I just started reading Ken Dryden's book "The Game" and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Widely regarded as the best hockey book ever written, it contains a very good perspective on the great Montreal teams of the past and an insider's view of their coach, Scotty Bowman. Dryden's contention was that Bowman was a great coach because he didn't have a "system." He molded his systems to the types of players he had; if he had a team made up of mainly offensive skaters he'd play a more wide open style of hockey, and if he had a bunch of big, meatly players he'd play more physical. Adaptation according to the talent.
This got me thinking a bit aboot Lemaire. Lemaire, stubborn as he is, sticks to his system, sometimes to a fault. A friend of mine I'll call "Hat Trick" pointed out to me that it will be interesting to see what happens to Dupuis with the Rangers. Will he continue to be the PK specialist and play on the checking line or will he develop into the scorer that he showed in his early years? It was clear that Lemaire molded Dupuis into a tight-checking defensive forward and that Dupuis wasn't happy with that role. Time will tell.
Now, I'm not saying that Lemaire needs to abandon his trapping system completely, I'm just saying he should adapt it a bit for the team he's got now. Gaborik, Demitra and Parrish are offensive stars and he should adapt his style for theirs.
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