What has been the most heated player versus coach rift in NHL history?

Question

Throughout the long history of the NHL, there have been numerous instances of players not getting along with their head coaches. The question here is this: which rift between a player and a coach has been the nastiest, most bitter affair?

Answer 1

I'd say the Roy vs. Tremblay feud has to be the most heated that I can remember. There had to be more to it then just the one game where Tremblay left Roy in to get shelled. The end result was that Montreal traded a French-speaking Hall of Fame goalie who was still in his prime.

There may have been players and coaches who hated each other more, but there hasn't been a player-coach feud with a bigger impact on the NHL. Colorado won two Stanley Cups with Roy which greatly changed the reputations of Chris Drury, Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg and allowed Ray Bourque to win his only Cup. It's fairly certain those things wouldn't have happened with Thibault as their goalie. By the way, Montreal hasn't even sniffed the Cup since then.

Answer 2

Hmmm, good question. I'd have to go with a little rift in the mid-nineties between a newly crowned Stanley Cup-winning coach and a future 700 goal scorer. Keenan not only ripped Hull in practice, behind the bench, and in the media, but also went as far as stripping him of the "C"...in favour of Shane "Boo-hoo" Corson.

Answer 3

This could have very well been Patrick roy and his coach...in one game, the coach i believe refused to pull Roy from the game till the last 10 mins of the game, getting Roy embarrassed in front of all the montreal fans, then when he pulled him, Roy went right to the GM on the bench i believe and said "I want to be traded" then stormed past his coach...Roy got the last laugh that year, as the Avs won the Stanley cup.

Answer 4

It has to be Mario Tremblay and Patrick Roy. I mean Roy loses his nut on the coach then goes and essential dermands a trade! It destroyed the Canadiens ever since, they've never had another goalie even CLOSE to be a true superstar.

Answer 5

I would have to agree with the ones mentioned by other posters, but you are all forgetting an early nineties rift between Dominik Hasek and Ted Nolan; which started as a war of words and then the all star goalie accused the coach of sleeping with his (Hasek's) wife.

It led to the dismissal of Ted Nolan (a then fan favorite) and the systematic shunning of Hasek by the fans, which led to his decrease in popularity and demand for a trade to a winner, because he felt the team gave up on him.

Answer 6

I would agree that Roy and Tremblay (Montreal) was one - there was also the rift between Guy Lafleur and Montreal though it wasn't just the coach that was a problem.

Locally, Bertuzzi and Crawford perhaps?

Answer 7

Patrick Roy was probably the most arrogant player in history though; he had problems with everyone that didn't worship him as their god.

Nothing ever made me laugh like Patrick Roy showboating though and accidentally throwing the puck into his own net for a goal... good ole Karma in action...

Answer 8

Roy vs Trembly is the biggest one that comes to mind, but you've already seen that one.
The best one I've seen in recent memory was in baseball last year. Jays manager John Gibbons vs. Ted Lily.

Answer 9

1. Patrick Roy and Mario Tremblay
2. Steve Avery and Andy Murray
3. John Kordic and John Brophy (Kordic threw a heavy lead ashtray across the room at him and threatened to kill him)

Answer 10

Mario Tremblay and Patrick Roy, they have a fight and Patrick decide to stop playing with the Montreal Canadian if Mario Tremblay was the coach so they exchange him to Colorado.