Not sure if mentioned already, but "Iron" Mike Keenan was "Pillowy Soft" Mike Keenan in Calgary. As has been mentioned already, there were no systems. PP wasn't even practiced much (if at all, actually).
A few years after he got canned in Calgary, Keenan finally did a radio interview. In that interview, he stated something like:
"You can no longer be that hard on players in today's NHL. They have multi-million dollar contracts. It is easier to replace the coach than it is to replace the player."
Explains a whole lot, but for anyone hoping to get an "Iron" Mike Keenan, he simply no longer exists.
Also of note, a lot of fans in Calgary joked about Keenan just being "Semi-retired" on the job. Watched lots of practices from the stands (apparently - I was not there). Just little things like that. Warrener in his first day as a radio personality commented on the Phaneuf situation, and how he and Regehr wanted to teach Phaneuf the finer points on the defensive part of being a defencemen. Phaneuf didn't feel like it. Keenan just didn't want to get involved at all. Dion had his big contract, so I guess from his standpoint, nothing he could do about it.
There are a lot of people who think Phaneuf picked up a lot of bad habits since Keenan arrived, and continued to regress under him.
Obviously the league doesn't look at Keenan any longer as a viable option. There isn't much else he can do at this point after his success in the KHL. If he still isn't getting a shot at coaching gigs, I would consider his chances at roughly zero. I think the only way he makes it back into the NHL is as an assistant coach at this point, and makes an impression that way.