Who's Gone and Who Isn't

Yeah, yeah, the Wings won the Cup. Congratulations to them. The Penguins, of course will be back...I always figured they were more Edmonton '83 than Edmonton '84.

And happy trails to Dominik Hasek and Trevor Linden, who have announced their retirements. Both are great players, and both have much to be proud of in their careers as they move on.

Speaking of moving on...I should do the same.

Well then...

So, it would appear that Don Waddell, if he was ever in danger of losing his job in Atlanta, is off the hook. It may be that the Chicago Wolves' victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the Calder Cup has gotten him off the hook for now, but it'll be interesting to see how that progresses.

Don is one of college hockey's best friends in the NHL, and I hope he can stay in a position of power somewhere in the league. We need more NHL executives with his attitude toward the college game.

Meanwhile, as Waddell tries to find the Thrashers' next coach, Marc Crawford is now available, having been let go as the Kings' head coach. Not that I'm expecting him to turn up in Atlanta, mind you, but it just seemed like a logical connection.

It'll be interesting to see what the Kings do here, as this is a young team that has potential to make a move. I like a lot of the Kings' young talent, and in the case of some of them, I mean that personally. Brian Boyle is one of my favorite players I had the opportunity to work with at CSTV, and Jack Johnson is one I've always regretted not interviewing (although I mostly consider it his fault for blowing off the Junior Evaluation Camp, twice). I also like the talent they have coming up, although it doesn't look like they have a true franchise player on the way at forward. Remember that if you see the Kings go for Nikita Filatov in the draft.

The problem, of course, is that the Western Conference is brutal right now, especially in the Pacific division with the Stars, Sharks and Ducks very strong, and the Coyotes also on the rise with a young team.

I'd be interested to see what Mark Morris, the head coach of LA's AHL club in Manchester, could do there. Given the success that Michel Therrien has had in Pittsburgh after being promoted from the Baby Pens, and the Capitals' Southeast Division title this year under former Hershey coach Bruce Boudreau, this could definitely be the right move for LA.

I had several conversations with Dean Lombardi and Ron Hextall when I was at CSTV, and I like what I heard from them, and I'm hoping that they make a good decision here and can get that franchise on the right track.

Does anyone else find it odd, by the way, that this has been a very quiet off-season so far on the coaching carousel? Just the one change at Alaska. Personally, I'd been sort of expecting a domino effect starting in the CCHA and extending through Hockey East and ECAC Hockey, but it appears that that won't be happening.

I'm being vague on purpose, because I've met so few people in college hockey that I haven't liked, and having been through unemployment recently myself, I don't speculate on other people's employment situations lightly. That said, I told several people to expect said chain - I may have even told them to write it down - and now, I'm going to have some egg on my face.

Oh well, it's OK...after all, I'm not making a career on my hockey musings anymore.

Finally, there's a lot of talk in the outdoor game department lately. Obviously, the big talk is of the Outdoor Classic at Wrigley, but I'm wondering why the NHL hasn't made an official announcement yet. Could Yankee Stadium still be in the mix? I'm still holding out hope until there's an official announcement, since they're not tearing down Wrigley anytime soon.

In the college ranks, they're talking about Minnesota and Wisconsin playing a pair of outdoor games in the next two years, one at Camp Randall and one at the Gophers' new football stadium. The obligatory joke about Don Lucia's hair has already been made, so I'll just say, "Bring it on." I really liked Camp Randall when I had occasion to cover a football game there in 2006 (it was against Illinois in the middle of the Wisconsin-BC hockey series), and as for Minnesota, well, when you talk about kids growing up playing on ponds and backyard rinks, what state better epitomizes that than Minnesota? And since I don't see the Wild being picked to host an Outdoor Classic in the near future - my guess is that they're going to go for classic venues like Wrigley, Yankee Stadium, Fenway, etc. for the next little while - this is something that ought to be done in Minnesota.