CBC's Elliotte Friedman has tweeted that the Tampa Lightning will be givung their heading coaching job to Syracuse Crunch bench boss Jon Cooper.
There hasn't been an official announcement from the team, however, multiple media sources are reporting that an announcement will be made tonight, or tomorrow morning.
I was all but convinced that Lindy Ruff would be the next head coach of the Bolts, a team that is in total disarray right now. The Tampa situation reminds me a lot of the St. Louis Blues squad that struggled badly under young head coach Davis Payne last season. Blues GM Doug Armstrong fired Payne, then immediately hired no nonsense veteran head coach Ken Hitchcock. The coaching change injected new life and better discipline into the Blues squad as they ended the regular season in the playoffs.
Perhaps Steve Yzerman is taking a knee on the remainder of this season, thus, its better to hitch his wagon to Cooper, and not the heavier head coach named Ruff. The playoffs look like a fading memory for the Bolts. Best to re-group and re-shape the roster for the future. I don't envy Cooper in that he has to put on his hip waders and trudge into a deep mess in the Lightning room. Cooper doesn't have any NHL coaching experience, and he'll need all the help that he can get.
Here's the 4-1-1 on Cooper:
In 2011-12, Norfolk set franchise records with 55 wins and 113 standings points on their way to capturing their first ever Calder Cup. They also set the North American Professional Hockey record by winning an incredible 28 games in a row smashing the previous mark of 18 set by, ironically, the Syracuse Crunch. During that 28 game run, the Admirals won 20 straight in regulation. After outscoring the opposition 273-180 in the regular season, the Admirals also captured the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL’s regular season points champion while also earning the Frank S. Mathers Trophy as East Division regular season champions. On April 9, 2012, Cooper was named the winner of the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding coach, as voted by coaches and members of the media in each of the league’s 30 cities.
Prior to joining the Admirals, Cooper posted an 84-27-9 record over the previous two seasons with the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League. In his two years at the helm, he led the Gamblers to two Anderson Cups as regular season championships (2008-09 and 2009-10) and a Clark Cup as playoff champions (2010). Cooper’s impact was immediate as he guided the Gamblers to the biggest one-year improvement in USHL history. Green Bay went from 32 points in 2007-08 to 82 points and the USHL’s best record, earning him the 2009 USHL GM of the Year Award. The following year, Cooper not only was again named USHL GM of the Year, but also took home the USHL Coach of the Year, as well.
Yzerman's team is in 14th place in the east and they are struggling badly. They can't keep the puck out of their own net. Anders Lindback has been sketchy at best in goal this season, and young Desjardins in the rookie net minder who will face the Sabres on Tuesday night.
Ruff will get his shot to coach again in the NHL. It will happen next season as there are a half dozen teams that will be looking for a proven winner to lead their troops. NY Rangers, San Jose, Minnesota, Winnipeg, Dallas, and perhaps Washington will be in the market for a new bench boss.
Pittsburgh Penguins GM, Ray Shero has set the price for a "rental" defenceman as the April 3rd NHL trade deadline quickly approaches.
Shero completed a deal for San Jose Shark rental D-man, Douglas Murray.In exchange for Murray, SJ GM, Doug Wilson, will be compensated with two, second round draft choices. San Jose will receive a second round pick in 2013 and a conditional second round pick in 2014. The 2014 pick will be a 2nd rounder if Pittsburgh win two playoff rounds, or, if they choose to re-sign Murray. Otherwise, the second rounder becomes a third rounder.
Why wouldn't the Pens want to re-sign an ass kicker like Murray?
Wilson wished Murray well in a statement:
"We have tremendous respect for Douglas as a hockey player and a person. He has been a warrior for our hockey club for the past eight seasons and he has been in the Sharks family for the past 14 years. This deal places Douglas in a quality situation which he deserves."
The trade grades out as a win-win hockey trade.
The Pens get a reliable, physical, shot-blocker. The Sharks get two valuable pieces that can be used in one of two ways: currency to fund another trade(s), or, building blocks for their upcoming re-tooling process.
Murray is a linebacker on skates. He only has six NHL goals in eight NHL seasons. The Pens will love him because of his fearless pursuit of contact in corners and his penchant for throwing himself in harm's way in blocking shots. Guys like Murray become all the more valuable in the playoffs when the flow gets strangled and the game becomes a war of attrition, played in small spaces. Murray excels at separating men from pucks.
This trade should be on the tops of minds in and around Buffalo, as the Sabres have not one, but two, rental defenseman in their midst right now.
