With the announcement of a GM, Tampa fans now look to their newfound architect anxiously awaiting the nomination of a Head Coach. Yzerman has stated he is not afraid to think outside the box on his decision, seemingly indicating he will forego the usual veteran coaching suspects for a coach with little to no NHL head coaching experience. Since Yzerman's fateful May 25th hiring the rumored short list of coaching prospects appears to be the following:
Kevin Dineen - Dineen (Age-46) is rumored to be of interest to both the Lightning and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Dineen hails from a hockey family with two brothers and a father that also have NHL experience. Kevin was a captain on several NHL squads and even played under his own father Bill when he was coaching the Philadelphia Flyers in 1992-93.
Dineen is a close friend of Yzerman, and is a successful American Hockey League coach with a record of 219-131-50 behind the bench for the Portland Pirates. His Pirates teams have advanced to the finals twice.
Guy Boucher - 2009-2010 was Boucher's (Age-38) rookie season as an AHL Head Coach with the Hamilton Bulldogs. Boucher went on to win the Pieri Memorial Award for coach of the year. Hired by the Montreal Canadiens after coaching success in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Boucher led a Bulldogs squad that was often depleted by player assignments to Montreal to a 52-17-11 record. His squad lost 4 games to 3 in the conference finals. Boucher attended McGill University earning a degree in History and a graduate in Sports Psychology.
Scott Arniel - Arniel (Age-47) has coached the AHL Manitoba Moose for the past 4 seasons winning the Pieri Memorial Award for coach of the year in 2008-2009. Arniel, who played 11 seasons in the NHL, later went on to become an assistant coach in the minors before earning a stint as an assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabres from 2002-2006. Arniel has compiled a solid record of 181-106-33 as coach of the Moose taking his squad to the finals once.
Gerard Gallant - Gallant (Age-46) is also a close friend of Yzerman having played 10 seasons with him in Detroit. Gallant spent 2 seasons as an assistant coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets prior to his midseason promotion to Head Coach in the 2003-2004 season after Doug MacLean stepped aside to assume full time GM duties. Gallant would coach the Jackets for just 147 games earning a record of 56-81-6 before he was replaced by Ken Hitchcock in the middle of the 2006-2007 season.
Gallant went on to become an assistant coach with the New York Islanders from 2007-2009 before taking a head coaching position in the QMJHL with the Saint John Sea Dogs for their 2009-2010 season. Gallant led his squad to their first President's Cup Final and earned a league high 109 points in the regular season. He was also named 2010 Canadian Hockey League coach of the year.
Mike Haviland - Haviland (Age-42) was an East Coast Hockey League Head Coach with Atlantic City from 2001-2004 guiding the team to 3 straight playoff appearances with a championship in the 2002-2003 season. He then went on to coach ECHL Trenton to a championship in 2004-2005.
Haviland compiled an impressive record of 172-81-35 as an ECHL Head Coach before moving on to run the bench as an AHL Head Coach with the Norfolk Admirals from 2005-2007 and with the Rockford IceHogs in the 2007-2008 season. He compiled a coaching record of 137-77-26 in the AHL which led to his current hiring as Chicago Blackhawks assistant coach since 2008.
Haviland is often credited with the development of Hawks forward Dustin Byfuglien who made the position change from defense to wing a few seasons ago.
Other rumored prospects include various Detroit Red Wings assistant coaches though these names seem less likely especially since Yzerman has hinted that he would rather not poach from the Wings organization.
So who do you think should be the next Lightning Head Coach?
Stevie Y is a legend, her are some things that I know he will bring to the NING.
ReplyDelete1) Class, no organization does it better than the Detroit Red Wings. If you hate them or love them you have to admit they do it right.
2) Talent evaluation, the wings seem to have a knack for finding guys passed over by many. If you watch Hockey I need not mention names.
3) A general excitement. As a Wings fan and a now Tampa native I am excited for the Lightning and their fans. I want Steve's legend to grow, just not at the expense of the Red Wings. Good luck Steve and thanks for everything.