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Michel Therrien a stopgap solution for Canadiens

Adam Proteau, The Hockey News, 2012-06-05

The Montreal Canadiens have hired Michel Therrien for his second stint as coach of the storied Original Six team. But something tells me this go-around will be much the same for him as the first one: he’ll enjoy a moderate amount of success, but not enough to keep him around long enough to take the Habs to the elite level.

As is the case with Bob Hartley in Calgary, Therrien takes the reins of a squad that is far from the cream of the NHL’s crop and by most accounts is in a state of transition. Things aren’t quite as bad in Montreal as they are with the Flames – the Canadiens have two dynamic young players in Carey Price and P.K. Subban who have no equal in Calgary – but they aren’t exactly on the precipice of a dynasty, either.

Yes, Habs rookie GM Marc Bergevin has some $25 million in salary cap space to use – more if the new collective bargaining agreement includes a contract amnesty that will allow them to flush Scott Gomez’s deal – but it isn’t as if the free agent market is teeming with clear-cut solutions to their problems.

There are no forwards who have the right combination of size, sandpaper and skill the Canadiens require at the top end of the lineup. They also could use some defensive depth, but not so badly that they overcompensate a few veterans in terms of both salary and term of contract just for the sake of spending money (hi, Chris Campoli!). They’ve got enough young defensive prospects in their system who should be able to step in and contribute. Eventually.

They probably won’t do so while Therrien remains coach of the Canadiens. His hiring has the stench of a stopgap measure, a consolation choice that will suffice for a couple of years before an ideal candidate becomes available. Maybe that candidate is current Lightning bench boss Guy Boucher; maybe it’s Alain Vigneault, who signed a two-year contract extension in May to continue coaching the Vancouver Canucks; maybe it’s Patrick Roy, if NHL expansion or relocation to Quebec City doesn’t pan out as many expect; or perhaps it’s Hartley, a rumored favorite to take the Habs job before he accepted the same position in Calgary.

For now, though, the task of setting a new tone in Montreal falls to Therrien, known as a gruff taskmaster who will likely remove all the wattage from Subban’s luminous smile as he implements his defense-minded game plan. Unfortunately, the problem with the Canadiens isn’t their defense – Montreal was 11th overall in the league with a 2.61 goals-against average – but rather their offense (19th overall at an average of 2.52 goals-for per game). Unless Therrien has been spending his three years away from the league learning voodoo tricks and taser techniques to rejuvenate Gomez’s offense or simply invigorate an underachiever such as Rene Bourque, he’s not going to help them in the area they need it most.

Some people will point to Therrien’s success with Pittsburgh (after the Habs fired him in 2003) as an example of what he can bring to the table. I say unless he’s bringing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to the Canadiens’ table, he’s unlikely to take this group of players to the Stanley Cup final as he did with the Penguins in 2007-08. More likely is the pattern Therrien established in his first three seasons as Habs coach: he missed the playoffs one year, won a single playoff round another year and was fired after the third year.

Sure, Therrien can converse in both of Canada’s official languages and that’s obviously a necessary part of the gig. And sure, he will be more demanding and active than the comparatively comatose Jacques Martin. But if it feels like he’s the equivalent of the person you ask to the prom after the rest of your high school is busy going with other people and/or washing their hair, it’s because he is.

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Michel Therrien did a ‘great job’ in first stint as Canadiens coach: Doug Gilmour

Dave Stubbs, Postmedia News, Jun 7, 2012

MONTREAL — Doug Gilmour couldn’t tell you how many coaches he’d had in the National Hockey League before he arrived on the Canadiens bench in front of Michel Therrien for the 2001-02 season.

So we’ve done the math for the Hall of Famer nicknamed Killer: Therrien was the 14th of 16 coaches for whom Gilmour played during his 20-season, 1,474-game career. And while there surely were coaches along the way whom Gilmour probably didn’t enjoy, Therrien wasn’t among them.

In fact, Gilmour thought a lot of the work of the man who on Tuesday was again named the Canadiens head coach.

Killer played 110 of his 143 Habs games for Therrien, the final 33 for Claude Julien when Therrien was sacked 43 games into the 2002-03 season, Gilmour’s last full NHL campaign.

“I liked Michel,” Gilmour said from Kingston, Ont., on Wednesday, his life these days divided between his hometown and Toronto.
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“He was coming to an Original Six team a little nervous, especially with the history of Montreal. But I thought he did a great job. Every day, he’d try to think of something to come up with as a motivational speech before games.

“Not everybody’s going to like their coach, but the majority of us on those teams liked Michel. And from what I saw as a bit of an elder statesman in the league (at age 38), he was a player’s coach.”

Gilmour had answered the phone Wednesday with a laugh, saying coyly, “So what’s going on down there?”

Of course, the Canadiens news was no mystery to him, and he had been as puzzled as anyone as he’d watched the 2011-12 club unravel like a wool sweater in a cat’s claws.

“The things that were happening down there, I was thinking, ‘Whoa, what’s going on?’ ” Gilmour said. “I watched the night (Mike) Cammalleri was traded between periods of a game and I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’”

It’s no surprise to Gilmour that Canadiens fans are divided about general manager Marc Bergevin’s hiring of Therrien as coach. But as a GM himself, contracted for two more seasons to run the Ontario Hockey League’s Kingston Frontenacs, he respects a precious hockey intangible.

“When a general manager takes over any team, he must trust whoever he’s going to hire,” Gilmour said. “Bergevin knows Therrien from Michel’s work coaching Pittsburgh and, of course, time will dictate how he does in Montreal. But the GM must trust his men right off the hop.”

Therrien had 62 NHL games to his credit, a little shy of Gilmour’s 1,280, when their paths crossed in Montreal. The coach would be but a brief interlude in the centreman’s career, but Gilmour has fond memories of a boss four months his junior.

“Sometimes, I’d offer Michel some advice. Not about playing, but about the dressing room,” Gilmour said. “That unit we had, everybody was friends. We had a great nucleus and you look at the little (12-game) playoff run we had (in 2002) and it was a great time.

“Michel would ask me things, even if it didn’t mean he had to use what I said. Still, it didn’t have to be too much in that room. We had some good people, some good character guys.”

The 2002 playoffs would be Gilmour’s last of 17 trips to the post-season, and he might cherish that more than anything about his time here.

He remembers the late-season return from cancer of captain Saku Koivu as “very uplifting” and knocking off Boston in the first round as “very emotional.”

Then there was his destruction of a Bell Centre penalty box — you’ll find it on YouTube — in the final semi-final game against Carolina, an explosion of broken glass showering his feet.

