Neck guard sales jump after Sask. hockey player slashed by skate
18h ago
More adult players are now investing in the protective equipment.
Phil Housley’s hockey team won 10 straight games this season and his general manager recently said the Buffalo Sabres would not be changing coaches.
Yet Housley was in the parade of fired head coaches following the conclusion of the NHL regular season. All the dumped coaches were with teams that didn’t make the playoffs.
Coaches know the day they’re hired puts them one day closer to the unemployment line. They understand the risks. Win or else. It happens in all pro sports, but hockey coaches seem to have the most tenuous grips on their jobs.
Consider that Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning just passed his sixth year on the job, making him the longest-tenured active coach in the NHL. Paul Maurice, hired by the Winnipeg Jets in January of 2014, is second. Even their jobs aren’t guaranteed into next season.
The NHL playoffs start Wednesday. The Stanley Cup will be awarded in June. And afterwards expect a few more coaches, whose teams underperformed in the playoffs, to join the unemployment line