Decided to finally post this hoping a decision finally happens.
From Pennlive May 9th:
“In the wake of Mike Haviland's departure to become head coach at Colorado College, these nine coaches loom as possible candidates to land the head coaching job of the Hershey Bears. Larry Courville, Kevin Dineen, Paul Jerrod, Troy Mann, Mark Morris, Ryan Mougenel, Claude Noel, Mike Strothers, and Eric Veilleuxâ€
From Pennlive May 13th:
“Yingst said he has already received more than 60 applications for Hershey's head coaching job.â€
From Pennlive May 19th relative to Mark Morris as coach candidate:
“The 56-year-old would be happy to follow Boudreau's footsteps in Hershey, which is in the market for a head coach in the wake of Mike Haviland's departure for Colorado College.â€
From Pennlive May 26th:
From the author - “filling the vacant Hershey Bears' head coaching position should be next on the NHL team's organizational "to do" list.â€
Also from May 26th:
"It's our hope we can move more aggressively now in the process of hiring a new Bears coach," Yingst said. "However, there are other coaches who have expressed interest in being the next head coach of the Hershey Bears that can't interview yet because their teams are still playing for league championships."
From Pennlive May 27th:
“some of our development had gone sideways over the last couple of years and we needed to make a big re-commitment to our affiliate in Hershey," Leonsis said at Verizon Center. "I think that was news to us, how we needed to re-bond and make a recommitment to Hershey.â€
From June 17th relative to Troy Mann as coach candidate:
"I've expressed interest [in Hershey]," Mann said. "They know that there's an interest level there."
From Pennlive June 26th:
“We will finalize all our interview processes this week," Yingst said. "And, hopefully, if everything goes according to plan, we'll arrive at a decision by Saturday."
So let’s put this together. Coach quits May 9th. At that point, 9 main candidates. Within a few days Yingst has 60 applicants. Mark Morris wants the job. A month ago, getting a new coach was next on “to do†list. The next day, Washington Caps owner Ted Leonsis acknowledges the relationship with Hershey was neglected. Troy Mann is interested. Last week, Yingst claimed the spot filled by Saturday.
Some read-between-the-lines questions as to the 7 week process. Of the 9 candidates mentioned, some had deservedly applied for the position in the past. Are they not being considered now? What’s the hold up then? If the 60 candidates were so great 5-6 weeks ago, why no decision? If candidates could not be interviewed because of playoffs, why no decision since the playoffs ended? If the Washington owner would make a statement about trying to fix the relationship with Bears, why not help this along? Saturday has passed, less than one week to development camp, what’s the hold up now?
Is someone blowing smoke? Is anyone not? Was the "recommittment to Hershey" simply lip service? Yes, it's been busy with GM and coach hirings, assistant coaches, playoffs, and even the draft but why has this taken such a back seat? As a fan, are my expectations too high to have a coach named to start rallying behind?
Sorry for the vent. I don't know that there were any better choices than Washington as an affliate but Leonsis's remark was just stating the obvious. Not having a coach by now seems to validate where the relationship was and makes it harder to feel comfortable it's headed the right direction. I'm sure this will get shredded but if anyone has anything of substance, please share.
Obviously, not as ideal proximity-wise for fans and more importantly for player movement to/from Hershey, but the organizations have a history and SC has been a good ECHL situation for players.
