How the mighty have fallen - Beamish pulls no punches!

[Sir Purrcival]

Maybe I'm naive but leadership in the locker room comes from the HC having a good relationship with his veterans. If the vets are the standard by which the team conducts itself, then the HC must have that relationship with the Vets as well; a clear understanding between the HC and the team leaders about what is expected from them in regards to the team at large. Leaders are generally not created, they have a certain quality to them to begin with. Experience can certainly augment those qualities but when you hear about voids in the leadership it is simplistic to say that they lost too many veterans.

As younger players come in, it is especially important that the HC establish what the expectations are both by example and word. Some people you would follow into fire and hell because you just know that whatever the outcome, you trust whatever it is they tell you to do. I'm sorry to be blunt but with MB, he looks and seems like a follower, not a leader. One shouldn't be surprised, he has spent his professional tenure following one man who is in fact still there. He has done little it appears to distinguish himself from his benefactor (like the play on words there?). Many think it is his favoured status that puts him in the position he holds now, not merit and that is a sure path to disenfranchisement, discord and disrespect, which coincidentally appears to be what we are seeing signs of.

In short, he suffers from a credibility gap. He wasn't a player, he hasn't had to cut his teeth in different leagues in different positions, he doesn't seem quick on his feet or a brilliant tactician. In short, he looks like a guy who got his job through connections. He has had 3 seasons to establish himself. He hasn't. The reasons speculated for this vary depending on the author but whatever the reason, he has had the opportunity and hasn't used it to strike out on his own path. He got where he is by riding Wally's coat tails and since he has been "in charge", he has shown little ability to get the best out of team and it's players. It's sad really. I'm sure he is a nice guy. Maybe he would have done well to go to Toronto or another team for awhile to work under a different system. It might have been a good chance to diversify and learn under a different mentor. As it stands now, his resume will consist of only one real coaching regime and that one has the look of being passed by time and innovation.