Rich Preston New G.M. and Coach of Hurricanes

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

Canes' Call Press Conference for G.M. Announcement

Well, it looks like we'll officially find out Tuesday who the team's new General Manager will be.

The team has called a news conference for Tuesday afternoon at 2 o'clock to make the announcement. Lethbridge Hurricanes Governor Herman Elfring, Lethbridge Hurricanes President Brian McNaughton and 2009 NHL 1st round draft pick Carter Ashton will be on hand.

My sources have told me Rich Preston is indeed the man who will be announced as the new GM. The Board will make that official tomorrow. Preston is a former Assistant coach with the Calgary Flames and also coached the Regina Pats a few years back.

I will have comments and reaction on my blog from the press conference.

Exciting stuff!

Thanks,
Pat

Deadline Day for Hurricanes

Well, today is deadline day for the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

The team's Board of Directors set June 29th as they day to hire a new General Manager. They originally wanted the person in place by the NHL Draft which was this past weekend, but for some reason that deadline was pushed to today.

Right now, the leading candidates are believed to be former NHLers Rich Sutter and Dave Barr, both of whom also played for the Lethbridge Broncos back in the day. But another name might be in the mix. According to Gregg Drinnan from the Kamloops Daily News, Rich Preston's name is coming up. You can read the story on his blog which is listed on the right side.

If I was a betting man, I would say no announcement will be be made today, although it's deadline day. I'm lead to believe an announcement will take place tomorrow afternoon sometime, however I have yet to confirm that with the Hurricanes organization nor have they sent out a news release yet about a press conference for Tuesday.

Looking at this whole thing from the outside, one would have to think whoever gets the GM job, that person would likely become both GM and coach, for at least the first season anyway. Why? Well for a couple reasons I think. Firstly, given the time of year. How many coaches are available now? With Swift Current and Calgary also looking for coaches the pool to choose from likely isn't that big. Second, for the GM to also coach the club would give that person some insight on both the on-ice and the office dealings of the hockey club, which probably isn't that bad of an idea.

Whether it's Sutter or Barr or someone else, the good thing is for fans in Lethbridge is this whole process if coming to an end and the team can now give the reigns to someone else who can begin building this club for the upcoming season. There isn't a whole lot of time mind you. Players begin arriving for camp during the 3rd week of August. The new GM will have a lot of work to do over July and the first part of August: Hire a coach (that is if he doesn't appoint himself), find an assistant to work with Matt Kabayama, hire a new Director of Scouting, find an assistant GM, talk to and get to know the returning players, learn the list of draft picks, etc. It'll be nice to see the focus though return to the hockey-side of things!

Just my thoughts,
Pat