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Mike Keenan out as KHL head coach, finalizing Russian citizenship

KHL

Depending on who you ask, you’ll get two different answers, but the common denominator is that Mike Keenan is no longer the head coach of the KHL’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

In some places it’s being reported that Keenan resigned his position. He told TSN’s Darren Dreger that he was fired when he arrived at Arena Metallurg Saturday morning. Either way, he’ll move into an advisor role to club president Victor Rashnikov.

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Magnitogorsk currently sits fifth in the KHL’s Eastern Conference with 34 points through 21 games. They’re also not long removed from a Gagarin Cup championship that Keenan helped lead them to.

But the most interesting part of the Keenan story is the fact that after being in the works for some time the former NHL head coach is close to finalizing things for Russian citizenship.

(Let’s now pause as we step into our time travel devices and head back to the 1987 Canada Cup and tell the hockey world that news would be coming 28 years later.)

If Keenan gets citizenship, that could lead to him being part of Russia’s 2016 World Cup of Hockey entry in some capacity, either as head coach or part of the staff.

Hopefully, as long as Iron Mike remains in Russia, the commercial and karaoke appearances will continue.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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