Interest in Krueger suggests Linden has the leverage
Who Canucks hire as coach will reveal who is really making the big decisions
It’s barely the second week of the Canucks’ coaching search and already people are getting restless.
If Travis Green is the slam dunk pick to lead this collection of hockey players, and he just may be, what is the front office waiting for? And if it’s not Green, then whom? That last one is the question with the most intrigue, but it’s followed closely by the one with the most import: Who will have the most influence in hiring the next coach of the Vancouver Canucks?
There’s always someone who gets their way. In the Vancouver hierarchy, there’s a general manager, a president, and several active owners who were heavily involved in the interview process when John Tortorella was hired in 2013.
One theory, which has been making the rounds almost since the day Willie Desjardins was hired, is that GM Jim Benning would essentially get to choose the next one.
Desjardins was considered Trevor Linden’s choice, a point Desjardins appeared to drive home in his goodbye-to-Vancouver press conference when he acknowledged his relationship with Linden played a significant role in him coming to British Columbia.
If this were true, it makes sense Benning would command a greater role this time around, and it should be that way for a host of reasons, especially if his job is next in the line of fire.
That’s why it was surprising for some to see a report linking Ralph Krueger to the Canucks as a possible coach — and maybe more.
Krueger is the former Edmonton Oilers head coach making Mike Babcock-level money as chairman of the Southampton Football Club, a team in the English Premier League.
He has built a career in part on his expertise in leadership and motivational speaking. He has experience creating high-performance teams, and believes strongly in building a culture that places team spirit above individual success.
These are all things that fit with what Linden has been trying to bring to the Canucks with mixed results so far, and why it feels like his fingerprints are all over any interest in Krueger.
The Canucks haven’t interviewed Krueger, but he sure didn’t deny their interest when contacted by Sportsnet hockey reporter Elliotte Friedman.
If Vancouver did seriously pursue him, you’d have a hard time convincing people locally that Linden wasn’t the one driving the bus. Since the end of Linden’s second year, there have been both reports and speculation the Canucks are open to adding help in the front office featuring a management group which remains inexperienced despite entering their fourth offseason.
Could someone like Krueger, who has been out of hockey for years, help?
It seems doubtful. But he has proven to be a decent hockey coach who nearly kept an awful Edmonton Oilers team from drowning in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.
For now, any Canucks interest in Krueger is pie-in-the-sky stuff. He’s not leaving his big-time role in the Premier League to coach the Canucks — and if he did, he’s nuts.
Now, if his team is sold, which is still possible, he could be out of a job there and that changes the game. It would set the stage for his return to the NHL.
Until then, Green will continue to be viewed as the Canucks front-runner, though the longer this drags on, the more questions there will be.