Allaire

[Luckybreak]

Now that he is presumably seeking employment, I would be interested in what Allaire could do with Fleury. His teaching is effectively pure butterfly and a more controlled blocking style than MAF currently plays, perhaps he could iron out the 'skittishness' and eliminate the mental blank spots?

[Defence21]

I could be wrong -- and possibly entirely, embarrassingly wrong -- but wasn't one of Burke's main complaints of Allaire that he wasn't with the times, and that he coaches an outdated stand-up style? Of course, Burke wasn't about to say anything nice of Allaire after the goalie coach embarrassed him earlier this week, but if you look who he has worked with (Giguere, for example), his successes have come with bigger, Michelin Man looking stand-up goalies. He had very little/no success in Toronto. Not sure I'd want him in the Burgh.

[MRandall25]

He had very little/no success in Toronto. Not sure I'd want him in the Burgh.

[Luckybreak]

I could be wrong -- and possibly entirely, embarrassingly wrong -- but wasn't one of Burke's main complaints of Allaire that he wasn't with the times, and that he coaches an outdated stand-up style? Of course, Burke wasn't about to say anything nice of Allaire after the goalie coach embarrassed him earlier this week, but if you look who he has worked with (Giguere, for example), his successes have come with bigger, Michelin Man looking stand-up goalies. He had very little/no success in Toronto. Not sure I'd want him in the Burgh.

Yes and no. His teaching isn't stand-up though is somewhat outdated by 'pro-fly' recovery based techniques (think Quick). He had success with Giguere (listed 6'1'', MAF 6'2'') through positioning and a perfectly timed butterfly (bearing in mind subsequent kit restrictions). MAF has outstanding lateral movement and reactions, Allaire might be able to make the most of MAF's frame and recovery speed with improved positioning and a simplified style.

[meow]

I could be wrong -- and possibly entirely, embarrassingly wrong -- but wasn't one of Burke's main complaints of Allaire that he wasn't with the times, and that he coaches an outdated stand-up style? Of course, Burke wasn't about to say anything nice of Allaire after the goalie coach embarrassed him earlier this week, but if you look who he has worked with (Giguere, for example), his successes have come with bigger, Michelin Man looking stand-up goalies. He had very little/no success in Toronto. Not sure I'd want him in the Burgh.

This is mostly true, but he coaches a pure-butterfly style. His style of coaching is, "If I'm here and in this position when the puck is shot, I have a 88% chance of it hitting me...sounds good."

[Luckybreak]

He had very little/no success in Toronto. Not sure I'd want him in the Burgh.

I'm unsure over Allaire but the TO goalie carousel and collective team struggles can't have been conducive to sustained goalie development. Would you suggest Meloche has developed Fleury effectively and that during his time with Pittsburgh he deserves significant credit for the Cups? I would attribute them more to a wealth of firepower coupled with extremely talented goalies in Barrasso and MAF.

[tfrizz]

I think Allaire would be a big improvement over Meloche, especially if he can come in with the understanding that he doesn't need to re-train or tweak Fleury's play... he just needs to help him fine-tune it. Perhaps the biggest strength of Allaire's coaching is positional play, which is something that would help Fleury tremendously.

[mikey287]

Wrong type of goalie coach for Fleury...that would make Fleury worse, he needs someone that can make use of his talents not stripped down to a blocking style goalie...Giguere wasn't talented, weak glove, weak blocker, weak lateral movement, poor rebound control, below average reflexes...that doesn't describe Fleury on the whole...

[Penspal]

First and foremost, Allaire left the WORST franchise in the NHL with only one real goalie - James Reimer. JR loved him and continues to support him, so basing any part of Allaire's worth on what Brian "big mouth" Burke says is hogwash. At the very least, I'd like to see him come in and consult with Meloche. Mr. Allaire is the Scotty Bowman of goalie coaches. Burke's trashing of his style is a manufactured reason to let him go.

Fleury is not playing Gilles Meloche "style", but his own which Meloche helps him with. Gilles last played in the NHL 25 years ago, so what a goalie coach brings is as much about the mental game and small adjustments than anything else. Goalie coaches at the NHL level are supposed to recognizes what makes a goalie successful, pointing out when he gets away from that, assisting with the study of shooters, their habits, etc.

I'm not for replacing Meloche, but imho the smear campaign of Allaire should be recognized for what it is.

[mikey287]

Rather have Warren Strelow...respectfully.

[steelhammer]

First and foremost, Allaire left the WORST franchise in the NHL with only one real goalie - James Reimer. JR loved him and continues to support him, so basing any part of Allaire's worth on what Brian "big mouth" Burke says is hogwash. At the very least, I'd like to see him come in and consult with Meloche. Mr. Allaire is the Scotty Bowman of goalie coaches. Burke's trashing of his style is a manufactured reason to let him go.

Fleury is not playing Gilles Meloche "style", but his own which Meloche helps him with. Gilles last played in the NHL 25 years ago, so what a goalie coach brings is as much about the mental game and small adjustments than anything else. Goalie coaches at the NHL level are supposed to recognizes what makes a goalie successful, pointing out when he gets away from that, assisting with the study of shooters, their habits, etc.

I'm not for replacing Meloche, but imho the smear campaign of Allaire should be recognized for what it is.

Agree with this except I'm all for swapping Meloche for Allaire. Allaire's success extends much further than Giguere (Patrick Roy, anyone?, Jonas Hiller). He's also the perfect coach for Fleury as Fleury has the athleticism, speed and talent to execute that kind of a system. It could greatly help his positioning and the speed of his adjustments (post initial save).