MVN - Most Valuable Network

Martin not in a hurry to hire coach

Who will be the next head coach of the Florida Panthers? Not even general manager Jacques Martin knows right now. Nor is he in a rush to find out. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is reporting that Martin will bide his time in finding his replacement behind the bench.

Certainly in house options Mike Kitchen and Guy Charron will be considered. Both Kitchen and Charron have experience. After they got off to a dreadful start under Andy Murray, Kitchen coached the St. Louis Blues to a 10-7-4 record and to a playoff berth in 2003-04 and remained at the post for two more years before joining Florida. Charron has had a number of stints at a number of different positions since 1990. Randy Cunneyworth, head coach of the Panthers’ AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, is also expected to get a look. Cunneyworth, a former Amerks winger, has been coaching Rochester since he retired as a player in 2000. His best season came in 2004-05 when the Americans won the North division with a 51-19 record. Last year, Cunneyworth almost won the Senators head coaching job but he was beat out by John Paddock.

There are a number of new faces the Cats could bring in as well. Former Avalanche and Thrashers coach Bob Hartley and former Maple Leafs head man Pat Quinn are some names that will be considered. Both Hartley and Quinn have relationships with Martin. The aforementioned Paddock, who was fired by Ottawa in late February could also be a possibility. Keep an eye on the New York Islanders situation as well. If Ted Nolan is fired, he will definitely be looked at.

Cunneyworth would be the best choice. In his eight year tenure with the Americans, he has coached a playoff team seven times and has finished every season with a winning record. Cunneyworth is an old school, two way coach who gets the most out of his players. He also loves guys who drop the gloves which is something Martin always shyed away from. Throughout the course of his career, he’s developed guys like Jason Pominville, Ryan Miller, Brian Campbell, Derek Roy, Thomas Vanek and Ales Kotalik (the Amerks have a dual affiliation with the Sabres) and he’s got an insider’s knowledge on some of the Panthers’ top prospects. He’s got my vote.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 24th, 2008 at 10:25 am and is filed under Offseason. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.