The shards and chunks were hauled off in a wheelbarrow, a few pounds of the remains finding their way into then-Canadiens owner George Gillett’s suit jacket pockets, courtesy of Gilmour, during the team’s farewell dinner.

Killer is certain he pranked Therrien at some point, though the details elude him.

He does recall early in his career getting into the office of Jacques Martin, his coach in St. Louis, stacking furniture in a pile and rearranging many carefully filed game videotapes into different boxes.

Gilmour remembers raiding Martin’s office fridge with goalie Greg Millen, emptying its soft-drink contents and sharing the cache with the boys in the dressing room.

“We only had water and Gatorade powder,” Gilmour said. “So Greg and I handed out Jacques’ stuff then headed to the sauna before he came into the room and saw the boys with his drinks.”

There was the time he broke Chicago coach Dirk Graham’s skate with a shot to prematurely end a hard practice, then dropped to the ice weak with laughter, faking pushups to avoid blame.

“Me doing pushups should have given me away,” Gilmour said, laughing.

But one of his finest pranks might have been pulled on Gillett, who loved his Canadiens players like family.

“George would bring his guests down the hallway outside the room shortly before a game, proud to show them around,” Gilmour recalled.

“So one day I pried the plug off the top of my (hollow composite) stick and filled it with water, then called George over and said, ‘What’s going on with these sticks you’re buying us? First off, they’re heavy. And second, they’re all warped.’ ”

Gillett took the stick and extended it upward to eyeball the shaft, promptly emptying half a litre of water into his face and his clothes.

“What does George do? He laughs,” Gilmour said. “He was such a gentleman, a first-class person. It was a pleasure working with him.”

The Canadiens, Gilmour says, “are always in my memory bank. I enjoyed every minute of my time there. Great ownership, great fans. The people there were just phenomenal.”

From the midpoint between Toronto and Montreal, two of his NHL ports of call, Gilmour will watch the new Canadiens with great interest.

A coach, he says, can indeed go home again.

“You’re obviously hired to be fired,” Gilmour said. “But sometimes you do learn, even if it might take some time to grow. Michel has some work to do down there, but he could be a great fit.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
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[hockeygod]

HABS FIRE CUNNEYWORTH AND LADOUCEUR; LAPOINTE TO BE HIRED

TSN.ca, June 7 2012

MONTREAL — The changes continue for the Montreal Canadiens.

The club fired assistant coaches Randy Cunneyworth and Randy Ladouceur on Wednesday.

The move comes one day after Michel Therrien was named the team's new head coach.

Cunneyworth took over as Montreal's interim head coach mid-season when the team axed Jacques Martin.

The injury-plagued Habs went on to finish last in the Eastern Conference, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

Cunneyworth was moved back to assistant coach after new general manager Marc Bergevin was hired in May.

Bergevin said at the time that it would be up to the new head coach to decide if the assistants stayed on next season.

Therrien said he has decided to bring in a new staff and he felt it was only fair to let Cunneyworth and Ladouceur know right away so they would have time to look for new jobs.

"On behalf of the organization, I would like to thank both of them for their valuable contribution to the team and wish them the very best for the future," Therrien said in a release.

Cunneyworth was named interim coach after Martin was fired in December. The move provoked howls of protest among many fans in Quebec because he was the first coach in four decades unable to speak French.

Team president Geoff Molson apologized to fans and promised the next head coach would be bilingual. Therrien fit that bill.

Cunneyworth and Ladouceur were promoted to the NHL club last summer after coaching Montreal's AHL farm team in Hamilton in 2010-11.

The club is also expected to name Martin Lapointe as their new director of player development. Lapointe was also considering the position of assistant coach in Montreal, but opted for a role in management.

Lapointe, who played junior hockey for Michel Therrien with the Laval Titan, played almost 1,000 games in the NHL with Detroit, Boston, Chicago and Ottawa.

Dean
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Colborne adds beef to try and become a Leaf

JAMES MIRTLE, The Globe and Mail, Jun 07 2012

Asked his weight, he says anywhere between 208 and 218 pounds, depending on the day.

Asked his height, he says it’s gone up another half inch, even though he turned 22 four months ago and was already 6-foot-5.

This is life as Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Joe Colborne, who with the help of team trainers and nutritionists has been trying to thwart Mother Nature’s attempts to keep him a lean beanpole in the hopes he can make the NHL full time in the near future.

It’s an ongoing battle.

“Trust me, they’re on me to keep getting bigger,” Colborne said on Wednesday, as the Toronto Marlies prepared for Game 3 of the Calder Cup finals. “It’s absurd right now. I probably eat about 4,000 or 5,000 calories. It just never ends. I’ll go out for food and everyone else is ready to leave and I’ve got to eat a whole new meal.

“That [metabolism] is a good thing I guess when I get older. I’ll be laughing at the other guys for being fat.”

While he’s obviously made progress on the weight gain front – adding 15 pounds since joining the Leafs organization – Colborne’s season has otherwise been all over the map.

After a dream start with 19 points in his first 11 games and the AHL player of the month award for October, he was called up to the Leafs for a 10-game stretch in which he netted five points and looked relatively comfortable in his first sustained NHL action.

From then on, however, Colborne struggled through injuries and inconsistency in the minors, posting no goals and only four points in his final 24 regular season games. By season’s end, he had just 16 goals and 39 points in 65 games, with much of that production coming in the season’s first 11 games.

His time in the playoffs hasn’t been overly productive either, as what’s believed to be a wrist injury is at least partially to blame for him only having two goals and five assists in 13 games.

“He just got off to an unbelievable start,” Marlies coach Dallas Eakins said. “And I always judge a player’s potential by their best game because that’s as good as you’ve seen them play.

“But to keep that pace up, that’s the problem… I think he kind of came back to reality in mid-season, to where we thought he would play, but when you get off to such a great start and then it’s not going for you, you start losing your confidence. [You think] ‘Hey why isn’t it working?’ He started going outside his game. Trying things we don’t want him to do.”

Part of the problem has also been expectations.

After all, Colborne has been saddled with some rather high ones in Toronto, beginning almost right from the day he was acquired in the Tomas Kaberle trade with Boston in February, 2011.

Because of his size and draft pedigree – the Bruins took him 16th overall in 2008, before Michael Del Zotto and Jordan Eberle – the raw youngster was touted by Leafs GM Brian Burke and others in the organization as a potential answer to a lack of depth up the middle.

Even outgoing executive Rick Dudley made a point to praise Colborne on the way out, telling colleague David Shoalts two weeks ago that “if his cardiovascular fitness is elite and he improves his quickness just a bit, he can become a top two centre in the NHL for sure.”

At the moment, however, being a solid top two centre in the AHL – nevermind making good on those NHL aspirations – has been enough of a challenge.

