Posts Tagged ‘chicago wolves’




MacTavish returns to the Oilers–Is this the right move?

Monday, June 11th, 2012

Craig MacTavish (Wikimedia Commons)

Craig MacTavish is returning to the Edmonton Oilers as the senior vice president of hockey operations.

MacTavish, will be working alongside President Kevin Lowe and General Manager Steve Tambellini.

MacTavish was the Edmonton Oilers Head Coach from 2000-2009, leading them to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.

As a player, MacTavish played for the Edmonton Oilers from 1985-1994 where he won three Stanley Cups, and was team captain from 1992-1994. He went on to play for the New York Rangers in 1994 where he won another Stanley Cup.

Last season, MacTavish was the Head Coach of the Chicago Wolves, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, where he posted an overall record of 42-27-7.

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Booth makes Canucks debut in Edmonton

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

David Booth (Aimee Craze, Wikimedia Commons)

The Vancouver Canucks will have a different team when they take on the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place tonight.

On the weekend, the Western Conference Champions swung a deal with the Florida Panthers, a team they have been accustomed to having blockbusters with in the past.

Vancouver traded right winger Mikael Samuelsson and left winger Marco Sturm to Florida for David Booth and Steven Reinprecht. The Canucks have since sent Reinprecht down to their American Hockey League affiliate in Chicago.

In analyzing the deal, the X factor is clearly Booth, and not if he can find ways to generate offense, but if he will be a defensive liability. Last year in Florida he had 280 shots on net, but was a brutal -31. The other issue surrounding Booth is health. Prior to last year he had a history of concussion symptoms that prevented him from playing regularly.

Sturm is on the downside of his career, while it will be interesting to see if Samuelsson can put up decent numbers on a below average team. He has played for the Canucks and Detroit Red Wings in his career. I’m actually very surprised that Panthers’ GM Dale Tallon made this deal because I thought he would have gone after a couple of prospects for Booth instead.

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MacTavish joins Canucks organization

Friday, July 29th, 2011

Craig MacTavish (Eric Miller, Reuters Images)

After being in the hunt for coaching vacancies with the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild, Craig MacTavish has decided to coach in the American Hockey League in 2011-12 rather than return to the broadcast booth.

MacTavish will be the head coach of the Chicago Wolves, the primary farm team affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks.

Ironically, with the movement of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg, it has caused significant movement in the American Hockey League.  The Chicago Wolves used to be the affiliate of the Thrashers, but are now affiliated with the Canucks. While the Manitoba Moose, formerly the Canucks’ affiliate, have moved to St. John’s Newfoundland and are the Jets’ affiliate.

Like the situation in Vancouver, where Abbotsford hosts the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate, it doesn’t make much sense that minor professional hockey fans in Chicago now have to cheer for a franchise affiliated with the Vancouver Canucks (currently one of Chicago’s top rivals) in their own city. If the NHL is trying to cut costs, why aren’t the Abbotsford Heat linked to the Canucks and Wolves linked to the Blackhawks?

Sorry for digressing.

MacTavish, who coached the Edmonton Oilers to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, obviously had coaching back in his blood, and should be a solid asset to young Canucks’ prospects in Chicago.

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