Checkers III: The Age of Ulf

[Unsustainable]

Hahahaha....I'd always assumed they were in Canada. Guess I should have looked before making a fool of myself.

I do this all the time. Trolling ain't easy.

 

[Joe McGrath]

My wife and I love traveling to Hershey. Glad we can see our affiliates play each other again.

Is it still a dry town? We went there probably 15 years ago and my father was flabergasted when he couldn't get a beer at the game. That was the old arena though where if you two beers you probably would've killed yourself walking down the stairs from the upper deck.

 

[A Star is Burns]

We don't drink, so I've never really paid attention.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

We don't drink

...

the hell is wrong with you

 

[A Star is Burns]

...

the hell is wrong with you

We don't have that much time

 

[NotOpie]

And so it goes....

 

[DaveG]

.... ****.

 

[Brock Anton]

Completely unreasonable take here: I certainly wouldn't be willing to help out CHI with their cap anymore. **** em.

 

[Unsustainable]

Would they have to pay us with a pick?

 

[NotOpie]

Not sure of the natural progression of things, but I thought AHL head coach was more of a natural stepping stone to NHL head coach.

One has to wonder if maybe Roddy would be considered for the Checkers position if the above is true.

 

[MinJaBen]

Not sure of the natural progression of things, but I thought AHL head coach was more of a natural stepping stone to NHL head coach.

One has to wonder if maybe Roddy would be considered for the Checkers position if the above is true.

If that were the case, why not bring Ulf up to the Canes and send Rod down the Checkers?

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

Don't understand why he would've left an NHL job just to coach the checkers for one year if he really wants to be in the NHL.

Guess I should have expected this.

 

[HisIceness]

Well damn.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Not surprising to be honest. If he ever wanted to be an NHL coach, he really needed head coach experience, and his buddy RF him that opportunity in Charlotte. RF isn't going to prevent his buddy from getting another opportunity so he wouldn't stop him from interviewing.

I think his long term goal is a head coach, and getting experience as an assistant, an AHL HC, and an assistant with one of the best teams in the NHL will help him get there. There's no guarantee he gets / takes the job though.

 

[NotOpie]

Not surprising to be honest. If he ever wanted to be an NHL coach, he really needed head coach experience, and his buddy RF him that opportunity in Charlotte. RF isn't going to prevent his buddy from getting another opportunity so he wouldn't stop him from interviewing.

I think his long term goal is a head coach, and getting experience as an assistant, an AHL HC, and an assistant with one of the best teams in the NHL will help him get there. There's no guarantee he gets / takes the job though.

That feels about the size of it, BBA.

 

[raynman]

Not surprising to be honest. If he ever wanted to be an NHL coach, he really needed head coach experience, and his buddy RF him that opportunity in Charlotte. RF isn't going to prevent his buddy from getting another opportunity so he wouldn't stop him from interviewing.

I think his long term goal is a head coach, and getting experience as an assistant, an AHL HC, and an assistant with one of the best teams in the NHL will help him get there. There's no guarantee he gets / takes the job though.

I'm not surprised either considering his friendship with Francis. Isn't that pretty much the same professional progression as Bill Peters too? Except Peters had the HC experience from juniors.

 

[DaveG]

Basically yes. Wouldn't surprise me if Ulf eventually becomes a HC for another analytics heavy org.

 

[Lempo]

AHL games shouldn't count towards the ELC, it'll slide? He was 19 when he signed, a January birthday. CapFriendly says slide-risk.

https://www.capfriendly.com/players/aleksi-saarela

https://www.capfriendly.com/slides

It appears, based on the linked explanation, that because Saarella didn’t turn 20 before the end of the signing year (2016) and didn’t play 10 games NHL games this season, his contract will slide

Saarela ELC Slide confirmed, signed until and including 2019-20.

https://www.capfriendly.com/players/aleksi-saarela

 

[Vagrant]

I feel like this shows us how entrenched BP is with the Hurricanes and Francis. It would have been very easy to sell the fans on Ulf as a replacement for BP should he be dismissed, but it doesn't look like that's going to be happening any time soon. Perhaps Francis conveyed that to Ulf. Good for him. Hopefully the stop as an assistant will allow him to learn how to fill out a lineup card.

