Pat Quinn turns the heat up on trio

Pat Quinn (far right) with his gold-medal winning juniors squad, is the hot candidate to replace the next NHL coach who gets the axe. AP

If nothing else, the World Junior Hockey Championship proved again that Pat Quinn really can coach kids.

This always has been a knock against Quinn (and probably three-quarters of NHL coaches, for that matter): he prefers coaching veterans. And while his experience working some of the lower rungs of the exemplary Hockey Canada program might not rank among the most extraordinary of his experiences behind a bench, the 65-year-old Quinn, who won the 2002 Olympic gold medal and 2004 World Cup, showed that he did not exactly forget how to lead a winning team.

Of course, coaches generally receive too much praise when they win and too much criticism when they don't. But Quinn, who coached Canada's U-18 gold medal team last spring, deserves a whack of credit (and his country's profound thanks) for filling the void when junior coach Benoit Groulx left to coach the AHL's Rochester Americans last August.

Quinn did the job with the right amount of presence, poise and wit. He recognized that his team got some breaks along the way. It scored a five-on-four goal against the United States while the teams were supposed to be skating four-a-side. And there was that greedy Russian kid in the semifinals who tried to complete a hat trick from the far blue line with the goalie pulled who gave Canada a faceoff in the attacking zone and a chance to score the tying goal. But Quinn prepared his players splendidly for their gold-medal win over Sweden.

The same poise did not apply to Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, who headed the local tournament committee and did everything but plant a wet kiss on Quinn's lips.

Melnyk might be in the market for a new coach or general manager. Or both. Quinn, fired in Toronto by former Maple Leafs GM John Ferguson Jr., is ruddy, rested and ready. On a list of former NHL coaches looking to get back in, his team's performance has thrust him back into the elite group headed by John Tortorella and followed by Marc Crawford and Bob Hartley. There was a distinct resemblance to some of his Toronto teams in Canada's performance prior to the gold-medal game on Monday -- fun, free-flowing and occasionally sloppy -- but the euphoria of the fifth straight gold medal at the world juniors might blind a prospective employer to any of the blemishes.

Anyway, in order, here is an abridged list of NHL coaches who should be looking over their shoulders:

Craig Hartsburg, Ottawa

John Paddock, the former assistant, was too obliging. Hartsburg, who also helped the Canadian juniors win gold, is too demanding. Apparently, the Senators' fairytale run to the 2007 Stanley Cup Final has turned into another children's fable: The Three Bears. Maybe the next Ottawa coach will, like Mama's porridge, be just right.

Clearly, Senators GM Bryan Murray doesn't want to have to make that move. He was obliged to fire Paddock, a respected hockey man who was heartily endorsed by the players, in Paddock's first season. To now dismiss the hard-working Hartsburg in his first year would make the GM 0-for-2. If you were drawing up a list of the top NHL minds prior to the 2007-08 season, Murray certainly would have been in your top 10 and maybe your top five. But since a torrid start a season ago, his Senators have swooned like a Victorian maiden.

Goalie Ray Emery, now playing well in Russia's KHL, was a galvanizing figure who sapped energy from the team, but he was hardly the only problem. The Senators have as much high-end skill -- Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson -- as any team currently languishing outside a playoff spot, but they all have played below their capabilities. With a watered-down defense that doesn't move the puck snappily, and tepid performances by role players like Mike Fisher, the Senators have devolved.

Michel Therrien, Pittsburgh

The Penguins have gone from Stanley Cup finalists to impostors, playing like a gang of coach-killers. Before breaking a losing streak of five games against sad-sack Atlanta on Tuesday, Pittsburgh had gone seven straight games (32 chances) without a power play goal. (It was two-for-six against the Thrashers.)

On a team with Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, this is inconceivable. The Penguins' penalty killing has been poor and the goaltending has been spotty. It was enough to set off Crosby in that 6-1 loss to Florida, a meltdown that included a fight and 19 minutes of penalties. As strange as it might sound considering Marian Hossa's importance to the Penguins in the 2008 playoffs, Pittsburgh is paying dearly for that short-term rental orchestrated by GM Ray Shero at the insistence of owner Mario Lemieux.

The Penguins miss winger Colby Armstrong, part of the package that went to Atlanta. He was a perfect fit, the one player who could serve as a buffer when the coach became too heavy-handed. He also was blessed with an ability to keep Crosby, the Penguins captain, loose. But Therrien had his contract extended last summer. The final year of his deal, for 2008-09, was torn up and he was given two additional years -- reportedly at about $1 million per. Among NHL teams, Pittsburgh would be among those most reluctant to pay somebody not to coach.

Andy Murray, St. Louis

The Blues really don't need a new coach as much as they need an exorcist. When a golf cart swallows the knee of your promising young defenseman (Erik Johnson) at a team outing before the season and your goalie (Manny Legace) tweaks his groin on the red carpet laid out for Sarah Palin, you have indeed been cursed. That broken ankle (Andy McDonald) and hip surgery (Paul Kariya) ... well, that's just piling on.

Murray is one of the best x-and-o coaches in the NHL -- no one prepares better -- but he can also wear on a team with his penchant for meetings. President John Davidson is a patient man, but at some point he might need to shake things up for their own sake. If Murray goes, remember that the Blues won't be hiring a better coach, just a different one.

A man among mice

No Ovechkin? No Lidstrom? No Chara? The fans in Chicago and Montreal that voted Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews and Canadiens winger Alex Kovalev as All-Star Game starters showed more computer than hockey literacy. This is an embarrassment, but it could have been worse if not for the clear-eyed humility of another player who was mouse-clicked into the starting lineup: Montreal defenseman Mike Komisarek.

Komisarek, who missed more than a month because of a shoulder injury and had one goal and one assist at the time of the All-Star announcement, said he was humbled by the loyalty and support of Canadiens fans. If they found him worthy, he would be proud to go on their behalf.

You can't coach class.