Tim Taylor Dies

[Jim Hyla]

I could never understand why he got so many Coach-of-the-Year awards, but it's still sad to see him go. I wonder if he got to see Yale win the NCAAs.

Here's the CHN page and the USCHO page.

[billhoward]

I could never understand why he got so many Coach-of-the-Year awards, but it's still sad to see him go. I wonder if he got to see Yale win the NCAAs. Here's the CHN page and the USCHO page.

COTY can be for longevity or in his case longevity combined with raising the program to the next level. In Taylor's case, the next level was leading Yale to its first NCAA appearance in 46 years. Plus he may have been a nice guy and respected by his players. It may also be Yale cared about having a team in that gorgeous building and less about whether they got above .500, until a couple years ago. The obits say one national COTY and three ECAC COTY awards.

The Hartford Courant obituary noted, "Taylor lived in Guilford [CT]. He did not maintain close ties to the Yale program after leaving the program, but remained close with Allain, his first goaltender with the Bulldogs in 1976-80." Compare that with Cornell lax coach Richie Moran who left as head coach two decades ago (1997) and still is a fan of Cornell and Cornell sports and was there cheering on the Red Saturday in the Meadowlands. http://elf.elynah.com/read.php?7,180753,187180#msg-187180

[RatushnyFan]

Adam W. tweeted his article from 2006 when Taylor got the boot, an interesting read for those who care.  RIP Tim.

Tim Taylor - Yale

[billhoward]

In short: >>> [Wodon] In a sport filled with great gentlemen, Tim Taylor is perhaps at the top of the list. An extremely friendly and engaging guy, his burning desire to win was often not easy to notice, but it was there. Unfortunately, there were many more losses than wins for Taylor ...

[billhoward]

New York Times obituary today (4/30): http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/sports/hockey/tim-taylor-yale-and-olympic-hockey-coach-dies-at-71.html?_r=0. Fairly lengthy, because Tim Taylor was of the Boston Globe Taylors, the controlling family, and the NY Times bought the Globe.

[Jim Hyla]

New York Times obituary today (4/30): http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/sports/hockey/tim-taylor-yale-and-olympic-hockey-coach-dies-at-71.html?_r=0. Fairly lengthy, because Tim Taylor was of the Boston Globe Taylors, the controlling family, and the NY Times bought the Globe.

I like this quote:

Taylor, who turned around a losing program at Yale and coached the Elis for 28 seasons,...

Turned around a losing program into a most often losing program? I'll give them that it was better under him, but maybe it could have been worded differently.

[Trotsky]

New York Times obituary today (4/30): http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/sports/hockey/tim-taylor-yale-and-olympic-hockey-coach-dies-at-71.html?_r=0. Fairly lengthy, because Tim Taylor was of the Boston Globe Taylors, the controlling family, and the NY Times bought the Globe.

I like this quote:

Taylor, who turned around a losing program at Yale and coached the Elis for 28 seasons,...

Turned around a losing program into a most often losing program? I'll give them that it was better under him, but maybe it could have been worded differently.

To be fair, the team he inherited in 1976 really was spectacularly bad.  In the prior 9 years they had finished at best 11th in the 17-team ECAC, and in the prior 2 they were 1-39-1 in conference play.  Under Taylor within 2 years he had them close to .500 and within 3 they were in the playoffs (top .

Although Yale did yo yo back and forth from the bottom in Taylor's tenure they had some very good teams.  I think we are a little biased in our estimation because Cornell completely destroyed Yale during most of that time.  From the 1968 through 1996 seasons Cornell went 48-13-1 in RS against Yale, and most of the good work (31-12-1) was done against Taylor.

[Jim Hyla]

Ken Schott reports that the Hockey Commisioners Association names its Rookie of the Year Award after Tim Taylor

[ftyuv]

I misread the title and thought it was about Tim Tebow. I thought it was going to be a dig against the Pats.

[billhoward]

I misread the title and thought it was about Tim Tebow. I thought it was going to be a dig against the Pats.

Soon enough, it will. 5 Tim Tebow sports coverage tips for the lucky Boston sports columnists

[ftyuv]

I misread the title and thought it was about Tim Tebow. I thought it was going to be a dig against the Pats.

Soon enough, it will. 5 Tim Tebow sports coverage tips for the lucky Boston sports columnists

Ha! I love it. Dan Shaughnessy will fall into all of those traps and more, I'm sure.

[billhoward]

I misread the title and thought it was about Tim Tebow. I thought it was going to be a dig against the Pats.

Soon enough, it will. 5 Tim Tebow sports coverage tips for the lucky Boston sports columnists

Ha! I love it. Dan Shaughnessy will fall into all of those traps and more, I'm sure.

Shaughnessy is one of the all-time greats of sportswriting (but even the legends have off days). Peter Gammons, Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy are sportswriting's equivalent of the (sorry) 1927 Yankees.

[Give My Regards]

I misread the title and thought it was about Tim Tebow. I thought it was going to be a dig against the Pats.

Um, excuse me, Mr. Moderator?  There needs to be ONE BLEEPING PLACE I can go on the Internet without having to see anything about that football guy...

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

I misread the title and thought it was about Tim Tebow. I thought it was going to be a dig against the Pats.

Um, excuse me, Mr. Moderator?  There needs to be ONE BLEEPING PLACE I can go on the Internet without having to see anything about that football guy...

Who?  Belichek?  ::whistle::

[Trotsky]

Shaughnessy is one of the all-time greats of sportswriting (but even the legends have off days). Peter Gammons, Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy are sportswriting's equivalent of the (sorry) 1927 Yankees.

This is like a parody of Boston self-absorption from The Onion.  Add Mitch Albom and you would have the Mount Rushmore of overrated hacks.*

(* this is not quite fair to Gammons, who had talent before being swallowed into the Bristol maw).