Kevin Dineen has been tagged by the press as the leading candidate for the Blue Jackets coaching vacancy almost from the very instant that Ken Hitchcock was fired. Notice I said the press tagged him the favorite not CBJ management. You have never seen a quote or statement that GM Scott Howson has Dineen's name at the top of his list.
The reason is simple if you know Howson at all and how he operates. He is a lawyer that is stuck in a retired hockey player's body. Emotion will have little to no influence on his decision of who will control the bench next year. He will analyze every, and I do mean every, aspect of each candidate weighing pro and cons that are tangible to his decision making process.
Howson also knows that his reputation and future with the organization weighs heavily on this decision and how it turns out. It's no longer Doug McLean's team or Ken Hitchcock's team. This now has Howson's name attached to this squad and how it performs, whether good or bad, will directly be credited to Howson.
This being said, Dineen has some people inside the Blue Jackets organization that are rumored to be putting on the pitch to Howson for Dineen. Both Tyler Wright and Assistant General Manager Chris MacFarland are said to be favoring Dineen for the position. Wright being a team member for the entire time that Dineen was on the Blue Jackets squad, no doubt, leads to this push for getting his former teammate the job. MacFarland has been part of the hockey operations for the Blue Jackets since the beginning and was part of the team that select Dineen in the expansion draft and also built a relationship with the former Jacket until Dineen finally hung up his skates while in Columbus.
With this, Dineen doesn't come with just some buddies from the good old days to try and get him the job. Dineen comes from what people would call a "hockey family." His father was both a player and coach in the NHL, he had 2 brothers (Gord and Peter) that both played in the NHL and 2 other brothers (Shawn and Jerry) that had minor league careers. Hockey is a way of life for the Dineen family and is that way from the time of birth.
Dineen also was captain of his college team the Denver Pioneers in his sophomore season, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Hartford Whalers and the Carolina Hurricanes during their move. A leader as a player, there is little doubt.
What is more impressive and what Howson will most likely look at is the way he handles young players and deals with adversity as a coach. Dineen was named the winner of the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s most outstanding coach for the 2005–06 season. This was during a season where he lost players to the Anaheim Ducks such as Dustin Penner, Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Zenon Konopka. He also had to deal with injuries to players like Tim Brent, Pierre Parenteau, Curtis Glencross, Dieter Kochan and Jordan Smith. In that season of 80 games, Dineen and his Portland Pirates put together a 53-19-5-3 record where they ended up losing in the conference finals in 7 games.
Something that might get lost in the above description of his time with the Pirates is look in that one season what players got moved up to the Ducks. They are all still playing in the NHL and several are big time players. The ability to get the best out of the talent that he has will be a plus on the side for Dineen when Howson gets done looking at it.
This all being said, the other candidates all have impressive things that Howson will look at. Just as in your resume, it's not hard to find the good stuff but the key in interviewing is finding the bad and ugly stuff. Scott Arniel, coach of the Manitoba Moose, got the first interview this weekend as reported by Puck-Rakers. Arniel also won the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s most outstanding coach for the 2008-2009 season while behind the bench for the Moose.
Other candidates that most perceive as people of interest for Howson are associate coach with the Nashville Predators Brent Peterson, Detroit assistant coach Paul MacLean, Hamilton (AHL) coach Guy Boucher and Blue Jackets interim coach Claude Noel. Peterson is reported along with Dineen to have meetings scheduled this week with Howson.
What is clear is that there is no favorite in the eyes of Howson and the other thing that is clear is that he doesn't want a retread coach. He will want a person that handles and develops young players as the Blue Jackets will most likely always be a young team due to being a budget team in the NHL.
Right now all the horses are in the starting gate and there are no odds at the betting window. With what Howson told Rusty Miller from the AP, "We would hope sometime in mid-May or later May that we'd have it done," the Columbus GM will take his time and favorites of the media will not push him to a decision.
Blue Jackets Were Lucky In Goal Last Season
After the year Steve Mason had last year, it's hard to believe that the CBJ were lucky in goal last year but they were. Neither Mason or Mathieu Garon suffered an injury that would have forced the Blue Jackets to call up a replacement. Dan LaCosta had a horrible year giving up almost 4 goals a game. His time as a serious CBJ goaltender prospect is pretty much done. Kevin Lalande had a up and down season but did end up with a 2.86 goals against average and a .912 save percentage. Both goaltenders are restricted free agents and Howson will have to decide on if he will retain both, one or none of the net minders. My feeling is that Lalande is still going to be retained but LaCosta could be looking for work.
Due to this the Blue Jackets will be looking for a goaltender that could step in if one of the NHL net minders go down with injury next season. If you follow me on Twitter (that's a hint if your not), about 3 weeks ago I told you that the CBJ were looking to sign Gustavus Wesslau who plays for Djurgårdens of the Swedish Elite league. The 25 year old goalie is a big presence in net with his 6'4" height but also is pretty quick going side to side.
Even though some press has reported that Wesslau had already signed a 1 year contract, I got verification from GM Scott Howson that he hasn't been signed. His quote was, "not yet." I still suspect that the deal will get done soon. Based off this season's performance, he looks as a good insurance policy. Wesslau had a .917 save percentage and a 2.37 goals against average during the regular season. He cranked it up during the playoffs with a .940 save percentage and a miserly 1.80 goals against average.
Fire The Cannon!
Eric Smith
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