Yesterday in the history of hockey: July 14
Tomorrow in the history of hockey: July 16
July 15 is an important date for head coach changes in the history of the National Hockey League. Two very successful coaches made the decision on this date, one unexpectedly quit and the other started a decade of success. Now is all the highest moments for revisiting this date every day as we travel for decades.
Keenan walks away
On July 15, 1994, Mike Keenan resigned as head coach of the New York Rangers. The surprising move comes 31 days after he led them to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years.
Keenan coached for only one season for the Rangers before resigning. It’s no secret that he and general manager Neil Smith can’t get along. He held his own press conference in Toronto to announce his decision on the grounds that the breach of the contract was his reason, although he never elaborated on what that was.
Two days later, Keenan was hired as head coach and general manager of St. Louis Bruce. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman asked Blues to send Esa Tikkanen and Defenseman Doug Lidster to rangers for forward Petr Nedved to continue to get Keenan’s employment.
Babcock comes to Auto City
The Detroit Red Wings hired Mike Babcock on July 15, 2005 to make a huge coaching change. He replaced Dave Lewis, who won the Central Division title in each of the past two seasons. However, his failure to surpass the second round of the playoffs ultimately cost his job. One of Lewis’ playoff exports included the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the 2003 game.
Babcock brought the Ducks until Game 7 of the 2003 Stanley Cup final. After the NHL locked sales, which had settled in the 2004-05 season, he refused to return to the Ducks. The red wings slammed over and brought Babcock in.
Under Babcock, Red Wings enjoyed 10 successful seasons with a record of 458-223-105. They qualified the playoffs in all 10 seasons and won the Presidential Trophy with the highest score in the league twice. In his third season, the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup. They returned to the finals of the second spring but failed in their match against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Babcock’s 458 wins were the biggest in franchise history, ahead of legendary coaches such as Jack Adams, Scotty Bowman and Sid Abel.
Other coaching moves
Eddie Johnston became the seventh head coach in Penguin history on July 15, 1980, replacing John Wilson. This is the first of two incumbents he served as head coach in Pittsburgh. He qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs in each of the first two seasons, and then won the game after just 18 wins in 1982-83. Ten years later, he returned in 1993 and took over Bowman, who left Detroit.
On July 15, 1997, Marc Crawford was appointed head coach of the 1998 Canadian Olympic team, playing in Nagano, Japan. Crawford led the Colorado Avalanche to the 1996 Stanley Cup championship. Canada’s end of the game was disappointing after the unbeaten group stage with no medals. They lost to Jepi in the semifinals and then put the bronze medal match to Finland.
Odd number and ending
On July 15, 1980, the Boston Bruins and Red Wings exchanged veteran goalkeepers. Gilles Gilbert went to Detroit from Boston in exchange for a two-time Stanley Cup title and a future Hockey Hall of Fame Rogie Vachon. Both networks are at the end of their careers and are mainly backups after this deal. Gilbert won 21 games in three seasons with the Red Wings, while Vachon played for two seasons with the Bruins, winning 30 games.
On July 15, 1998, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed veteran free agent goalkeeper Curtis Joseph. He had a very successful four-season game in Toronto. Joseph won 35 games in his first season and then won 36 games in the 1999-00 season. He helped lead the team to the 2002 Eastern Conference finals. But, that summer, the Maple Leafs signed Ed Belfour, so Joseph moved to the Red Wings.
Phoenix Wolf appointed Teppo Numminen as the new team captain on July 15, 2001. He is 12 years oldTh Players wear “C” on his sweater throughout the franchise history. He took over Keith Tkachuk, who was traded to Blues in the 2000-01 season. Numminen was the captain of the Coyotes for two seasons until he was traded to the Dallas Stars in the summer of 2003.
Bettman held a press conference at Fenway Park on July 15, 2009. He announced that the Bruins will hold the Philadelphia flyer for the 2010 NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Day next year. This is the third part of the Winter Classic, the second year of playing on the Legendary Baseball Field. The Chicago Blackhawks and Wrigley Stadium hosted the 2009 edition. The Bruins won the game thanks to Marco Sturm’s overtime goal.
Happy birthday to you
This date has been born a talented group with 22 current and former NHL players. The most famous birthday boys on July 15 are Rick Kehoe (74), Barry Melrose (69), Steve Thomas (62), Eric Lacroix, Eric Lacroix (54), Jonathan Cheechoo (45), Adam Cracknell, Tyler Kennedy, Tyler Kennedy (39), Zach Bogosian (Zach Bogosian) Litzenberger.
*Originally built by Greg Boysen
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