TBN: Sabres assistant coach possibilities from Rolston's past include Housley/Blashill

[joshjull]

http://blogs.buffalonews.com/sabres...m-rolstons-past-include-housley-blashill.html

Chadd Cassidy, who has been Rolston's assistant since 2006, is expected to get one of the jobs.

Housley would have immediate name appeal for Buffalonians, who watched him play for the Sabres. Housley is an assistant coach for the U.S. team at the world championships, so any announcement wouldn't come until that was over.

Blashill is in his first season as head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins, the AHL team for Detroit. Blashill spent one season on the Red Wings' bench before heading to Grand Rapids. The Griffins are in the playoffs, so like Housley any announcement wouldn't come until the season was complete.

The only two who seem ready for the NHL are Housley and Blashill.

There are several assistants listed by year and the team they were on the coaching staff with Rolston. Vogl has a bit of info on each. I just pulled out the two Vogl said seemed NHL ready.

Click to read more...

 

[1972]

Phil Housley and Blashill wouls be fine with me

 

[NotABadPeriod]

I really like the idea of getting Housley into the organization. Young, promising coach...that way in a few years when he is ready, Sabres will have the best chance of getting him as a head coach. I'd personally put him in Rochester, but NHL assistant isn't bad either.

 

[Woodhouse]

Are guys you work a tournament with really "your guys" though?

***

Vogl's a bit behind sarcasm, though it seems I excluded Rolston's WJC staffs (incl. Housley and Blashill) .. from 5/8 in the Rolston hiring thread:

Rolston played juniors in the NAHL with the St. Clair Shore Falcons. Jeff Jackson was his head coach in 1984-85, with Chris Luongo among his teammates. Jackson is currently the head coach at Notre Dame, while Luongo was the head coach at UAH from 2010-12.

Rolston continued playing collegiately at Michigan Tech, where Mel Pearson was an assistant and Randy McKay, Jamie Russell and Davis Payne were among his teammates. Currently: Pearson is the head coach at Michigan Tech; McKay a former volunteer assistant at Michigan Tech; Russell an assistant at Providence College and former head coach at Michigan Tech; and Payne an assistant with the LA Kings and former head coach with St. Louis and Peoria-AHL.

Rolston was hired by his former coach Jeff Jackson as an assistant at LSSU in 1990-91. Jim Roque and Paul Pooley were also assistants in Rolston's three-season tenure and among the players coached were Jim Dowd, Doug Weight, Doug Laprade, Brian Rolston, Bates Battaglia and John Grahame. Currently: Roque is the head coach at LSSU; Pooley an associate at Notre Dame and former head coach at Providence College; Dowd retired; Weight an assistant with the NYI; Laprade an assistant at LSSU; B.Rolston retired; Battaglia retired (and Amazing Race winner); and Grahame retired.

Rolston next joined the staff at Clarkson as an assistant in 1996-97, reuniting with Jim Roque. Mark Morris was the head coach in Rolston's three-season tenure and among the players coached were Todd White, Jean-Francois Houle, Chris Clark, Philippe Roy, Chris Bernard, Erik Cole, Willie Mitchell and Kent Huskins. Currently: Morris is the head coach of Manchester-AHL; White retired; Houle a head coach with Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL); Clark a development coach with Columbus; Roy an assistant at Clarkson; Bernard a head coach at SUNY-Potsdam; Cole active; Mitchell active; and Huskins active.

Rolston then joined the staff at Harvard as an assistant in 1999-00. During his three-season tenure, Mark Mazzoleni was the head coach and Nathan Leaman an assistant, while among the players coached were Dominic Moore. Currently: Mazzoleni is an assistant at St. Norbert College and former head coach at Green Bay (USHL); Leaman a head coach at Providence College and former head coach at Union; and Moore active.

Rolston next joined BC as an assistant in 2002-03. During his two-season tenure, Jerry York was the head coach and Jimmy Logue and Mike Cavanaugh assistants, while among the players coached were Andrew Alberts, Patrick Eaves, Stephen Gionta, Peter Harrold, Ben Lovejoy and Brian Boyle. Currently: York is the head coach at BC; Logue an assistant at BC; Cavanaugh an assistant at BC, but soon to be UConn head coach; Alberts active; Eaves active; Gionta active; Harrold active; Lovejoy active; and Boyle active.

