2008 World Championships - Ken Hitchcock Named Head Coach

With the beginning of the NHL playoffs fast approaching, another lower profile tournament is also beginning, and for the first time since its inception, it’s being hosted by Canada.

Yes, it’s time once again to begin prepare for Team Canada’s chance to defend the Gold Medal at the upcoming World Hockey Championships, being jointly hosted by Quebec City and Halifax.

Being a short tournament, the coaching key is getting players to buy into a system and run it efficiently in only a handful of games, a task that is suited to some coaches more than others. He also has to be a coach that is used to mentoring young players, as veterans tend to avoid this tournament. I think getting a veteran coach that has had past success (whether in the NHL or internationally) allows for instant credibility in the dressing room and therefore the best chance of success.

I think a good predictor for coach for Team Canada is ‘don’t mess with success.’ When Pat Quinn won in 2002, they brought him back for 2004. When he won in 2004, they brought him back in 2006 where he lost. He will not be back for 2010 Olympics, although he has served a number of less significant roles for Team Canada, coaching Canada’s Spengler Cup effort a year and a half ago and is now coaching Team Canada U-18.

The fact that Andy Murray was not named head coach says to me that he turned the role down. In my opinon he was Team Canada’s first option due to his past success, and I think he has to at least be considered for a position in 2010; make no mistake, Canada is taking the roles in these World Championships as auditions for that 2010 team.

That said, I think Hitchcock has a pretty impressive resume himself. Taken from Team Canada’s official website:

The Edmonton, AB native served as an associate coach at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, and in the same role at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, winning the championship, the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, winning the gold medal, and the 2002 IIHF World Championship. He was also an assistant coach with Canada’s gold medal-winning National Junior Team at the 1988 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Maybe one thing that Hitchcock has over Murray is his Stanley Cup win with the Dallas Stars in 1999.

My one concern about Hitchcock is whether he’ll be able to work with a really young team, as historically he seems to be a coach that favours older more experienced players. The other question surrounding Hitchcock revolves around offence generation. It’s hard enough to score goals without having to deal with a short time to develop chemistry and a coach that doesn’t focus on scoring. One famous from Andy Strickland at hockeybuzz.com:

One day during the 1999-00 season when Hull, Jere Lehtinen and Modano were playing on a line together. The coach at the time, Ken Hitchcock, kept saying at practice how scoring wasn't important. During the next drill, a two-on-one drill, Brett dumped the puck in the corner and skated out of the zone. Hitch went crazy and asked him what his problem was. Modano remembered Brett saying, "I thought you said scoring goals isn't important." Hitch proceeded to kick the entire line off the ice. Brett and Modano were getting showered and dressed and were ready to leave when the rest of the team came off the ice. Meanwhile, Jere was still sitting in his stall in full gear, skates laced, not knowing what to do because he had never been kicked out of practice before. (Hockeybuzz)

That said, Hull has also remarked that Hitchcock was one of his favorite coaches. (from Wikipedia) Winning always makes forgiving a lot easier.

Now, I believe most years Team Canada selects a couple NHL head coaches to help with Team Canada. Last year it was Andy Murray and Gerald Gallant, in 2004 Joel Quennville was head coach but has hospitalized just before the tournament began. Associate coach Mike Babcock stepped up (while Tom Renney remained the assistant) and won the Gold. So I think we can safely guess that at least one more NHL head coach will be named to help guide this team.

Here are the candidates as I see it:

Wayne Gretzky

Why he’s likely to be named: Gretzky has found a way to be involved with Team Canada so much in his career it’s hard to believe he’s not going to try be involved in a coach at any point in time. MacT remarked about the Oilers 06’ run that having a great goalie will make you look like a great coach, and since the Coyotes acquired Bryzgalov the Coyotes have been very respectable. He doesn’t have a lot to work with in terms of defence either, so I think competing for a playoff spot with this young team will give him at least some credibility. His name should provide the rest. Plus I have a conspiracy theory that Gretzky is being groomed by Team Canada to have a coaching position in 2010.

