The first round of the NHL playoffs never fails to entertain and surprise.
Every night so far has been terrific, and Monday was no exception. All four games went to overtime after the trailing team erased a deficit of two goals or more. Three of those trailing teams delivered wins, too—only Boston fell short of completing the comeback.
Now, we've got four teams on the brink of being swept—and three of them finished in the top five in the regular-season standings: Chicago (3rd), Columbus (4th) and Minnesota (5th).
The Blue Jackets could be the first team eliminated, tonight. Minnesota and Calgary get back on the ice on Wednesday and Chicago plays Game 4 in Nashville on Thursday.
I'm still watching with morbid curiosity to see what happens if Chicago loses. Would the Hawks axe Joel Quenneville after two straight first-round losses, or would the NHL's longest-serving coach be spared on the basis of his past successes?
I originally picked the Blackhawks to win that series but now I'm cheering for Nashville, just because I want to see how this plays out. And yes, I'm still entertaining the fantasy that Quenneville will get fired and might actually be willing to join the Canucks' rebuild, like he did when he signed on with the dismal Hawks back in 2008.
Elliotte Friedman fuelled another one of my favourite fantasies yesterday, too!
Despite my fear of the Canucks walking the dark path that the Edmonton Oilers were on for the last decade, Krueger's a bright spot in Edmonton's history in my mind. During his one abbreviated season behind the Oilers bench in 2012-13, he took the team from 29th place and 74 points in 2011-12 under Tom Renney up to 24th place the following year. The Oilers still finished 10 points out of a playoff spot, but it seemed like they were on the right track—until Krueger was abruptly relieved of his duties in favour of Dallas Eakins.
Krueger landed nicely on his feet. He joined the Southampton Football Club in the English Premier League in early 2014. At first, he was a director, but was quickly made team chairman.
The club has been on the upswing since Krueger got involved. After a 41-point season in 2012-13, Southampton earned 56 points in 2013-14, 60 in 2014-15 and 63 in 2015-16. They've slipped back a little bit this year—currently in ninth place in the 20-team standings with 40 points in 31 games. Seven games remain in the regular-season schedule, which runs through late May.
As Elliotte mentioned, Krueger got some positive attention on this side of the pond when he coached the underdog Team Europe to the final of the World Cup of Hockey.
I was pushing the idea of bringing Krueger in when the Canucks were finally ending that awful nine-game losing streak last fall. From my
November 9, 2016 blog:
I'm growing more enamoured with the idea of trying to recruit Ralph Krueger back to the NHL. Krueger currently has a very good job, as chairman of Southampton FC in England, but hockey's in his blood, right? Surely with the right offer he'd consider a chance to come back to the NHL—to avenge how he was fired by the Edmonton Oilers after one lockout-shortened season and to prove that his masterful coaching job with Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey was no fluke??
It might take a little time to put together a pitch that Krueger can't refuse. If he stepped behind the Canucks' bench, I feel like he'd get some better results out of this group of players. He'd also be the symbol of a shift in organizational thinking that could help put some bodies back into the empty seats at Rogers Arena and create some excitement and a positive buzz around the Canucks brand.
If I was ownership, I'd reach out and see if there's a deal to be made.
Elliotte followed up with Krueger today. Here's what he was told:
"For now?" Does that mean that he might consider a change at the end of his season?
One thing we do know—contact has been made, and it sounds like the conversations have been going on for "weeks," much like what we heard last week about the discussions with Victoria Royals coach Dave Lowry.
Over at
The Province, Patrick Johnston goes into a thorough analysis of Krueger's background—and concludes that the Canucks might be looking for Krueger to fill a role on the management side, rather than as a coach.
"It’s been rumoured for some time that the Canucks have been looking to add a third voice to their front office leadership group," Johnston writes.
My thinking was that Krueger would be great in a coaching role, but his background would also set him up nicely for a management position.
The more names we hear bandied about, the more I think we'll have to wait for a little while before the new bench boss is announced. I love the intrigue!
Following up on yesterday's post about the CHL playoffs, I forgot one Canucks prospect whose team is still alive:
Rodrigo Abols, chosen in the seventh round in 2016, is 5-5-10 and a plus-five in 10 games with the high-scoring Acadie-Bathurst Titan. They're playing Game 7 of their second-round series tonight against Blainville-Boisbriand after dropping a 4-1 decision last night.
Dmitry Zhukenov is also facing a Game 7 situation after his Chicoutimi Sagueneens were hammered 9-2 by Rouyn-Noranda on Monday night.
And over the in OHL, it's also Game 7 tonight for Olli Juolevi and the London Knights, in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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