Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Fischler: Al Arbour is sports' best coach

09/05/2015 at 8:59pm EDT

According to the Daily Freeman's Stan Fischler, the recently-deceased Al Arbour stands as the best coach in all of sports:

Alger (Al) Arbour, who recently died at age 82, ranks — in my estimation — as the absolute, all-time top coach — or manager — in professional sports history.

And my memory goes back three-quarters of a century, alias 1939, when I saw my first hockey game.

I’m aware that there are critics out there who’ll vote for football’s Vince Lombardi — fair enough — and perhaps even lobby over Casey Stengel, honoring his championship skein with the Yankees.

The trouble with a Stengel vote was his clownish persona. Too often The “Ole Perfesser’s” double-talk act detracted from his conduct of a ball team.

But this column is not meant to stir Arbour-Lombardi-Stengel arguments but rather recall the gentleman, scholar, generalissimo and hockey impresario that embodied Al’s work as Islanders coach.

Fischler continues, but he avoids comparing Arbour to Scotty Bowman...

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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