Hockey fans often find it easy to point fingers at the coach, and in the case of the Providence Bruins, that coach is Ryan Mougenel. There is an ongoing debate about whether his main responsibility is to prepare players for the NHL or to win games for the Providence Bruins. Currently, it seems that both areas are falling short.
The team includes several players who have not met expectations so far this season, such as Brandon Bussi, Fabian Lysell, John Farinacci, Trevor Kuntar, Riley Duran, Brett Harrison, and Frederic Brunet. However, it is important to remember that it is still early in the season.
Following weekend losses to Laval, the team is currently last in the Atlantic Division and second to last in the Eastern Conference, with 6 points after 9 games. They have the lowest power play success rate in the league at 5.4%, rank 20th in penalty killing at 81.3%, sit at 30th for goals scored with 19, and are 19th in goals allowed with 25. Additionally, they are 7th in penalty minutes, accumulating a total of 153.
Like the questions raised in Boston when things weren’t going well, how much is coaching and how much of it is due to some slow starts for key players? And how much is player development?
Mougenel should take part of the responsibility for how the players are developing, or not developing. He should also be held partially accountable for the team’s slow start. However, I believe the team needs more time to come together, especially with all the new players they have brought in.
On the blueline, only two defencemen were on the roster for the entire season last year, excluding Alec Regula, who has yet to play a game this season due to injury. Less than half the forwards available to Mougenel were available for the full season.
In net, Bussi is not playing up to his usual standards. Michel DiPietro has been playing well above expectations. That doesn’t fall on Mougenel. The goalies are the responsibility of Mike Dunham. If you’re going to blame Dunham for Bussi’s poor performance to date, then you have to credit him for DiPietro.
There are a (Duck) boat load of people ready to help the players in their development in Providence led by Adam McQuaid. They have a very good video coach to assist players with their video work. Their athletic training staff is experience and knowledgeable.
In the offseason, they added Terry McLellan as Performance Coach who also has a background in strength and conditioning along with nutrition. He has experience in college having spent time with Quinnipiac University with men’s and women’s tennis and women’s golf. He also spent time with the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA as well as working with a few individual NBA players.
McLellan needs time to put his fingerprints on the players. But how much time? Does Mougenel have to put players in a position to develop or does he need to coach to win? Things are not going as well as expected in terms of development or wins.
Things need to change quickly.
Dom - Hockey 