The Dallas Stars are having a really tough time finding a head coach. A week after Dallas Eakins turned down sunny Dallas to coach in not sunny Edmonton, Alain Vigneault appears to have turned down Big D for the Big Apple.
According to Larry Broks of the NY Post:
Vigneault, who brought the Canucks within one victory of the Stanley Cup in 2011, is believed to have met with Garden owner Jim Dolan yesterday, even as Mark Messierconfirmed his candidacy to succeed John Tortorella behind the Blueshirts’ bench.
The Blueshirts had not yet presented an offer to Vigneault, who impressed president/general manager Glen Sather in their meeting on Tuesday at La Quinta, Calif., as The Post reported.
But a contract proposal is expected to be forthcoming, what with Vigneault last night withdrawing his candidacy to coach the Stars, who had been keenly interested in hiring him.
Vigneault has spent the last seven seasons behind the bench in hockey mad Vancouver so he should be accustomed to coaching on a perpetual hot-seat. He brought the Canucks to the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals — losing in seven games to the Boston Bruins. Prior to that he coached the Montreal Canadiens from 1997-2001. The Rangers fired John Tortorella last month after the Rangers bowed out of the playoffs in the second round. Tortorella is rumored to be one of the frontrunners for the Canucks’ vacancy.
The Rangers vacancy was one of the more interesting coaching openings in the league. It was reported that the Blueshirts had some gave some thought to hiring Mark Messier or Wayne Gretzky to coach.
