Waiting his turn
Jackets’ playoff success could put Shaw back in NHL head-coaching picture
COLUMBUS — If the Blue Jackets keep this up, it really could cost them.
If they keep winning, especially the way they’re doing it, another team has to put in a call.
It’s inevitable, isn’t it?
The Jackets already have won five of six playoff games, including all four against the Tampa Bay Lightning — one of the best regular season teams in history — limiting the Bolts to just eight goals.
Nikita Kucherov, who scored 41 times and had 128 points in the 82-game leadup to the only time of the year that matters, was held to two measly assists. Steven Stamkos, with 98 points during the season, had one goal and one helper.
And now, while stealing home-ice advantage from the Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinal, they’re at it again.
In the first couple of games the Bruins’ big three of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak has a grand total of one point — a goal that appeared to go in off Pastrnak’s skate.
It obviously takes a team effort to shut down such stars, but there’s also credit that needs to be spread to many individuals, including goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, defenceman Seth Jones, head coach John Tortorella and, quite likely, Brad Shaw, the Blue Jackets’ assistant coach in charge of the defence.
Three NHL teams are currently looking for a head coach: the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres and Anaheim Ducks.
If the Blue Jackets keep winning as they are, surely at least one of the three will call and ask permission for an interview with Shaw, the 55-year-old who has spent the better part of 31/2 decades in the NHL.
“Yeah, I have an interest in being a head coach. Sure,” Shaw said Monday at Nationwide Arena, while also stressing such thoughts are secondary to his focus on these playoffs. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been one, and I think that plays against me in certain respects maybe, but yeah, sure, I’d love to do it.”
Shaw, an NHL defenceman for 377 games, has spent the past three seasons on Tortorella’s staff. Prior to that, he put in 10 years with the St. Louis Blues, the last four as an associate with Ken Hitchcock, the six before that working under Mike Kitchen, then Andy Murray, then Davis Payne.
His first assistant coaching gig was with the 1999-2000 Tampa Bay Lightning, where the head coach was Steve Ludzik. From there, he went to the minors to become a head coach, in 2000-01 with the IHL’s Detroit Vipers and from 2002-05 with the AHL’s Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.
Shaw returned to the NHL as an assistant with the Islanders on Steve Stirling’s staff in 2005-06. When Stirling was fired half way through the next season, Shaw took over on an interim basis.
Under his guidance, the Islanders finished with an 18-18-6 record.
“We had a real young staff there,” said Shaw. “It was myself and Jack Capuano and Dan Bylsma and we were were all kind of newbies. I had one year in the league and they had none. We were doing a lot of spitballing. We had to try different things too, which is a bit of a luxury. There wasn’t a lot of expectation there for us.
“It was a great experience.” The difference between being a head coach and an assistant is the managing of personalties, culture and identity that the bench boss has to do through every interaction he has with his players. Assistants are focused on coaching.
“They’re very different jobs,” said Shaw, who has been rumoured for a head-coaching job at various points since the interim post he held with the Islanders. “It’s just been a long time since you’ve ran a bench. Not just the bench, but it’s the day-today.
“I think when it goes that many years that you get bypassed, you tend to feel like you’re a little bit outside that loop.”
With the Blue Jackets pulling off one of the biggest upsets in playoff history by beating Tampa, Shaw’s name is back in the loop.
“It’s nice getting mentioned,” he said. “It’s great to win. Everybody wants to bring in winners. Not just players but coaches and guys that have shown they can do it.
“I’m not really thinking about that stuff. If it happens, it happens. That’s great. If I get to continue working with the guys, it’s been a great three years here. To get to the playoffs every year is something we take a lot of pride in.”