untitled (Formerly Coooper's Corner)

I was going to do my blurb this week on some hot info that I had discovered - the reason why wrestling is not as watchable as it was when we were kids. It has to do with Mean Gene Okerlund, however that will have to wait because of the breaking news regarding the Calgary Flames and a possible coaching change. I just have to air my two cents on the matter.

If you have not heard the Flames supposedly have hired “Iron” Mike Keenan as their new head coach. I must have missed it when they fired Jim Playfair. Did that actually happen? Now I do dislike, and am in no way defending Jim Playfair’s punch card coaching system* but the move to Keenan seems to be a drastic measure. I am already fearing for Miikka Kiprusoff’s mental state, with him knowing that now he will get the hook after 2 or 3 goals on no matter how many shots.

Remember the Greg Millen / Jacques Cloutier / Ed Belfour saga of the 1990 – 91 season? I distinctly remember Keenan pulling Belfour after 2 goals, putting in Millen, and then after 1 goal putting in Belfour again only to pull him shortly later for Cloutier. No joke! Then there was the saga in the 1992 finals between Belfour and Hasek. I am sure we all remember Belfour getting the hook in game 3 for Hasek and as well in game 4. I have searched youtube.com for some evidence of this but with no success.

Keenan has also done the same in his other coaching stops which include Philadelphia (where he went to the Finals twice and lost), NY Rangers (where he won 1 cup), St. Louis, Vancouver, Boston, and Florida. Granted Keenan has had some success. However, the majority of that was in the late 80’s and early 90’s. And as for his Stanley Cup win with the Rangers, I think that the leadership of Messier and the rest of the former Oilers on that team had more to do with the win than Keenan’s coaching.

Wherever Keenan has coached his players have grown to loath him. I can see Iggy asking for a trade before X-mas.

I can sum up my feelings on this whole situation with a classic quote from Slapshot.... "They're f#*&ing horrible looking! What did the old man trade for these a%$holes? A used puck bag?"

On a somewhat unrelated topic... Remember after the lockout and the Flames were in the process of trying to sign Tony Amonte, Darren McCarty and Scott Neidermeyer? Hmmmm I wonder whom the Flames should have put more effort and dollars into trying to sign. (Editor's Note: Here's a hint, it's the one who just won the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy - and not the two plumbers the Flames eventually ended up with) I can sum up my feelings on this debacle with another classic Slapshot quote.... "Boy every piece of garbage that comes on the market and you gotta buy it."


*Jim Playfair’s coaching system is something Luke and I came up with, if you were unaware of the reference. In our opinion Playfair is an emotionless cyborg (but not the super-intelligent kind) that accepts those old style punch cards which contain coaching information. They are fed to him through a slot in his neck by assistant coach Rich Preston. These punch cards then tell Playfair what coaching strategies to employ.