Jeff Riger: When Saying Goodbye Is Ok!
No head coach likes to lose an assistant that has been with him for ages but at the same time that coach can't help to probably be proud of that assistant. No doubt that has to be the mindset of Wings head man Mike Babcock as he loses longtime assistant Paul MacLean who is going to be named the new coach of the Ottawa Senators come Tuesday. Maclean has been with Babcock the last six seasons in Detroit and was also in Anaheim with Babcock from 2002 to 2004. While behind the bench, MacLean helped the Wings bring home a Stanley Cup in 2008 and was integral in getting the Ducks to the Finals in 2003. MacLean also experienced a very good NHL career playing for 11 years in 719 games where he had 324 goals and 349 assists.
MacLean no doubt will suffer some growing pains as the teams 9th coach since Ottawa rejoined the NHL in 1993. The Senators finished last season with the 5th worst record in the league with just 32 victories. Gone are veterans Mike Fisher, Alex Kovalev, Chris Kelly, Chris Campoli and Jarkko Ruutu who were all dealt at the trade deadline for draft picks. Last season Ottawa relied heavily on AHL call-ups from the Binghamton Senators.
The Wings are now looking for a couple of coaches to fill the shoes of MacLean and Brad McCrimmon who parted ways with Detroit last week. So who should replace them? Well there are varying thoughts on this question. Should it be a no name that is working his way through the junior levels or should it be a former NHL head coach? According to the Windsor Star former NHL defenseman and previous Windsor Spitfire head coach Bob Boughner has spoken to Babcock.
Thedetroitsportssite.com throws Pete DeBoer's name around who is a former head coach of the Florida Panthers. The site also mentions Ken Hitchcock who won a cup with the Stars and has coached the Blue Jackets as well. However Hitchcock might be able to grab another head coaching gig from another team.
Of course the Wings could have a replacement already in the organization in Chris Chelios. Chelios already works in the front office with General Manager Ken Holland and also already helps the team's defensemen on a regular basis. If Chelios had time in his schedule one would think that working beside Babcock would be a perfect fit.
With added salary cap space due to Brian Rafalski retiring and as the team still waits to see what Nick Lidstrom chooses to do, the one thing that is certain is that the Wings could look very different next season, on the ice and behind the bench as well.
