Misconduct | What decision of a coach did you never come back from?

Every week, journalists from Sports de The Press answer a question with pleasure, and also a little insolence.

Miguel Bujold

The Seattle Seahawks’ decision to attempt a pass rather than a run while positioned at the New England Patriots one-yard line in Super Bowl XLIX can be defended. It was on a second down with just 20 seconds left and the Seahawks down to just one timeout in the bank. Since they lost 28-24, the Seahawks could not settle for a field goal and it would have been impossible for them to attempt three ground plays since they would probably have run out of time to do so. In other words, they had to attempt a pass on the second or third down. Question of not being too predictable, the Seahawks chose to do it on their second try. Still, handing the ball to Marshawn Lynch gave them the best chance of winning.

At worst, Russell Wilson should have thrown a pass while he was in motion, even throwing the ball into the stands if none of his teammates had managed to break free from his cover. Instead, they opted to attempt a dangerous pass in “traffic” to Ricardo Lockette, who finished his career with 22 catches in 34 season games… Malcolm Butler intercepted that pass and the Patriots won the Super Bowl. Would Lynch have been able to fetch the missing rod? If any running back was capable of doing it in those days, it was him.

Mathias Brunet

The Boston Bruins are finally on their way to eliminating the Canadiens and ending their reign after their three consecutive Stanley Cup conquests, on May 10, 1979 at the Montreal Forum. Boston leads by one goal with just over two minutes remaining in Game 7 of this semi-final series, having been eliminated by Montreal in the previous two springs, in 1977 and 1978. Bruins coach Don Cherry , who later became a controversial analyst on TV, asked his defensive ace Don Marcotte never to let Guy Lafleur off the ice, to follow him to the bathroom if necessary… he sees Lafleur jumping on the ice, Marcotte has the mandate to leave the players’ bench too. The Canadiens’ coach, Scotty Bowman, then sent Lafleur back on the ice after an unusually short break. Marcotte runs in turn.

The Bruins will play with six players for almost 30 seconds, the crowd screaming, before the referee finally calls out a penalty for having too many men on the ice. Was Cherry sleeping on gas behind the bench? How to ignore the cries of the crowd? Guy Lafleur scored the tying goal a few moments later on the power play, before seeing Yvon Lambert score one of the most important and spectacular goals in Canadian history in overtime to advance to the final, and eventually win a fourth Cup in a row against the New York Rangers. “It’s my fault,” Cherry admitted after the game. The players must have thought they heard me say something. I even had to retain two other players otherwise we would have been six on the ice. Funny explanation. Cherry was fired two weeks later. He led the poor Colorado Rockies the following season, winning just 19, losing 48, and was never seen behind a bench again…

Guillaume Lefrancois

It may not have been Grady Little who left Pedro Martinez on the mound one inning too many in 2003, but it always bothered me. In April 2007, the Canadiens needed a win in their last game of the season to qualify for the playoffs. However, if the team is still alive, it is thanks in particular to a rookie, a goalkeeper who came out of nowhere by the name of Jaroslav Halak. The Slovak had notably enjoyed a streak of 7 wins in 8 games, but was knocked out of 81^and and penultimate game of the CH season after 2 periods. To replace him: Cristobal Huet, number 1 goalkeeper for the Habs that season, but who had not played since February 14. Huet had been ordinary in the second half of the season before his injury, going 4-9-0 and averaging 3.51 from 1^er January. And he had played, remember, only 20 minutes in almost 2 months. But it is him, and not Halak, that head coach Guy Carbonneau decides to send into the fray on April 7 in Toronto. It ended 6-5 for the Leafs. The Habs’ eight penalties probably didn’t help that night, but as a fan at the time, I always wondered, to quote our English-speaking friends, “what if”.

Jean-Francois Teotonio

Were it not for this decision, there may not be a “Miracle on Ice” or a memorable film with Kurt Russell. One of the most defining sporting and cultural moments in United States history would probably never happen. Because that’s what that fateful decision by Soviet hockey team coach Viktor Tikhonov spawned at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. The score was 2-2 after the first period of that first game of the medal round between American academics and great Soviet players. Tikhonov then decided to replace his starting goalkeeper Vladislav Tretiak with the substitute, Vladimir Myshkin, to start the second period. The Soviet coach would later call this decision, which surprised the players on both sides and changed the course of the game, as “the worst of his career”. The Americans won 4-3 after a frenzied end to the game where the Soviets never withdrew their goalkeeper in exchange for a sixth skater. “Do you believe in miracles? Yes ! exclaimed Al Michaels on ABC. The Americans, with five points, won gold beating Finland in the next match. The Soviets got silver with four points.

Richard Labbe

I never got over this decision by Michel Therrien: to take a yellow jacket out of his wardrobe during the 2002 playoffs. In 1987, on the hot floor of the Action disco club, it would have been completely appropriate. But there, like that, in the Molson Center, and in the middle of the playoff game against the Carolina Hurricanes? No. Just no. Moreover, the Canadian led the series before this terrible decision, and then the Hurricanes went up the slope to finally eliminate the CH in six games. Coincidence? I do not think so.

Nicholas Richard

Bill Belichick has made very few mistakes during his prodigious career. His biggest, however, was not playing star cornerback Malcolm Butler in Super Bowl LII in 2018. Not only was Butler a star player in his position and an important part of the Patriots’ success, but he was also the hero of Super Bowl XLIX. It was he who intercepted Russell Wilson at the goal gate in the last minute of the game to give the Pats the victory against the Seahawks. A moment of anthology. Butler commanded immense respect in the Patriots locker room. He had played 97.8% of his team’s games during the season and was limited to only one appearance on special teams in the final game against the Eagles. An unforgivable decision by Belichick, because it is among other things what prevented the Pats from winning a second title in a row. It was Eric Rowe who replaced Butler and he didn’t look well at all, being responsible for three Eagles touchdowns. Nick Foles rushed for 373 yards and completed 28 of 43 passes to lead Philadelphia to a first Super Bowl title, which probably wouldn’t have happened had Butler been sent into the fray.