Why he’s unlikely to be named: Well, his record, despite his improvements this year, Gretz doesn’t have a stellar history as a coach. Plus he has absolutely no experience coaching on the international level, even if he has lots of experience playing at the international level.

Denis Savard

Why he’s likely to be named: Savard is only in his second season as an NHL coach, he hasn’t seen a lot of success, but he’s in a position similar to Gretzky: a lot of young players, and not bad mileage.

Why he’s unlikely to be named: Savard isn’t exactly what I would call a team Canada golden boy like Gretzky or Murray. His inexperience will hurt his chances, and he’s probably the least likely of my shortlist to get a call.

Ted Nolan

Why he’s likely to be named: Ted isn’t exactly known for being a systems coach but I think he’s been successful at the junior level and at the NHL level on a number of levels. I think given his junior history he’s shown he’s good with younger players and I think he’d get really good mileage out of what he’s given in a tournament like this.

Why he’s unlikely to be named: Another guy with not a lot of experience in the international game, and generally hasn’t been called upon by team Canada in any capacity.

Craig MacTavish

Why he’s likely to be named: MacT kind of reminds me of Hitchcock in that he doesn’t strike me as an offence first type of guy. He has had a few roles for Team Canada, most recently at the 2005 Worlds where he associate coached the lockout dream team to a silver medal (with Tom Renney and Marc Habscheid). I’ve always felt that MacT is a good mentoring coach and his attention to details (such as faceoffs and shot blocking) make me feel as if he’d be a good fit.

Why he’s unlikely to be named: First and foremost I think his biggest issue will be his lack of high end success. I think he’s done pretty well given the players he usually has, and the one year he got a great team he took it very very far, but without a Stanley Cup or a Gold medal he’ll be in tough.

Alain Vigneault

Why he’s likely to be named: Another defensive first coach, although it’s potentially more out of necessity than choice. Either way, I believe he’d be a sober second thought guy for Hitchcock, and stylistically I think they mesh. It’s also hard to ignore a two time nominee and one time winner of the Jack Adams trophy. According to the Canucks official website, he was assistant in the World Juniors in 1989 and 1991, winning the Gold in 1991.

Why he’s unlikely to be named: I think lack of true NHL success will hurt him; he hasn’t won a cup, if he’s asked to go it means he won’t have made the playoffs this year. He’s got a great goalie, is his strength his coaching or his goaltending?

Gretzky to Lemieux: The Story of the 1987 Canada Cup

As ‘fans’ of this site have come to realize, I have a few things that really pique my interest when it comes to hockey. This includes, (but is not limited to), Team Canada, Wayne Gretzky, the Edmonton Oilers, hockey history, international competition and finally, the little stories about players and personnel that gives the game flavour. This book has all of that in spades, and I found it to be an utterly fantastic read.

Gretzky to Lemieux, The Story of the 1987 Canada Cup mostly concerns the 3 game Canada Cup final, but to say the book purely about 3 hockey games would be a true disservice. The book puts the tournament within a lot of historical context, both in terms of Russian and Canadian hockey history.

Willes does an excellent job of framing the big personalities involved and illustrating the stakes of the series by giving the reader an excellent prologue involving Canada’s biggest names, (not Gretzky and Lemieux, but Gretzky and Eagleson, the man who often tried to be a bigger story than the game itself) and the biggest names in the USSR (which I think we can safely say were Viktor Tikhonov, the biggest opponent of the West, and Igor Larionov, the biggest proponent of glasnost and perestroika). Willes details the story of Eagleson’s shady dealings putting his Canada Cups together in the prologue of the book, while he completes the epilogue with the stories of the Soviets’ introduction to the NHL, and the dismantling of the Edmonton Oilers, the core of Team Canada in 1987.

My only true contention of the book comes about due to a diatribe Willes writes regarding the current state of the game, or at least the current style of play as compared to that of the 1987 Canada Cup. Willes makes little hesitation about his admiration for the talent and play of the Canada Cup, but I think he loses the context when comparing it to today’s game, 20 years later.

