When I was at the semi-final game at the Forum, the Francais would taunt Pilous. They'd yell "Peeloo, Peeloo, Peeloo!" over and over in a falsetto. WTF?

Rudy Pilous was a bit of a lightning rod around the league. Often wonder why he was let go as coach by the Blackhawks right after winning a Stanley Cup in ‘61. (Come to think of it, I believe Al McNeil did too with Moan-Ray-all).
My older brother had a TV/Stereo shop and Rudy was one of his customers. He said Rudy talked non-stop, interspersing his speech every few words with F-bombs. But a congenial fellah nonetheless. His last coaching stint was for the St. Catharines Saints of the American League. Poor attendance was the norm, even during winning streaks. Pilous was quoted as saying "Jesus Christ himself could walk down St. Paul St. (the main downtown drag) on Palm Sunday and wouldn't attract a fly in this *#^~* town!!" 

That reminds me. My second principal was a really great guy (I worked for him twice). There was a controversy over a yard duty schedule designed to give a break to the teachers who volunteered to coach track and field. The ones given extra duty didn't like it. One afternoon after school he, the v.p., and I were discussing it. Steve pointed to the doors at the end of the hallway and said, "Jesus Christ could walk through those doors and into there (pointing to his office) ... and they'd still b-itch!"

I haven't tried to tally it up, but I think it's pretty commonplace for for C of the Y to get the sack before too, too long.  I refer to the award as the kiss of death award .... kinda like an owner/manager saying a coach "has my full support" ..... translation: fired within 2 weeks.  I forget which CotY was involved, but our man duly noted management's shortcomings to MacLean one nite: "What the heck (?) ....do you think he [i.e. the coach] all of a sudden got stupid?!?!" 

Paul, back in the early 70's I had a principal that reduced my teaching load significantly in recognition of the time I put into coaching sports..... which for P.E. teachers back then meant one team or the other from Sept. thru June; sometimes more than one at a time, and sometimes even providing free transport to kids to-from the Legion sports camps at the Peace Gardens during the summer... not to mention the intramural sports and daily gym supervision, unless fortunate enough to have an interested teacher or two on staff.   

Ah, yes, the good old days.    .... and I say that with much (?) sincerity and with some knowledge of the high proportion of relatively lazy P.E. teachers I've encountered in recent years..... teach (?) their favorite sport most of the year and ignore to the extent possible most other activities/sports, or simply look at P.E. as free time for the kids and do precious little teaching.    Don't get me started!!!!

I was the P.E. teacher for the grade sevens (five classes, later four classes) at my second-last school. I tried to come up with activities the kids could enjoy, but would want to do more than once. One of the best beginning of the year ones was scooter soccer (with those little platforms with four casters). Later, I introduced them to a form of team handball, with a three second/three step rule. That was a fast game! I made showers mandatory. One time the fire inspector came and set the alarm off while they were in the shower. I told them to be silent. It worked out fine.

The only time I coached intermediate boys volleyball we won the tournament. We entered the final and were being creamed by the other team. I called a time out and told them to have fun. They loosened up and, just before the last game a woman coach of another team told me, "I told my boys that the team with the most heart was going to win - and that's your team." It went right down to the wire and a block at the net won it, and the guys went nuts. It was in our gym and, after they'd received the pennant, they ran all over the school to show all the classes.

Edmonchuck trying to wangle fans into the building by April
reddit.com/r/EdmontonOilers/co...me=iossmf

If one scrolls down on that ^^ link, it comes to a submission by "moneypuck" that lists the teams and their probability of winning zee cup..... with the Oilers atop the list at 8.2%.  Interestiiing!! 

I may have posted this before as an article but not the video.

https://www.narcity.com/en-ca/eat-drink/victoria/leafs-poutine-in-bc-is-67-it-could-be-the-worst-in-canada

https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/jack-knox-pub-s-half-price-puck-poutine-offers-a-lesson-1.24187346

Jack Knox is a pretty funny writer in our paper.

