Well personal feelings aside AB, it was a change that had to be made. The players at the time were either unwilling, or unable, to get with CJ's program and if the change was not made I think we would not be in the playoffs. I feel there have been alot of m,istakes made by Gainey as a coach (the 1-4 trap while down 1-0, not putting 2 centers out for key draws etc), however CJ made a few as well. As a coach, I truly believe that the best coach's come up through the ranks of Junior, AHL, NHL, just like the players do. Pat Burns, Ken Hitchcock, Jaques Demers, Marc Crawford, Paul Maurice, all started in Junior and learned alot about coaching, matchups, motivating young players, things that a guy who goes right from playing to coaching  in the NHL has to learn as he goes. Having said that, guys like Craig McTavish and Lindy Ruff have done it successfully but the learning curve was steep and long. There have been more failures than successes (see Mario Tremblay, Ed Olcyk, Bill Barber).

It would be pure speculation to say that the team would do better with CJ in the playoffs. CJ is a great coach (evidenced by his appointment as an assistant for Team Canada). But Gainey got the guys to the show and for that I am thankful.