It was a quick read but I thoroughly enjoyed it and I would recommend it to anyone who watched hockey in the 1980s, or at least wishes they had.

Mckenzie weighs in on Team Canada coaching staff

It would be safe to say that Hockey Canada's first choice to coach this year's world championship team is Wayne Gretzky, but The Great One has indicated to Hockey Canada that he needs to focus on the Phoenix Coyotes' rebuilding efforts in the offseason...

It's a list that includes Blues head coach Andy Murray, Panther general manager and head coach Jacques Martin, Oilers coach Craig MacTavish, Ken Hitchcock of Columbus, Los Angeles Kings head coach Marc Crawford and his assistant Mike Johnson. (Source)

You'll notice that it sounds like Gretzky WAS a lock until he turned the position down, and also that Mckenzie's list includes most of the same guys mine does (minus the guys still in a playoff hunt ie. Quenneville, Nolan, Renney). Of interesting (and suprising) note is the inclusion of Crawford, a coach that hasn't really been employed by Hockey Canada since the disaster that was Nagano '98. Also, Crow's assistant coach, whom I really know nothing about. We shall see if these two get any serious consideration for the job or if they're just throwaways.

Team Canada World Championship 2007- Coaches - or In Defense of Craig MacTavish

Before I get to speculating on the coaching staff of this year's Team Canada WC edition, I feel compelled to respond to the various discussions regarding Craig MacTavish's competence that were inspired by LT's contemplation of trading Hemsky because he's not the typical MacT player. Pleasure Motors argued that trading Hemsky was a ludicrous idea (I agree with this in principle) because MacT has proven himself to be something of an average coach.

Now there are I guess two debates to address here; a) should Hemsky be traded b)Is MacT only a mediocre coach?

Now, LT has speculated about which parts of the broken car that is the Oilers should be salvaged and which parts should be traded or sold off for new parts, and he argued that Hemsky might be one of those parts which is best traded off because he doesn't fit the driving style of MacTavish. He argues (correctly I think) that MacT tends to be able to turn your average V4 defensive guys into sleek inline 6s or really smooth V8 two way players, in the vein of Horcoff, Pisani, (and in my opinion Jarret Stoll), and that MacT has been less successful with the one way offensive guys like Lupul (lemon?) and Hemsky.

Pleasure Motors agrees with LT's point about MacT's coaching style, adding that only Weight has ended up top 30 in scoring during MacT's reign, but that, because of the prospect depth chart (Shremp, Nilsson) we might as well get rid of MacT, as he isn't successful with his own 'type' of player, so we should expect him to be even less successful under a different type of player. Which I think is a fair enough argument as well.

To put it simply though, I think both Pleasure Motors and LT are off the mark a bit.

b) I will agree that Hemsky isn't a typical MacT type of guy, but I would argue that MacT has developed him into a more complete hockey player that is going to be better off helping the Oilers in the future. Despite this, Hemsky was still only 2 points out of that Top 30 group that Motors alluded to. I would also like people to take into account Hemsky's reasonable point production pace since the lockout, which is 126 pts in 138 games. That number is even more impressive when you consider the players Hemsky has been paired with. In his 'breakout' season last year, he played the majority of the year with Smyth and Horcoff, one of whom (Horcoff) coincidently had a breakout season and one of whom coincidently had his second highest total ever. I couldn't possibly prove that Hemsky was the lone reason, partially because that's not true, but I do have evidence that he was at least a key factor. Take the beginning of this season when Hemsky was paired with Sykora, who, all of a sudden, started at a near career (and certainly of late) pace in terms of points, and then massively slumped as soon as Hemsky went out with his first shoulder injury. When Hemsky returned, he was paired back with Horcoff, who, despite slumping earlier in the season playing with Smyth and Lupul, sprang back to life.

