TSN is reporting that Todd McLellan will be in San Jose today to meet with the organization about the Sharks coaching vacancy. McLellan is an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings, and helped lead the Wings to their fourth Stanley Cup in eleven years this season over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The inclusion of a Cup winner in the coaching carousel always gets a nice buzz going around town in the media, which is a refreshing turn of events considering the lack of Sharks coverage as of late. A Cup-winner commands respect, and cultivates a winning attitude. As much as we may not like the Wings we have to respect what they do. The organization from top to bottom is best in the business.
So could bringing in a guy who was tutored under Mike Babcock be the answer in San Jose? He's a quality choice. But if we're looking for Cup winners, why not John Tortorella from the Lightning? He took them to a Cup in '04. Fashionable mustaches- Joel Quenneville from Colorado anyone? Considering Doug Wilson has been known to make some surprise moves, could a minor league coach set up shop behind the bench in 08-09? Peter DeBoer from the Kitchener Rangers (who were the runner-ups in the Memorial Cup this year) has been thrown around as a serious contender.
Basically all that's out there right now is names and speculation. Doug has done a good job of keeping a lid on anything coming out of the organization so he will have the best opportunity to get his number one guy. But with Ron Wilson signing in Toronto (which I'll touch on in a second) my guess is that we will have, at the very least, a list of three serious candidates by next Wednesday. Once one coach signs, the rest of the NHL seems to follow suit.
In other Pacific coaching news, Ron Wilson signed with Toronto and Marc Crawford got the boot in Los Angeles. Can't say I'm too beat up over Crawford- the Kings are still going to be bad, and his ridiculous little spiked hair reminded me of a dad trying to add a little edge to his look (when it was painfully obvious that his hairline was retreating faster than 10,000 Greeks). I wish Ron the best in Toronto, he'll be a good fit for a team desperate to rebuild.
I kind of miss him already.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The Coaching Carousel Continues
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5 comments:
The suspense is killing me! Mike Babcock is a badass so you kinda gotta assume that the coaches working under him are badass too. So McLellan would be a pretty good pick in my opinion. I'm also a huge Kitchener Rangers fan, so I definitely wouldn't mind seeing Peter DeBoer behind our bench.
As for Ronniekins, I kind of miss him too. Well maybe not HIM so much as his semi-rude sarcasm. Nobody makes a postgame press conference more entertaining and uncomfortable as good old Ron Wilson.
And nobody is going to be under more of a microscope than Ronnie than in Toronto. Imagine him and the Toronto media! Honestly, we're going to have to do a Wilson watch here Caroline- pure theater I'm sure we both will enjoy.
As for Babcock being a bad ass, I couldn't have said it better. McLellan would be an excellent choice.
Oh and side note: I really hope he isnt a photographer, because I might reconsider hiring him. Just google (images) "Todd McLellan" and look at the first page. Some weird stuff.
wooooow. i definitely hope that's not the same todd mclellan. wow.
and yea, i'm gonna have to visit the maple leaf's site more often next season. i don't wanna miss any ron wilson postgame fun. especially when the leaf's lose. i can already picture his indifferent face and his rolling eyes.
If you bleed teal as many of us do, you'd want MIKE HAVILAND as Head Coach.
Or, at the very least, McLellan with Assistants Haviland and Dineen.
That's the trio right there to bring this team to the promised land!
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