Actually, this thread (and the other related ones) isn't about coddling Digit. It all started with ccookie79 complaining that her "recruited" daughter had to suffer the indignity of a tryout to make the team. Obviously she thought her daughter's spot on the team was guaranteed. NOT! And she continued on complaining about the returning players who didn't make the cut at the tryout. She felt robbed that her precious daughter's weight wouldn't be carried by these perceived all-stars. And she continued on to mis-represent the situations of players whose seasons were ending (injuries were not mentioned) to support an argument that Digit is destroying the team.
I've been a frequent critic of this activity along the way - and quite frankly it is the only reason I'm in this thread - I just don't like bad hockey parents with an axe to grind (I don't think her daughter sees much ice, as she never mentions her own daughter's performance for good or bad) badmouthing any coach for uninformed reasons.
Now if someone said "The defensemen clearly didn't know where the forwards were on the new breakout - looks like Digit didn't drill them enough here." - THAT would be legit criticism. Or "She's got small players trying to tough it out in front of the net and losing the battles, what is she thinking?" - I can buy that. Haven't heard that stuff. All I'm hearing from ccookie and the rest of the bunch (irishbirdie, blackwidow, etc.) are about how talented their daughters are (let's hear the resume's to back that up) and that it must be the coach's fault that they aren't competitive. No analysis of the game, oh, that's right, you might have to understand the game to do that.
I'll agree that by a win and loss standard, Digit has seen better years much further in the past. However, besides talking about turnover, they really don't get into why the program hasn't moved forward in a much more competitive environment. All they say is "coach's fault". It is easy to complain about Digit's antics on the bench. Unless she's taking a bunch of bench minors for it, I'd say the players need to deal with it and play hockey. If they'd done their homework, the antics have been there forever. No, this whole pile of stuff ccookie and the others throw up clearly shows that they don't understand enough about the game to make an intellegent argument about hockey. They are just whining because their daughters aren't winning.
I'm still waiting for one cogent argument from the bunch about how Digit prepares her players for the game and why it is ineffective or what errors Digit makes in identifying talent in recruiting. This is why you fire a coach.
) but I'm really sick of this coddle the coaches thing because of one reason or fifty others. Its a job. Do it well and you stay. Don't do it well and you get the boot. Womens fans want the game to be more aggressive, more like the mens game, etc, etc. But when you break it all down....womens fans are actually rather soft.