Not that that was entirely unexpected. For one, Colborne’s road as a teen through the Alberta Junior A league and two years of NCAA hockey is the classic path of a late bloomer, and with the Bruins affiliate in Providence, he spent a lot of time on the bench as a rookie.

When Colborne arrived in the trade, Eakins embraced his new project and loaded him up with ice time in his early days on the Marlies roster.

That has since fallen off as the coaching staff has been working with him on defensive play, something that has to improve in order for Colborne to potentially fill a checking line role at the next level.

And his coach made it clear he isn’t unhappy by a second pro campaign that has been so uneven.

“I’m not disheartened by Joe’s season,” Eakins said. “He’s played through an injury. We had to finally shut him down. I think he’s been much better over the last few games.

“The one thing he is is extremely motivated. It’s not a thing where I have to go to him and say you have to work harder on anything. It’s more of a detail thing.”

One of those details is his play in his own end. Several others listed by Eakins on Wednesday are hanging onto the puck longer, driving his legs to generate power and speed, having possession down low and beating teams wide using his size.

(Speaking of which, Colborne is likely to get plenty of sessions in with the Leafs new skating coach, Barb Underhill, in the off-season, as she’s worked wonders with other big bodies like the New York Rangers’ Brian Boyle.)

The final key is gaining even more weight, something that will require plenty of diligence in what will be a short summer given Colborne’s end goal is to enter training camp in the fall at 225 pounds.

“If I ate three meals in a day, I’d probably lose over five pounds,” he said of that push. “I get up immediately in the morning, and I’ll have one of these shakes. And then come to the rink, I have protein here at the rink. And then they have breakfast for us. Then we have lunch [after practice] and another shake. Then I go home for another meal at like three and I’ll usually go out for dinner after.”

As for the rest of his game and the necessary gains needed there, Colborne can feel it coming slowly, despite the lack of production, the injuries and all that eating.

His brief taste of life in the NHL, meanwhile, is still his biggest source of continued confidence, as those 10 games gave him an opportunity to show he belongs at the highest level.

The trick now is to get back there to stay.

“I felt much more powerful in my skating,” Colborne said of his season. “I think it was just overall kind of maturing into my body. I’m still growing. Everyone keeps saying I look a little bit bigger. It’s just a maturity thing, I think. And the coaches have been on me all year long about my D-zone and focusing on that. I’ve made big strides through that.

“To actually go up there [to the NHL] and get my 10 games this year and be able to produce some points, that was unbelievable for how I feel. I know I can go up against some of the top players in the world now. I got to play against a couple of my idols, guys I look up to, in Eric Staal and Vinny Lecavalier. It was a huge learning year for me. To be able to go on this playoff run is huge. And it certainly would be nicer to come out of it with a ring and with a Cup.

“So far it’s been a trying year at times, but it’s also been a huge learning experience for me.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
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[hockeygod]

Sale of Phoenix Coyotes still not a done deal

Pat Hickey, Postmedia News, June 7 2012

The Glendale City Council meets Friday to give its approval on a deal that will give Greg Jamison, the prospective owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, $325 million US to operate and make improvements to the city-owned Jobing.com Arena over the next 20 years.

The deal is supposed to be the final step in transferring ownership of the team from the National Hockey League to Jamison, but fans in Quebec City, Las Vegas or Seattle shouldn't abandon their dreams of seeing the National Hockey League in their fair city next winter.

While the Glendale council is going through with what amounts to a terrible deal for the local taxpayers, there's now a question of whether Jamison, the former president of the San Jose Sharks, can raise the $170-million purchase price.

Potential investors are skittish because the Coyotes have been bleeding red ink since the franchise moved from Winnipeg in 1996. There was a warm and fuzzy feeling last month when the Coyotes reached the second round of the playoffs and attracted sellout crowds. While that showed there is room to grow the product – during the regular season the Coyotes averaged an NHL-low 12,240 fans in a 17,125-seat arena – Forbes magazine said investors didn't believe Jamison could boost attendance and attract enough non-NHL events to make the team profitable.

No matter what happens with the team, the city of Glendale will be a loser. For the past two years, the city has handed the NHL $25 million to help cover losses. By that standard, the $16 million a year they will pay Jamison to manage the building is a bargain.

The problem is that the city is in worse shape financially than Jamison. Propping up the Coyotes has put a strain on the proposed city budget that calls for tax hikes, layoffs and reduced services. A report commissioned by the city estimates that the deal will cost each resident an additional $45 a year over the term of the deal.

The city's analysis also shows that Glendale can expect to collect less than $8 million a year in ticket surcharges, rent and sales taxes. According to the Arizona Republic, the report shows that Glendale could lose $9 million a year even if the Coyotes went to the Stanley Cup final in each of the next 20 years and the arena booked 30 sold-out concerts.

The city held a public meeting Thursday night to discuss the deal, but that was strictly for show because a straw poll shows that the subsidy for Jamison will carry by a 4-3 majority. The most prominent dissenter is Mayor Elaine Scruggs, a one-time supporter of doing whatever it takes to keep the team in the desert. She has done an about-face in the past year, accusing the NHL or dragging its feet on finding a buyer.

Two earlier deals to sell the team fell through and that doesn't include Jim Balsillie's original offer to buy the team and move it to Hamilton. The NHL has stubbornly insisted on standing by Glendale despite all the evidence that the franchise is not viable. If Jamison doesn't come up with the cash, it's time to bring in the moving vans.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

GOLDWATER INSTITUTE LOOKS TO HALT GLENDALE VOTE ON COYOTES

ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 7 2012

PHOENIX – A conservative watchdog group plans to ask a judge for a temporary restraining order Friday to prevent a Glendale City Council vote on a lease agreement that would clear the way for the sale of the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes.

The Goldwater Institute said Thursday that its request will be filed at 8:30 a.m. Friday in Maricopa County Superior Court. The institute bases its request on its contention that the city violated the Arizona open meetings law by failing to make public all documents related to the lease.

The seven-member council is scheduled to convene at 10:15 a.m. Friday to vote on a lease that would pay prospective owner Craig Jamison $17 million a year for arena operation costs and other items. The NHL has owned the team for three seasons after buying it in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Goldwater officials said they question the timing of the council's vote.

"The city of Glendale plans to consider what is estimated to be a $425 million arena management deal for Jobing.com Arena," Goldwater Institute president Darcy Olsen said in a statement. "Arizona's Open Meetings Law and multiple court orders require the city to make public all documents related to the proposed contract at least 24 hours before a council vote is taken, which it has not done.

"The 100-page deal released on Monday refers to a number of exhibits that are central to analyzing the impact of the deal on Glendale's finances, which the city must make public," Olsen added.