So I think it's a little crazy to think that MacT is really holding Hemsky back, as his impact with the team has been in general nothing but positive for the players around him. Only in Edmonton can a player who is 22 years old and refuses to shoot the puck get 77 points and people still blame his coach for 'not being able to coach that type of player.'

In fact, Pleasure Motors mentions a couple other one way players (Comrie, Carter) who had very productive seasons with MacT, despite both of them experienced a litany of offensive production failures once they left the team. Not only that, but these two guys played TOGETHER on the TOP LINE. Neither of them has seen top line production since. And this is something I can't prove, but the year of the Carter-Comrie-Smyth line, TSN (or CBC, but I'm pretty sure TSN) evaluated the total point productions of all the 'all-Canadian' lines in the NHL, and guess who was at the top? Now thats a little tidbit that's impossible for me to prove, but I swear that was the deal, and quite frankly, I think if you told the average person about that today, they would call you an outright liar, and for good reason.

So are skill guys MacT's 'weak point?' I hardly think so. A lot of MacT's failings have been due to being totally undermanned in terms of players, and once he received a bounty of talent, he took it to the Stanley Cup Finals. His rosters were never littered with talent like Detroit or Colorado, and defence wins games. So MacT did what any good coach would do, and he developed a strong sense of team defence within his teams, and he expected it from everyone. MacT has never coached anyone that was so good they didn't need to worry about defence, and this is still true today.

Obviously MacT isn't perfect, but considering he's a 'details' type of coach (look at the PK, faceoff success), and the biggest critisim most people lay at his feet is that he can't coach skill guys, I think he has to be considered an above average coach.

a) Should the Oilers trade Hemsky? Anyone is tradable at the right price, we know that, but lets look at this long term. But barring a Tavares type deal (which can't and won't happen), it only makes sense to keep Hemsky around. I think I've done at least something to dispell the notion that MacT can't coach Hemsky type players, so I think that reason for trading Hemsky is out the window. Look, the guy is 23 and is putting up near point a game numbers, he's signed long term for a reasonable rate and will be, what, 28-29 when his contract comes up? So the Oilers finally fall upon a contract windfall, with a player whose value is only going to go up barring some catastophic injury and trade him for more prospects? Despite the fact in general a good team core (of approximately the same age) exists?

There's only one good reason to trade Hemsky, and that is you think his value is at its highest right now. If you (like me) believe Hemsky is going to be better in time, then it only makes sense to keep him around.

Alright, now for Team Canada coaching speculation. There are lots of guys around, so this will be a big list.

Wayne Gretzky - Despite coaching the Coyotes to a second straight abysmal season, Gretz is a front runner for head coach. Hockey Canada wants Wayne involved and I think there is a long term conspiracy to have him coach in 2010. This is the testing grounds and Gretzky is the experiment.

Ken Hitchcock - Has the Team Canada pedigree with Olympic and World Cup victories as an assistant. Is a very defensive minded coach which can be very advantageous in a tournament where the group needs to gel quickly. No chemistry needed for the leftwing lock.

Craig MacTavish - was an assistant in 2004 and I think (despite this season) his stock has grown. As I said earlier, I consider him a 'details' coach with a focus on things like shotblocking and faceoffs, but coaches a pretty good two way game. I think he is a front runner for at least an assistant position. Is there a rule as to how many former Oilers can be coaching one team at one time?

Andy Murray - Andy has proven himself multiple times overseas coaching WC teams, and he has always really impressed me. Is making multiple teams look like fools for not making him their head coach. Was held back in LA only because of the hand of God.

Joel Quenneville - I believe Quenneville was asked to coach the year Babcock did it, and although he went overseas, he fell ill, Babcock took over, and the rest is history. Will be considered again as he has gotten a lot out of a thin Colorado roster. May make the playoffs yet anyway.

Jacque Martin - Like Hitchcock, he has the pedigree, having coached an Olympic and World Cup victory. The fact that his teams either don't make the playoffs or choke once they're in will hurt his chances.

