Good Luck Kevin Dineen

New Panthers bench-boss
and former Portland Pirates head coach
Kevin Dineen

And congratulations on your head coaching job with the Florida Panthers.

Great work with the youngin's. It's no small feat producing back-to-back-to-back Dudley "Red"Garrett Award winners for AHL Rookie of the Year--Nathan Gerbe (2008,) Tyler Ennis (2009,) and Luke Adam (2010.)

Also of note is the fact that everyone brought up during his coaching tenure seemed to be well prepared for the NHL game.

One thing that should be mentioned, big props to the Sabres organization for allowing Dineen the opportunity to explore head coaching positions while still under contract with the club.

They allowed him to do it last season when he lost out on the Columbus Blue Jackets job to Scott Arniel--a former Sabres player and coach.

This year, though, he got it.

He'll be missed.

~~~~~~~~~~

Brian McCutcheons 14 year association
with the Buffalo Sabres may have
come to a close.

Also in Sabres news:

Associate Coach Brian McCutcheon was given his walking papers by Head Coach Lindy Ruff.

McCutcheon was in charge of the offensive side of things for the big club and after the "new-NHL" began to fade it seemed as if there was tremendous inconsistency from his forwards.

Former Stanely Cup Winner and
Clarence, NY native Kevyn Adams
has been making an impact the
last two seasons.

Maybe the writing was on the wall considering more than a few times during the year, youngin's Nate Gerbe and Tyler Ennis both credited Player Development Coach, Kevyn Adams, with guiding them to better play and production.

Speaking of Adams, rumor has it that he's a possible candidate to replace McCutcheon. He and former Sabres captain and fan-favorite Mike Foligno seem to be the front-runners.

As for McCutcheon, the future is unknown. Although the Sabres have an AHL contract with Portland and the Pirates, they're said to be looking into buying the Americans and bringing back the Rochester/Buffalo connection.

Current Anaheim Associate Coach
and former Sabres player
Mike Foligno may be back in
the fold.

Nothing will be resolved until the Portland/Rochester decision is made, although Regier will begin his search for an AHL head coach internally, mentioning McCutcheon and Associate Coach James Patrick. Eric Weinrich, Dineen's associate coach in Portland may also be a candidate.

Present Portland Pirates Assistant Coach
Eric Weinrich's name has not been mentioned
yet as a possible replacement for
Kevin Dineen as Portland's head coach