Messages left with officials with Glendale and the Coyotes for comment on the Goldwater Institute's planned action weren't immediately returned Thursday night.

A proposed sale of the Coyotes last year to Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer was derailed by the threat of a lawsuit by the Phoenix-based Goldwater Institute.

The threat held up the city's sale of bonds necessary to fill the requirements of the lease agreement reached with Hulsizer. The watchdog group argued that Glendale's deal with Hulsizer violated the state's anti-subsidy law.

The NHL bought the Coyotes out of bankruptcy in September 2009 with the intention of finding a buyer to keep the team in Arizona. The franchise never has made a profit since moving from Winnipeg in 1996.

This year, the Coyotes won the final five games of the regular season to capture their first division title in 33 years as an NHL franchise. They got past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in 25 years by beating Chicago and then defeated Nashville before losing to Los Angeles in the Western Conference finals.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced before Game 5 of Phoenix's second-round series with Nashville that the league had reached a preliminary agreement to sell the team to a group headed by Jamison, a former San Jose Sharks CEO. But the deal hinged on working out a lease agreement with Glendale.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

MONTREAL HOCKEY WRITER RED FISHER CALLS IT A CAREER

TSN.CA STAFF, June 8 2012

One of hockey's most well-known writers is calling it a career, as the Montreal Gazette announced Friday that columnist Red Fisher is retiring after six decades of covering the Canadiens.

Fisher started his career with The Montreal Star in March of 1954 and his very first assignment on the Canadiens beat was covering the Richard Riot the following season. He was The Star's hockey writer and columnist and its sports editor from 1969 to 1979.

He then joined The Gazette as sports editor and served in that capacity for several years.

Fisher, 85, won the National Newspaper Award for sportswriting in 1971 and 1991 and has been nominated for award on two other occasions. He was also the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from Sports Media Canada in 1999.

Fisher covered the Canadiens for 17 of the club's 24 Stanley Cup victories.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
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[hockeygod]

LONGTIME NHL HEAD COACH MAURICE JOINS KHL'S MAGNITOGORSK

TSN.CA STAFF, June 8 2012

Magnitogorsk of the KHL has hired longtime NHL coach Paul Maurice as their next head coach.

Maurice joins Magnitogorsk after a 15-year head coaching career in the NHL with the Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs and Hartford Whalers.

Former Hurricanes goalie coach Tom Barrasso will also join Maurice on the Magnitogorsk bench as an assistant coach.

Dean
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Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
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[hockeygod]

Marlies attempt to move on after blown call controversy

JAMES MIRTLE, The Globe and Mail, Jun 08 2012

At first, the Toronto Marlies were outraged.

Now they’re going to simply try to put the controversy of a blown call in Game 3 behind them and attempt to get back in the Calder Cup finals.

“We have to hold our frustration in check here,” defenceman Matt Lashoff said. “But it’s obviously something that they would definitely like to have back.”

The play in question came midway through the first overtime period on Thursday in what had been a scoreless game to that point. With several teammates still in the offensive zone, Norfolk Admirals defenceman Mike Kostka’s dump-in from centre ice hit the stanchion along the glass and kicked out towards the net.

Marlies netminder Ben Scrivens, who had moved behind the net to play the puck, then watched on helplessly as it trickled over the goal line.

An officiating crew that was led by two NHL referees (Marcus Vinnerborg and Jean Hebert) missed the fact that the play occurred on a delayed offside, however, ruling it was a good goal.

The AHL released a statement on Friday morning confirming the call on the ice had been incorrect.

Toronto now trails 3-0 in the series against a Norfolk team that has lost just three times in its last 45 games.

Rather than express outrage at practice on Friday, however, Marlies coach Dallas Eakins was conciliatory as his team prepared for a must-win Game 4 the next day.

“Never forget that @TheAHL is a developmental league for the referees as well,” Eakins posted on Twitter. “Players and coaches have made mistakes. We all move on.”

Eakins and his players didn’t appear to protest the goal immediately after it went in, and no one with the Marlies pointed out the officials’ mistake in their postgame press conferences.

Lashoff, however, noted that he and his teammates began to figure it out quite quickly after the game once the shock of the bizarre play wore off.

“There was a little bit of murmur about it while we were walking off the ice,” he said. “When we got back into the locker room everyone kind of thought about it and said yeah it was definitely a call that was missed.

“Our initial reaction was hey let’s go run back out there and tell them. But they can’t obviously change that call. It’s one of those things that makes you want to rip your skin off and go knock some people out at the time. But you have to be able to keep your emotions in check because we have a game to play tomorrow.”

Toronto Maple Leafs vice-president of hockey operations Dave Poulin was one of several members of the parent club’s staff that was watching the game from the team’s suite.

He said he and others in the organization realized right away the call had been missed.

“We questioned it immediately,” Poulin said. “It was clear… it wasn’t a close play at all.”

The fact that Eakins and company did not put up much of an argument after the goal went in drew some criticism online from fans, but both he and Poulin pointed out the call had already been made by the four officials.

The AHL does not have video review available for its games, and even if it had, offside plays are not reviewable.

“After they’ve motioned that it’s a goal, they’re saying it’s over,” Eakins said. “I yelled and screamed about a number of calls and they didn’t change any of those others ones. I guess we could have put on more of a show and really went after them more, but it was the craziest of plays.”

“It wouldn’t have changed the outcome unfortunately,” Poulin said. “Dallas is a pretty straightforward guy. Had he know the exact situation then… honestly I don’t think it would have changed anything.”

Scrivens also recounted why he was helpless to stop the puck on the play.

“It’s a car accident type thing,” he said. “It was slow motion. My immediate thought when I saw it was ‘oh there it is, it’s going to go across the front of the net and that’ll be close.’ Then as it was travelling, I saw the angle and was like ‘oh no.’

“It’s a one-in-a-million bounce. You can’t really change your game or change what you’re doing because of it because it’s a freak occurrence.”

Several of the Marlies said they were trying to simply forget the play had happened and move on, hoping they can win Game 4 on Saturday to force Game 5 the next day at home.

“We’ve got to move on because if we dwell on it, we’ve got no chance in Game 4,” Scrivens said. “I don’t foresee us having too many people dwelling on it too much. We’re going to be ready.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Stubbs: Legendary Red Fisher one great storyteller

By Dave Stubbs, Postmedia News June 8, 2012

MONTREAL – I have dined at Moishe's with Red Fisher twice in my life.

The first occasion was in the fall of 1980, as I quit The Montreal Gazette for a communications job in Ottawa with Canada's national swim team. Red, my sports editor, picked up the tab and claims to this day that he didn't expense it. I almost believe him.

