Three great coaches from the 1970s? How about Fred Shero, Al Arbour and Scotty Bowman, the man for any decade. Now, here are three coaching notes as we head into another NHL weekend.
On Saturday night, Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella will be looking to get his troops back on the right path when they visit New Jersey. The Southeast Division frontrunners have dropped two straight home games, including an ugly 7-2 loss to the Islanders on Thursday. Tortorella, who many figured would be the first coach to be kicked to the curb, has done an excellent job getting the Lightning to buy into his system of team play. Now, faced with a bit of adversity, it will be interesting to see how Tortorella's team responds on the road against the Devils. In their only previous meeting, the Devils silenced the Bolts, 5-1. It should be noted the Lightning did put together a nice five-game hot streak (4-0-0-1) after losing three in a row earlier in the month.
In another Saturday night tilt, Calgary Flames coach Greg Gilbert might need a win over the visiting Blackhawks to keep his job. After a steady 5-3-3-2 start, Calgary has lost seven straight games. In this sorry stretch, the Flames have been shutout four times and have managed just three goals. That is just plain pitiful. Calgary's ineffective power play, ranked dead last in the league (11-for-104), continues to be a major problem. And, to make matters worse, they've allowed a league-high (tied with Atlanta and Vancouver) five short-handed goals. The Flames haven't done much to endear themselves to the home fans, either. Gilbert's bunch is a miserable 1-6-3-1 at the Saddledome. After Saturday's game, the club heads east to begin a five-game road trip in Boston. But, if they lose to the Hawks, Gilbert may not be going with them.
On Sunday night, in the league's lone contest, Mike Keenan brings the Florida Panthers to the Pond for a meeting with the Ducks. Keenan, on the seventh stop of his NHL coaching career, should get Jack Adams Award consideration for turning Olli Jokinen into a big-league player. The Finnish-born Jokinen, selected third overall by Los Angeles in the 1997 draft, seemed like an underachieving bust after moving from the Kings to the Islanders to the Panthers. But Keenan has shown confidence in the 23-year-old (he turns 24 on Dec. 5) forward, and Jokinen has responded. Through 21 games, Jokinen leads the club with 11 goals, 13 assists and 24 points. His offensive numbers place him near the top of the league's scoring race. No, the Panthers probably won't make the playoffs, but that doesn't mean Keenan isn't doing a good job.
E.J. Hradek writes hockey for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ej.hradek@espnmag.com.