Ted Nolan - Is borderline on the playoff front right now, but Nolan is a very good coach. He won coach of the year and was promptly fired for his efforts, and in his first trip back to the big's he gets signed by the nutcases in charge of the Islanders. Has taken a team captained by Alexi Yashin and made them competitive. Has a true fire for the game that he is able to pass onto his players.

Tom Renney - was on the 2004 staff with MacT. Took the pitiful Rangers and turned them into a half decent team last year, and is on the verge of doing it again this year. A hurt goalie and Jagr hurt his team's last playoff drive, but is getting a lot of production from soft guys. Also involved in coaching the Men's National Team and guided Team Canada to a silver medal in 1994 Olympics in Lilehammer. If he misses the playoffs, he will get a good long look.

Dave Lewis - Yzerman is key in picking the staff and he was coached by Lewis, however, Lewis' record is not amazing, particularily in the playoffs. Has an outside chance of making the team.

Pat Quinn - the old warhorse couldn't get them going in 06', but had Olympic and World Cup success, and Team Canada hired him back on to coach the most recent edition of Canada's Spengler Cup team, which he guided to a silver.

Paul Maurice - a) he coaches in Toronto b) he's known for developing young players.

Probable:

Wayne Gretzky

Craig MacTavish

Andy Murray

Ideal:

Andy Murray

Craig MacTavish

Ted Nolan

The World Has Gone Crazy

Over the last couple of days I've just been trying to consolidate all of my thougths about Smytty leaving Edmonton. The press conference yesterday, which I listened to live, was absolutely heartbreaking, especially when Ryan said he wanted to bring the Cup back to Edmonton because 'that's where my heart is.' I know that this was a money deal (on both sides) pure and simple, but it doesn't make it any easier. I'm 23 years old, and although Gretzky inspired me to take up hockey at an early age, Smytty has been my main inspiration for a long portion of my life. I keep thinking back to this hilarious advertisement in the early 2000s (I think) where Ryan Smyth worked at a car dealership (Chevy I'm pretty sure) and it showed him in his various exploits, including stickhandling a ball around the showroom where the manager showed up and told him 'No hockey in the showroom Ryan!!' This is the same guy that was crowded around his family on Olympic decision day in 2001, when Lowe phoned him and asked 'are you nervous?' to which Ryan tried to remain cool by replying 'should I be?' If memory serves he cried tears of joy that day too. If anyone can think of a man who has been there for his country in international competitions more than Smytty be sure to let me know. The only name that comes to my mind is Gretzky.

But as Smytty said, he has to move on and start a new chapter and so do I.

How wierd does that look? About as wierd as this.

No, not Iggy high fiving his teammates...THIS!

Not only was it the first shoot-out win of the season, but a 2-1 victory? When is the last time we saw one of those? Of course, against the Wild, always think low, but still.

I actually thought the team played pretty well except for a couple of guffaws. The Yelle penalty was kinda BS, I thought there should have actually been a Wild one on the play (against Radavoyahaslamalamadingdong?). Brad Stuart managed to get beat on a 1-2 play, so the soon to be California-ite is still managing to look average at best (and what about the play in OT where he lost it right at the line? Protect the puck Brad!). He and Regehr still don't look comfortable with one another.

In my opinion, no player that wasn't on the roster last year will be more of a help in the playoffs than David Moss. Seriously, this guy plays a really simple style that has 'playoffs' written all over it. Its depth guys like him that play consistently and are willing to play in the dirty areas of the ice that make the difference. I especially like having a rookie, and I'm dead serious about this. New players have less bad memories and self doubt to infringe upon their current decisions. Think about Kipper's first playoff run, think about him now. Not that my point is proven, but its a theory that has credence.

Anyway, sorry for the disjointedness of this post, but I've been a little disjointed over the past couple of days. My friend and I are debating whether Smytty would rather we slit our wrists or drive a truck into a lightpole in his honour. A little post-Smytty-era humour there (or is it?)