The second time was in the early 1990s. I was back at the paper and both of us were nominated for sportswriting prizes by the Association de la presse sportive du Quebec. We would dine that evening, then walk down to the awards gala.

(Once in your life, I thought then, you must walk into Moishe's with this man. Moses didn't part the Red Sea as effortlessly as Red parts the wait staff.)

Frankie, Red's regular waiter, was hovering over us even before we had settled.

"I'll have a Chivas, Frankie," Red said slowly, an eyebrow arched. Then he paused.

"And put some scotch in it."

Frankie returned with my lager and Red's Chivas, in a tumbler with water seemingly added by eyedropper.

Two glorious sirloins and too much liquid refreshment later, Red putting this feast on his company card, we navigated a wobbly path down the street to the gala.

Incredibly, we both won that night. I bumbled through a bilingual acceptance speech I'd scrawled on a napkin. And then Red shuffled to the stage for his award and, after a merci, proceeded mostly in English to thank the 99-per-cent francophone crowd for recognizing brilliance when they saw it.

He brought the house down.

Everyone who's ever worked with or for Red Fisher, who retired Friday following a 58-year career covering the Canadiens and so much more, has their own stories.

If he had a dime for his every tale, Frankie would have retired a millionaire.

Red was a demanding sports editor who didn't tolerate my careless mistakes as a copy editor on the night sports desk; how I'd dread the proof of a page in my mailbox with a red grease-pencilled "Please see me – RF."

He wanted headlines on a page descending in alternating roman and italic type, an odd number of headlines and subheads cause for great anxiety.

But he was generous with his counsel and, when he shrugged off a sports jacket tailored by Curmudgeon of Cote St. Luc, he was a delightfully funny man with an encyclopedia of stories that he'd share in sometimes frustratingly small chapters.

I called Red on Friday morning, first to wish him a peaceful, healthy retirement, and then to ask if he'd like me to pass along the lengthy list of media outlets that wanted a word.

"None of this is necessary," he scoffed, as if his 58 years of reporting was wiped clean just like that. "I'm not going to give any interviews. There's no point. If they want to say nice going or congratulations or kiss my (behind) . . .

"I know what I've done, I know who my friends in the business are. And I also know who the not-so-friendly people are. I'll remember them in '(Blank) 'Em All,' my next book.

"I'm doing this on my own terms. My conscience is clear."

The newspaper business is changing by the hour, an increased emphasis on a digital product not what Red bought into more than six decades ago.

"I got the memo that we were going to make changes, and I couldn't imagine myself walking around with a video camera," he said. "Digital isn't for me."

I was laughing before he'd finished that thought, Red not equipped with a cellphone or an answering or fax machine. I didn't want to ask if his home phone is rotary dial.

This isn't to say that the man hasn't embraced technology. He's traded up from red and black typewriter ribbons to master laptop computers, changing models seamlessly with just a cheat-sheet of instructions.

I told Red that surely he was going to forget to return his latest company-issued laptop, having closed out his labour-folded Montreal Star career in 1979 with the souvenir of three typewriters.

"I'll buy the damn thing," he said. "It might be a piece of junk, but I have a ton of stories in it that I really want to keep. There's a lot of history in there."

The hard drive is overflowing.

I remember, during my late 1990s stint as Gazette sports editor, hearing Red in his adjacent office speaking on the phone with an NHL general manager about the selection of this team's coach.

"He's a bum. Next. (pause)

"You're joking. Next. (pause)

"Please, be serious. Next . . ."

In many long talks with Red, plumbing his reservoir of stories, I gained a great love of hockey history that I bring to many features about the game of yesterday.

And then one day he simply dropped his personalized three-volume encyclopedia set on my desk. The Trail of the Stanley Cup, written by Charles L. Coleman, covers hockey from 1893 to 1967 and is regarded as the definitive history of the pursuit of the Cup from its birth through NHL expansion.

As precious as it is rare, the set could have earned Red many hundreds of dollars had he sold it. He'd not hear of it.

"It's yours," he said. "Enjoy it."

I have, more than he can possibly know.

On Friday, I spent the day speaking to many people in the world of hockey, from the shiniest brass to the legends of the game, to gather reaction to Red's retirement. When your phone rings at 7:30 a.m. and it's NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on the line, you know you're dealing with someone special.

Everyone spoke uniformly of a journalist who had superb instincts, an uncommon work ethic, a swollen Rolodex and a fairness in his reporting that never left a subject critical of his column, even if he didn't agree with its message.

"I owe a hell of a lot more to a lot of hockey people, starting with many of the players, than they owe me," Red said.

On one call, I mentioned to Canadiens Hall of Famer Steve Shutt that Red's hockey-writing career had begun with an exploding tear-gas canister evacuating the Forum on March 17, 1955, touching off the infamous Richard Riot, and ended amid nightly student protests along what used to be the Canadiens' Stanley Cup parade route, smoke bombs occasionally filling the air.

"Well," Shutt said, "Red's career started with a bang and it ends with one."

Former Canadiens captain Yvan Cournoyer loved that remark.

"And now we have naked students protesting," the Roadrunner said. "Just watch Red come out of retirement to cover that."

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Stars looking into moving associate coach Willie Desjardins to head coaching job with Texas Stars

Mike Heika, dallasnews.com, June 8, 2012

A couple of sources I have talked to have confirmed that the Stars are speaking with Willie Desjardins about taking the head coaching job with the Texas Stars.

Desjardins has one more year left on his contract as associate coach of the Dallas Stars, but this move makes sense for the organization. One, Desjardins has a history of being a very good head coach. He had a 333-182-61 record with Medicine Hat in the Western Hockey League, winning WHL championships in 2004 and 2007. Two, he’s used to coaching kids and helping them develop, and the Stars are entering a huge era in the development of youngsters in Cedar Park (one reason they fired Jeff Pyle after a disappointing season). And three, this would give the Stars a chance to hire a more veteran assistant coach to help out Glen Gulutzan and Paul Jerrard.

Desjardins came straight to the Stars from Major Junior, so he had only one year of NHL experience (his season with Marc Crawford) when Gulutzan and Jerrard were moved up from the AHL last season. That gave the Stars the most inexperienced bench in the NHL.
With a handful of veteran NHL assistant coaches on the market this summer, Dallas could make a push for a different dynamic and gain some bench experience in the process. Among the available assistants are Craig Hartsburg (recently fired in Calgary), Mike Haviland (let go in Chicago) and Randy Cunneyworth (replaced in Montreal).

The move could be good for Desjardins, 55. He has been a head coach most of his life, he seems comfortable being a head coach, and this would allow him to get on a pretty solid track in making a push to become an NHL head coach. If the Stars’ prospects are as talented as everyone thinks, Desjardins could have a team that could make a splash in the AHL next season.

