TSN looking to replace Mibury

From William Houston of the Globe & Mail:

TSN may be looking at Ray Ferraro, formerly of NBC and Sportsnet, as well as former NHL coach Marc Crawford and retired defenceman Larry Murphy as potential hockey analysts.

Read more from Houston here.

All solid replacements, however, I'd give the nod to chicken-parm Ray Ferraro.

Lombardi made the right decision firing Crawford

From Helene Elliot of the L.A. Times:

Lombardi made the right move to fire him. He probably should never have hired Crawford, who had unlimited skill at his disposal in Colorado with Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Co. and couldn't get some solid Vancouver Canucks teams past the second round of the playoffs.

The Kings had more hope than skill and Crawford couldn't function under those circumstances, couldn't be patient with kids who were learning and making mistakes and needed a teacher more than they needed a screamer who demanded more than they were capable of delivering.

Read the entire article here.

Cannot say I disagree with the firing either. The Kings need to hire a coach who is able to work with and develop young players. If they hire the right coach, the talent on the team will be evident to the rest of the NHL, and the Kings won't be outside of the playoffs for very long.

Marc Crawford fired

From Rich Hammond of the L.A. Daily News:

"We appreciate Marc's commitment the two seasons he has been here," said Lombardi. "However, we believe that in evaluating where we are at and, more importantly, where we are going as an organization, we feel this coaching change was the right decision to make. We wish Marc the best in his future endeavors."

See Hammond's entry here.

This move came out of nowhere; seeing as most teams relieve their coaches of their duties immediately after the regular season has ended. That being said, the move is not that much of a surprise. Even though the Kings of 2008 were young, they had a lot more talent than their record indicated. Fair or not, that is generally a reflection of the coach.

With Crawford gone, this job should be coveted by a lot of coaches around hockey. The team has loads of young talent, the #2 overall pick in this month's entry draft and is looking to make a move up the standings. Not to mention the chance to revitalize hockey in California.

Morning Musings

Here are the morning papers:

• The Blue Jackets dominated at 5 on 5 but their powerplay cost them the game writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. Former Ohio State Buckeye Ryan Kesler scored twice to lead the Canucks to the 4-1 victory but after the game he admitted that the Canucks probably didn't play well enough to deserve the win.
• The Canucks remain undefeated on the road this season. Canucks' backup Curtis Sanford considered yesterday's game the most important of his career and he didn't disappoint with a 35 save effort.
• Eric Duhatschek of the Globe & Mail previews Ryan Smyth's return to Edmonton.
• Paul Maurice said the Leafs will be a tough team to play against before the season began, but as Dave Shoalts tells us in this morning's Globe & Mail, that is not the case. The coach says it is all the way back to square one writes Rose Dimanno of the Toronto Star.
• Kevin Allen profiles the Staal brothers in this morning's USA Today.
• Dan Boyle is expected to return to the Lightning lineup from a wrist injury later on this week reports Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune.
• The Blues have their own version of "Manny being Manny" and all jokes aside, Manny Legace has been terrific in net for the Blues early on this season.
• Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette profiles Rangers' defenseman Marc Staal in this morning's paper. Meanwhile, in between the pipes Marc-Andre Fleury thinks that he will benefit from the Penguins playing more often than they did in the first few weeks of the season.
• The last thing you will hear is Martin Biron complaining about playing too much writes Ed Moran of the Philadelphia Inquirer. While Tim Panaccio of the Inquirer thinks Biron's new car may have something to do with his impressive performance thus far.
• As Don Brennan tells us in this morning's Ottawa Sun, the Senators are using their week-off to go on a three-day bonding experience to the Muskokas.
• Larry Brooks of the NY Post wonders who is going to play with Jaromir Jagr because the winger has not demonstrated any chemistry with either big-time newcomer Chris Drury or Scott Gomez.
• If Brent Sutter ever underestimated John Madden he probably doesn't anymore writes Mark Everyon of the NY Post.
• John Glennon of the Tennessean has more news regarding the prospective purchaser of the Predators.
• There is nothing like scoring your first NHL goal and Kyle Chipchura was able to experience the euphoric feeling on Saturday night versus the Sabres. It is amazing how close the internet can bring people, Habs fans included writes Kevin Mio of the Montreal Gazette.
• Stephane Veilleux may not have gotten credit on the scoresheet but his teammates know he was responsible for setting up the game winning goal by Mikko Koivu as the Wild upended the Avalanche 3-2 last night in St. Paul.
• Alexander Frolov has been battling a groin injury so far this season but appears to be getting over it and his increased point production is a positive sign for Frolov and his Kings teammates.
• Panthers' winger David Booth is luckily only listed as day-to-day after taking a serious run into the boards versus the Senators on Saturday night. The Panthers need, and are looking to acquire, a fighter to protect their skills players and prevent their skill players from fighting and getting hurt as a result.
• Oilers' forward Jarret Stoll has been moved to the wing with Shawn Horcoff and Raffi Torres in order to try and jump start him offensively. Meanwhile, Torres is waiting to hear back from the NHL as to whether he will be suspended for his blindside hit on Flames' forward David Moss on Saturday night.
• Mike Babcock says that Kirk Maltby has a good shot and should look to shoot more.
• In Dallas, coach Dave Tippett has been impressed with the play of his top defense pairing of Norstrom and Zubov so far this season.
• Avalanche tender Peter Budaj thinks he should have stopped Mikko Koivu's game-winner. Terry Frei of the Denver Post thinks the Avs could use Peter Forsberg on and off the ice.
• The Hawks' powerplay proficiency is one of the reasons the team is off to a solid start writes Chris Kuc of Chicago Tribune.
• Hurricanes' forward Eric Cole is expected to miss the next 7-10 days with a foot sprain.
• Marc Crawford reflects on the early Owen Nolan days in this morning's Calgary Herald. Nolan's teammates are unhappy with the headshot sustained by David Moss during Saturday's game against the Oilers.
• As John Vogl of the Buffalo News tells us, the Sabres aren't used to losing games and their frustration is mounting.
• Unlike past years, the Bruins are finding ways to win writes Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald. The Bruins' defensive game is most definitely a substanial reason for their turnaround.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.