Rolling The Dice Behind The Bench

When it comes to recycling, few businesses do as good a job as NHL teams with respect to head coaching vacancies. It almost seems as if every time there's an opening behind the bench, clubs run down the same checklist - Is Mike Keenan available? How's Pat Burns' health? What's Pat Quinn up to? Will our players put up with Ron Wilson's schtick for a few years? etc. - before bucking tradition and perhaps (gasp!) taking a chance on an NHL assistant or AHL bench boss. The Caps, in recent years, have taken that chance three times, with results ranging from disastrous to near-miraculous and something in between.

Anyway, that's all just a long intro to a worthwhile read by Mirtle over at The Globe and Mail that scours the AHL coaching ranks for the next Bruce Boudreau. And I'm sure he's out there. But as the Caps have shown over the past half-dozen years, hiring an AHL coach for your NHL team is like a box of chocolates... you know the rest.