That could definitely turn some heads, as we have seen coaches quickly climb the ladder after even brief AHL success. That said, it would mean a big move for Desjardins’ family, and it would also take him out of the NHL for the immediate future.

We’ll see what happens, but I believe that’s Plan No. 1 for Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk right now.

Here is last season’s Desjardins’ bio from the Stars’ website:

Willie Desjardins enters his second season as associate coach for the Dallas Stars. Desjardins, 54, spent eight seasons as head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) and also served as general manager of the club from 2005-2010. He won the WHL Championship with Medicine Hat in 2004 and 2007. Desjardins coached the Tigers at the Memorial Cup Tournament in those two seasons and was runner-up at the 2007 Tournament.

The native of Climax, Saskatchewan, won a gold medal as an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championships. Desjardins was named head coach of the Canadian national team in the 2010 World Junior Championships and earned a silver medal. He has won National Championships in Asia, Europe and North America. During his time with the Medicine Hat Tigers, Desjardins posted a collective 333-182-61 regular season record and a 65-43 record in the playoffs, and each of his teams have qualified for the playoffs when he has started the season with the club.

Desjardins and his wife Rhonda have three children – two boys in Brayden (18) and Jayce (12), and a girl in Sheehan (16).

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Sutter shows he can bring the funny too

DAVID SHOALTS, The Globe and Mail, Jun 09 2012

Darryl Sutter took a turn at a little stand-up comedy Saturday, a day after rival coach Pete DeBoer had everybody laughing. The Los Angeles Kings head coach is often portrayed as a taciturn grump, and he is at times, although Sutter has a dry sense of humour that shines on occasion.

Several hours before the Kings played DeBoer and the New Jersey Devils in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final, Sutter dished out a few laughs while parrying with the media. He was asked if he thought the post-season was flying by and Sutter agreed, saying a significant holiday in Canada was already upon us.

“Yeah, it does go fast. Darn right,” Sutter said after noting Father Time was looking at Kings executive Jack Ferreira, who turned 68 Saturday. “Series are two weeks, you’re going in those 10 to 14-day blocks, it does go fast.

“You’re into the middle of June already. In Canada this weekend, it’s Farmers’ Day.”

Even the Canadian reporters were scratching their heads at that one. What is Farmers’ Day?”

“It’s like a big picnic with coolers,” Sutter said to much laughter. “Don’t know if you know what that means.”

Sutter will stay with winger Simon Gagne, who returned in Game 3 from a lengthy absence due to a concussion, in his lineup. The Kings need Gagne’s scoring potential in a series where goals are scarce, although they hold a 3-1 lead and can win the Cup on Saturday night.

“I think he’s felt a little better as he’s gone along,” Sutter said. “In the last game he had a couple of good opportunities. I’d like to see him finish. That’s what he’s basically put in the lineup for.”

DeBoer will also keep the same lineup for Saturday’s game, which means veterans Petr Sykora and Henrik Tallinder will play again at forward and on defence, respectively.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

L.A. Kings’ Stanley Cup win makes ‘20 million dreams’ come true

Los Angeles — Eric Duhatschek, The Globe and Mail, Jun. 12 2012

In the grand Hollywood tradition of the overnight sensation, the Los Angeles Kings spent the better part of two months playing the part of the ingenue, perched on the soda fountain stool at Schwab’s, waiting to be discovered.

The Kings are a hockey team, or, more precisely, an ice-hockey team, which is how they are still occasionally referred to in these parts.

Maybe that will change now.

Some 45 years after Jack Kent Cooke, a Canadian publishing scion, paid $2 million to place an NHL expansion team in the City of Angels, the Kings won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history on Monday night, defeating the New Jersey Devils 6-1 to win the best-of-seven series 4-2.

Los Angeles came close to winning a championship once before – in 1993, during the Wayne Gretzky era, with a team that oozed star power, and perfectly fit the local sensibilities.

The 2012 edition of the Kings was a different and far more anonymous group, led by the NHL’s one-and-only Slovenian star, Anze Kopitar; and coached by Darryl Sutter, who had previously led the Calgary Flames to the 2004 Stanley Cup final, but had been out of hockey for more than a year when he got the call as a mid-season replacement.

Twenty years earlier, Sutter had received his first head coaching job with the Chicago Blackhawks. Now, he was hoisting the Cup for the first time in his life, after just missing out with the Calgary Flames in 2004.

“It’s pretty awesome,” said Sutter. “Obviously when you have a three- or four-goal lead with five minutes left, you know what these guys are capable of doing. Then you start seeing it on the bench. It’s the feeling of seeing them so happy, the work that you go through.

“The first thing you think about as a coach, these guys are all young enough, they’ve got to try it again.”

Their goaltender and most valuable player was an American, Jonathan Quick, the latest in a long line of quirky personalities to play the position, a player so deliberately bland that he makes the Tim Robbins’ character in Bull Durham seem like a charismatic Magic Johnson. Quick sat at the podium, after winning the Conn Smythe Trophy, with his daughter Madison in his lap.

Quick kept the Kings in the playoff race with an exceptional regular season that earned him a nomination for the Vezina Trophy, as the NHL’s top goaltender. Without him, they might have missed the playoffs altogether. The Kings were 12th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference when Sutter took over from Terry Murray as the Kings’ coach.

However, Quick said there was no panic, even when the club was adrift earlier in the year.

“You know what, it was December,” said Quick. “There’s four months left in the season. I think everybody in the locker room knew what kind of players we had in there.

“At our lowest moments, I think the biggest thing is nobody ever turned on someone else. Everybody stuck with it. Go through five-, six-game losing streaks, whatever it was, and guys are still encouraging, still competing in practice.

“You just can’t say enough about resiliency that it took to get through those times during the season and still make the playoffs.”

No team lower than a fifth seed had ever won the Stanley Cup since the current playoff format was introduced in 1994. In October, Las Vegas oddsmakers actually thought highly of their chances that they were installed as a modest 14-medium shot, and the fourth choice in the Western Conference. But the Kings quickly fell into a win-one, lose-one pattern that in December, general manager Dean Lombardi replaced coach Terry Murray with Sutter, with whom he’d had a previous association when both worked for the San Jose Sharks.

It was 28 years between Stanley Cup championships for the Sutter family, or back to 1984 when his brother Duane won for the fourth time and Brent for the second with the New York Islanders.

“Dog and Brent got their name on it six times,” said Sutter. “I wish each one of my brothers could have been on there. Take a run at it again, that’s the next thing.”

