Reading some of the quotes from Garth Snow yesterday regarding the philosophical differences between him and Ted Nolan put an extreme thought in my mind. Snow, of course, went out of his way to explain that he wanted to go with younger players.
What really caught my attention were the specific references to Jeff Tambellini, such as this one in The New York Times:“We feel a player like Jeff Tambellini, who’s been playing well down at the A.H.L. level, deserves a chance to get significant ice time with us.”
The extreme thought I had was, Could this divorce have simply come down to Jeff Tambellini? How crazy would that be?
Nolan was obviously not a fan of Tambellini's work. Nor did he appear particularly inclined to give him more chances. One of the first things I thought of after digesting the news yesterday was, What does the new coach do if Tambellini only scores 2 goals in the first 30 games?
That question becomes all the more interesting now that Snow has signed Tambellini to a two-year, one-way deal, which Greg Logan says "virtually assures a full shot to play a role as a top-six forward."
So the day after Nolan leaves, Snow locks up Tambellini with the big club.
It can't be that differences over a single player were the sole cause of the split. But now the thought doesn't seem quite so crazy.
Just a quick thanks to Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy for his praise of yesterday's Nolan-Snow analysis in this space.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Garth Snow Means Business, Signs Tambellini for Two Years
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2 comments:
I just don't get it...can you please explain to me what is going on .....Are you now saying that Tamby is a top 6 fwd???? that is crazy!!!!!....I still don't understand why we let Filitov go...did you see the islanders at the draft? Who was in charge? Letting flitov go to columbus is the biggest mistake since we let heatley go to ottowa!!....Snow should pay for this with his job when Filitov is holding the Calder next year!!!!
I don't think anyone is saying that Tamby is a top 6 forward right now, but he's certainly going to be given every chance to be one. His role is to play a lot of minutes and put up a lot of points, as he did in the AHL last year. If he's not getting top 6 minutes, he won't do that. Maybe if he works on his defense enough to become a legitimate two-play player, he can one day play a third-line role in the NHL. But that day certainly isn't today!
I think Snow and Jankowski were sufficiently in charge at the draft, but the table did look a little crowded. However, the most noticeable thing was where Ted Nolan was sitting.
Can't wait to watch what happens with Filatov in Columbus, but what's done is done and it's time to see what we have.
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