I’ve been avoiding dealing with this. I am in complete denial. But it is time to face facts. Life is change. Change is life. And the Stars ownership has decided it is time for some serious change. I was excited when Mr. Hicks brought in Niewy. I thought a fresh pair of eyes would be a good thing. Plus, I had not been particularly thrilled with some of the choices that the previous GM pair had made. Namely, choices involving Hagman and Avery. I was excited but a little apprehensive. Just a smidge. Because I was afraid of just this sort of thing happening. 
They decided to fire Dave Tippett.
I say “they” but I guess it was Joe Nieuwendyk’s decision. And that decision is what I am in denial over. I am a huge fan of Dave Tippett. Huge. They say he is a “players’ coach”. I don’t know about that, but I do know what I have seen. He has always kept his cool and kept his mouth shut, at least in public. I know he has always treated us fans with respect and good humor. From what players have said, it seems that he cares about his players and their families. I grew up during the best of the Tom Landry Cowboys years. Coach Landry will always be my “gold” standard for how a coach should behave. Tipp meets the Tom Landry standard of behavior.
As far as his actual hockey coaching skills, I’m completely partial because Tipp is all I’ve know as a Stars fan. So I guess I can’t be a real judge there. There were times when I didn’t always agree with his coaching decisions, the goalie situation comes to mind. But I had faith that he knew a whole lot more about the situation then I did and therefore could make better decisions than me. (That is a concept completely foreign to most commenters on the Mighty Sweater Vest’s blog.) Anyway, I was definitely in the “let’s give him one more season” camp. But knowing me, even then, I still would have wanted to keep him. I’m nothing if not loyal. I found this link on Puck Daddy yesterday. It’s an excellent read and covers things way better than I ever could. I know Tipp is going to have great success wherever he ends up and will truly be missed by us!
Oh and Joe made another decision, to hire Marc Crawford. I don’t really know much about him. What I am hearing from others is not very positive to say the least. The Bertuzzi incident is especially troublesome. Joe, you’ve only had the job ten days and you fire and hire the head coach? That does not seem to be adequate time to fully evaluate all of your options. Was the list really that short?
Bottom line, we’ll have to wait and see. I just hope these moves turn out better than the Stars blockbuster moves from last summer. Ugh.
I’m SO going to miss Tipp. I got the feeling that he really loved this team. I remember seeing his wife being interviewed and she certainly gave that impression. He’ll get another job right away, if he wants one, but I think he’ll miss everybody here.
He had the coaching style I like. The kind where he treats people with respect and treats the players as if they’re adults. Apparently not everybody’s a fan of that style. I especially respected him for siding with the players on the Avery situation.
I’m going to miss all the mustache jokes surrounding Tip.
I really have to say I have no idea how I feel about this. Other than I think they downgraded. BIG TIME.
Even if Tipp didn’t do everything perfect. I could never figure out who I might want instead. The only negative thing I ever came up with about Tippett was that maybe he didn’t have enough guts, and tended to be a bit conservative in his decisions.
I don’t like the fact that we hired a coach with a former team, who lost SO MUCH. That’s the biggest thing I don’t like in this situation.
Mind numbing
He had the coaching style I like. The kind where he treats people with respect and treats the players as if they’re adults. Apparently not everybody’s a fan of that style.
Hub and I have had lots of conversations about coaching styles and why they work. I just don’t get the screamer type. Hub says you want to prove them wrong. I just want to tell them to shove it.
Thanks for stopping by DS4life! I preferred my Tipp sans mustache but the jokes never got old. Don’t be shy when the season starts.
Hey Life, I’m terribly conservative and not so gutsy so that makes perfect sense that I love Tipp! And I’m very concerned about Crawford. It certainly doesn’t look good on paper.
Teri, I understand “mind numbing”. I’m moving on to terrified of what trades this guy will make.