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Vancouver Giants to hire former NHL coach Claude Noel – report
Just four days after axing Troy Ward, the Vancouver Giants have a new bench boss. The WHL organization has hired former Winnipeg Jets head coach Claude Noel according to multiple reports.
Noel joins the Giants with no shortage of coaching experience as he has spent 22 years behind benches in the NHL, AHL, ECHL and IHL, but he hasn’t been involved at the junior level since 1989-90 when he was an assistant for the OHL’s North Bay Centennials. It’s not that surprising that Vancouver wasn't afraid to go with a coach lacking junior experience based on the precedents set this summer. The Moose Jaw Warriors (Tim Hunter) and Regina Pats (John Paddock) both hired bench bosses without CHL experience who have went on to make fairly smooth transitions to junior hockey.
Noel takes over a Vancouver team that has seemed to underachieve this year or at least not reach the expectations laid upon them by management. The Giants sit dead last in the B.C. Division with a 10-18-0-0 record and are 3-7-0-0 in their last 10 contests. The feeling coming into this season was that they would fight for a home-ice advantage playoff spot, but they couldn't get into a rhythm under Ward, who was fired just 25 games into the first year of his contract.
Vancouver Province’s Steve Ewen described the team’s problems in detail after a loss to the Prince George Cougars on Nov. 22.
Vancouver coach Troy Ward mentioned repeatedly in the post-game about how much he liked his team’s effort and how he had a bunch of good kids in the dressing room. He seems to be right. They had lots of try Saturday. Lots of it. But they had trouble stringing two passes together. They had no puck support, no guy in the same colour jersey within a reasonable vicinity to dish to. Anything positive that happened for them offensively seemed to be by chance, rather than choice.
The puck possession that owner Ron Toigo and general manager Scott Bonner talked up in the off-season and Ward seemed to instill once he got here has vanished. Kaput. Gone.
The biggest winner in the Noel hiring is the Vancouver media. The 59-year-old coach is bound to give reporters some interesting quotes to work with.
News 1130 Sports reported that Noel wasn’t Vancouver’s first choice, but rather former Saskatoon Blades coach Lorne Molleken. The Giants and Molleken reportedly couldn’t come to an agreement on the terms of the coaching contract. A hurdle in the negotiations was that Molleken is under contract by the Blades until the end of the 2015-16 season, so a short-term offer didn't entice him much because of his current situation.
Taking into account that Vancouver ownership wanted to move the team into a puck-possession style in the offseason, it’s somewhat surprising that they made a push for Molleken because he played a dump-and-chase system in Saskatoon. Moreover, he lost his last 12 playoff games partially because Medicine Tigers bench boss Shaun Clouston and former Kootenay Ice coach Kris Knoblauch outcoached him.
Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen
