Tiley was next...

[waudby]

Digger: Bang on, my friend! Legitimate coaching experience is a key.

Best regards from waudby.

[Star 26]

Reeds had prior coaching experience??

Obviously it just doesn't matter sometimes!!

[oldref]

How are all these so called experts qualified to assess the coaching skills of Reeds, what are there backgrounds and areas of expertise in the coaching field. If you read the posts that have appeared on coaching over the years, we have never had a good coach in Owen Sound. If we disagree with the skills of a coach or player for that matter we ride him so hard in this forum that they can't wait to get out of this place. It is not the quality of the team performance that will kill hockey in Owen Sound, it is a small percentage of the fan base who if were treated the same way in their workplace would go crying to the union or the Labour Council. Sit back and enjoy, that is the purpose of the team being here, it is entertainment. I have been a season ticket holder since day one and I have enjoyed every season. Sure I have been disappointed but I have been entertain ed.

[Pitou]

Old Ref, I'm not a cook, but I know poorly cooked food when I taste it. Ever complained about a meal Old ref? Should the cook come out and question your cooking credentials. Come on. Get off the high horse you're riding. Are you suggesting fans are not intelligent enough to recognize poorly coached hockey? Maybe you're not. Don"t speak for us all. The Attack performed well below expectations, by nearly everyone's standards and predictions. Who do I blame? All 20+, unpaid junior players or the coach and G.M. paid to do that job?

There is no shortage of political critics who have never entered the Legislature. War critics who have never entered a battle field. Shall we ban the privilige to criticize to those select few who are experts in the field? We might as well all just shut up after we cast our election ballots. I'm sure you won't have to analyze your own actions too long before seeing the hypocrisy in your position. The mere fact this is entertainment make no substantive difference.

When the team performs at or above expectations, which are not expections of a few halucinating wacko fans, then I will give the coach the credit deserved.

Have I been entertained? Sure I have but what is wrong with wanting and expecting more success?

[CHL Watcher]

Thanks, Pitou.

None of us has any professional knowledge beyond a few fields at most.

Yet we all know when pants don't fit, when someone can't drive, when a batter can't hit, when there's too much sugar in our coffee....

It's entertainment....and so is a sitcom...and we can all recognise a badly written one.


You said it perfectly.

It strikes me as odd that people feel the need to apologise. It's just the kind of mentality that will eventual see the team relocated. There simply aren't enough apologists to go around. The OHL has grown substantially in the last 20 years. You cannot simply get by on the hardcore and complacent. You just can't.

That a few online "idiots" are being lamely blamed for any downfall is beyond laughable. There are problems with telling the fringe fans and the disappointed fans to go fly a kite....
money problems. Wait for it if you haven't already noticed.

But as I said before....that's how many local businesses attempt to operate.

As for Reeds not being able to coach. Results are all that matters. He has not shown that he can coach at this level but hasn't been around long enough to prove that he can't. That takes one more year at most, particularly due to the injuries he had to juggle last year.....but by November things may be more clear. Let's all hope that things are clearly better or clearly not.....nothing fuzzy. We all want things to be good.

[Star 26]

Great post Pitou!!!

[Palmateer 29]

Excellent post's from Pitou and CHL Watcher. If I am not qualified to determine what I like and what I don't then who is?

[Yogi Bear]

From What I see and what I hear from people that are in the game,everyone is right to a point.Mark Reeds is a very good coach as far as knowledge of the game goes,hence his previous record as a coach.Where he really struggles is dealing with the kids,and yes even though they seem mature beyond there years they are still kids.It is 2 totally differant worlds coaching men who are paid to do a job and boy's some of whom are here for the experience but know that they are not going anywhere in the hockey world.This does pose a problem for the ownership group and I have to admit I was schocked when they gave him an extension before the season.My personal feeling is Mark deserves a chance this year as this should be the first high point in his time here, we have an 19 yr old Joey Hishon,jesse blacker and Scott Stacjer along with the rest of the supporting cast.This should be the year where this management team shows the fruits of there building process.If they fail and we aren't contenders then the ball is in the ownerships court.

[oldref]

Didn't expect to generate the response I did from my post but it did liven up a fairly boring subject.

[Flash]

Mark Reeds is a good coach; he has been a winner at every level . His first year he over achieved from what the owners were expecting; last year the team under achieved; was that coaching-injuries-tough division or the sum of all the above. This year more is expected from the team by the owners the fans and you the experts. Mark has a much better team returning and if he can not get better results then maybe it is him. I am going to give him the chance to prove himself and be at every game I can to cheer on the boys. It's great hockey; best deal around for your entertainment $$$.

[CHL Watcher]

Keep in mind that it's only the best bang for the entertainment buck if you have nothing else to do.

If there is a good movie at the theatre there are those who would say you're beat.

If there's a Leafs game on there are those who would say you're beat.

If it's a long drive....

If it requires a "buzz" about the team to get you interested you could probably think of a few things.

If you like shopping you could pocket all that cash that the family eats up for every game.

....and so on.

We want better, sure enough.

Even we the "expert" "idiots" who aren't just talking/fuming/cheering/swearing at the kitchen table or the pub, but sharing that opinion, albeit self-edited, with the business itself.

This place is a pretty good cross-section, as I'll bet none of us really is in any way connected to another in opinion, age, occupation, neighbourhood, or anything else beyond a bit of an over-the-top concern for this particular team and enough familiarity with computers to find this place.

[oldref]

CHL Watcher are you serious. You mean there are actually people who stay home to wath a Leaf game?

[Attack Trac]

I personally tend to agree with a few points that Flash has made...but where I go off the tracks is the coaching credibility has to be realized FAST!

I personally would give the Team as few as 5 games and as many as 10 games to establish a roll.
My take is if this team comes out ANYWHERE near the way the started last year, I might not even wait 5 games.

This is going to be a pivotal season for the team that DeGray has assembled. All efforts have been put forth to make the 2010-2011 Attack the best it can be for contending.

Like I say...I think somewhere between 5 and 10 games will define Reeds, and the necessary adjustments need to be made hard and fast.

[flashjr01]

what about someone like Shawn Kreuger? Thought he was asst coach once for the Greys. Could teach the guys some toughness, and a great personality to boot.

[Pitou]

I agree about the last years start. I watched a practice/scrimmage late in the pre-season and was astonished at how ill-prepared they looked for being that close to season opener. I went to look at the new faces with no intent at assessing preparedness with a critical eye. It just slapped me in the face. The break-out and passing drills looked horrendous and I posted as much at that time.

Preparedness became a topic of discussion shortly after season opener.

It has to be culturally unacceptable to come to camp unfit and unprepared. I am not sure a coach can teach individual toughness, but you can make it organizationally unacceptable to play without passion, grit and determination and pride.

I am not convinced that the Attack team culture as I described is at the same level as the more consistently successful teams. I don't think the talent level of the Attack is as far below other teams as the results have indicated.