By now, the worst kept secret in the NHL seems to be that Calgary is thinking pretty hard about hiring Mike Keenan as their head coach. While he's one of the first coaches in the NHL I remember having a hate for, these days, I only have a mild dislike for the guy (my full take on this is on our blog), and obviously, I've never actually had to cope with his coaching before. And it can't be worse than "Nervous" Jimmy Playfair in charge of the boys for yet another year...
So who has a horrific Keenan story? Why should I be afraid? Or...should I be very very happy?
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Checking references
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5 comments:
I dont know enough on Keenan to give you a comment but here is what I have read (and LOL on nervous Jim)
He parted company with the Flyers in 1988 after four years as head coach despite twice guiding them to conference titles.
After coaching the Blackhawks to the Cup final, he resigned in the spring of 1992 after four years coaching and managing because the total control he craved wasn't forthcoming.
He won a title with the Rangers, but couldn't get along with GM Neil Smith well enough to stay for a second season.
One of the quirkier trivia tidbits from his nearly three years in St. Louis before he was fired was his refusal to allow the players to don newly designed alternate sweaters because he didn't like the way they looked.
He didn't mesh with GM Brian Burke in Vancouver and was fired, and there was a quick exit from Boston, too.
In his early days with the Panthers, he and then-GM Rick Dudley engaged in power struggles. Then he abruptly left the team just before the 2006-07 season got underway. Keenan never publicly addressed for his departure.
You can read the full article here
I HEARD HE EATS HOCKEY PLAYERS' WIVES AND CHILDREEEEN!!!!111
LOL In all honesty, even though he had a great beginning to his career, the last half hasn't been so impressive. I don't know the last time he has led a team to the playoffs?
That and there's the matter of he being the one who put Huselius on waivers, etc... and the possibility that Flames will now be a turn-off for UFAs/RFAs just cause not a lot of players like him? I don't know. :|
Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I worry about the free agent situation. That said, the Flames have a reputation for being a great organization in a city which is currently rolling in money and fans.
All in all I think it's an improvement (if you read all my peeps' blogs in the Flames blogosphere, you'll see very little respect for Playfair)... having had a restless sleep over it, I'm not sure just how big an improvement it'll be.
But I guess games against the 'Nucks AND Ducks will be awesomeness. Bring it!
Here's a funny comment from our own Stan Fischler:
ROBERTO LUONGO had the best line of the week. Asked what he thought of his ex-boss, Mike Keenan, becoming Calgary Flames coach, the ace goalie replied on the shortest of short hops, "AS LONG AS HE'S NOT COACHING THE VANCOUVER CANUCKS, IT'S NO PROBLEM FOR ME!"
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