IKnowPhysics

He was an assistant coach for the Penguins from 1993-97 and the Avalanche from 1998-02. In his four years in Colorado, he won the Cup once and went to game seven of the conference finals the other three times. According to wiki, he receives praise from well-respected players- he was Steve Yzerman's favorite player and Y wore #19 in honor of him. Admittedly, his time as the Rangers' head coach was vexed. He tried to implement the trap on a team that wasn't well-suited for it, which gathered the ire of Rangers fans and media, in addition to being lambasted by local Islanders fan as a traitor for taking the NYR job.

Agreed. If I could get anyone to be an assistant coach, it'd be Nicklas Lidstrom. He was hired by the Red Wings as scout following his retirement, but would later leave that job. When Babcock offered him the assistant coaching job, he didn't want it (Babcock would go on to hire Tony Granato).

He was also Wayne Gretzky before Wayne Gretzky was Wayne Gretzky:

Outstanding hiring. I think this is what having Craig Patrick on board buys you. Patrick and Trottier were together from '93 to '97. http://blogs.buffalo...-assistant.html Apparently, Nolan was high on Trottier from the start:

THIS WHOLE THREAD BE PARROT ######.

Well, if they hired him, clearly we should have kept him as an assistant coach.

I thought for sure that they'd mention how it ripped off the Electric logo:

BLARGH. My bad. I hadn't realized there's two Dineens, let alone expected them to be hired to similar-ish positions one day apart. I partly blame TSN's abbreviated headlining.

Agreed. I nonchalantly stopped watch a couple years ago. This confirms my confidence that I haven't missed much. I am, however, a proponent of science outreach and I think they've got a good mission. I'm by no means annoyed that they're still on the air.

Goalies (sorry, didn't list them above): Jimmy Howard (Syracuse) Connor Knapp (Livingston County) Ray Emery (Hamilton)

NHLers worth a ###### that played this year with birthplaces listed in NYS north of Westchester: LW: Erik Cole Marcus Foligno Nick Foligno Tim Kennedy RW: Kane Callahan Brown Gionta Stempniak Jeremy Morin Kaleta D: Bogosian (Massena) Lashoff Notables from Southern-most Ontario: LW: Ryan Sheahan (St Catherines) Dan Paille (Welland) Cal Clutterbuck (Welland) RW: Nathan Horton (Welland) D: Dan Girardi (Welland) Ryan Ellis (Hamilton)

He finished second on the team in points (43) behind Hodgson (44). On a team full of clowns, that's respectable. Our best winger, Matty Mo, was on pace for 54 points. Our next best winger, Stafford, finished with 34. According to usage charts, Ennis was able to achieve this while playing against the toughest opponents (along with Stafford and Foligno). I'm not sure it's possible, but I'm comfortable saying that this team would've somehow looked a lot worse this past year without Ennis. On a good team, Ennis is a 2nd line forward. Maybe, hopefully, we'll return to the days of '05-'07, when we had three legitimate scoring lines, and then Ennis will fit nicely on third line (not unlike how Derek Roy used to). That'd be fun.

It's official. http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=726525 http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=457373

As much as I'm enjoying that Tyler Ennis has been signed to a good contract, I'm also enjoying that, in this thread so far, everyone is in agreement that he is and/or is capable of being a good player. Agreed. I believe he's capable of 60-65 point seasons with talent. The fit's also good. He's a high-skill player capable of playing wing on a team that has very few high-skill wingers.

I love me some free agent popcorn!

Is this the new ######-on-Darcy game? Regier couldn't have been good at drafting because it was all Kevin Devine (and/or Jim Benning)? I think if the Head Scout and the AGM(s) aren't contributing heavily in the draft arena, there's a problem, but it's the GM that makes the final decision for better or worse.

EVERYDAY I'M SHUFFLING.

They might post the stream as a replay later. I'm not that worried. I got the stream just now.

They might be waiting the usual amount past the start time for the anthem, etc, to start the stream. Argh.

Kevin Dineen just signed on as the Head Coach of the Marlies.

Son of a bitch. I remember how bad the defense was and how bad it stung to lose, but that still makes me cringe. And that was all with Kalinin injured too, he led the team in +/- despite only playing 55 games. Fitzpatrick had by far the team's worst +/- in only 56 games. Jillson, Paetsch, and Janik had combined for three regular season games played that year.

Yep. Shortly before free agency started, I believe he had said that he didn't want to load up on contracts that would block the kids from competing for spots.

That looks like it'll be a lot of fun to watch.

Murray gets his man. I don't see a downside.