Veterans Robyn Regehr and Jordan Leopold will become UFA in July. Regehr's in the final days of his $4,020,000 contract, while Leopold is earning $3 million in this, his final season of his deal.
Darcy Regier now must seriously consider trading both vets in exchange for four second round picks that the team can use to immediately upgrade the present roster. It doesn't appear likely that Regehr and Leopold will factor in to Buffalo's long term plans. Better to get value in the form of second round picks for them now before they are allowed to skate away from free in July.
Regier can parlay a top six forward like Stafford and a couple of his second round picks into a roster player who can play and succeed now. Or, he can keep all of the picks and invest them wisely at the June NHL draft. This upcoming draft will be brimming with rich, young talent. Having a mitt full of second rounders will be a huge win as there will be great talent available.
Rumours have been swirling around Regehr for weeks. They will only intensify between now and the time that his good friend, Jarome Iginla, finally selects the new team that he will be traded to. Regehr and Iginla were long time teammates in Calgary, and both may well end up playing for their old boss, Darryl Sutter, in Los Angeles. If not LA, the tandem may be reunited in Chicago. I'm hearing that Regehr and Iginla are being positioned to a handful of contenders as a "package". Kind of like a grey-around-the-temples version of Suter-Parise.
Regehr, like Murray, deserves a "quality situation" at this juncture of his career. He's a loyal soldier who goes about his work in a very consistent, physical manner.
Leopold presents as a veteran leader whoi can add immediately value on the ice and in the room of a playoff contender. He still has offense left in his stick, which becomes all the more valuable at playoff time when PP becomes so much more important to the success and failure of the game.
Buffalo can afford to move Regehr and Leopold now because of the early emergence of Mark Pysyk. They also have Brayden McNabb warming up in the bullpen in Rochester.
Pysyk has acquitted himself well in his first four NHL games. The kid plays will grace under pressure. Why let him ride the storm out in Buffalo? McNabb has patiently corrected the mistakes that were hampering his game in the early part of the season in Rochester, He's back to his old, dominant form and is ready for a call-up.
The Sabres are also looking forward to the arrival of Jake McCabe in Rochester in the near future. McCabe has been dominant this season at the University of Wisconsin. He was USA's captain, and best all around defenseman, at the World Junior Hockey Championships at Ufa, Russia in January. Without McCabe's brilliant play on D, team USA would not have won the gold medal at the WJCs. He was THAT good. His future is bright and it won't be long until he's playing in the AHL, and then in the NHL.
Go ahead, Darcy. Go make deals for Regehr and Leopold.
Its not like you'll be giving away great D men for a fifth rounder.
The Sabres are on a three game winning streak right now as they take a two-fer in Florida.
Ron Rolston has a decision to make for Tuesday night's game as to which D will sit and which will continue to play. Why invite chaos the opportunity to corrupt a winning lineup?
Rookie Mark Pysyk was called up on March 16, and made his NHL debut in Washington on St. Patrick's Day. Sekera suffered a mysterious injury in the home loss to Ottawa the day before. Since his call-up, Pysyk has been an extremely impressive performer for the Sabres, who are 3-1 with the rookie in the lineup.
Pysyk has not looked one bit overwhelmed or out of place since he joined the Buffalo D corps. Though he only has four shots and no points, Pysyk has been incredibly poised and polished in his own end. He's been Buffalo most consistent D in the past four games:
3/23: BUF @ MTL 19 shifts 16:55 TOI
3/21: TOR @ BUF 24 shifts 16:49 TOI
3/19: BUF @ MTL 21 shifts 15:17 TOI
3/17: BUF @ WSH 19 shifts 14:55 TOI
Sekera skated at Sabres practice in Tampa today. On Saturday in Montreal, Rolston said that Sekera's return date would most likely be Tuesday night. Begs the question, which defender should Rolston sit down in Tampa to make room for Sekera's return? Ehrhoff can't sit out now that the Sabres PP have scored in four straight games.
I guess Rolston could decide to stand pat and to make Sekera a healthy scratch for the Tampa game. Or, he can shake things up by sitting a vet in order to play the deserving Pysyk. One game at a time. I know the cliche well. A little voice inside my head is telling me that Roslton won't be sitting his rookie defender any time soon, especially since the Sabres will be playing TJ Brennan and the Florida Panthers on Thursday night. Presumably, the offensive Brennan was traded to make room for the more defensive reliable Pysyk.
