Cool in Colorado

Avs' Hartley made no friends after comments

Say this about Colorado coach Bob Hartley -- he's nothing if not helpful. After the Avalanche torched San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov 8-2 in Game 2, Hartley said it might be tough for Nabokov to rebound and that the Sharks were fortunate to have a quality backup in Mikka Kiprusoff. Darryl Sutter replied he could probably coach the Sharks without Hartley's advice, an appropriately low-key response.

Hartley made no new friends with his comment. It may be an NHL coaching fraternity but he's not a favorite brother. As one Western Conference coach told me, Hartley is generally regarded as hopelessly arrogant. But the coach added that winning a Stanley Cup, as Colorado did last year, gives him some latitude. Incidentally, Sutter played Nabokov in a 6-4 win in Game 3.

Tippett emerging as a strong candidate

The recycled names being bandied about for coaching vacancies -- Herb Brooks, Ken Hitchcock, Pat Burns and now Bob Gainey -- recently got Islanders general manager Mike Milbury wondering who will be among the next generation of bright young coaches beyond his own Peter Laviolette. The answer might come soon in Dave Tippett. Tippett, a former hardworking center, is a Los Angeles assistant who did splendid work with the elite Kings' specialty teams this season. He also handled himself well when he temporarily took over following Andy Murray's car accident. Given his experience as a head coach in the minors, Tippett was comfortable running a bench and would be a nice fit in Anaheim or maybe even Dallas, if Stars owner Tom Hicks could overcome his thing for big names.

Thanks to Rutherford, 'Canes built for long haul

If the world can look past the very fact there is playoff hockey in Carolina, it will see general manager Jim Rutherford has put together a nucleus that should make the Hurricanes a difficult team to play against for many years.

Call them San Jose East, if you like. Rookie forward Erik Cole, recent rookie callup Jaroslav Svoboda and second-year player Josef Vasicek are all big, fast and skilled, building blocks of a Stanley Cup threat. If well-traveled 27-year-old Kevin Weekes finally lives up to his reputation as a goalie of the future, Carolina will always be able to compete with big-market, big-budget Eastern clubs like Philadelphia and the Rangers.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Michael Farber covers the NHL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.

 

Related information

Stories

Avs know they have to play better defense 2002 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily Schedule

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video