Kitchener coach Steve Spott dispels Devils rumours

It must be a slow news week for rumour-mongers in the Twittersphere.

Late Monday night one of the NHL's more notorious gossip peddlers (not Eklund, the other guy) said he was "fairly certain" that Kitchener Rangers head coach and general manager Steve Spott would be joining the New Jersey Devils as an assistant. When rumous like this spread, it's usually up to reporters who aren't relying on anonymity or extra consonants in their handles to talk to the people involved.

On Tuesday morning, Spott dismissed the idea he would be leaving Kitchener where he has been employed since the 2001-02 season. He first came to the Rangers as an assistant coach along side head coach and longtime friend, Pete DeBoer, who is now head coach of the Devils — which is probably how the rumour got started.

"There's no truth to that," said Spott of scuttlebutt. "I have not spoken to Pete about an assistant coach role in (New Jersey)."

There was talk in the OHL when DeBoer was first moved to the NHL as a head coach with the Florida Panthers back in 2008, that Spott might be joining him. Instead, Spott stayed in Kitchener to make his own name as a head coach and GM — something he's done quite successfully. Since taking over the Rangers, the team has only missed the playoffs once — his first year as head coach and the season after the team hosted the Memorial Cup.

"I think at that point Spotter had been an assistant (coach) for so long that he wanted to show what he could do and run his own ship," said Rangers assistant coach Troy Smith, who worked under both Spott and DeBoer.

"I think that's the way most coaches are; you can always go back to being an assistant, but being in Kitchener was an unique situation for him, where he was familiar with things and knew the organization was going to be great. He could build from ground up after the Memorial Cup and put his own stamp on this team — his stamp as a head coach."

This year Spott has also been chosen to helm Canada's world junior squad at the tournament in Ufa, Russia, after previously serving as an assistant. In the past, a number of coaches have used the experience at the world juniors to help land NHL coaching gigs and producing back-to-back Calder Trophy winners — Carolina's Jeff Skinner and Colorado's Gabriel Landeskog — won't hurt his resume either.

"I think he understands the new style of game, but also the way the players are today," said Smith. "You do kind of have to be adaptable with Twitter and Facebook and all the different social media that's out there — players are wound differently and I think that (Spott) has done a good job on being up-to-date on that stuff and he really knows how the brains of young players work now."

Sunaya Sapurji is the Junior Hockey Editor at Yahoo! Sports.
Email: sunaya@yahoo-inc.com | Twitter @Sunayas