When it goes south, send the coach packing
NHL bench bosses who last three seasons should qualify for a Survivor appearance
Things aren't going well? Fire the coach.
That seems to be the strategy in the National Hockey League, where any coach who lasts three seasons in a job qualifies for a guest appearance on Survivor.
When the Seattle Kraken fired Dave Hakstol this week, he became the 10th head coach to be sent packing this season. He led the expansion team to the second round of the playoffs in its second season but this is a league where they ask: What have you done for us lately? And an 81-point season doesn't cut it.
If you want an indication of how quickly things turn over in the NHL, consider that the Hakstol firing means that the Canadiens' Martin St. Louis has the sixth-longest tenure among the active coaches and he has been on the job for less than three years. He could move into the top 5 if the Maple Leafs fall short yet again and Sheldon Keefe is fired.
Seven of the 10 fired coaches were dismissed in midseason and their replacements were expected to turn things around. Three of them succeeded.
Kris Knoblauch took over from Jay Woodcroft in Edmonton and soon had the underachieving Oilers playing up to their potential. Edmonton advanced to the second round of the playoffs by beating Los Angeles in five games. Jim Hiller, who replaced Todd Mclellan in L.A., should have the interim removed from his title despite the loss.
There are three other interim coaches who aren't likely to stick around: Ottawa's Jacques Martin, New Jersey's Travis Green and Drew Bannister in St. Louis. The Blues were hoping to repeat their turnaround of 201819. They replaced Mike Yeo with Craig Berube and the team that was last in the standings on New Year's Day won the Stanley Cup. This time, Berube was fired and they finished six points behind defending champion Vegas for the final wild-card berth.
With as many as six jobs open, there's an opportunity for some fresh faces behind the bench, but the NHL doesn't always work that way.
When the Buffalo Sabres fired Don Granato at season's end, they didn't wait long to bring back Lindy Ruff, who was fired by New Jersey on March 4.
CANADIANS SHINE IN NBA
Dr. James Naismith, the Mcgill grad who invented basketball, would have been proud of the performances of some Canadian players in the NBA playoffs.
Shai Gilgeous-alexander, who is a most valuable player candidate, led the Oklahoma City Thunder to an opening-round sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans. While Gilgeous-alexander led the team in scoring, he received support from Montrealer Lu Dort, who has developed into one of the premier defenders in the league. In the final game of Pelicans series, he held Brandon Ingram to six points on 2-for-14 shooting from the floor.
And Jamal Murray had two game-winning baskets as the defending champion Denver Nuggets eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.
Gilgeous-alexander, Dort and Murray are all expected to represent Canada at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer. Canada has an outside shot at its first men's basketball medal since it won silver in the inaugural Olympic basketball competition in 1936 in Berlin. Canada defeated the United States for the bronze medal at the FIBA World Cup last summer, but will be in tough against world champion Germany, silver medallist Serbia, the U.S., Italy and Slovenia.
While Canada will add Murray, who skipped the World Cup, the U.S. team will be much stronger than its World Cup squad. Their Olympic roster will include only two players from the World Cup team: Tyrese Haliburton and Anthony Edwards. They will be joined in Paris by, among others, Anthony Davis, Lebron James, Kawhi Leonard, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid.
COACHING CAN BE HAZARDOUS
Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch had knee surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon, but expects to be on the sidelines for his team's second-round series against the Denver Nuggets. Finch was injured when Devon Booker of the Phoenix Suns fouled Minnesota point guard Mike Conley, who then collided with Finch.
And Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse suffered a finger injury during Tuesday's win over the Knicks. Nurse, who has a history of clashing with referees, was injured when he became enraged over a call and banged his hand on the scorer's table. The extent of the injury is unknown, but Nurse was unable to draw up plays after the mishap.