Sutter, from one of Canada’s first families on hockey, installed a more aggressive fore-checking system which permitted the Kings, one of the most physically intimidating teams in the league, to take full advantage of their size. Eventually, Lombardi tweaked his roster to promote two more hulking wingers from the minors, Jordan Nolan and Dwight King, and then capped off his in-season remake with a major deal at the NHL trading deadline, adding Jeff Carter from the Columbus Blue Jackets. In the final month of the season, the Kings started to score, on average, about one more goal per game. Combined with their already stingy defence, they finished on a 9-2-3 run in the final 14 games and were seen as an intriguing dark horse heading into the playoffs.

The Kings raced out to 3-0 leads in all four of their best-of-seven series, something that had never happened before in NHL history. They also went 10-0 on the road in the playoffs, another record, before losing last Saturday night in Newark to the Devils. In doing so, they became the first team to win on home ice since the 2007 Anaheim Ducks, a team that included Kings’ forward Dustin Penner, who now has two championships to his credit.

“It’s one of those things you dream all your life for as a player,” said Kings team captain Dustin Brown. “The city of Los Angeles has been dreaming of this for 45 years.

“There were about 20 million dreams coming true tonight.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

SIEGEL: SWELL OF EMOTION AS KINGS CAPTURE FIRST CUP

JONAS SIEGEL, TSN.ca, June 12 2012

LOS ANGELES – Tears welled up in the eyes of Anze Kopitar, emotions pouring through the soul of the 24-year-old moments after capturing the elusive Stanley Cup.

"Everything came up," he told TSN 1050 of those indescribable feelings following a 6-1 series-clinching victory on Monday night. "It's hard to put it into words.

"Coming from Slovenia, every kid's dream is just to play somewhere else than back home. You go to Sweden, you get drafted it's a big thing and then you come and play in the league it's another big thing. To be on top of the league right now, I can't describe it really."

Eleven championship banners proudly hang in the rafters of Staples Center – all belonging to the Lakers – soon to be joined by another, the first Stanley Cup championship in the history of the Los Angeles Kings franchise, following a 4-2 series victory over the New Jersey Devils.

A season with a touch of turbulence and drama, uplifted by the December hiring of Darryl Sutter, concluded in the ultimate prize for the city of Los Angeles.

"This is it," a jubilant Mike Richards told TSN 1050, his second Finals trip ending with a win. "This is what you play for. The stuff that you win before is nice, but this is something special, this is something that you've always dreamed about. I'll never forget this."

The first number eight seed in NHL history to win sport's most luxurious trophy, the Kings scorched through the postseason with a 16-4 record – second-best ever – only recently challenged with serious adversity. They made no mistake with their third opportunity to capture the Cup, trouncing the Devils in decisive fashion, an electric L.A. crowd on their feet with the game no longer in doubt.

"It wasn't easy," Drew Doughty said of the Kings playoff march this spring. "We maybe won some series which appeared to look easy, but it wasn't. All those teams gave us a great battle and it was just huge to win it."

"We knew we had the guys in the room to do it," Jarret Stoll said, his second trip to the Final concluding in long-awaited victory. "We knew we had the group, we just had to find a way to get in. There's a couple of us that know better than anybody you just got to get into the playoffs to make some noise and have a chance to win. That's all it was for us. We all came together at the right time, peaked at the right time; great goaltending, timely goals, here we are."

Five Points

1. It was a collision that shook the landscape of game six and ultimately the result of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final. Charging thunderously into Rob Scuderi behind the Kings goal, Steve Bernier dramatically altered the fortunes of the New Jersey Devils, drawing a five-minute major and game misconduct midway through the opening frame. The Kings proceeded to score three times on the lengthy man advantage, all but eviscerating any hope the Devils may have had in maintaining a gutsy comeback. Bernier chose not to watch the proceedings in the dressing room. "I stay here and try to listen to the crowd," he explained, "but it was very hard for sure. I wish I could take that play back, but I [can't]." "I was thinking about him actually on the ice when they were scoring," Martin Brodeur said after a disappointing defeat in his fifth Cup Final. "I'm like 'I'm sure he's hearing this and it's got to kill him'. It's one of the parts about hockey that's not fun."

2. Jonathan Quick became the fifth goaltender to win the Conn Smythe Trophy and second straight American-born player after Tim Thomas took home the hardware last season. "He's been the backbone of our team," Dustin Brown said prior to Monday's game. "He's been great all year." A Vezina Trophy finalist, Quick compiled a sterling 1.41 goals against average and .946 save percentage in the postseason, also posting three shutouts along the way.

3. Brown arose with a mountain of a performance in the Kings clincher, potting a goal, two assists, and the relentless grit and passion always expected of the L.A. captain. The Ithaca, New York native had just a point (no goals) in the opening five games of the series, elevating his play with the Cup in the building yet again. "I feel that tonight's the night for this team," he said confidently before the game. "It's not about me or any other individual on this team, it's about the team coming ready to play. I think if we throw our A-game [at them] I like our chances."

4. A champion with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, Dustin Penner captured his second Cup with a California-based team. "It feels pretty good," he grinned. "I'm sure San Jose will be interested, but that's not something I'll worry about. It's great to be able to do it again."

5. Pete Deboer appeared furious on the visitors' bench following the Bernier penalty, no doubt frustrated that Jarret Stoll drew no call for his dubious hit on Stephen Gionta moments prior along the wall at centre-ice. "You know what, tonight is about L.A. and letting them celebrate," DeBoer said respectfully following the game. "If you want to ask me about that in about a week, I'll give you my honest opinion on it." Bernier claimed to have no idea that the Gionta hit occurred. "No, I didn't see that at all," he said. "Against this team you want to have a strong forecheck and as the first guy you need to finish your hit and that's exactly what I did and I got five minutes for it." DeBoer spoke proudly of the Devils discipline prior to Monday's game, a fact which shifted in rapid fashion with the Bernier hit. "It's one of the things that has separated us from some of the teams we've played at different points," DeBoer said, "the ability to turn the other cheek and walk away. That has to continue. We can't change the formula that has worked for us from the drop of the puck the first game of the playoffs. We almost didn't make it past the first round because of penalties. We fixed that since then, but that can't change."

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Kings were lost before Darryl Sutter stepped in

Chris Johnston, The Canadian Press Jun 12, 2012

LOS ANGEGLES, Calif. — The name “SUTTER” will be etched into the Stanley Cup once again.

After more than two decades in professional hockey, Darryl Sutter finally has a chance to bring the trophy back to Viking, Alta., just as brothers Duane and Brent did before him. He wisely answered a phone call from old friend Dean Lombardi while working in the barn back in December and the rest is history.

The veteran coach didn’t know much about the Los Angeles Kings when that job offer arrived beyond the fact he thought they had a collection of great players.

