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Evidence of a ‘world game’
Posted: Monday May 22, 2000 05:00 PM
After the Blackhawks made Alpo Suhonen the NHL’s first European-born head coach, CNNSI.com spoke to Sports Illustrated senior writer Michael Farber about the hire. Farber discussed the significance of Chicago GM Mike Smith’s decision, the statement it makes about the sport of hockey and the implications for the Blackhawks. CNNSI.com: Mike Smith is no stranger to European players or to Alpo Suhonen, so does this hire come as any sort of surprise? Farber: Mike Smith had Suhonen as an assistant in Winnipeg, and then again in Toronto -- when Smith was the de facto GM there. Suhonen is considered a strong tactical coach, who has been around the NHL long enough. And even though he didn’t play here, he’s got the respect of players. CNNSI.com: So we should consider this to be a good marriage? Farber: You need a GM and a coach who think alike. When there have been conflicts in the past on other teams -- Buffalo, with John Muckler and Ted Nolan, comes to mind -- it makes for an uncomfortable situation. Suhonen may not be a media darling in Chicago but Mike Smith has never worried about image as much as he has about doing what he thinks is right. CNNSI.com: The title of "first European-born head coach" is a bit of a technicality with the impending hire of Ivan Hlinka in Pittsburgh. But is this a landmark day? Farber: To put it in context, Hlinka had been earmarked to do the same job in Pittsburgh before Suhonen was hire. But I think it is significant in that this had been one of the barriers facing Europeans, who have been an increasingly important part of the NHL for two decades now. I thought there were several candidates to crash through that barrier, but Suhonen, because of his stature as a coach and the fact that he has been around the league for a while, is a good first choice. The next barrier that has to fall is the general manager’s job. CNNSI.com: How far away do you think we are from that? Farber: I think we're very close. Anders Hedberg is certainly capable and I think there’s one current player, who if he decides to go that direction when his career is over would be very successful -- Igor Larionov. CNNSI.com: What does this say about the state of the sport? Are we moving closer to a homogenized game? Farber: It's become a world game. I think hockey is way ahead of the other three major North American sports in that area -- although baseball especially has made extraordinary strides. Having a European head coach is part of the natural progression in a sport where a good third of the players are European. CNNSI.com: How much does the hockey world know about Suhonen? Farber: Well, Don Cherry years ago made fun of his first name, saying "Alpo? Sounds like a dog food." Suhonen, to his credit, did not say, "Cherry? Sounds like a fruit." Suhonen is well known in the hockey world. I think that sometimes people tend to focus on his personal preferences -- which include classical music -- rather than other things. But he is considered a good technical coach, someone who can do a little X-ing and O-ing. CNNSI.com: Of course these days, the X-ing and O-ing can almost be secondary. How will Suhonen mesh with today’s NHL player? Farber: I think that's a real good question -- how will he fit into that room? And we're not going to know that until at least midway through the next season. There’s still a latent bias in some quarters against Europeans, and I don't know if the Chicago dressing room is going to be one of those places. Suhonen still has to prove himself as a head coach. He’ll still have to go through all the same things that all first-year head coaches go through. And he doesn't have that, I-scored-350-goals-in–this-league to fall back on. CNNSI.com: What kind of game do you think the Blackhawks will play under Suhonen? Farber: I presume it’s going to be a team that plays a puck-pressure game, a skating game. Those were the kind of teams he was with before, but I think he’d have to evaluate the personnel before he decides. CNNSI.com: And how good is that personnel? Farber: Mike Smith thinks it’s playoff caliber. I think the Blackhawks are a borderline playoff team. As long as you're playing Jocelyn Thibault in net, you’re not going to go win the Stanley Cup. The Hawks are a ways away from being a Stanley Cup contender, but they could be a team on the cusp of the playoffs. CNNSI.com: Chicago hasn’t successful NHL coach in a while, so overall is this a good move for the Blackhawks? Farber: I still think Chicago still needs to get a marquee name. The Blackhawks have lost several in the past few years and I think there’s a certain distance between the teams and the city. One of Smith’s jobs is to reestablish that connection, and it can be done most quickly by a marquee player. If any coach could have brought this team further along, we don’t know. If you don’t have a Scotty Bowman, it depends. So now we'll see how the Hawks respond.
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