Fire the Coach!
TFP Columnist Dennis Bernstein offers some early first-round observations from the West Coast.
  

Lou the GM: That is true, but it won't be with you behind the bench. We're going to make a change. And you know me, Lou, I rule with an iron fist.

Lou the Coach: Yes, Lou. I know you better than you know yourself.

The Devils' GM has the luxury of oodles of coaches that always want back in the league, so there's no doubt he'll find another sucker to walk the tightrope in the fall. Whomever the incumbent will be, I would counsel them not to be in the running for Coach of the Year honors because look where it got Julien.

PUNCHING, PUNCHING

I am the only one that thinks the first round looks more like the regular season than the playoffs? The physical play that usually goes away with Game 83 is in full effect.

Back in the day, you'd never see fights in the second season for fear of a player putting his team at a man disadvantage. This year, we've seen a number of scraps during the first few matches and a one game suspension (to Nashville's Alexander Radulov for hitting the Sharks Steve Bernier from behind.)
 

I've written throughout the season that Jean-Sebastian Giguere is one of the few irreplaceable members of the Anaheim team. Yes, they do have a capable back up in Ilya Bryzgalov, but he is not the proven quantity that Giguere is (he's won a Conn Smythe in a losing cause in 2003.)

A couple of weeks ago, the Ducks issued a statement that Giguere was staying behind with his family due to a non-life threatening situation with his new born child. As the details became known, while it's true the child is no danger, the situation is still distressing.

Giguere's infant child was born sightless, and as they days progressed, the child has regained sight in one eye. The child has a deformed right eye and has vision in his left, much to the relief of the family.

"It's a great relief," Giguere said. "It's when they checked the second eye and found problems that we kind of fell apart. Knowing that the left eye is good really puts things in perspective. I think he'll be able to do whatever he sets his goal to do in life. He may have some challenges in front of him, but not even close to what it would have been if both his eyes were bad."

Giguere has rejoined the Ducks but has yet to see action. Bryzgalov has done admirably with a strong team in front of him, so Giguere's status in limbo.

I know how paralyzing the serious illness of a child is. Over a decade ago, I lost a son to a terminal illness. When I first learned of it, it caused a numbing effect to me. You can't focus, you can't sleep at night, and every waking moment is about your child and how to handle the worst. At the time I was an accountant and I had trouble getting motivated for work. Can you imagine what it's like if your job is stopping 100 mph pucks with 18,000 people focused on your smallest of mistakes? Makes things like a Stanley Cup run so trivial.

A PUPPY AND A HYPOCRITE

With those sad thoughts in my midst, I need something to cheer me up. I can't think anything better than to pick on my two favorite targets, Sean Avery and Brett Hull.

For all you Rangers' fans that are signing the praises of Mister Avery, I have two words for you: Just wait.

Sure, the guy has put up some nice numbers in the short time he's been in New York. In fact, I almost vomited when he got that lucky goal in Game 2. But this guy is on his best behavior and the team will get to Round 2, but they're not strong enough defensively for anyone to worry about.

Avery's good behavior will cease come next season and his demeanor and arrogance will coming shining through in the fall. If you don't believe me, it's already happened twice, in Detroit (where Steve Yzerman ran him out of town) and Los Angeles (where GM Dean Lombardi and Coach Mark Crawford had seen enough after 50 games).

The genesis of Avery's nickname, Puppy, will tell you all you need to know about what kind of teammate he is in the room. When Avery first arrived in Detroit, he walked into training camp and said to his teammates, "Don't worry guys, the big dog is here."

Now this was a locker room that held the jerseys with name like Shanahan, Yzerman, Lidstrom et al. Another soon to be Hall of Famer, Brett Hull turned to Avery and said, "You're a not a big dog, you're a (bleeping) puppy."

And to this day, the name stuck. So rejoice in Avery's good plan, BlueshirtNation, because it surely won't last.

Now as for Hull, though we like the fact that he stuck that appropriate moniker on Avery, it doesn't make us a fan. During Hull's playing days, he was routinely a "jackass" usually alternating moods between smug and condescending. And this from a guy who dressed with Gretzky, Yzerman and Joe Nieuwendyk throughout his career.

You would have though he would have received some grace by osmosis, but it never happened and Hull doesn't care. So after decades of disrespecting the profession, the first move for Hull after hockey was to get a gig on the NBC Sports telecast of the NHL. Hull's presentation is marginal; he certainly won't make anybody forget Don Cherry or Barry Melrose and it's doubtful that he has enough respect for the profession to attempt to become good at it.

At this point, it looks like he puts on a suit and wings it. The bigger issue I have is the hypocrisy of it all given his disdain for the press all these years, the human trait I despise the most. The only reason I can see NBC's big dogs Dick Ebersol and David Neal putting Hull in place is to balance out the class that Bill Clement and Ray Ferraro bring to the set.
 

Dennis Bernstein, the man behind SCORE! Media, is a columnist for TheFourthPeriod.com and the Los Angeles Correspondent for The Fourth Period Magazine.