I read that Quinn was consulted on the coaching decision and presumably had some input.
1 Like
A refreshing answer from the best hockey player since Lemieux/Gretzky.
Far too often in my opinion we see a player trying to be a coach, a coach trying to be a GM (or vice versa) or an owner trying to be everything (Jerry Jones).
2 Likes
As rumoured, Tocchet lands in Philadelphia:
2 Likes
I don’t know how I feel about this yet. Ask me again in 3 years. 
All kidding aside, Ken Holland has accomplished a hell of a lot during his two decades as GM of the Red Wings. The Oilers improved under his tenure as well. Of course like any GM, he has signed some dud contracts as well such as Jack Campbell. So Holland is not without criticism.
Rob Blake took the Kings through a rebuild after their Cup winning players started to age and fade away. They were ahead of schedule and became a playoff team 4 years ago. Unfortunately, in each of those 4 years the Kings had to face the Oilers in the 1st Round.
Blake built a very good team. They likely would have got through to the Conference Finals this year if they faced anybody but the Oilers. I think at this point McDavid and crew are living rent free in the King’s heads.
Ken Holland will have to assemble a juggernaut if the Kings are to beat the Oilers in the playoffs. Most of the pieces are there and only need some minor tweaking. Holland will also have about $23 million in cap space to play around with. I expect a couple of really big names to sign in Free Agency or show up via trade.
Interesting times coming up in LA for sure.
2 Likes
I can’t be the only one feeling this, but why does three years from now seem like a much longer time?
But then these years sure do go by fast.
2 Likes
yea i don’t think that’s true
Both Foote and Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said Thursday that the superstar defenceman was not contacted for input during the hiring process.
2 Likes
I don’t know if it’s true or not. I did read in an article on TSN I believe that Quinn was consulted. Another article called Foote his “preferred candidate”. There is also a 3 minute video about how much Quinn had to do with hiring Foote which I haven’t watched. Hey, it’s not unusual to consult your best player in these things. Happens all the time in football. That’s where I got this from anyway.
2 Likes
Allvin added that while he hadn’t spoken to Hughes during the process, president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford spoke to the defenceman about Tocchet leaving. Foote was believed to be the preferred candidate of Hughes to replace the now-Flyers coach.
3 Likes
I would think Super star Quinn Hughes is happy that his D-Coach has been promoted to Head Coach.
Is it better to hire a candidate that has previous head Coaching experience?
There is a reason he would be previous,
He would have been fired from his Head Coaching job for whatever and various reasons
Foote has a clean slate and has been given an opportunity
Note:
He may not have NHL Head Coaching on his resume
But
He does have 2 Stanley Cup rings and an Olympic Gold Medal
on his resume
1 Like
I think that consulting Hughes, at whatever point and in whatever manner, about his “thoughts” could TECHNICALLY be considered different than being involved in the final decision.
2 Likes
Nothing particularly unusual about this. GMs always bring in their leadership group or top players for an opinion when hiring a new coach. They want to know if the players are open to new tactics, philosophies, or even if a certain coach’s personality will mesh with them.
Not every player likes playing for hardass coaches like Sutter or Torts. If the top players aren’t willing to buy in, then the GM needs to find another HC candidate.
3 Likes
It looks like the NHL will be refusing to tweak it’s playoff format, retaining the current geography based format that often fails to reward regualr season play. Same as the CFL, although it does look like the NFL will be tweaking it’s format to make playoff standing more earned. No surprise here as Bettman on record as being opposed to merit based seeding.
On the plus side, it looks like the NHL will be doing something about the LTIR rules that allow teams to hide huge salaries on their roster until the playoffs and essentially go way over the cap, which no other sport allows.
2 Likes
For all but 4 teams now comes the time to sign their RA’s and UFA’s. Fortunately for the Jets the only big gun unsigned is Ehlers and all indications are he will be back.
Mason Appleton.along with fellow former Kraken teammate Brandon Tanev also would like to be back.
Same with Hadyn Fleury:
1 Like
New coach in Chicago. Potentially a great gig in a top NHL city if you can survive the next year or two while the young talent matures.
1 Like
Manager of the year nominations are in. Not sure who will win this as for some reason voting took place after the second round of the playoffs unlike the player awards which are voted on at the end of the regular season. Chevy probably would have won it if the voting took place then, but now I’m not so sure. Odd time to vote in any event as the other two GM’s are in the third round with potentially two more to go. I don’t see why they don’t vote before the playoffs like for the players or after the Final.
2 Likes
1 Like
I don’t think the Jets can afford to keep Ehlers. they also need to give him more ice time if they do.
Chevy should win manager of the year.
1 Like
Hope not … he would look good in Montreal
1 Like
The Jets can easily afford him. Scheifele, Hellebuyck, Pionk, DeMelo and Morrissey are locked down at bargain basement prices (by today’s standards) for many years to come. Certainly they will be looking at huge increases for Connor and Samberg, although I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility of them taking a bit of a home town discount as Ehlers might do as well. Chevy will make it work. The Jets have ample cap room and the richest owner in the league so I’m not worried. Plus Ehlers doesn’t want to go anywhere else. The chances of him leaving are less than 10% I would estimate.
Now if only I can convince Chevy to trade Hellesuck for Marner.
2 Likes
Hot off the presses is the first list of UFA’s ranked. I actually find this more interesting than another Florida/Edmonton final which it looks like will be the case. I think the sleeper on the list is Donato, who is ranked too low at #14 in my opinion. He had an outsanding season on a pretty awful team and can score.
3 Likes