Tim Hunter interested in Sharks heading coaching vacancy

From David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News:

Tim Hunter knows that Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson wants to keep his
coaching search as hush-hush as possible. So Hunter won't say if the two have
talked about the job. He won't even acknowledge if his name is one of 40 under
consideration.

But the longtime NHL enforcer who has spent the past decade
working as an assistant to Ron Wilson in Washington and San Jose will say this:

He is interested in the job and is capable of doing it.

Read the entire article here.

While I do not question Hunter's qualifications for the job, I do see the Sharks deciding to choose a coach from outside the organization. This is a team that is arguably already talented enough to win the Stanley Cup and to risk promoting an assistant coach to the head coaching position could be troublesome. I am not saying that this type of coaching move does not work, but it certainly is not always successful (See: Dave Lewis in Detroit, Jim Playfair in Calgary, as a couple of recent examples).

Who will coach the Sharks?

Marc Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News: "In fact, it's almost scary how Dineen fits Wilson's profile. As a player, Dineen was a nose-to-the-grindstone guy and a team captain with the Philadelphia Flyers, Hartford Whalers and Carolina Hurricanes. Three years ago, he was named coach of the Portland Pirates' AHL team in Maine, Anaheim's top minor league affiliate."

Here is the full article from the Mercury News.

Purdy touches on a number of different coaching candidates in this article. He does not think Joel Quenville is the right candidate and I happen to agree. The other candidates mentioned were Roy Sommer, Tim Hunter and Kevin Dineen (mentioned above). Purdy thinks GM Doug Wilson favors Dineen, and I would have to agree with him. Dineen is considered one of the top young coaching prospects in the game today and his no-nonsense coaching style might be what the Sharks need to take the next step.