Rolston then joined the USNTDP program as a head coach, alternating between the U18 and U17 teams over seven seasons. Among the assistants were Nate Leaman, John Lilley, Chadd Cassidy, Patrick Foley, Joe Exter and Matt Greason. Rolston also assistant-coached at the WC with Scott Gordon, Todd Richards and Joe Sacco one year. Currently: Leaman, as previously noted, is head coach at PC; Lilley a scout with Toronto; Cassidy an interim head coach with Rochester-AHL; Foley an assistant at Northeastern; Exter an assistant at Ohio State; Greason a head coach at Trinity College; Gordon an assistant with Toronto; Richards a head coach with Columbus; and Sacco a former head coach with Colorado. Also, some of the notable players coached were mentioned in this NHL.com article from his interim hiring:

His first season with the USNTDP was 2004-05, and he capped it by guiding the U-18 team to a gold medal at the World Under-18 Championship. The three leading scorers on that team were Kessel, Gerbe and Florida Panthers forward Peter Mueller. In all six players from that U-18 team were picked in the first round of an NHL Draft -- forwards Kessel, Mueller and Jack Skille, and defensemen Jack Johnson, Erik Johnson and Mark Mitera.

Rolston worked the following season with the USNTDP U-17 team, and when that group graduated to the U-18 level, he went with them. Emerging from that group were nine players who went on to be first-round NHL picks, among them Toronto forward James van Riemsdyk, Nashville Predators forward Colin Wilson and St. Louis Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk.

The following season he inherited a new group of players, and after a season of grooming them with the U-17 team, he helped them emerge as a championship group at the U-18 level, taking home the gold medal at the 2009 World Under-18 Championship.

That wasn't the only gold medal that group won. Just nine months later, seven members from Rolston's U-18 champions -- forwards Jerry D'Amigo, Jeremy Morin, Ryan Bourque and Jason Zucker; defensemen Cam Fowler and John Ramage; and goaltender Jack Campbell -- won the United States' second-ever gold medal at the 2010 World Junior Championship.

Rolston had one more golden run in him, leading the U.S. to another gold medal, at the 2011 World U-18s. Much like the previous group he led to U-18 gold, the 2011 group wasn't satisfied with winning only one medal. Just last month, 10 players from that U-18 championship team -- forwards J.T. Miller, Rocco Grimaldi, Tyler Biggs, Blake Pietila and Cole Bardreau; defensemen Seth Jones, Jacob Trouba, Connor Murphy and Jake McCabe; and goaltender John Gibson -- captured the gold medal at the 2013 World Junior Championship.

* Followed by the obvious Rochester, interim Buffalo and permanent Buffalo head coach jobs.
** Included active players in addition to those in coaching for possible UFA/trade consideration.

 

[Jame]

Housley can teach Myers how to be a 1 dimensional offensive defensemen

 

[boots electric]

Housley can teach Myers how to be a 1 dimensional offensive defensemen

If you're gonna be a trainwreck in your zone, you might as well score 50 points in the process

 

[joshjull]

If you're gonna be a trainwreck in your zone, you might as well score 50 points in the process

Mike Green approves this message.

 

[Chainshot]

If Housley had been a creampuff regular season player with nearly no playoff pedigree and never played in Buffalo, I doubt he'd even be in the conversation. But since he is, and now has had some coaching experience, he's being mentioned in the local fishwrap as a possibility. Heh.

Stay outside the organization Ron! Don't cave in to the cult of mediocrity that guys like Housley represented when he was a player here.

 

[joshjull]

If Housley had been a creampuff regular season player with nearly no playoff pedigree and never played in Buffalo, I doubt he'd even be in the conversation. But since he is, and now has had some coaching experience, he's being mentioned in the local fishwrap as a possibility. Heh.

Stay outside the organization Ron! Don't cave in to the cult of mediocrity that guys like Housley represented when he was a player here.

Shouldn't his coaching credentials be the relevant factor here? I don't really care one way or another if he is brought in. But its seems a bit silly to dismiss him out of hand because of hang ups over him as a player. I lived through those ****** years in the 80s so I know where your coming from. Phyllis drove me crazy many times.

 

[Chainshot]

Shouldn't his coaching credentials be the relevant factor here? I don't really care one way or another if he is brought in. But its seems a bit silly to dismiss him out of hand because of hang ups over him as a player. I lived through those ****** years in the 80s so I know where your coming from. Phyllis drove me crazy many times.

