No matter the side you fall on when it comes to Cygate, if you will, there's one universal truth: No one likes Pierre McGuire. This is a tradition that goes back decades according to this great, old article from The Hartford Currant.
With one brush of his newly recovered powers Thursday, general manager Paul Holmgren did more to unify the Whalers than anybody in recent team history.
Holmgren fired coach Pierre McGuire after six months.
It was more than a great idea.
In 15 years of covering the NHL, we had never seen a coach so universally disrespected and disliked within his own organization.
McGuire fancied himself two parts Scotty Bowman and one part Bob Johnson. It turned out to be a superhuman leap of faith on his part.
In a blistering post-mortem, captain Pat Verbeek called McGuire's firing the best thing that could have happened to the Whalers. He said other teams mocked their coach. He said his own teammates had no respect for McGuire. He said a number of players wouldn't have wanted to play in Hartford anymore.
Many times he privately said after a game how he outcoached the other guy. But it was something never really made public until May 3, when McGuire proclaimed that no coach in the NHL ``can outwit me.'' That quote ran in The Hockey News and raised eyebrows all over the NHL.
These are just a few select pieces of the greatness that is the take down of Pierre McGuire. To us none of this comes as a surprise, unlike his continued employment with NBC. The entire article is more than worth your time.
Pierre will be working the Penguins/Blue Jackets series starting Wednesday at 7:30. If you feel so inclined to chant REGIS I don't think anyone will complain.
Thank goodness the games are airing on Root Sports so I don't have to listen to him or Milbury!!
Milbury hates the Pens more than Flyer fans. Not sure why that is, but it is very evident.
There has to be something to this whole thing. It makes zero sense.
Wa, wa, wa...cry me a river. Pierre is great, Milbury is great. A bit of Boston homers...for sure, but that's why I love them both.