Tippet is a good shout, I actually suggested him earlier on the site which shall not be mentioned but a poster who shall not be mentioned made the reasonable point that he's probably not going to be allowed to talk to anyone else. The NHL is unlikely to willingly weaken their investment.
I'm shocked. Absolutely shocked. Mostly happy, but not totally. Tortorella had a number of good traits, but his stubborn refusal to adjust an archaic system is what did him in (his personality probably didn't help things.) He has no one to blame but himself.
And if you hire an offensive coach as well as a PP coach (or let the offensive HC run it,) you should absolutely think about keeping Sullivan. He's a defensive coach, and a pretty good one. There was no reason for him to coach the PP. If Torts likes a guy, he feels that guy is capable of doing anything for him. He played Brian Boyle 20+ minutes a night MORE THAN ONCE, for fuck's sake.
Dallas Eakins is the top guy right now. This hiring will say a lot about whether it's really Sather who's still in charge, or if this is Gorton's hire. If it's a lazy retread like Ruff, Vignault, Wilson, etc., Sather is still the guy. But if it's a young up and comer like Eakins, I would think that would be Gorton's call. And I would be thrilled.
Tortorella is a proven winner and a good HC but I hated what he did with the Rangers. He allowed so little creativity, just too rigid in his ways. I thought he really handcuffed the talent on the Rangers with his scheme. A more offensive-minded HC would serve this team well. I don't remember Tortorella running this style in Tampa, at least not exclusively.
He didn't have to much more in Tampa than give MSL, LeCavalier and Richards 25 minutes a night, and then ride Khabibulin. It started to go wrong when he started thinking he was a coach. I accept that I might be a little biased because I think the man is a monstrous prick, but still.
Heard a couple of things today, Gravy getting an interview, a lot of talk about Guy Boucher, who I like
