from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,
His next gig will allow him to stay in Dallas with his family while at the same time reconnecting with the NHL.
``I enjoyed my year with helping my son’s hockey team and now I can continue to do that,” Nieuwendyk told ESPN.com this week after being named pro scout/advisor to Carolina Hurricanes GM Ron Francis.
``I had breakfast with Ronnie in the spring and we continued to talk during the summer. I have a lot of respect for Ron,’’ said Nieuwendyk. ``I played with him on the Leafs in ’04 and we have mutual friends who work for him in Carolina. It just feels like something I wanted to do and hopefully I can help him any which way I can.’’
When Jay Feaster was fired as GM in Calgary last season, rumors -- well-founded ones -- spread that Flames president of hockey operations Brian Burke had great interest in bringing former Flames star Nieuwendyk in as Feaser's replacement.
While Nieuwendyk has never talked publicly about that specific possibility, it is clear he’s not ready yet to jump back into that demanding lifestyle of running an NHL team.
more plus a few other hockey topics...
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