 

[geehaad]

Hopefully the stop as an assistant will allow him to learn how to fill out a lineup card.

 

[RodTheBawd]

I feel like this shows us how entrenched BP is with the Hurricanes and Francis. It would have been very easy to sell the fans on Ulf as a replacement for BP should he be dismissed, but it doesn't look like that's going to be happening any time soon. Perhaps Francis conveyed that to Ulf. Good for him. Hopefully the stop as an assistant will allow him to learn how to fill out a lineup card.

I was thinking along the same lines. If Ulf was looking to be a successor somewhere, sounds like CAR is a long ways off. Not to say that Q is on his way out anytime soon, but it might give him more options than sticking around in Charlotte.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

While it's possible, I'm not sure I'd read too much into the "successor to Bill Peters angle". While occasionally teams groom their AHL coach for the NHL, most of the time teams don't hire from within. If Ulf is a Chicago assistant 2 years from now and the Canes move on from Peters, he could still be the front runner. The same way the Canes hired Muller and Peters, they can still hire Ulf at that time. Yeah, I get that the Hawks could "deny" that opportunity, but teams usually don't do that for a head coach job, particularly if the Canes gave permission to the Hawks to interview/hire him.

If Ulf wants to be a head coach, a lot of it is about building up your resume and expanding your network. While only 1 year as an AHL HC seems a bit short, this looks more to me like that, building up the resume.

 

[Vagrant]

While it's possible, I'm not sure I'd read too much into the "successor to Bill Peters angle". While occasionally teams groom their AHL coach for the NHL, most of the time teams don't hire from within. If Ulf is a Chicago assistant 2 years from now and the Canes move on from Peters, he could still be the front runner. The same way the Canes hired Muller and Peters, they can still hire Ulf at that time. Yeah, I get that the Hawks could "deny" that opportunity, but teams usually don't do that for a head coach job, particularly if the Canes gave permission to the Hawks to interview/hire him.

If Ulf wants to be a head coach, a lot of it is about building up your resume and expanding your network. While only 1 year as an AHL HC seems a bit short, this looks more to me like that, building up the resume.

It's true that it's unconventional, but when you consider Francis' relationship with Ulf it doesn't seem as far fetched to me. It's a somewhat unique circumstance. When the guy who was a groomsman at your wedding is coaching your AHL affiliate, it seems awfully implied that your resume is going to the top of the pile. I don't think Ulf was hired with that express purpose in mind from either parties, but it's certainly incentive to stick around if the NHL coach isn't on stable footing. We've done more nepotistic things.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

It's true that it's unconventional, but when you consider Francis' relationship with Ulf it doesn't seem as far fetched to me. It's a somewhat unique circumstance. When the guy who was a groomsman at your wedding is coaching your AHL affiliate, it seems awfully implied that your resume is going to the top of the pile. I don't think Ulf was hired with that express purpose in mind from either parties, but it's certainly incentive to stick around if the NHL coach isn't on stable footing. We've done more nepotistic things.

Yeah, that makes sense.

When Ulf came here though, it was pretty clear Peters was entrenched already, at least for the foreseeable future. I think personally think this was more about Ulf needed head coaching experience and his best friend giving him that shot last year. When Peters moves on, and if Ulf is not yet an NHL head coach, I bet his resume still floats to the top of the pile, even if he's not in the Canes organization at the time.

Unless RF/BP are throwing Brindy or Smith out, there was no opportunity in Carolina to get back to the the NHL if that's what Ulf wants right now. Of course, this could just be Ulf being courteous and accepting the interview without any intention of taking the job too.

 

[RodTheBawd]

All good points. I hope he takes it and we can ship Rod off to Charlotte.