The Sabres have been trailed and scouted by a half dozen Western conference teams in recent weeks, including: Detroit, St. Louis, Dallas, Minnesota, San Jose, and LA. Its likely that the scouts have been watching Buffalo's two UFA to be D-men Regehr and Leopold. Why sit them now? Especially when the San Jose traded D Douglas Murray on Monday afternoon. Contenders are looking to beef up their D depth. The Sabres certainly have some assets that other GMs are craving right now.
The Syracuse Crunch were on the ice for a practice this morning, led by their head coach, Jon Cooper.
One wonders:
If Cooper were leading candidate to become the replacement to the recently fired Guy Boucher in Tampa, what was Cooper doing on the ice with his team in Sytracuse? Shouldn't he be on a plane to Tampa? While Cooper and his team practiced, Steve Yzerman and the Tampa Lightning were flying south from Winnipeg to the gulf coast of Florida.
Is Cooper the next head coach or the Bolts? Or, is Lindy Ruff the odds on winner of the bench boss job?
Cooper joined the Syracuse Crunch after spending the past two seasons as head coach of Tampa Bay’s previous affiliate the Norfolk Admirals.
Cooper recorded a 94-44-10-8 regular season and a 17-7 playoff record with the Admirals during those years.
In 2011-12, Norfolk set franchise records with 55 wins and 113 standings points on their way to capturing their first ever Calder Cup. They also set the North American Professional Hockey record by winning an incredible 28 games in a row smashing the previous mark of 18 set by, ironically, the Syracuse Crunch. During that 28 game run, the Admirals won 20 straight in regulation. After outscoring the opposition 273-180 in the regular season, the Admirals also captured the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL’s regular season points champion while also earning the Frank S. Mathers Trophy as East Division regular season champions. On April 9, 2012, Cooper was named the winner of the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding coach, as voted by coaches and members of the media in each of the league’s 30 cities.
Prior to joining the Admirals, Cooper posted an 84-27-9 record over the previous two seasons with the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League. In his two years at the helm, he led the Gamblers to two Anderson Cups as regular season championships (2008-09 and 2009-10) and a Clark Cup as playoff champions (2010). Cooper’s impact was immediate as he guided the Gamblers to the biggest one-year improvement in USHL history. Green Bay went from 32 points in 2007-08 to 82 points and the USHL’s best record, earning him the 2009 USHL GM of the Year Award. The following year, Cooper not only was again named USHL GM of the Year, but also took home the USHL Coach of the Year, as well.
Thanks, syracusecrunch.com
Cooper has one Hell of a hockey resume. He'll make a great NHL head coach some day.
Personally, I don't see the Bolts hiring him to turn around the mess that has become their under-achieving team right now. I can see Yzerman grabbing his team by the scruff of the neck by announcing the hiring of a tried and true NHL head coach in Lindy Ruff.
Cooper's strong suit is his ability to develop and teach young kids like former Canisius College star, Corey Conacher. There's no denying Cooper's attention to detail and hockey acumen. Works with the pups for sure. How would his style play out with grizzled vets like St. Louis, Malone, Salo, Lecavalier, Brewer, et al?
More and more, I see Yzerman hiring the known commodity in Ruff, rather than gambling on the AHL star, Cooper.
The onus of the blame for whats gone wrong is now squarely on Yzerman's shoulders. Boucher took the fall for it. Now, the bright spotlight is on Yzerman. Its his job to turn things around in a hurry and to get his team into the playoffs from the 14th seed this season.
***
Jarome Iginla scored the game-winning goal in the third period of Calgary's 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night.
Has he played his last game in a Calgary Flames sweater?
Its beginning to look that way. Over the weekend, it was reported that Iginla had submitted a list of teams to his agent that he would be willing to waive his no movement clause in order to be traded to. The teams on the list: LA, Boston, Chicago, and Pittsburgh.
Iginla wants to win a Stanley Cup, and if he can't win one in Calgary, he'd like to do it elsewhere. Therefore, Buffalo Sabres fans can cross Iggy off their bucket list.
Thanks, Flames TV
Iginla is the prized rental player of the 2013 trade deadline. There will be a bidding war of epic proportions amongst the four teams that are on his wish list. The team that "wins" the bidding war, will end up having to over spend to secure the power forward.
In the end, it will be a true win-win, in that the Flames will be able to sell its highest valued asset in exchange for active roster players and/or prospects that can help the Flames to rebuild and re-shape their team on the fly. Iginla will be in position to step right into a Cup contenders' top line and to pursue his life long dream of winning a Stanley Cup. This Iginla drama has all of the ear markings of the Raymond Bourque trade from Boston to Colorado that yielded a Cup win for the Avalanche.
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