The Colorado Avalanche found their organization in a tough spot when head coach Patrick Roy suddenly resigned, but in their coaching search they could be looking to poach a member of the Chicago Blackhawks’ coaching staff.
According to multiple reports from The Denver Post, the Avalanche interviewed Blackhawks assistant coach Kevin Dineen for their head coaching vacancy this week. The meeting, according to the newspaper, lasted for three and a half hours, and Dineen is someone that the team is very interested in hiring for the position.
Dineen, who joined the Blackhawks’ staff before the 2014-15 season, was a head coach with the Florida Panthers for two and a half seasons earlier in the decade. He won a division title with the team in 2012, but he was fired after only 16 games in the 2013-14 campaign with the team. He holds a career head coaching record of 56-62-28.
If the Blackhawks do allow Dineen to leave for a head coaching job, they will not receive any compensation for his departure. The NHL recently changed rules that required teams to give up draft pick compensation if they hired a coach that was under contract with another club, leaving the Hawks scrambling to find his replacement on the bench.
Perhaps more importantly to the Hawks, Dineen leaving for the Colorado job would mean that one of their assistant coaches would be taking over a divisional rival. The Avalanche missed the postseason last year, but with talented players like Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog, the team could make a step forward with a quality coach behind the bench.
