course, they should be. But they aren't.
Every time Noel sees a round hole, someone hands him a square peg to fill it.
Johnny Oduya, for example, is a square peg because he has a nasty habit of passing the puck to the guys dressed in opposition colors. That explains, in part, why he's minus-4 on the season. And he's not alone on the dark side of the plus-minus ledger. Byfuglien and Bryan Little are both minus-5, Zach Bogosian is minus-4 and Ladd is minus-3.
Is it any wonder that Noel looks and sounds like a guy who found a lottery ticket, only to discover it was past the expiry date for collecting the winnings?
"At the end of the day, you have to be accountable to yourself for producing," he says. "Producing is winning games, and if you’re a scorer, then score. If you’re a checker, check."
Alas, Noel's scorers don't score and his checkers don't check, which explains why he needs a hug.
I can't imagine any of his players giving him a hug, though, because if I had a coach dumping on me every day in the media, I'm not sure I'd be harboring any warm-and-fuzzies for the guy.
Could that be part of the problem? Do the players resent being repeatedly hazed in print and on-air? Do his X-rated rants at practice turn them off? Could it be that the Jets have tuned Noel out? So soon?
I mean, he's made it perfectly clear that he doesn't like the way they play. Maybe they don't like the way he coaches. The only difference is they don't say it on the record.
Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.
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