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

will luke adam make it three in a row?

 

luke adam

the portland pirates and head coach kevin dineen may have themselves another dudley "red" garrett memorial trophy winner in forward, luke adam...

 

if adam does take home the outstanding ahl rookie honors, he will make it three in a row for the buffalo sabres organization, following in the footsteps of forwards nathan gerbe (2008/09) and tyler ennis (2009/10)...

the only organization to have back-to-back-to-back "red" garrett winners within the last 35 years was the providence reds (ny rangers) from 1973-76...a team who was coached by former sabres gm, john muckler, during that stretch...



a look at adam's stats as of right now gives an strong indication that he's the one to beat...amongst rookies he leads in points (54,) points/game (1.15,) goals (25) and plus/minus (+21) and he's tied for fourth in assists (29)...

all this in 47 games for the portland pirates this season (less games than any other rookie save nazem kadri's 44)...

this is a tribute to luke adam himself who has done a great job shuttling back and forth between the pirates and the sabres...it's a tribute to his willingness to take a demotion as a learning experience and continue to improve upon his game...



sabres director of amateur scouting, kevin devine (left)
with 2009 1st round pick, zack kassian (center) and
amateur scout, al mcadam (right)

having two, and possibly three, ahl outstanding rookies in a row is no small feat and is a tribute to the job the amateur scouting staff has done finding talent in the draft ...

gerbe was a 2005 fifth-round pick (#142) of jim benning's staff...benning left the organization in 2007 and kevin devine, as head of amateur scouting, is responsible for drafting both ennis (#26 overall) and adam (#44) in 2008...(in that same draft he also convinced sabres gm darcy regier to trade up to the #12 spot to draft 2009/10 nhl rookie of the year, tyler myers)...

interesting to note that before gerbe, the organization's last "red" garrett winner was mika noronen in the 1999/00 season...



portland pirates head coach, kevin dineen

it's also a tribute--and big props need to be given--to head coach kevin dineen and portland assistant coach, eric weinrich...as ahl coaches their task is molding a transient team into a cohesive unit and right now their team sits atop the atlantic division of the eastern conference...

all year long players get called up to the big club and then get sent back...they're injured and they return...a combination of call-ups to the big club and/or injuries on a large scale means plugging holes with echl players who on a tryout basis...all the while, the coach and his staff are the only real constants throughout the season...

from the draft to juniors to the ahl, there seems to be a foundational thread running through the organization all the way up to the big club...both gerbe and ennis are making solid contributions to the sabres in their first full nhl seasons...adam, who had three goals and an assist in 19 games with the sabres this season, got a good taste of life in the nhl this year and should make a strong push for the big club next season...

even if he doesn't win the award, ya gotta love what's on the horizon for the sabres organization...