...abbreviated because I'm working. For reals!
Thanks a lot, Dick! Charles Wang brings outcasts Neil Smith and Ted Nolan into the Islanders' fold. The Nolan story is an intriguing one -- he claims that he didn't go to Moncton to get back into the pros -- he took the job to rediscover the passion of the game. Undoubtedly there will be a lot of people pulling for him (septugenarian Ottawa GMs not included). As for Smith, he's identified with bloat, excessive spending, and selecting veterans instead of committing to farm development. I guess this means Yashin's staying.
This post from Deadspin (and its accompanying commentary) might be one of the funniest pieces to ever appear on the website. If you're unaware of the backstory, read this.
Rob Brodie interviewed Brian Williams about his departure from CBC, and Williams claims that Nancy Lee fired the 32-year-veteran by fax. Toffee-nosed cow.
More later. Maybe.
Posts
Yashin is staying on the Isles?Thats great news unless you are an Islanders fan. They should have kept Peca instead. Yashin can be a great player but he's not really a leader. (And he's not worth 10 million a season.)
Piere McGuire had great talk on team1200 today. When they finshed talking about Nolan and the Isles, anyway. Players claim it's not the goal tending. I guess a moose can hope. For the most part though, with Roloston in net, the Oilers were in the penalty box all the time. With the other guys in net, ..., same thing.
Anonymous
8:35 a.m.
Nolan. Where to begin?
It's funny how everyone accepts that Nolan is this great coach who has somehow been denied a shot in the NHL for all this time. It's one of those things that are accepted as the truth because enough people have repeated it.
"Great coaches" amount to a lot more than just a .500 NHL record over 2 seasons, which is all Nolan managed to produce, and this was with Hall of Fame goalie Dominik Hasek in his prime (in one of the years, at least):
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid%5B%5D=3984
So I don't get it. Nolan wouldn't get an inch of newsprint if not for the fact that he once won the Jack Adams, and so what? Lots of coaches win the Jack Adams. Great for them, doesn't mean a thing.
Nolan walked away from an "insulting" job offer from a newbie GM because he felt it was beneath him, when the fact is, incoming GM's usually put their own guys in, so that one-year offer was a favour. Nolan subsequently shot down the head coaching job in Tampa, and an assistant coaching job on the Island - not that it appears to have burnt any bridges on him there. Nolan had his kicks at the can, and then some.
Crazy though, that Smith wasn't permitted to hire his own coach. Arranged weddings like these aren't known for harmony.
P.S., that's wonderful Nolan is glad the NHL doesn't use the trap anymore - his idea of defensive play was to let Hasek stop 50 pucks a night.
-A
Wardo
5:10 p.m.