Gretz Disappoints, Turris Sits for Homecoming

We can talk about Lui's 2nd straight shut out and 4th of the season. We can talk about the Canucks 4th win in 5 games. We can talk about how the Canucks look to be taking full advantage of their home stand, currently standing 8-6 on the season.





However, I want to talk about Phoenix Coyote head coach, and hockey legend, Wayne Gretzky deciding to sit 2007 1st round draft pick (3rd overall), Burnaby native, and former Burnaby Express super star, Kyle Turris. Whether you play or not, visiting your hometown for the first time as a member of an NHL team, only happens once.

The 19year old Turris, who played last year for the University of Wisconsin Badgers (36GP, 11G 24A for 35pts), played in every one of the first 9 games of the season. 1G 4A = 5pts, minus 4 in those 9 games, Turris was a healthy scratch for Tuesday's tilt against the Flames in Calgary. In what Gretzky called his team's best effort of the season, the Coyotes beat the streaking Flames 4-2.

Every player wants desperately to play in front of his family and friends, especially when it's the first time his career his team passes through his hometown. Sure, the Coyotes were coming off their best effort of the season and the unwritten rule is to keep the same line up after such an effort. However, in this case, I think Gretzky made a big mistake.

The Coyotes have decided to build through youth. Besides Turris the following players make up the Coyotes very talented young players:

Kevin Porter, 22yrs old, 2004 4th round
Martin Hanzal, 21 yrs old, 2005 1st round, 17th overall
Keith Yandle, 22yrs old, 2005 4th round
Peter Mueller, 20yrs old, 2006 1st round, 8th overall
Mikkel Boedeker, 19yrs old, 2008 1st round, 8th over all
Viktor Tikhonov, 20 year old, 2008 1st round, 28th overall, grandson of legendary USSR coach of the same name.

Because the Coyotes have chosen to go with these youngsters, they will need to be careful on how they handle them. I question Gretzky's decision to make Turris a healthy scratch in a game that he had definitely had circled on his calendar. With 100+ friends and family in attendance, and all of Vancouver awaiting his homecoming, I am saying Gretzky's decision was classless, and potentially damaging to his relationship with Turris.

Players have a long memory. Especially highly sought after, very talented players. Players remember the little things. Turris will always remember that the Coyotes sat him for his homecoming. How can he play Turris in 9 straight games out of the gate, then sit him for 2 in a row, especially since the 2nd was in his hometown? The classy move would have been to insert him into the line up against the Canucks.

Obviously, Gretzky's point in making this decision was to show his team that a winning line up stays together for the next game. Big deal....

A much bigger point would have been to find a spot in the line up for a young kid, who they chose to have on the team this year, for his first game in his home town. The rest of the team would understand and would most likely feed off of Turris' excitement.

If Gretzky's worry was that he didn't want the team to feel that Turris was getting special treatment, he has far bigger problems on his hands. Good teams are unselfish. If Turris' teammates weren't hoping for him to be in the line up, for Turris' sake, then there is a huge attitude problem on the Coyotes.

Last year, when the Canucks visited Chicago, Coach V did the same thing to Mike Brown. Brown is an energy player that will drop the gloves with anybody, anytime. Coach V chose to sit him, with family and friends in the stands. He should have played that night. Finally this year, Brown got to make his debut in Chicago, and promptly got into a fight, and was one of the Canucks better players in the loss. He has been in the line up almost every night since.

Ever wonder why the Capitals made such a huge turn around last year after they fired then head coach Glen Hanlon? Very simple, players will go through a wall for head Coach Bruce B0udreau for the things that he does for his players. Look no further than what he did during the Caps visit to Calgary on Oct. 21.


Boudreau had coached the Capital's farm club, the Hershey Bears, prior to taking over for Hanlon. Boudreau called up career minor leaguer (7years), former Kamloops Blazer, and Calgary native Tyler Sloan for the game. On his third shift, Sloan proceeded to make a huge hit on Flame Damon Langkow, after which Flame Rene Bourque tackled Sloan, threw punches and recieved 19minutes in penalties to give the Ovechkin and the Capitals a 9 minute power play.

But how things transpired in the game, are not as important as what Boudreau did for the player. Sloan and family have suffered personal tragedy with the death of Sloan's sister. What a moment for the Sloan family to see their son play in his hometown. All the players in the organization remember things like this, and this is one of the reasons why players love to play for Boudreau.

Gretzky was trying to send a message Thursday night. Unfortunately, it was one that showed they don't care about special nights for their players. Turris and teammates will always remember this. An obviously crushed Turris refused interviews after the game and who can blame him? The Coyotes chose to go with the kids, they better remember how to treat the kids properly.

A highly questionable decision by Gretzky and one of the few times I have really been disappointed in him.


Notes:
- Congratulations to Igor Larionov on being chosen for induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame. A player who always played with skill and carried himself with class, it is well reserved. Thanks to Sarge for sending this great picture.