Live by the Smytty, Die by the Smytty

Ryan Smyth practices with his Team Canada teammates at FDB before the 2005 World Championships

Ryan Smyth is the Edmonton Oilers. His presence on the team since rookie season has been exemplified by grit, determination, tips, heart and mullets (sorry, Moulets). I remember in his first playoff series versus Dallas, Doug Weight was taking a lot of heat because he couldn't put the puck in the net. 'Forget about Weight,' I said, 'this Smyth guy is going to be the leader of the Oilers.' He was the Oilers' best player in that series, and there has been very few times since then that he wasn't the Oilers' best player.

The Oilers as an organization have never been timid about trading anybody. Once Gretz was traded way back in '88 there has been a trend to get rid of top guys, oftentimes at or near the peak of their playing ability. Moose to the Rangers, Kevin Lowe to the Rangers, Weight to the Blues...so I do not for one second believe Lowe will hesistate on pulling the trigger on Smyth simply because of his name.

I feel though that the ramifications could be different this time around. There is something about Smyth (that I think maybe even Messier and Gretzky didn't have), that allows him to connect intimately with the City of Champions and arguably the whole of Alberta. Maybe its the fact that he's often been the one continuous bright spot on a lot of mediocre Edmonton teams over the past decade or so, or maybe it's the fact he's such an unassuming home town hero, or maybe it's because he's one of the first of the first generation of kids growing up cheering on the magnificent Oiler teams of the 80s to actually make the team. How many kids can say Glenn Anderson ran them over and it was one of the best days of their childhood life?

Kevin Lowe's success with the Oilers as management has often come on the coattails of Ryan Smyth. Kevin Lowe's success internationally has often come on the coattails of Ryan Smyth. In essence, Kevin Lowe, and the Oilers, live by Ryan Smyth.

During last season's playoff run, I believe it was the day after Smyth scored his famous toothless winner, Kevin Lowe admitted something to the effect that he understood Smyth's value to the team and the community, and that if he traded Smyth, he would become the least popular man in Edmonton. And how.

Here's what I expect will happen:

a) If Kevin Lowe signs Smyth, no one will blame him if the team fails. People are too emotionally connected to Smytty to have the hindsight to say 'we should have traded Ryan.' I think there are people in the city who would rather lose with Smyth than win without him.

b) If Kevin Lowe trades Smyth AND fails to resign him in the offseason, he will either; resign (Oilers GMs have a habit of fading away rather than burning out) or be fired if the Oilers fail to make the playoffs in the following season. At best Lowe will probably receive a 1st round pick (probably a late 1st round) and maybe a half decent prospect that will not be ready for the NHL by next season's start. Even if its a generally good deal several years down the road (think Fleury being traded for Robyn Regehr) it will be too late for Lowe. The revolt will have long happened and the patrons of Oil Country will have vanquished theirGM.

Such that Lowe has staked so much of the Oilers and his success on Ryan Smyth, his future now resides with Ryan Smyth. Lowe and Meehan (Smytty's agent) are meeting on Saturday, and I for one am not even moderately confident a deal will get down. But I at least hope Lowe understand the ramifications of failure.

Going on a quick vacation this weekend so I won't have another post up until Monday at the earliest. Hopefully Ryan is a confirmed Edmonton Oiler for life by then.

If I were a hockey player (which I technically am)

Well I guess I was tagged by HG, (or was it MG?), but the point is that I was tagged at some point, so, if I were a hockey player...

Team: I know readers are asking...Flames, or Oilers? The answer? Team Canada!
Uniform Number: 2, in honour of Al MacInnis, probably the Flames all time best player.
Position: I have no scoring talent, so obviously defence. Plus, what forward wears #2?
Nickname: My current hockey nickname is Viper, but all-time is Lupes. Don't ask.
Dream Linemates: Well, Al MacInnis as my D partner, Gretz, Fleury and Messier up front. Broduer or Roy in net.