I think they had a segment on this dude during the first intermission of tonights Oilers- Maple Laffs game.   The mentioned the $100,000 cost, 300 pieces of memorabilia including 80 "jerseys."  It ended with a clip of his young(ish) son in an Oiler's sweater giving a , and him in his ML sweater giving his son a .

https://www.bardown.com/this-maple-leafs-fan-cave-is-otherworldly-1.1567242

4-0 Maple Laffs approaching 1/2 way...... ah well, on a positive note [pun intended] that means more time for TIMTMTIM.

Knox is hilarious. "Just as God, or Guy Lafleur, intended." Wait, what's the diff?

Sadly, “Miracle on Ice” star Mark Pavelich has passed away. He assisted on the winning goal against the Russians. He ended up with mental problems likely due to head trauma from hockey, his sister said.
And a guy who abhorred the MD/DC D&C-style of play!
“After the Olympics, Pavelich, who was not drafted by an NHL team, played one season for HC Lugano in Switzerland where he registered 73 points. He returned to the US national team for the 1981 Ice Hockey World Championship tournament. He was brought back to the United States the following year by his former US Olympic coaches Herb Brooks and Craig Patrick, who managed the New York Rangers. Despite his size, Pavelich thrived in his role as a center for the Rangers, and holds the Rangers record for most points as a rookie (76). However, his career in New York was ended by a feud with Brooks' successor Ted Sator, who introduced a traditional North American dump-and-chase style of play.”

complete story here https://www.startribune.com/miracle-hockey-star-mark-pavelich-found-dead-in-treatment-facility/600030809/

...and Walter Gretzky and former NFL/CFL lineman and later broadcaster Chris Shultz   https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/former-argo-chris-schultz-dies-at-age-61-1.5938007

...Flames apparently going with the one-per-year philosophy:   https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/nhl-calgary-flames-fire-head-coach-geoff-ward-hire-darryl-sutter-1.5937789

It reminds me of working on the fly-in reserves..... the overall average length of a teacher's stay was about 1 year.

One of the links within that ^^ link is about a "troubling pattern in goaltending leads to firing of Canadiens' goaltending coach."  I didn't read it, but I'm wondering if the troubling (?)  pattern is: L,  L,  L, T, L, L, W, L, L, .... etc.  

There's some discussion about Price's lack of success. I read one person saying it's because they don't play him enough, that he plays every second game so doesn't get "warmed up". My theory is that he was played far too much in that season a few years ago and they burned him out. He stood on his head to keep the team in the standings and emptied the tank.

It's happened in cycling where the directeurs sportif took good riders and pushed and pushed them and ruined their careers.

.....so they'll probably be replacing the goaltending coach with a psychologist .....   or alternatively, sending this link https://www.thisiscalmer.com/blog/5-stages-of-burnout  to C.P.     Is an "empty tank" a permanent state?

A couple of years ago. at the age of 40 or 41,  a pretty decent goalie in the local senior (?) league planned to "hang 'em up" if/when his team was eliminated from the playoff round.  The story has it that when it came to pass, his brother, a defenseman on the team, skated over to him in the crease and was met with, "That's all I've got." [I.e. Satisfied with his "career," even if disappointed in the game's outcome.]   

I think most teams have their own psychologists. There's a lot of behind-the -scenes money/staff.

Years ago I saw a report on the Blue Jays and was surprised at how much they spent on surgery for their prospects.

I don't know if an "empty tank" can be re-filled, or re-filled to capacity. Burnout + age is not the best combination.

