After nearly two months of searching, the Lethbridge Hurricanes have their man.
The team's Board of Directors today announced at a press conference that Rich Preston, a former Assistant Coach with the NHL's Calgary Flames is the now the man in charge of the hockey club after signing a 5-year deal. Preston will be taking on both roles as General Manager and Head Coach.
Here are links to the Press Conference I attended on Tuesday afternoon. First is the new G.M. Rich Preston and then some comments from Canes' President Bryan McNaughton.
Rich Preston
http://www.box.net/shared/3u1dhfzt5u
Bryan McNaughton
http://www.box.net/shared/7aq5ti583n
Canes' Select Finnish Goalie in Import Draft
This morning, Canes newly appointed GM and Head Coach Rich Preston announced that Lethbridge selected Finnish goaltender Ville Kolppanen with their first round pick (32nd overall) in the 2009 CHL Import Draft. The 6’1” 195 pound Finn is a 92-born goaltender who hails from Tampere, Finland; the same city as Hurricanes “Finnish Phenom” Juha Metsola.
“Ville comes highly recommended from several sources and he has the size, skill and potential to be a very good goaltender in this league” said Preston “All of the scouting reports we have on him say he plays more of a North American style, so he should be able to adapt very quickly to the WHL game. We see him adding depth at the position for us and being a part of our program for several years.”
My Thoughts:
It's great this is finally done with. The team can now move forward with Preston running the show and start building this team for the upcoming season. As I said yesterday on here, Preston has a lot of work to do in a very short period of time. He needs to find a new scout, Assistant G.M., get to know the players, the list of draft picks, familiarize himself with the WHL again, and maybe make a few deals all in short order. The most important thing now I think, is this is done. The search is over and now it's time to start talking hockey again and getting ready for training camp. I know Hurricanes fans have said their piece over the course of the past two months, since Roy Stasiuk and Michael Dyck were let go. Now the focus changes and the Rich Preston era begins.
Thanks,
Pat
The views expressed on this blog are those of the moderator and contributors and are not endorsed by 94.1 CJOC or the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
A 5 YEAR DEAL!!! Sorry didn’t mean to yell. Seriously, thanks a lot board for handcuffing this team again, and topping all past efforts. There was a reason he was let go in Calgary and offered a token job. He was in charge of the power play and with all the talent they tanked. I gotta think Brent Sutter is laughing his but off waiting for the Rebels to play us. Giving an unproven guy a deal of this length this for 2 positions is ridiculous. How do we know he will be able to do both jobs for 1 year let alone 5. Not even the best want to do both roles for a long period of time eg: Darryl Sutter. Kudos to Preston for cashing 2 cheques. He should be in the marketing department not behind the bench. Does the board have any sense of fiscal responsibility? Is it in the Canes constition that we must have at least 1 former employee on payroll at all times. A concerned owner would not put his organization in a position like this ever. Nice to see you don't have to have money to buy a hockey team. This is getting stupid, as I have said before I am a Bengals fan and this is even more embarrassing than I can deal with. An all out fan revolt is not too far away. I challenge the board to step out on the ice and drop the puck before the home opener to see how the real owners of this team feel. Hopefully the canes come out with a mask in the fan shop. Please if this move makes sense to anybody else let me know because I am having a hard time figuring out the logic behind putting all your eggs into 1 basket for the next 5 years. One thing is for sure, there will be no feeling out period. If he is good enough to get a 5 year deal cashing 2 paychecks he better win now. Otherwise why make this deal.
ReplyDeleteSku
dear sku..why dont you give the man a chance to prove what he can do before you come on here and shoot your mouth off. he is a very smart hockey man that has managed to stay coaching in the nhl for many years now..something im sure you know little about....ps he not even here yet and you are up his rear,that the part i find stupid.
ReplyDeleteFinally we can move forward, but now he will have to surround himself with new personnel and get the players to play. Its a new season and sell those season tickets
ReplyDeleteHe has a good background and Did well with Regina, give him a chance , now lets get rid of the Board and cut it down to people with a knoledge of what is good for hockey as well as the community.
ReplyDeleteSku here. I did not have a problem with the hire. Just the fact he got a 5 year deal cashing 2 paychecks. That is a huge commitement to make. Giving somebody a chance means a 1 or 2 year deal to proove themself. When he shows he can pull off both jobs then sign him to an extension.
ReplyDeleteI guess there was no other way to convince him to move here. He had to have both positions for it to make financial sense for Rich and his family. I just feel the Canes board gave him a deal that was too good to refuse. Good for him, bad for the canes flexibility moving foreword. Remember Vic had a great pedegree coming into the job. That in itself does not warrant a long term commitement. I support the hire just not the terms. We are really rolling the dice on this one. What motivation does he have when he is guaranteed a large sum of money right off the bat. I think he is the right hire but I don't think he has the track record to warrant that kind of contract.
Sku: It is a 3 year plus an option for 2 more years. That is pretty much the standard in the industry. You cannot expect Preston to uproot his family and all the intangibles that go along with a move like this without some financial stability as his reward. Also I am certain that having him in the dual role actually saves the team money. He is not getting a full salary for the GM job and a full stipend for the coaching gig. He probably gets about 75% of what the 2 salaries would total if 2 different people were performing the tasks.
ReplyDeleteI sense your frustration with the whole situation but think a bit before you unleash your tirades on the public.
Canesrock
As a longtime fan and I remember that Brian Maxwell cost this team a lot of money in the same situation. I am also not sure about this contract. For some reason I don't trust the board. Hopefully Rich does not get into a court battle.
ReplyDeleteSteveo