Rounding out the Powerplay: Are you kidding me? That line would be on a constant PP, except for they would have to make up for me. So it would be more like we would always be down 4 men to 5. Hmm...
Job: Let everyone else do their thing.
Signature move: Chirping the crap out of the other team once a victory was assured. I'm a bad winner sometimes.
Strengths: My Lanny McDonald moustache and dashing good looks.
Weaknesses: My failing knees. I'm just like #4 Bobby Orr!

Injury problem: Everything - my knees are messed, my shoulder is currently messed, and most of the time I have some foot problem related to the fit of my skates.
Equipment: Vapor XXX skates, old worn out gloves, and the piece de resistance...red pants!
Nemesis: Dominik Hasek - He got us in '98 and he's still going! He's like 80 years old for God's sake!
Scandal involvement: I won't go into it, but suffice it to say it's worse than Kristian Huselius but better than Sean Avery. Interpret that however you want.
Who I'd face in the Stanley Cup final: Well technically it would be the World Cup (Canada Cup), Olympics or World Championship finals, and we'd face the Czech Republic. Those guys are really good.
What I would do with the Stanley Cup after our victory: In the spirit of the Oiler's glory years, I'd get ripped and lose it.
Would the Media love me or hate me: The media would love me. I talk as much as Conroy and I think like Andrew Ference.

I'll tag Finny, Scarlett, the Guys at Oil Pressure. Don't ANY of you dissapoint me, I have a memory like an Elephant!

Oh, and upon request, Steal Thunder over at Completely Hammered!

Steve Yzerman to steer Team Canada in the World Championships?

Following Ron MacLean's hunch (tip?) on Coach's Corner a few weeks ago, it appears Steve Yzerman will in fact GM the team Hockey Canada is sending to the IIHF World Hockey Championships in April.

The recently-retired superstar, who is now a vice-president with the Detroit Red Wings, has had several conversations about the job with Hockey Canada President Bob Nicholson. Hockey Canada wants Yzerman to do it. Yzerman, by all accounts, is extremely keen and when he returns from a ski vacation in Colorado, he and Nicholson are expected to nail down the final details and make it official...

Bob Mckenzie

I'm not sure what to think of this. On one hand, Yzerman has no experience at all in a position like this, the Hockey Canada management groups are becoming Old Boys Clubs (of course, I'm sure they were before, just not Old ex-Players Club), and it sounds like if Yzerman does a 'good job' (ie the team wins gold) he'll be put in place to manage Team Canada in Vancouver 2010.

But it sounds like Yzerman is enthusiastic, and if Yzerman holds the same level of self-expectations he had as a player, he is a lock put as much effort into this as anyone. I'm not convinced experience is a tremendous asset in this position anyway. This is a short tournament with a mix of cast-off NHLers that have never (or rarely) played together before, made up mostly of players between 20-27 years old. In other words, success tends to be a total crapshoot.

Few players hold the level of esteem Yzerman does, and you can bet anyone working or playing for him will be expected to give nothing less than %110.

And whats this? Although Gretzky hopes his Phoenix Coyotes will be in the playoffs when World Championship time comes around, his name has popped up as the lead head coach candidate. In other words, Hockey Canada is prepping Wayne to be the coach of 2010.

Gretzky is desperately hoping not to be involved in any way with the World Championship team because as head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, he wants to be in the Stanley Cup playoffs. But it has been suggested that if Phoenix is not a playoff team, Yzerman might toy with the idea of asking Gretzky to coach the World Championship entry.

Bob Mckenzie

Again, its possibly an Old Boys Club that Hockey Canada is devloping. In 2002, many attribute Canada's success to the lack of ego and the focus on taking the best players at the time, regardless of name or past success. By positioning Gretzky to be the coach in 2010, is this philosophy truly being followed? In my opinion, bring Wayne along as an assistant, but Andy Murray or Craig MacTavish (read between the lines Oiler fans) should be the lead candidates for the head coach job.

Of course this is a lot of speculation, but I suspect that's how the situation will play out over the next few weeks, months, and maybe years.