Earlier this morning at the Spengler Cup, a TSN camera caught a close up of an intense interaction between the head coach and a player of Davos HC from Switzerland. While on the bench, head coach Josh Holden violently grabs and yanks back forward Tomas Jurco twice while berating him for a play on the ice.
It's a particularly terrible look on the coach for initiating this physical altercation with his player, and even more so for continuing to do it after Jurco spread his arms to get away from him. It's definitely a display of emotion in the heat of the moment, but it says more about the questionable methods head coach Josh Holden could be employing. When a video like this spreads, it can be damning to the coach as the rest of the team may lose respect for him.
The player in the video, Tomas Jurco, was a bit of an NHL legend. Drafted in the second round of the 2011 draft by the Detroit Red Wings, Jurco went on to play 221 NHL games, recording only 22 goals and 31 assists. He clearly had elite offensive talent that never could break into the NHL level. His career became that of a journeyman, playing for four different NHL teams, mostly for their minor league affiliates. In the 2019-20 season, Jurco played 20 total games for the Oilers organization between the NHL and AHL.