I think there are comparable coaches out there who should be in line before Phil and the only reason he's in the conversation are those ties to the team.

 

[joshjull]

I think there are comparable coaches out there who should be in line before Phil and the only reason he's in the conversation are those ties to the team.

I would argue his connection to Rolston is why he is mentioned in this article since thats the premise of the article. Though I agree generally that some in the local media may bring him up or think of him as an option due to his connection to the team.

 

[CaptPantalones]

With Teppo staying and Cassidy likely coming up, I see no need for housley

 

[SabresFan26]

He is bringing his brother in as an assistant

 

[Rhett4]

He is bringing his brother in as an assistant

That would be ridiculous. I don't care if his brother was a smart NHL player. That would be nepotism to the extreme.

 

[Sabre Dance]

Housley can teach Myers how to be a 1 dimensional offensive defensemen

Where does one draw the line between player and coach? I dont really think how you play the game has anything to do with how you coach it.

 

[Sabre Dance]

With Teppo staying and Cassidy likely coming up, I see no need for housley

Maybe we will double the coaching staff. Heck, every player gets their own coach.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

If Housley had been a creampuff regular season player with nearly no playoff pedigree and never played in Buffalo, I doubt he'd even be in the conversation. But since he is, and now has had some coaching experience, he's being mentioned in the local fishwrap as a possibility. Heh.

Stay outside the organization Ron! Don't cave in to the cult of mediocrity that guys like Housley represented when he was a player here.

Isn't a guy like Housley the exact kind of coach you want for the youngsters and special teams.

 

[missingmika]

Im pegging former Sabre great Dane Jackson.

 

[SundherDome]

I wonder how much money terry could throw at nick lidstrom to become an assistant?

 

[Jeremy2020]

If there's one place you could use money to your advantage, it's here.

 

[SabresBillsBuffalo]

Housely and Blashill would be awesome...

 

[Jim Bob]

That would be ridiculous. I don't care if his brother was a smart NHL player. That would be nepotism to the extreme.

I would prefer that Brian get a role similar to what Chris Taylor started with in Rochester.

Add him to the staff to help work with the forwards on skill development. But, putting him on the bench as one of the main assistants immediately upon retiring isn't something that would sit well with me.

I don't think adding him in that role would be out of line. He was a smart player with a long career that played for some great coaches. If he wants to get into coaching, that is a perfectly legit first step.

 

[boots electric]

Given that no appointments have been made yet, is it crazy to think Vogl's assessment on one or both of Housley and Blashill was on the money? They're both still playing in their teams' respective tournaments

 

[Bearbait]

Housley still has a daughter in school, just finishing up elementary school, Karin (his wife) has a very successful real estate business (he doesn't need to work) and Housley has mentioned numerous times that he want's to be home with his family after his 21 years on the road. He is committed to USA hockey and it seems like thats where his passion is. So the point is, why would he want to move back to Buffalo?

If the Sabres want an experienced coach with name recognition, why aren't they going after Mike Ramsey? He has experience from his days with the Wild and quite frankly, his no nonsense style of playing defense would go a long way if he could teach that to a few of the Sabres young defensemen. That makes more sense than bringing in an offense minded defensemen in Housley.

Of course, Ramsey's son still has a year left at Minnetonka High School and is committed to U of Minn., so prying him away from his family in Minnesota might not be possible either.....

 

[CaptPantalones]

Housley still has a daughter in school, just finishing up elementary school, Karin (his wife) has a very successful real estate business (he doesn't need to work) and Housley has mentioned numerous times that he want's to be home with his family after his 21 years on the road. He is committed to USA hockey and it seems like thats where his passion is. So the point is, why would he want to move back to Buffalo?

If the Sabres want an experienced coach with name recognition, why aren't they going after Mike Ramsey? He has experience from his days with the Wild and quite frankly, his no nonsense style of playing defense would go a long way if he could teach that to a few of the Sabres young defensemen. That makes more sense than bringing in an offense minded defensemen in Housley.
Of course, Ramsey's son still has a year left at Minnetonka High School and ing is committed to U of Minn., so prying him away from his family in Minnesota might not be possible either.....

Ramsey left Buffalo the 1st time to be closer to home and run his sporting goods business