Michael Farber writes that Robyn Regehr’s comments about Mike Keenan’s prime being in the 80s and 90s may have effectively ended Keenan’s career. The comments hinged on the fact that Keenan isn’t an Xs and Os guy but trying to make a living in an Xs and Os world.
Keenan has butted heads with players throughout a career that started in the 1984 in Philadelphia — Detroit’s Chris Chelios said last week that Keenan seemed to relish their confrontations in Chicago — but never has he been so calmly and totally damned by a player of Regehr’s stature, one who had no axe to grind.
Admittedly, these are very sharp words. In fact, they are words that that will not bode well for Regehr as his career continues along. Whereas these kinds of things can be over-looked in baseball, and even accepted in basketball and football, there is a certain respect left in hockey for the coaches and managers. There is a brotherhood among NHL coaches, even to the point of having the brother of the firer defend the firee (see Brent Sutter’s comments about Mike Keenan). General managers and coaches across the league will take note of such a comment and, as good of a defenseman as Regehr is, if a decision boils down to a coin flip, this will be the reason Regehr finds himself on the outside looking in. I digress.
The problem with this idea is that there are a ton of Xs and Os guys in the coaching world. There are Xs and Os guys in the TV booth. There are Xs and Os guys at home, on the couch, watching the Xs and Os guys on TV and behind the bench. There are not a lot of good motivators — guys who can still get it done. There are not a lot of guys who can make a very good team great. Mike Keenan has done that, he can do it again, and that’s why there will always be a demand for Mike Keenan.
It wasn’t that long ago that NHL teams were wooing Scotty Bowman and looking for his services as a coach (as well as a GM). Scotty Bowman was notorious for not even being on the ice at practices. Keenan has built himself in this image, and he has never been regarded as a great tactician in terms of the on-ice systems. Rather, he has been a great manager of the bench — something so difficult for a coach to achieve, yet something that never goes away.
Every year only one team gets to win the Stanley Cup. Along with that, there are always 5 or 6 teams that feel they were “right there.” Those are the teams to look for as possibilities for Keenan’s next stop. He’s only going to be there for 2-3 years, anyway, and there’s no reason he can’t grab one of those Xs and Os guys from another bench, a TV studio, or a couch near you. If anyone’s career was hurt by those comments, it was Robyn Regehr’s.
Related posts:
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- Keenan isn’t the problem It was inevitable that, barring a 5- or 6-0 run...
- Roenick on Mike Keenan Jeremy Roenick, on of the game’s all-time greats, gives high-praise...
- Conroy: Bring Keenan back Craig Conroy is the first of the players to speak...
- Mellow Mike The Globe and Mail has a fascinating article about Mike...
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