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As most of you know, being a transplanted Maritimer, I make it a point to check out the local QMJHL teams in our area, such as the Moncton Wildcats, Saint John Sea Dogs, Acadie Bathurst Titans, etc...
As a matter of fact, a good friend of mine from High School (a fellow Ashbury alumni) is a marketing rep for the Saint John Sea Dogs.
Now, while doing my morning perusal of our local paper, a front page story caught my eye... Specifically, the Telegraph Journal. Take a peek boys. Could be interesting for the Sea Dogs.
SAINT JOHN - If the Saint John Sea Dogs are interested in interviewing Craig Hartsburg about the coaching and general manager's duties with the organization, the former Ottawa Senators coach is willing to listen.Enlarge Photo
Craig Hartsburg THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
Craig Hartsburg
Hartsburg, who also won a pair of world junior hockey titles as Canada's head coach and has served in either the National Hockey League or the Ontario Hockey League since 1989, says he is open to hearing about any coaching post.
"I would never shut the door," Hartsburg said of potential interest in the Sea Dogs' positions created when Jacques Beaulieu was fired as head coach and general manager last week.
"If they contacted me and wanted to talk about it, I certainly would talk to them."
Hartsburg owns head coaching experience in the NHL with Chicago, Anaheim and Ottawa, OHL head coaching duties with Guelph and Sault Ste. Marie and NHL assistant coaching experience with Philadelphia and Minnesota.
He is intriguing because he's coached at the major junior level three separate times after spending time in the NHL as a head coach or assistant.
"My years in junior hockey, I loved it and you almost kick yourself for leaving," he said.
"The fun part of coaching - it doesn't matter what level it is at - is the competition, trying to build a team and get people on the same page. There are all kinds of ways of doing it at different levels, but that is still the challenge."
He enjoyed a 570-game playing career, spent with the Minnesota North Stars, who selected the rangy defenceman in the first round, sixth overall, in the 1979 entry draft.
After his career ended in 1989, he's developed into a high-profile coach, highlighted by leading the world junior success, which also includes a gold as an assistant in 2006.
He returned to Sault Ste. Marie after he was fired Feb. 2 by the Senators.
He's reported to have thrown his name into consideration for Canada's entry at the IIHF World Hockey Championship, but that's the extent of his applications thus far.
"I am not actively looking around anywhere right now. I am sitting and waiting for whatever opportunities might come up," said the 50-year-old Hartsburg, whose international puck pedigree also includes helping his country win the 1987 Canada Cup.
"Whether it is junior, the National Hockey League or the American Hockey League or whatever, I am open to looking at just about anything."
He coached the OHL's Greyhounds in 2001-02 and again from 2004 to 2008.
Last summer, he signed a three-year contract with Ottawa but didn't make it to the end of the season and was replaced by Cory Clouston after 51 games (17-27-7) in the nation's capital.
So while he'd love to get back into the game, he's got the security of two more years on the Sens' payroll.
Of note, he says any potential move to the east coast would never play a role in his decision.
"I figured this game out a long time ago as far as moving," he said. "If you want to coach, you have to be prepared to move. People who want to stay in their home town and coach, they may have to wait a long tome to do that. It's just part of the business."
And while moving is not an issue, neither is coaching in the QMJHL for the first time, if the job developed.
"The players I have worked with from that league are excellent - Kris Letang and Luc Bourdon were great players and big parts of the teams we won gold medals with."
As a matter of fact, a good friend of mine from High School (a fellow Ashbury alumni) is a marketing rep for the Saint John Sea Dogs.
Now, while doing my morning perusal of our local paper, a front page story caught my eye... Specifically, the Telegraph Journal. Take a peek boys. Could be interesting for the Sea Dogs.
SAINT JOHN - If the Saint John Sea Dogs are interested in interviewing Craig Hartsburg about the coaching and general manager's duties with the organization, the former Ottawa Senators coach is willing to listen.Enlarge Photo
Craig Hartsburg THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
Craig Hartsburg
Hartsburg, who also won a pair of world junior hockey titles as Canada's head coach and has served in either the National Hockey League or the Ontario Hockey League since 1989, says he is open to hearing about any coaching post.
"I would never shut the door," Hartsburg said of potential interest in the Sea Dogs' positions created when Jacques Beaulieu was fired as head coach and general manager last week.
"If they contacted me and wanted to talk about it, I certainly would talk to them."
Hartsburg owns head coaching experience in the NHL with Chicago, Anaheim and Ottawa, OHL head coaching duties with Guelph and Sault Ste. Marie and NHL assistant coaching experience with Philadelphia and Minnesota.
He is intriguing because he's coached at the major junior level three separate times after spending time in the NHL as a head coach or assistant.
"My years in junior hockey, I loved it and you almost kick yourself for leaving," he said.
"The fun part of coaching - it doesn't matter what level it is at - is the competition, trying to build a team and get people on the same page. There are all kinds of ways of doing it at different levels, but that is still the challenge."
He enjoyed a 570-game playing career, spent with the Minnesota North Stars, who selected the rangy defenceman in the first round, sixth overall, in the 1979 entry draft.
After his career ended in 1989, he's developed into a high-profile coach, highlighted by leading the world junior success, which also includes a gold as an assistant in 2006.
He returned to Sault Ste. Marie after he was fired Feb. 2 by the Senators.
He's reported to have thrown his name into consideration for Canada's entry at the IIHF World Hockey Championship, but that's the extent of his applications thus far.
"I am not actively looking around anywhere right now. I am sitting and waiting for whatever opportunities might come up," said the 50-year-old Hartsburg, whose international puck pedigree also includes helping his country win the 1987 Canada Cup.
"Whether it is junior, the National Hockey League or the American Hockey League or whatever, I am open to looking at just about anything."
He coached the OHL's Greyhounds in 2001-02 and again from 2004 to 2008.
Last summer, he signed a three-year contract with Ottawa but didn't make it to the end of the season and was replaced by Cory Clouston after 51 games (17-27-7) in the nation's capital.
So while he'd love to get back into the game, he's got the security of two more years on the Sens' payroll.
Of note, he says any potential move to the east coast would never play a role in his decision.
"I figured this game out a long time ago as far as moving," he said. "If you want to coach, you have to be prepared to move. People who want to stay in their home town and coach, they may have to wait a long tome to do that. It's just part of the business."
And while moving is not an issue, neither is coaching in the QMJHL for the first time, if the job developed.
"The players I have worked with from that league are excellent - Kris Letang and Luc Bourdon were great players and big parts of the teams we won gold medals with."
