from Frank Seravalli of TSN,
Job security has never been better for National Hockey League head coaches.
There hasn’t been one in-season NHL head coaching change this year for the first time since 1966-67 when there were just six jobs to go around, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
It’s a record likely to stick with just three weeks remaining in the regular season – though hockey’s version of Black Monday is looming on April 9 when teams that missed the playoffs clean out their lockers for summer....
In fact, there have never been fewer than two in-season coaching changes going back to 1967-68. There were seven alone in 2011-12. The in-season record for firings is 10 in 1981-82, but there were also nine changes in 2000-01 and eight in 2002-03....
“I’m encouraged that hopefully the league is taking a breath, trying to find other alternatives before pulling the trigger,” said former NHL head coach Dallas Eakins, who was a midseason casualty in 2015. “That’s great. It’s good to see no one is being let go. I think everyone is being given a real good, fair chance to do something great. Sometimes it takes time.”
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