Well, this is much more inspired.
The NHL is a bit like a 5-year-old that refuses to eat blue cake because he's never eaten blue cake before and he's afraid that all the other kids will look at him funny if he eats the blue cake ('cause everyone else has yellow cake).
Caveat: Hartsburg may be a great choice. DeBoer may have been a bad choice. My contention is with the predictability and conservatism of hockey people.
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From the media reports I have read, it sounds like it was DeBoer's job for the taking. He demanded a four year contract, though, and the Senators got the sense that he was probably negotiating with another offer in his pocket. (Most likely from LA.) Given that priority one was to land someone grateful and obedient, they went to Hartsburg. I think Hartsburg is a safer choice than DeBoer, given his age and NHL experience, but it still annoys me that Bryan Murray's ego and insecurities are such that he wouldn't bring in a guy like Quinn or Pat Burns.
I'd be remiss if I didn't point people toward my own paper's story.
Hartsburg seems like a decent choice. He's been fired twice from a top job in the NHL, so that means he's a proven coach.
I'd hazard a guess that Peter DeBoer will be fine in San Jose or L.A.
San Jose now has their man in Todd McLellan, and apparently Atlanta is zeroing in on John Anderson of the Chicago Wolves. That leaves LA and Florida as the final two chairs in the game.
If working with young players is the key in LA, then DeBoer would be a good fit. I'm just not sure he was a good fit for a more veteran club like Ottawa where the core players are in their prime, and the goal is to win NOW.
DeBoer has taken the Panthers job. It's fairly clear that he was negotiating with the Senators with a standing offer from Florida already in hand. Why else would he have pressed his case so aggressively with Murray and Melnyk? If they wouldn't meet his terms, Florida would.
Peter the Cheater played 'em like a bass fiddle.
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