Winnipeg’s new NHL team is this much closer to having a new head coach, but it means that they’re current head coach won’t be making the move. Craig Ramsay will be sticking around in Atlanta when the Mayflower vans move out, as the new owners told him on Monday that he’s out of the running for the new head coaching job in Winnipeg.
Winnipeg NHL Coaching Search Down To Claude Noel, Mike Haviland; Craig Ramsay Out
It’s understandable: presumably, the new ownership wants to put their own guy in charge. It’s common in every business, not just hockey, and it also looks like their guy will be either Chicago Blackhawks assistant Mike Haviland or former Manitoba Moose head coach Claude Noel.
Noel is obviously familiar with Winnipeg and True North Sports, having worked with them for a year as head coach of the Moose. He’s only coached a handful of games in the NHL with Columbus in an interim head position, spending most of his career in the ECHL and AHL. He’s definitely paid his dues, though. Noel has been in coaching since 1990, and he won a Calder Cup in 2004 with Milwaukee.
Haviland got his start in the ECHL, coaching the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies and Trenton Titans each to Kelly Cup championships. He jumped to the AHL and coached in the Chicago system for three seasons before being promoted to the NHL in 2008 as an assistant with the Blackhawks under Joel Quenneville. Obviously, he won a Stanley Cup in 2010 with the Hawks.
For more on the coaching search and Winnipeg’s new NHL team, visit Arctic Ice Hockey.
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