In our commitment to finding miserable wrecks to write about and content to plug in during the dog days of college sports, we're pleased to announce that Schadenfreude Fridays will continue the AoG tradition of laughing at the misfortune of others. So with interest and happiness surrounding this team at an all-time high, that means that we should abandon the schadenfreude, right?Ībsolutely not. All signs suggest that it's working, too. He's made friends with high-level players and enemies with high-level coaches in his quest to build a winning tradition at Vanderbilt. James Franklin is bringing recruits that would have never even opened their letters from Vanderbilt in years past to Dudley Field to don the black and old gold. Now, the Vanderbilt football team is entering an era of prosperity unlike any Nashville has ever seen before.
It's how we turned a series of articles with a vague, tangentially-related connection to sports into our most-liked pieces on Facebook. As Vanderbilt scrambled to replace Bobby Johnson and turned to a former turkey inseminator to handle his post, these articles reminded us that things somehow, someway, could always be worse. His grade will remain incomplete until after Christmas when he pulls a right winger out of the hat to complement Galchenyuk and Eller.In years past, Schadenfreude Fridays were a way to comfort the faithful. But the general manager won with the Fleischmann signing and aquiring Paul Byron.
Management: OK, the Semin thing hasn’t worked out and Marc Bergevin hasn’t been able to convert Jarred Tinordi into an asset. He and his staff have put together a solid game plan and, more importantly, have sold it to the players.
While other coaches, including some who are unemployed or on the verge of being fired, are being added to World Cup coaching staffs, Therrien continues to be ignored. Grade: AĬoaching: It’s amazing that Therrien doesn’t get more respect for the job he has done. The penalty-kill is also one of the top units in the NHL and, as a bonus, has produced a league-high four short-handed goals. One player who isn’t surprised by the success is Weise, who noted that Daigneault had the best power play in the American Hockey League when he was an assistant with the Hartford Wolf Pack. The naysayers wondered how two guys known for their defensive skills as NHLers could guide the power play, but the Canadiens are fourth in the NHL with a success rate of 22.3 per cent. Daigneault was given responsibility for the unit with some help from consultant Craig Ramsay. Special teams: The power play was in the midst of an 18-month slump when former defenceman J.J. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The major beneficiaries in this case have been Dale Weise, who is having a career season, and free-agent pickup Tomas Fleischmann, who has revived his career. The decision to move Alex Galchenyuk to centre has produced mixed results because veteran sniper Alex Semin has been a disappointment, but it has given David Desharnais more freedom to work his playmaking magic. 1 line, but there are 10 players with at least 10 points and no team in the league can boast such balanced scoring. The top line of Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher is playing like a No. Therrien has boasted about the team’s depth since he began his second tenure as head coach, but that depth is obvious this season. Montreal was 20th in goals per game last season and they reached the quarter mark at No. Offence: This is the area where the Canadiens have shown the most improvement from last season. Leafs leave 'mess,' negativity behind: How things have changed one year after Salute-gate.Five possible destinations for Islanders' Travis Hamonic.Canucks GM confident team can recover from its recent stumbles.Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello confident Jonathan Bernier will bounce back, happy with Nazem Kadri's play so far.