WalshSiouxSweater

Well, I was completely wrong about OSU making a power play for Gwozdecky. Now I just need to hope that I was also wrong about ME being too timid to go after him. Doesn't look good, though, if that USHR tweet about finalists is accurate (former players Corkum and Pellerin, former Walsh assistant and current Yale asst Red Gendron, and Eastern junior star Tremblay)

I've been as critical of the Maine AD as anyone, but that article does a poor job of providing context. The "two months" deadline just refers to fact that the current assistant coach's contract is coming up for renewal. Whichever way Maine goes with the head coach, they have to figure it out before they renew / not renew the rest of the staff. I'm still a believer that Maine's administration can mess this up six ways to Sunday* . . . but taking the full 2 months to determine the interview list won't be one of them. $.02 *the first way would be not to throw everything they can at Gwoz. It's not every year when a coach of his stature becomes available. I'm still annoyed that Maine didn't at least make a run at either Blais or Jackson. To not make a run at Gwoz would be inexcusable. If you can find $195k to pay Whitehead, you can stretch into the $200s for Gwoz. Show the guy an oceanfront house within commuting distance. Maine isn't OSU, but this isn't football. If Maine is committed, they can make a play. Fingers crossed.

It'll be interesting, that's sure. If your salary is determined by your best *other* offer, Gwoz must be smiling. Better to be interviewing for two jobs than just for one. Re Hrkac, never seen anything like the circus (crkac?) , either

Yep. Gwoz to OSU. Corkum to re/Maine. The silly thing is Maine could have (and should have) made a big run at Gwoz. Maine actually had a somewhat respectable second half this season. There was no reason to fire Whitehead in April that wasn't there last December. If they had done the interim thing 4 months ago, and not dragged their feet, they might have had a shot at the best coaching free agent since Blais and Jackson a few years back. re: Kariya I'm not going to get into any "greatest" talk. Too many different definitions of great. I'll just say I've never seen anything else like it: Joins the team at 17, scores 100 points as a freshman. That was a different time, granted, but 100 points is just stupid-good for a normal age freshman.

Well, he *did* have Paul Kariya at LW. The guy who has the inside track for the Maine job is actually already in Orono -- former Blackbear (and Devil and Duck) Bob Corkum. Hiring him would be the path of least resistance, and the university administration seems to be all about the path of least resistance. There's history with Cronin, yes, but it isn't all good history. I'm not sure anyone seriously wants to hire him. I'm also not sure he'd even be interested. Scott Pellerin seems to be happy coaching the AHL. Gwoz (my choice) is a total wildcard. Eric Weinrich played for ages in the NHL, but he met with the AD as an informal consultant leading up to Whitehead getting fired, which suggests to me that he wasn't interested in the job personally, but was willing to provide references. The other Maine player with ties to the "glory days" who played a ton of games in the NHL is Keith Carney. I don't think he has any coaching experience at all. So he's out. Maybe someone will show up out of left field and interview. Unless something like that happens, I'd put the odds at: Corkum (85%), Gwoz (10%), and the field at 5%