The Sheet Blog: NHL coaching’s near-impossible feat

As the coaching carousel got wound up this weekend with the firings of Peter Laviolette in New York along with Anaheim Ducks bench boss Greg Cronin, I would like to remind everybody of a sobering fact: in the history of the NHL, which stretches back to 1917, there have only been three head coaches who led two different teams to Stanley Cup victories.

Tommy Gorman – One of the founders of the NHL in 1917, Gorman was an owner, general manager and, as a coach, he led the Chicago Black Hawks to their first Stanley Cup in 1934 and then the Montreal Maroons in 1935. Gorman was the first and remains the only head coach to win the Cup in consecutive seasons with different teams.

Dick Irvin Sr – A Hall of Famer as a player, Irvin was also one of the game’s great coaches, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a Stanley Cup win in 1931 inside a brand-new Maple Leaf Gardens, and he then coached the Montreal Canadiens to three Cup wins in ’44, ’46 and ’53.

Scotty Bowman – The best to ever do it. Bowman holds the record for coaching three different teams to Stanley Cup wins, finding ultimate hockey success with the Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. 

And that’s it, folks. Three.

So, if it’s your belief that Stanley Cup winning coaches have some secret formula and the ability to replicate success, you have pretty much all of hockey history working against you.

Fixing Fantilli’s need for speed

One of the great things about having Columbus Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell on The Sheet is he always shares some behind-the-scenes information with you. Last Friday it was the nuggets that while running the Carolina Hurricanes he tried to trade for Mathieu Olivier over the course of a few seasons.

Waddell also mentioned something we’ve discussed here and on The Sheet the last little while regarding Adam Fantilli: the coaching staff has worked on Fantilli’s habit of using his speed in every situation as opposed to letting the puck do some of the work, especially on zone entries where Fantilli’s instinct has always been to attack even while carrying the puck. You can see it’s paid off, as the 2023 third-overall pick became one of the NHL’s most lethal players down the stretch and turned in his first of what we expect to be many 30-goal seasons.

A matter of weeks until Weekes joins a front office?

I would not be surprised if this is the offseason where ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes lands a management position with an NHL team.  He’s been interviewed previously for top positions, obviously knows the league and how it works and is an excellent communicator. It’s only a matter of ‘when,’ not ‘if,’ for Weekes.

The grosser, the better in overtime

I don’t know about you, but I want all my regulation goals to be Picassos; things of beauty and grace. But when it comes to overtime I want it uuuuuuuuugly. And they don’t come uglier than Artturi Lehkonen’s goal Saturday night:

And do I want that as a Stanley Cup Game 7 OT winner?  You bet I do. I’ll take skill for 60 minutes and chaos in the bonus periods, thank you.

Import influx coming for CHL

Look for the CHL to increase the number of imports allowed on a roster from two to three. Although nothing has been made official yet, it sounds like all three leagues (WHL, OHL and QMJHL) have approved the plan.

Agents with European clients are obviously overjoyed by this decision, which gives them 61 (and soon to be 62) new spots to fill.

July 2 is the CHL import draft.

Speaking of CHL imports, there were 14 Finnish hockey players suiting up across the CHL this season, which I believe is a record and more than double from last season when there were six. There were also seven Finnish CHL players in the World Juniors.

I’d expect more CHL players to announce their commitment to the University of Michigan in the coming weeks and maybe as early as this week. Calgary Flames blueline prospect Henry Mews announced his decision a couple of weeks ago and it sounds like there will be more to follow soon.

Canada, USA treat us to another classic at Women’s Worlds

Another great Women’s World Championship overtime final between Canada and the United States this weekend.  Congrats to Team USA who beat Canada in both the round robin and final to capture gold. Tessa Janecke scored the OT winner while Marie-Philip Poulin was named the tournament MVP with four goals and eight assists.

We now await the official announcement of expansion in the PWHL as that league resumes. Again, Vancouver and Seattle are the expected destinations as the league moves west.

Sea Dogs’ love affair with squared circle

Cool to see CM Punk wearing a Saint John Sea Dogs baseball cap at Wrestlemania over the weekend. Here’s the back story – the first thing you must understand is Sea Dogs president and CEO Trevor Georgie is a MASSIVE wrestling fan. MASSIVE! Earlier this season, the team did an NWO night at a home game. The Dogs also hosted Bret Hart at their season opener this year, so the hockey/wrestling crossover is alive and well in Saint John. Earlier this season, while Punk was in Saint John for a couple of days doing some filming, the team wrote him a card and sent a package of Sea Dogs merch to his hotel room.

Georgie wrote the note himself and said it was something along the lines of “Welcome to the city of champions. The organization are huge wrestling fans and CM Punk fans. We know that you love the Blackhawks, but hopefully we can be your Canadian Hockey League team. Thank you for visiting our city and please enjoy these as a small gift from the Sea Dogs.”

Great move by Georgie. You can’t buy that kind of publicity.

Rink Fries

The longer the Hurricanes go in the playoffs, the more people will fall in love with Logan Stankoven who, unless you’re playing against him, is tough not to cheer for…Speaking of Stankoven, on his second goal in Game 1, was that not the loudest you’ve ever heard a post ring?…Looking more and more like the best trade of the year was Colorado picking up Mackenzie Blackwood earlier this season…Always loved watching Logan Couture and wish injuries hadn’t robbed him of playing these last couple of years. Not only was he skilled, but he also battled hard, especially in the playoffs. Most arcane bit of trivia about Couture: when he was born, the delivering nurse was Bernadette Devorski, mother of former NHL officials Paul and Greg Devorski.

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The Sheet is live! Hosted by Jeff Marek, this brand-new show is your daily deep dive into the biggest hockey stories, trends, and insights across the NHL, PWHL, junior hockey, and beyond. Streaming every weekday at 3 PM ET on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel, The Sheet features exclusive interviews with top hockey figures, from industry executives to Olympic champions. Don’t miss out—subscribe to Daily Faceoff on YouTube and follow @TheSheetHockey on social media to stay up-to-date with all the latest from the world of hockey.

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