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The end of the 2013 season wasn’t good for the Vancouver Canucks as they were swept in their first-round NHL playoff series. They are still looking for a new head coach after firing Alain Vigneault, and it sounds like the team is looking at two candidates in particular. Dallas Eakins has been called back for a second interview, and there is the outside chance that former NHL coach John Stevens may get the job.
The problem is that the team may miss out of Eakins if they want to try to get Stevens, and they can’t do that.
Stevens is an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Kings, who are still playing. He has a winning resume and would be the perfect choice for this job, but unless Vancouver wants to potentially wait until the end of June, they can do nothing with Stevens. There are still three open coaching positions around the NHL, and I’m sure Eakins is being looked for the other two spots.
The Canucks would be in real bad shape if Eakins went elsewhere and Stevens decided that he didn’t want the job. My opinion is that the team should just go with Eakins. If they are bringing someone in for a second interview, they must like something about them. There doesn’t appear to be a Plan B outside of Stevens, so why not just go with the main plan?
Vancouver gets a coach who is 46-years-old and is hungry to be a head coach in the NHL. There is a lot of talent on the Vancouver roster still with Daniel and Henrik Sedin. If Vancouver is smart, they will just lock Eakins down now before he gets away.
Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports, like his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google.
