Q&A with Scotty Bowman

[Son of a Wing 1,644]

Link

A couple excerpts from the article.

Q: Mr. Bowman: How will the Wings neutralize the Predators’ ability to generate offense off cycling in the offensive zone during their first-round series? The Predators were one of the few teams who seemed able to exploit the Wings via cycling and pushing the puck out to the slot. Second, do you believe that the Wings will offset the loss of Tomas Kopecky by playing Justin Abdelkader in the playoffs? Is Abdelkader ready for the playoff grind? — George Malik

SB: One thing the Predators did during the regular season was that they worked on neutralizing the Red Wings defensemen, especially in the Nashville zone. The Red Wings defense is good offensively but Nashville tried to take that away from them. They didn’t play the generic game of collapsing down low. They covered the points pretty well. So the Red Wings will have to move the puck down low and work the Predators’ defense. As for Justin Abdelkader, he did play a couple of useful games down the stretch, but he’s still a rookie and I don’t think they’ll put him in right away. The coaches will track how some of the Wings’ veterans will be playing and if some of them struggle, then they would make the change. It’s hard to say if Abdelkader is ready for the playoff grind. You never can tell with a young player.

Q: Mr. Bowman, In your opinion, what are three creative ideas or changes to the game you feel would increase the popularity of the NHL in the US and need to be considered by the league? — Ryan

SB: That’s a good one. Hmmm. Well, one thing is that I think the fans who come to the games should get the same information as the fans watching at home on TV. I’m thinking here about the video replay decisions. I know the league is concerned about inciting the crowds against the officials, but 99.9 percent of the time they get it right. I’d like to see the fans at the games not be shortchanged compared to the fan who stays at home. Another thing I ‘d like to see would be that any time two players get coincidental penalties, they are not substituted for, and that would include major penalties. So, for example, if there were matching fighting majors, you’d go to four-on-four for the full five minutes and you make the players serve the time. Any ideas to get to four-on-four without making it permanent are fine. I’ll have to think some more about a third one, but there are two.

[auxlepli 17]

That is one of the best Q & A's ever! Very informative. It was interesting to me to find out Bowman and Brooks had the same type of game plan, namely puck possession and flow.

[Son of a Wing 1,644]

That is one of the best Q & A's ever! Very informative. It was interesting to me to find out Bowman and Brooks had the same type of game plan, namely puck possession and flow.

Yeah I'm surprised more people haven't responded. Too much reading for most...

[irishtemper14+25 11]

i read it and it was pretty sweet, i just wish i had a good question to ask scotty

[Majsheppard 203]

See, I agree with Scotty.

There are more aspects to a great player then just offensive numbers.

He says Howe is the best ever....

I just say that I don't think Gretz was a slam dunk for greatest ever.

[Son of a Wing 1,644]

See, I agree with Scotty.

There are more aspects to a great player then just offensive numbers.

He says Howe is the best ever....

I just say that I don't think Gretz was a slam dunk for greatest ever.

Yeah and he also mentions different eras. I don't think it makes much sense to compare a player today to a player 50 years ago. It was a very different game. So many different factors that just lead to pointless endless debate.

[Reds4Life 51]

Great..just great Q&A, Scotty is awesome and very knowledgeable person, thanks a lot for sharing this man!

[auxlepli 17]

It should be required reading for every hockey fan.

I too agree with Bowman about Howe. I don't know if I was surprised Bowman responded that way, but it was good to read that.

[Son of a Wing 1,644]

I just think it's amazing when a man of his stature takes this much time to respond to the fans directly. Very rare these days.

[Dawgs 0]

Great Q&A. Gotta love Scotty.

The way Ive always compared players between eras is could player A be effective in player B's era and could player B be effective in A's era. I dont think that Gretzky would have been nearly the player he was if he played in the 50s. Howe on the other hand would have been effective in any era. Mario I think because of his size would have been a tough cover in the 50s.

So to me I have Howe as the best ever and Mario second with Gretzky as the best of his era but not quite in the same class as Howe and Mario. The case can be made that Orr and Trottier both were better than Gretzky.

The biggest plus for Gretzky in this arguement is that maybe nobody has ever dominated his own era as he did the 80's.