In this photo John Paddock looks like a fairly nice young man. The uniform (Richmond Robins) and the haircut scream 1970s, and it seems like it's been at least that long since Paddock saw the show.He was a Washington Capitals draft in 1974 (the year they took Greg Joly 1st overall) and ended up being dealt to the Flyers for a pretty decent player (Bob Sirois). After that it was purely cash transactions, and he played a total of 87 games in the NHL during 5 regular seasons.
Paddock is unusual in that he's been a career coach (pretty much) in the AHL, winning a ton of games and building a solid resume. If Paddock had chosen baseball and become a manager, he would have been in the big leagues several times before, but the NHL seems to have a different way of looking at AHL coaches (often hiring friends, recently retired legends or junior coaches).
Paddock was a good coach for the Winnipeg Jets for 3+ seasons (two of which saw them finish over .500) but for a good dozen years he's been in the background, bubbling under.
I believe his hiring by Ottawa is a brilliant move. This is a guy who has earned the opportunity, has a tremendous resume, and one would think he is looking at this opportunity as a chance in a lifetime to make his mark on the coaching profession.
John Paddock turned 53 on June 9th. If the Senators name him coach today, it would have to be considered long overdue.
done deal - good for him
ReplyDeleteHoly Crap! Waiting for you to weigh in on the Vanek offer sheet LT.
ReplyDeleteWell, like TSN says, nice try. Does this hurt or help Lowe? Can't imagine it helps him in the eyes of the rest of the GMs...
ReplyDeleteI don't get it. Surely Kevin Lowe didn't actually want to give up four first round picks for the privilege of paying Vanke more than seven million per year, which would mean that he wanted Buffalo to match. But making an offer sheet with the intent to force the other team to match seems to only make sense within conference (unless you know that the team you're forcing to match is going after the same free agent as you elsewhere, and you want to restrict their bargaining room - but I can't see how that would be true of the Sabres).
ReplyDeleteI don't get it.
It's called "Desperation". Although Vanek fits the exact description of what they want for Hemsky - Same age, shoot first and ask questions later, fast, good size, potential 50+ scorer. Lets face it, they signed Hemmer to a long contract, the future revolves around him. Every year that he plays without a sniper, is a year wasted. Yes, there are prospects that potentially fit the bill, but probably not for the next two years. It's been mentioned by KL and everyone else...obviously, that sniper spot isn't going to be filled through free agency. I doubt GMs would trade a 23 year old 40+ goal scorer for a price KL can stomach. So that pretty much leaves the RFA market. The price is what it is, unfortunately. I really feel sorry for the guy.
ReplyDeleteHere's a thought. What do four first round draft picks (a few of which will most likely be lottery picks) buy in a trade? If you went to Jay Feaster in Tampa and offered 4 first round picks for Vinny, does he bite?
Lowe changed the economics of hockey, taking term and salary away from the old guys (who refused to come to Edmonton) and gave term and salary to the young guys.
ReplyDeleteDaryl Sutter now has a Phaneuf headache.
Brian Burke has a Penner, Getzlaf, Perry headache.
Holmgren has a Carter, Richards headache.
Sather has a Lundqvist headache.
Ray Shero is screwed. Might as well trade Malkin now.
This means spending to the cap and over the cap (as with Briere's and Gomez's front-loaded deals) come with peril to the rich teams.
Wonder how long Lowe has now been locked in a room with Pitkanen's agent after this bomb from last night? Haha.
ReplyDeleteThis might be a case where "teh Eklund" is actually right about something. Camms from LA or Penner from Anaheim might actually be dealt our way as a result of this.
If you went to Jay Feaster in Tampa and offered 4 first round picks for Vinny, does he bite?
ReplyDeleteRight now, I have to assume the answer is no. If he'd made the offer earlier, in order to allow Tampa to go into UFA season with some cap space, maybe. But still probably not.
I think Godot nailed it. First theory that came to mind when I first heard about the Oilers considering an RFA offer sheet. Quite risky but if you're to target an RFA Vanek is probably teh kind of guy you look at.
ReplyDeleteNewsflash: Toby Petersen is not going to be manning the Oiler's powerplay in 07/08. He (and Winchester) have signed in Dallas.