Mike Keenan is blacklisted from the NHL?

[DeYarmond Edison]

Watch the movie Whiplash. He's basically JK Simmons character. Which is crazy because there isn't a music educator in the existence of time who would act like that.

What a fantastic movie that was. Good reference.

 

[Tekneek]

Something must be working alright over in the KHL, though. Is his style more acceptable over there? He has some North Americans on his roster and they produce too. He would be foolish to leave that situation and come back to the NHL.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

I know he's coaching right now in Russia but isn't he basically blacklisted from the NHL? There is never any mention that an NHL team is interested in having him coach again. Essentially he's been run out of the league. Does anyone else find that a little strange?

Just from my perspective, Keenan ran himself out the league. Are you also outraged that no one will give Barry Melrose or Mike Milbury a job?

How about starting a petition to get Val Kilmer and Nicolas Cage leading roles in blockbuster movies again!

 

[Strat]

What a fantastic movie that was. Good reference.

Terrible movie. Trite to the nth degree. And super boring. It was beautifully shot and edited, though.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Yeah, ok. The problem is that the players of today are generally spoiled mental midgets who can't handle the heat of a true bad ass like Mike.

Russia is perfect for him because Russians don't act like spoiled babies.

That's nice to see him enjoying success at the minor league level.

 

[Tekneek]

That's nice to see him enjoying success at the minor league level.

KHL is minor league? Minor league perhaps in the sense that the WHA was.

 

[Vordus]

You all miss the possibility that maybe, just maybe he's not the crazy guy anymore. At least there wasn't a single precendent in the KHL that would remind of the old "Iron Mike". That doesn't mean he needs to be hired by some NHL team ASAP, but one have to find it amazing how reputation solidifies over time. Maybe he's just not the man he was 20 years ago.

Agreed. The Iron Mike reputation is overblown these days.

I had a chance to talk to Rene Borque at work a few years ago and we asked him about Mike Keenan and if he was as much of a hardass "Iron Mike" type coach as he was made out to be and he said not at all! He essentially said Keenan was one of the softest and most easy going coaches he's ever played for.

Whether he is strategically good enough to coach in the NHL today is a different story.

 

[Kshahdoo]

He's too old for the NHL anyway.

 

[Hyack57]

Are you asking a question or making a statement you cannot believe is true? Poorly worded thread title imo.

 

[Arthur*]

Very Good hockey coach, Very Bad at dealing with people. Constantly fought with his GM everywhere he went, ran his players into the ground whether they were Brett Hull or an AHL calllup, pretty much slashed and burned several franchises. All in all, I think NHL execs realized that it's not worth it in the long run to hand over the reigns to him, even if he's a better tactical coach and motivator in the short term than other candidates.

 

[Devourers]

Nobody's interested in him because he's a bad coach. Period

He had some success with stacked teams but more often than not he was overly harsh to his players and drove many of them off of teams or out of the league.

I remember people saying similar things about Bob Hartley a while back. A guy can still make a come back and like it or not a lot of managers seem to go with experience over the younger potentially better coaches.

A lot of coaches currently employed in the NHL right now are of the "had some success with stacked teams" label but have proven they can do well without it.

With Keenan though, I think you may be right. His reputation is pretty well torched, just strange to see he isn't even an assistant in the NHL.

 

[frivolousz21]

My dad's got a conspiracy theory that he was sent in by the league to purposefully dismantle the '94 Canucks team, because apparently that's the only thing that could reasonably justify what he did to that core.

He almost sunk the blues franchise.

But he did trade for Pavol Demitra before he was fired.

 

[SiflOlly]

He did the best he could at running the Blues almost completely into the ground. He has trashed several teams, but I don't know if he did as much damage to any one team more than the Blues.

 

[ODAAT]

I know he's coaching right now in Russia but isn't he basically blacklisted from the NHL? There is never any mention that an NHL team is interested in having him coach again. Essentially he's been run out of the league. Does anyone else find that a little strange?

not strange at all, a coach who believes his way is the only way..............just like Torts and his circus like act

 

[HFBS]

Blacklisting means he's deserving but there's an organized effort to keep him out. That's not the case. Teams just don't want him. Calling it a blacklist is like saying that blind people are being deliberately kept out of the NHL.

 

[Fantomas]

I would like to see an HBO show with Keenan as the main character.

 

[Fantomas]

Very Good hockey coach, Very Bad at dealing with people.

A lot of people here who have never met Keenan talking about their a$$.

 

[Fantomas]

just strange to see he isn't even an assistant in the NHL.

It's not strange. He would probably not accept this kind of job, and is probably being paid well in Russia.

 

[LeafsNation75]

When looking back at Keenan's previous coaching experience in the NHL he has been with the following teams.

Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers & Calgary Flames.

Personally I'm surprised he coached at least 8 teams because after a while you would think someone would have said why does he keep getting fired?

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

As others have said, he's not blacklisted. There's just not anyone dumb enough to hire him anymore.

Tortorella should've been paying more attention to Keenan's career path. He might still have a job.

 

[Stats01]

I know he's coaching right now in Russia but isn't he basically blacklisted from the NHL? There is never any mention that an NHL team is interested in having him coach again. Essentially he's been run out of the league. Does anyone else find that a little strange?

the guy has had a ton of coaching jobs, like he's been used and re-used more than a recycling bin. How many jobs does he need to have before teams realize what he's all about. He's coaching in Russia because he's done in the NHL. IMO the game passed him by a long time ago.

 

[Knave]

He's a coach that wears out his welcome, gets fired.

In a league where GMs are looking for the next Babcock.... Keenan is just too oldschool and his best before date with a team is too short for anyone to hire him.

 

[CrashBartley]

He did the best he could at running the Blues almost completely into the ground. He has trashed several teams, but I don't know if he did as much damage to any one team more than the Blues.

I'd say he did as much if not more to the Canucks. Just check what he did to Bure, Ojdick or Linden.
But combined with the Panthers, he was pretty consistent between the 3.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

Blacklisting means he's deserving but there's an organized effort to keep him out. That's not the case. Teams just don't want him. Calling it a blacklist is like saying that blind people are being deliberately kept out of the NHL.

I believe that's called blindlisting and it's highly illegal

 

[Swervin81]

I believe that's called blindlisting and it's highly illegal

Yeah, Bryan Berard got through the blindlist