“I wasn’t wrong,” said Sutter.

That group passed the Stanley Cup around on the ice at Staples Center on Monday night after eliminating the New Jersey Devils in Game 6. Eventually it arrived to Sutter and he hoisted the trophy as well, something the second-oldest of six brothers to reach the NHL waited a lifetime to do.

There couldn’t have been a better antidote for an underperforming team.

The Kings were lost in the wilderness when the farmer arrived to the glitz and glamour of L.A., but Sutter soon showed his players the way. At times, he challenged them and intimidated them. And he led by example while preaching about the importance of preparation.

“His intensity is an intensity that I haven’t encountered yet,” said forward Dustin Penner, who left an awful regular season behind with a solid playoff performance. “He’s always on. When you get to the rink, he’s pacing. It’s game time for him all the time. It bleeds out to the rest of the team — the way he talks to us, the way he coaches the game, the way he teaches it, from practices to during the game to the intermissions.”

Playing in a sun-splashed, laid-back environment isn’t usually conducive to success. It’s probably not a coincidence that this was the first championship for the Kings organization in 45 years.

After taking Lombardi’s call, Sutter moved into the Manhattan Beach house that had been occupied by predecessor Terry Murray and set about getting his players to collectively raise their performance, a task much easier said than done.

His approach clearly worked.

“There’s games where I thought I didn’t play my best and he brought attention to it pretty quickly,” said Kings captain Dustin Brown. “That goes a long way, whether you’re a young player or older player. When you have a guy that’s pushing you to be better, not just you but everyone, it goes a long way. Maybe helping you look at yourself in the mirror.”

Perhaps the best testament to Sutter’s impact can be seen in the fact the Kings won the first three games of every series despite enduring long breaks between each one. For two months, there was no letdown or loss of focus.

Sutter is a straight shooter who is economical with his words and repeatedly brushed aside queries during the playoffs about what significance winning the Stanley Cup would carry for him. Without fail, he would note that the focus should be on the players.

But hockey is in the man’s blood and there had to be a great swell of pride inside after finally reaching the summit of the sport in his 24th season as either a NHL player or coach. As he was fond of telling the Kings, this is likely the “first time, last time, only time” many of them would have the chance to win the Stanley Cup.

After the Cup clinching game, however, he encouraged his team to try again next year.

“You know the first thing you think about as the coach? These guys are all young enough the’ve got to try it again,” he said.

Sutter had seen two previous opportunities pass him by — as an associate coach with the 1992 Chicago Blackhawks and head coach of the 2004 Calgary Flames — and there was every chance another wouldn’t arrive.

After stepping down as Flames general manager in December 2010, he returned to the farm and was quite content with his lot in life. But he never totally took his attention away from the NHL and he’d even watched the Kings play a few times on television this season prior to becoming their coach.

“When you’re in Canada, you watch hockey every night, right?” said Sutter. “It’s dark at 4:30 and you watch hockey. That’s what you do. It’s a good thing.”

What else would you expect from a Sutter? Duane and Brent each won three Stanley Cups while playing for the New York Islanders dynasty teams and Darryl remembers seeing the trophy sitting on his mom’s kitchen table.

And now after a painfully long wait, it’s his turn to bring the Stanley Cup back to Viking. Back where it belong

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

The humanity behind Stanley Cup celebrations

Rory Boylen, The Hockey News, 2012-06-12

The Stanley Cup. It’s what this is all about.

If you don’t get a shiver of goosebumps or a tiny lump in your throat when the greatest trophy in all of sport is escorted onto the ice, with its historical records of all who lifted glory before gleaming from top to bottom, you just don’t understand.

Whether it’s Drew Doughty, who grew up idolizing Wayne Gretzky and plastered his room full of No. 99 posters, dreaming of winning the Cup with Los Angeles, or Anze Kopitar, who left home and country at 16 to play competitively in Sweden, all the sacrifice and dedication put forth by these players in their lifetimes explodes into a wide-range of different emotions when the 35-pound Cup is lifted. It’s the culmination of everything they, their family members and everyone close to them have invested in their endeavor. When Hockey Night in Canada’s Scott Oake interviews the players on the ice after the win, he is always sure to be introduced to family and friends, because it’s about more than the player. Though the Cup is king, it’s about more than the artifact alone.

The same goes for the men behind the team. Darryl Sutter, who got his first NHL head coaching gig in 1992, is finally able to bring Lord Stanley to Viking, Alta., as two of his brothers, Duane and Brent, have already been able to do. GM Dean Lombardi, long lambasted for the gradual and focused way he built up this team, finally had it all come together, making the many hours he and his scouting staff – who are away from home more often than not – put in all worth the day-to-day and year-to-year grind.

Behind the sound bites, highlights and multimillion-dollar contracts, the rest of us can forget NHLers and their managers are human beings just like you or me. A Stanley Cup celebration reminds us of the humanity of NHLers and that even on that monumental stage, life is bigger than all of it.

San Jose’s Dominic Moore, one of the better checkers in the game, let it be known last week that he didn’t return to the Sharks’ lineup after Game 3 of their opening round series against St. Louis because he discovered his wife had a rare form of liver cancer. As the hockey world celebrates the ending of another season and the pinnacle of so many careers, the tight-knit community is also thinking of Moore and wishing the best for him and his wife so they can both get back on track.

And even though Tim Thomas is a year removed from a Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe performance, it looks as though he’s ready to ride off into the sunset from an abbreviated NHL career. The man has taken a lot of heat over his beliefs and the way he proclaims them to a free-speaking society, but if his decision is about family, getting away from it all and not a ploy to control a trade destination, how can any decent human being deny him that? After all the places he's played to stay in the game and keep his own Stanley Cup dreams alive, he's earned the right to make up his own mind.

Nicklas Lidstrom, a multiple Cup-winner who looked like he could play another five years, called it a career to go home to Sweden and spend time with his kids as they grow older.

And, of course, in a big moment like Monday night, the hockey world also remembered the players and coaches lost in the tragic Lokomotiv plane crash in September. Whether they were ever NHLers or not, everyone on that plane dreamt big and was hungry for hockey – a characteristic shared by the common pickup player in Toronto, the beer-leaguer in Los Angeles or any fanatic in between.

Fans and media alike expect the world from the best players in the game and with so much exposure to every team, every night, the appetite for immediate and consistent results often goes beyond what is humanly reasonable. We expect these players to behave and perform as robots, even though they bleed red, too.

While the Stanley Cup ceremony is a celebration of the champions and their families, it is also a reminder of everything good in this sport and that anyone with a pinch of luck and a load of desire can lift all his dreams over his head.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

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