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With all the banter of firing AV, and I have no idea whether he should be pink slipped or not, lets throw out some names of possible replacements.

Ruff - Everybody has been saying Ruff because after his shit canning in Buffalo, his name is front and centre. In his second season coaching the Sabre, they made it to the SCF but Hull's skate was in the crease. Long term Sabre coach who accomplished mediocrity and less through a tumultuous time of Sabres ownership.

Arniel - Wolves coach who was the latest heir apparent (Carlyle, Noel) but may be too tainted after his failure in Columbus.

Cunneyworth - Did an admirable job interim in Montreal and whose main fault was not speaking Quebecois.

I vote NONE OF THE ABOVE

The one thing this franchise has been preaching since Gillis arrived is stabilty. As bad as they've played this season, they're still right there and with a win retake the division. It shouldn't honestly even be discussed at this point. It's not like he's dropped the ball to the point where the team is out of the running.

The coach needed another center all season long. There's a gaping hole down the middle and it reflects in the faceoff %, powerplay, GF/GA, etc. Acquiring a legitimate #2 center will be a boost of fresh blood and allow Kesler to ease back into a roster spot as well. Having him come back in and be expected to instantly regain a 40G/70P pace is unrealistic.

So my vote is stay the course, at the very least til the season is over. This teams struggles are due to the GMs inability to supply the coach with what he needs.

Jon Cooper

LINKY

Head Coach Jon Cooper joins 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.

Before joining Green Bay, Cooper spent five seasons as the general manager and head coach of the St. Louis Bandits of the North American Hockey League, recording a 223-93-17 regular season and postseason record. He led the Bandits to Robertson Cup Championships in 2007 and 2008 and was named NAHL Coach of the Year in 2005-06 and 2007-08.

In 2002, Cooper guided the Metro Jets of the Central States Hockey League to the Junior B (now Tier III) USA Hockey National Championship. Cooper is the only individual to head coach a national championship-winning team at all three tiers of junior hockey in the United States (Tier III - 2002 Metro Jets, Tier II - 2007 and 2008 St. Louis Bandits, Tier I – 2010 Green Bay Gamblers).

In his first season as a hockey coach, Cooper was named the 1999 High School Coach of the year by the Lansing State Journal after guiding Lansing Catholic Central to its first regional hockey title in 25 years.

Cooper has also coached internationally, most recently serving as the assistant coach for the USA U-18 team that competed in the 2008 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. He won a silver medal as head coach of the USA U-17 team that participated in the 2007 Five Nation’s Tournament. Cooper was named a finalist for the 2007 United States Olympic Committee’s Development Coach of the Year.

A native of Prince George, British Columbia, Cooper holds dual American and Canadian citizenship. He played hockey at Notre Dame in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, before moving on to Hofstra University. While at Hofstra Cooper played four seasons of Division I lacrosse and one season for the school’s hockey team while earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He went on to obtain his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. Cooper closed his law practice in 2003 to focus on his coaching career.

Arneil - give him a chance, he at least knows how the guys in the AHL are doing and will give the a proper chance.

For giggles - what about Iron Mike?

Just kidding but I think you give Arneil the ranes for 3 years and see what he can do. Regardless if MG does not get in a C then no matter who coaches this team is doomed.

Cooper and Eakins are certainly the 2 big AHL names going about right now

Topper wrote: Ruff - Everybody has been saying Ruff because after his shit canning in Buffalo, his name is front and centre. In his second season coaching the Sabre, they made it to the SCF but Hull's skate was in the crease. Long term Sabre coach who accomplished mediocrity and less through a tumultuous time of Sabres ownership.

Arniel - Wolves coach who was the latest heir apparent (Carlyle, Noel) but may be too tainted after his failure in Columbus.

Hey, how bout BOTH?

Arniel was an assistant to Ruff for a few years but I believe he left for a head-coaching job in the A.

So yeah, I guess BOTH is unlikely then.

I'd take EITHER at this point (prefer Ruff's experience, but hey Arniel was given a raw deal in Columbus).

I'm one of the many who have been murmuring "Fire AV" for a coupla years.

But not a lot of suitable replacements about.

Ever since Ruff became available I've been thinking "HEY...".

Was never desperate enough to consider folks like Cunneyworth, Renney, Brent Sutter, Ron Wilson, Crawford (lol).

But Ruff makes sense.

I've wondered about Big Bird as well, the Sharks would be obliged to let him go... or would they?

Sorry Strange,

I will have a hard time cheering for a team that employs ANY Sutter as a coach.

Pat Quinn

This is all the coaches fault, nobody else's.

Uncle dans leg wrote:I vote NONE OF THE ABOVE

The one thing this franchise has been preaching since Gillis arrived is stabilty. As bad as they've played this season, they're still right there and with a win retake the division. It shouldn't honestly even be discussed at this point. It's not like he's dropped the ball to the point where the team is out of the running.

The coach needed another center all season long. There's a gaping hole down the middle and it reflects in the faceoff %, powerplay, GF/GA, etc. Acquiring a legitimate #2 center will be a boost of fresh blood and allow Kesler to ease back into a roster spot as well. Having him come back in and be expected to instantly regain a 40G/70P pace is unrealistic.

So my vote is stay the course, at the very least til the season is over. This teams struggles are due to the GMs inability to supply the coach with what he needs.

The other thing this franchise has been preaching since Gillis arrived is the need to win a Cup. Not a President's Trophy or Campbell Trophy. Not another NW Division Championship banner. It's high time to put a Stanley Cup Champions banner in the rafters.

The team lost to the Bruins collapse and block and box out defense. They then struggled against similar teams during the regular season last year and were bounced in 5 games by the Kings who played the same way. Now they are getting beat left and right by teams that just keep them to the outside. Nothing will change in the playoffs. It will get harder to win.

So who gives a shit about where we are in the standings. It's about whether or not you can see this team, under this coach, do any real damage in the playoffs. Are they good enough to win a Cup? Short answer is, no.

wafflecombine wrote:Sorry Strange,

I will have a hard time cheering for a team that employs ANY Sutter as a coach.

I think you misread my post WC....

RoyalDude wrote:This is all the coaches fault, nobody else's.

That was sarcasm wasn't it....

Strangelove wrote:

wafflecombine wrote:Sorry Strange,

I will have a hard time cheering for a team that employs ANY Sutter as a coach.

I think you misread my post WC....

So misread...

Umm if bobby Clarke were hiring a coach, who would it be?


The question I have is with this euro/we'll make Em pay with our non existent power play ethos the Canucks have had lately
Would Jack Macilhargey's dream coach even be welcome ??

ukcanuck wrote: Umm if bobby Clarke were hiring a coach, who would it be?

Considering the fact Coach "Giggles" has gone goofy on us he'd probably replace him with Craig Ramsay.

Y'gotta love the way Bobby C doesn't hesitate when it comes to firing coaches....