Regina Pats to hire John Paddock, ex-Ottawa Senators coach – report

The Regina Pats looked to experience to fill their head coaching vacancy as they have reportedly hired ex-Ottawa Senators bench boss John Paddock.

The report leaked today by Greg Harder of the Leader-Post that the Pats finally found their man. It’s believed the Pats organization will make an official announcement later this week.

Paddock joins the Queen City Kids with a thick coaching resume. The 60-year-old Brandon, MB., native has 13 years of AHL and five years of NHL head coaching experience. His 589-438-98 record and three Calder Cup titles in the AHL earned him a seat in the Hall of Fame in 2010. He spent this past season as the assistant coach of the Philadelphia Flyers before being let go in June.

Similar to Moose Jaw Warriors new bench boss Tim Hunter, Paddock is an old school coach. He demands a lot out of his players, but knows the value of developing strong relationships with them. He also likes his team to play with an edge.

Paddock is the Pats’ fifth new coach in the last seven years. His predecessor, Malcolm Cameron, was fired at the end of June after just one season largely because the team’s new ownership group, Queen City Sports and Entertainment Group, wanted to shake up the coaching staff.

Former Saskatoon Blades coach Dave Struch and Yorkton Terriers coach Trent Cassan were beat out by Paddock.

The Pats took over a month to hire Paddock because they pursued a couple of other coaches first. Reports have circulated that they made two other offers that were both declined.

It’s tough to assess what calibre of a club Paddock is taking over. The Pats did win the East Division last year with a 39-26-4-3 record; however, they were knocked out of the playoffs in a first-round sweep at the hands of the Brandon Wheat Kings. Moving forward, they seem to have enough pieces to finish as high as fifth in the Eastern Conference next year with high-end offensive talent such as Calgary Flames first-rounder Morgan Klimchuk and 2013 second-overall pick Sam Steel. But because of the club's uncertainty between the pipes and thin back end, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them miss the second season all together.

Molleken watch

Paddock may not be the only old school coach en route to Regina. There have been various reports suggesting the Pats are looking at bringing in former Blades coach-GM Lorne Molleken for a senior management position.

Based on his poor playoff record in his last couple of seasons behind the bench in Saskatoon, Molleken’s coaching days may be behind him, but he is still undoubtedly a smart hockey mind. Besides a couple of deals that he made leading up to the 2013 Memorial Cup when he had immense pressure on his shoulders, he has a strong record in the GM chair. The proof is in the pudding in how he managed to bring in Stefan Elliott and the third overall pick of the 2008 WHL bantam draft, which he used to draft Duncan Siemens, in a 2006 trade deadline deal with the Prince George Cougars for Devin Setoguchi.

One thing is certain, though, the future doesn’t look bright for Pats GM Chad Lang in Regina if Molleken is hired. Molleken not only has connections to the owners, but he also has a thicker resume than Lang. Not to mention, it seems Molleken and Paddock would be on the exact same page in how they see the game.

Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen