The coaches.

Vanek was just on the radio with really high praise for Krueger. He's known him since he was 4 years old.

 

Ottawa please please please hire Pattycakes

 

Amen. Im hoping too. Would love, love, love to see 'redface' as the bench boss. He'd be a perfect fit. lol

 

please. Oh, please, please, please!
I could not stand going to games in Denver when he was HC. I would love to see him pull the OTT goalie with 10 minutes remaining in the third when they're down by two.

 

why did Roy quit abruptly ? he had a decent record in Colorado and won Coach of the Year ?

 

The short, as well as the most accurate answer to your question is: "because he's an asshole".

The longer answer is that Roy quit: "because he's a flaming asshole!".

 

ok, i thought it was a bigger issue than his relation to flaming assholes.

 

Roy and Sakic didn't see eye to eye either. They disagreed on what kind of players the team should incorporate, but Dan's assessment is more betterest.

 

Sakic and Roy were teammates that won a couple Cups. In my estimation, the biggest problems that Denver has - and one that will like never be resolved any year soon* - is the ownership situation. The Avs are owned by one of, if not the richest owners in the NHL. Kroenke married into the Walmart fortune and has more money than even, gasp!, Terry & Kim Pegula. He insists, however, in running his teams as if Denver is a small market. (It's not NY or Chicago - or even Boston - but Denver is most definitely NOT a small market. The assertion that it is is a major irritant to fans, and it leads to boneheaded decisions.)

(* An owner is not likely to fire himself, and a super rich one can hold on to his toys because money isn't the main thing in life for him. The dead guy in Chicago had to die before the Hawks were able to emerge from decades of idiotic activity.)

On aspect of bone-headed decisions is to decide that former players are "heros" to the locals and that will give the team a long leash on stupid activity. So Kroenke hired Roy and Sakic largely based on the fact that they had hoisted the SC in Denver. The roles were never clearly defined, and because Roy is, at heart, a big flaming asshole, he wanted and assumed more say than what he was actually granted. He is the reason Duchenne wanted out of Denver. Roy is the reason that Butcher eschewed Denver, (even though he played at DU) to sign as a UFA in NJ. He nearly drove Tyson Barrie out of town. None of these antics sat well with Sakic, but he dealt with it. I think that the insistence that Barrie should be traded finally forced Sakic to put the hammer down. He is the GM and Roy (was) the HC; they had separate roles and separate responsibilities, but Roy would not (or could not) grasp that.

What was Roy's response? In a petulant rant he quit just weeks before the season was to start. Bednar was, IMO, a very good hire, but the damage had been done, and the team earned all of 48 points his first season behind the bench. They have now made the playoffs two straight seasons with the promise of something that has never been achieved in Denver NHL history; that is making the postseason in three consecutive years.

This is a much longer way of saying that Roy quit because he's an asshole.

 

Boy could we use the voice of HockeyBob to lend clarity to this matter.

 

Bogus. Doesn't leave much time for finding a new hire.

 

great info Dan. Well done and reported.

 

Dammitt !!! I wanted Patty Cakes !!!

 

This is a good hire IMO. It also is not great for the Leafs. We'll see.

 

They do have some pieces...

 

Elliotte Friedman reporting he thinks Dave Tippet is going to be the Oilers next coach as early as tomorrow...

 

Ordinarily it is not worth mentioning when an AHL coach is extended. But, when he's the hottest (IMO) untested HC in the game, I make an exception.

Sheldon Keefe has resigned with the Toronto Marlies for 2 years. Babbs has 4 years remaining on the contract that Buffalo dodged. I doubt he makes it past two more years.

If the Leafs win a Cup or something like that, then Keefe hedged his bet by going short term. Smart, and good at coaching hockey.

 

Dave Tippett will be named coach of the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, according to Sportsnet.

The Oilers have scheduled a press conference for 1 p.m. ET.

Tippett's hiring comes three weeks after the Oilers hired Ken Holland as general manager and president of hockey operations May 7.

Tippett coached the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes from 2009-10 through 2016-17. He won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year in his first season with the Coyotes and guided them to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of his first three seasons.

The Coyotes advanced to the Western Conference Final in 2012 before losing to the Los Angeles Kings, but they failed to qualify for the playoffs in Tippett's final five seasons.

Tippett, who turns 58 on Aug. 25, went 553-413-120 with 28 ties in 14 seasons as coach of the Coyotes and Dallas Stars, who qualified for the playoffs five times in Tippett's six seasons with them. The Stars got as far as the Western Conference Final in 2008. - NHL.com