Trades have become increasingly difficult to make in this era of the National Hockey League with numerous budget-conscious teams and many teams operating at the salary cap ceiling. Those facing ownership uncertainty include the Phoenix Coyotes and Dallas Stars and those spending to the cap ceiling include the Vancouver Canucks, New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers.
Unable to make trades and teams with their hands strapped by lifetime contracts, the head coach has become the scapegoat for a team's troubles.
Lindy Ruff is the longest tenured coach in the NHL, having been with the Buffalo Sabres since 1997. The next longest tenured is Barry Trotz who has been behind the bench of the Nashville Predators since 1998.
After that there is a tie between the Detroit Red Wings' Mike Babcock and Anaheim Ducks' Randy Carlyle who have been with their teams since 2005.
Teams have become growingly less reluctant to fire their head coaches after the Pittsburgh Penguins fired head coach Michel Therrien, who guided the Penguins to the Stanley Cup Finals that past spring, with 25 games remaining in the regular season. Dan By ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Kevin W
NHL: Merits Of Firing The Head Coach, Five That Could Be
November 23rd, 2010 by Kevin W Leave a reply »
Advertisement