The coaches.

Khudobin is from Kazakhstan.

 

Fuckin' Matty. Knows his shit.

 

Looks like the Rangers are going to hire David Quinn. That’s all I got.

 

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The Rangers appear to have their new head coach in their sights.

According to ESPN’s John Buccigross, New York is set to hire Boston University’s David Quinn to replace Alain Vigneault, who was let go at the end of the regular season.

The contract is believed to be for five years and $12 million, Buccigross reported on Saturday morning. However, ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski later noted the deal has not yet been finalized.



Quinn, 51, has been the head coach at Boston University for the last five seasons. Previously, he was an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche for a season and the head coach of Lake Erie of the American Hockey League for three seasons.

NHL teams looking for head coaches this offseason have been thinking outside the box. Several prominent former bench bosses are available, but teams seem to be more about fit than experience. In the Rangers’ case, Quinn has been described as a coach that relates well with younger players, something New York needs given that it is in the throes of its first real youth movement in some time.

Quinn would become the fifth coach to leave a U.S. college program to take over an NHL club, joining, among others, Herb Brooks and Bob Johnson.

Quinn is 95-47-17 over his last four seasons at BU, leading the Terriers to the NCAA Division I Tournament each time. His 2015 squad advanced all the way to the national championship game before losing by a goal to Providence.

The Rangers went 226-147-37 during Vigneault’s five seasons, but fired him in on April 7 following a 34-39-9 season that snapped their run of seven consecutive playoff appearances.

New York has the ninth and 26th picks in the first round of the 2018 draft.

 

NY rangers hire 35 year old David Quinn.

 

He ain’t 35 I can tell you that. He’s probably somewhere near 50.

 

Lol at both of us, Will already posted it, 51.

 

Rikard Gronborg has won two golds coaching Sweden. A lot of the Trekronos' success is due to their innovative style.

He played at St. Cloud State, and his wife is from Utah. He has strong connections in Sweden and the USA. It's not a surprise that he's interested in coming to the NHL.

There are several teams that are interested in hiring him to their coaching staff. I'm hearing these teams connected to Gronborg: BUF, CAR, DAL, & NYR. But I'm sure other teams are in pursuit of the savvy Swede.

 

No contract, no problem: Trotz guides Caps into Cup final

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) One of the lasting images from the Capitals’ playoff run came the morning of Game 7 in the Eastern Conference final.

Usually Alex Ovechkin hustles around the rink in a hot lap prior to the morning skate. Only this time it was 55-year-old coach Barry Trotz, who answered the call from his players to do the lap.

“I was worried about the turns,” Trotz said. “The rudders haven’t been sharpened all year. … I almost bit it at the end there trying to imitate Ovi.”

The Capitals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0 that night to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final, but they might’ve won Game 7 at that moment. Rarely in previous postseasons had Trotz been that relaxed, the result of an unusual situation.

Trotz went into the season without – and still doesn’t have – a contract for next season, a circumstance that almost never happens to an experienced coach of a team with legitimate postseason hopes. But in a strange way, being a lame-duck coach might’ve helped Trotz not feel the pressure of past early exits and played a positive role in getting this far.

“I think it could be the same effect on a player, too, that’s becoming a free agent,” general manager Brian MacLellan said Friday. “He’s basically becoming a free agent as a coach, and what effect does that have? Do you have your best year when you’re a free agent?”

Trotz has. Even with the fifth-most victories of any coach in NHL history, until this spring he hadn’t made it past the second round in 18 previous seasons with the Nashville Predators and Capitals. He called it “luck of the draw,” running into championship-bound teams from Detroit, Chicago and Pittsburgh.

This improbable Capitals run that continues with Game 1 of the Cup Final on Monday in Las Vegas is not luck. It’s parts Ovechkin and goaltender Braden Holtby, and also the right moves by Trotz. He called on Philipp Grubauer to start the first round in goal before switching to Holtby in Game 2 against Columbus and watching him get on a roll. He put Jakub Vrana on the top line not long before the rookie scored the winner in Game 5 against the Penguins and pushed all the right buttons on rest and preparation.

Teams tend to read cues from a head coach, and those have been positive.

“I think his demeanor has changed a little bit,” MacLellan said. “He seems a little lighter, a little looser, a little less pressure, maybe a little more freedom in terms of how he goes about things.”

Despite back-to-back Presidents’ Trophies, MacLellan and Capitals management didn’t offer Trotz an extension.

Before the playoffs, Trotz said he hadn’t lost any sleep over his status and referred questions to MacLellan and owner Ted Leonsis. In March, Leonsis said he doesn’t talk about contracts, and MacLellan has repeatedly stated that any talks would wait until after the playoffs. There are currently no vacancies in the NHL.

Toronto’s Mike Babcock is the highest-paid coach at $6.25 million, Chicago’s Joel Quenneville is next at $6 million and Montreal’s Claude Julien comes in at $5 million. Those three have combined to win the Cup five times.

Trotz’s price tag has gone up however the Final goes against the Golden Knights.

“He’s probably going to benefit from this, too,” MacLellan said. “I think he’s done a good job managing it. To come in this year with so many questions – not from my point of view the lineup questions were that a big deal – but just the emotional state of our team coming in to start the year and how to handle that, I think he’s done an outstanding job.”

Trotz survived a 10-9-1 start that culminated with 6-3 and 6-2 losses at Nashville and Colorado, and the Capitals winning 12 of their next 14 games might have saved his job. Players’ response to Trotz reading them the riot act showed he certainly hadn’t lost the room.

But a journey of self-discovery last summer went beyond not having a contract.

“It gave me just some clarity on what defines me, what defines us, what defines you,” Trotz said. “If you don’t win any awards or anything, I’m not going to look at you any different. If you’re a good person and you treat people right and you live your life right, then I’m going to think really highly of you. If you don’t, I’m not going to think so much of you. And I started getting that clarity that everybody looks for the wrong in people rather than the right and it gave me a lot of clarity. And some things happened in my life that allowed me to see that and it’s been good.” (PHT/NBC Sports)

 

Flames announce Geoff Ward and Ryan Huska are new assistants to Bill Peters...

 

Barry Trotz resigns as Capitals head coach

Washington Capitals head coach Barry Trotz has tendered his resignation from the team, becoming a free agent after leading the franchise to its first Stanley Cup on June 7.

"After careful consideration and consultation with my family, I am officially announcing my resignation as Head Coach of the Washington Capitals," Trotz said in a statement Monday.

 

Didn’t see that coming!

 

That is strange.

 

Stingy bastards running things in DC.

 

I think Lou is singing for his signing on the Island.

 

I kinda saw this coming. Trotz's zone schemes work. Let's lowball him. Easy to get Todd Reirden to do his job for peanuts and crackerjacks.

 

So cheap and not even a cap issue.

 

Leonsis is another cheap greek.

 

i thought he was at the end of his contract this season? odd move. if i were the flyers, i would be calling him right now !

 

Winning a Stanley Cup adds two years to the contract. Problem is, the salary is fixed, and it's a number lower than he thinks he's worth (and he's probably right). So, he walks from this contract, and waits for someone to call with a better one. Only open job right now is NYI, but it's just the start of the offseason. We'll see...

I imagine it's hard for Washington not to just pay him what he's worth. It'd be a hell of a victory for ego and pocketbook if they didn't bring him back over this, and likely a loss for the team's performance.