...nuthin' that a little "pyramid power" wouldn't fix.  I had it in my head that it was Imlach's doing, but apparently it was Red Kelly.  https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/magazine-pyramid-power/ 

I don't know whether it's rumour or fact, but I've heard of parent's getting Tommy John surgery on their kids' elbows, .... not to repair an injury, but in the belief that it will be an improvement and thus improve their chances.    This article https://ontheshelf.ca/2019/05/02/tommy-johns-elbow/ mentions the possibility:

"For example a survey found that 50% of high school baseball players, and more than 25% of players, coaches, and media members believed that Tommy John surgery actually increased the strength of a healthy player’s elbow. This is completely false, but it is a very real belief that exists. To the point where there is the potential for a healthy young pitcher to consider having completely unnecessary surgery, and go through the rigorous rehab process mentioned earlier, because they think it will give them some sort of advantage. One would hope that surgeons would apply simple logic and restraint in these cases, but you get the idea."

I think with Price or any player/goalie that once you’ve really reached the pinnacle of your career and gotten the most out of your talents, as he did in that “burnout” year that you mentioned, it’s anti-climactic after that. How can one, on a personal achievement level, ever top that?  Perhaps that and age and sensing that the team isnt good enough to win a Cup contributes to burnout. Who knows though, he might get revitalized in a year or so. Maybe he needs to watch old video clips of the old guys without masks (pre-covid) - Hall, Bower, Sawchuk, Worsely, etal.

The only time I saw Worsley live, he was playing for the Rangers and the Habs thumped them 10 - 2. (At the Forum and we were right behind the Canadiens bench.)

He must have been with the Habs when I saw him on TV swing his stick at someone and just miss the guy's head - right over top. That was some serious piece of lumber.

Maybe a trade would revitalize Price, but he's too expensive.

Josh Morrisey just scored one for the Jets.... took a routine shot from well out... only problem was Auston Matthews in the slot stuck his foot/leg 'way out and deflected it into his own net.   

Anybody besides me hearing D&C/OTGAO lamenting: "C'mon ya dummy... if you're not gonna block it, then get out* of the way.  Anderson woulda had that one in his sleep." ??   

* = actually in this case it was just stay out of the way.

Edit: And I'm not convinced about that "reaching his pinnacle" logic.  Good thing nobody told the "Pocket Rocket" about it.... not to mention many others in and out of hockey who seem to thrive on repeat performances.    I'm not pretending I know the answer to C.P.'s problems (?).... but I see his save %age is now above .900, so maybe he's got [getting?] it figured out??

A week or so back there were a couple of spring training MLB games on TV, but I haven't seen any since.  What's what with that?   

The Brier has about 8  very good teams, and even NB and Kweebek are showing signs of life, so watching them/it can be interesting/entertaining..... but ....  

Man... music to my ears.... Anthony Stewart giving his first intermission analysis of a play leading to a Sens goal in the Maple Laffs - Senators game: [Morgan] "Rielly's gotta get that puck out... off the  glass and out!"    Otoh, the Maple Laff's green/white tribute (?) uniforms look pretty spiffy.

Anybody see Toffoli with a minute left in last nite's game?   Habs had pulled Price but the Flames got an odd-man rush into Mtl. end.    Toffoli, a forward playing defense, tried to skate backward, tripped himself and looked like a combination of somebody doing Indian leg wrestling and imitating what I imagine a mating walrus would look like.  The Flames botched it and didn't score, and even though Habs lost, I expect Toffoli's teammates ribbed him pretty good.  Anyway.... the crowd was cheering lustily!!

OTGAO ,, good 11.2 % of the time.
The last game I ever played was at U of G intramural final. A friend asked me to play for his team at the last minute, thinking I’d be a “ringer”. Thing was, he didn’t tell me I'd have to play defence. Arghh, I grumbled,, telling him I can’t skate backwards all that great. Well, I did a Toffoli and they scored on the play. After the game I told my “buddy “,,, “Take this game & SHOVE IT”. Never played a game of hockey ever again. That was 1974.

...it's only good 11.2% of the time if you try it the other 88.8% when you shouldn't!!!    

Iffin you'da put that into a song, you could be collecting all the $$$$ royalties and we'd be referring to you as a "country outlaw" singer.

Anything Chuck would write/play/sing would be 1000% better than "Hockey Sock Rock".