A couple weeks back, Kevin Dineen was at the helm of one of the worst teams in the NHL, albeit in a sunny climate. Now he’s headed to a Russian resort town with a team that could actually win Olympic gold.
Not bad, right?
Well, as sweet as it looks, the recently-fired coach of the Florida Panthers and newly-installed coach of Canada’s national women’s hockey team, isn’t exactly in an enviable position. Unless, of course, everything goes perfectly. The 50-year-old Quebec-City-born, Toronto-raised Dineen was announced Tuesday as successor (inheritor?) of Hockey Canada’s recently-vacated coach position. It’s now on him—and the spotlight is on full tilt, after Dan Church resigned suddenly last week citing “personal reasons”—to lead Canada to a fifth-straight Olympic gold women’s hockey medal.
That Dineen is an accomplished coach is without question. He led the Panthers to their first division title. He suited up for more than 1,000 NHL tilts and coached some 140, plus spent six seasons at the helm of the American Hockey League’s Portland Pirates. And the guy even has Olympic experience (it’s from way back in 1984 in Sarajevo, but still.) The one question that will make this decision look like a no-brainer win (if Canada wins) and a total disaster (if Canada loses) is whether he can bring his skill to a women’s game that’s obviously different from the men’s. There’s no hitting, and while it’s a slower pace, it’s a more cerebral and strategic game than the men’s. (I play on a men’s beer league team and I swear, this is what I’m told.) One more anecdote: One of my coaches back when I played at the University of Western Ontario—the coaching position was a revolving door because we were dismal—came from the men’s game, and he was both a little bit mean and fantastic. We actually made the playoffs that year.
But Dineen’s also walking into a storm that hasn’t settled. There are still questions lingering as to why Church, who guided Canada to world championship gold in 2012, world silver in 2013 and most recently a Three Nations Cup title, stepped down. It came as a shock to players when he left their training base in Calgary immediately last Thursday and flew home to Toronto. “We only learned of this yesterday,” veteran forward Jayna Hefford told Sportsnet via email on Friday. “There are still a lot of unanswered questions, but as far as we know it was a personal issue. That is all we have been told.”
Prior to Hockey Canada making his announcement official, Church Tweeted: “Heartbroken.” He later told several media outlets he felt there was doubt among leadership that he could lead this team to Olympic gold.
In November, Church made what looked like a controversial cut when he released the face of the team in veteran defenseman and Olympic gold medallist Tessa Bonhomme, the first overall pick in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League in 2010. Bonhomme was gracious and respectful of the decision. “It was obviously a little bit of a surprise,” she said. “A tough pill to swallow.”
Dineen has three more cuts to make, and little over a week to figure out which 24 of the 27 players centralized in Calgary should represent Canada in Sochi, though he’ll have the help of assistant coaches Lisa Haley and Danielle Goyette, herself a former national team player. The team will be announced later this month.
Dineen’s and Canada’s first test will come on Day 4 of the Games when they face Finland in their second round-robin tilt. Canada’s opener comes two days earlier against Switzerland, but that’s not much of a test (sorry, Switzerland, but 13-zip was the score of the last CAN-SUI matchup).
Finland won Olympic bronze in 2010 and while they were blanked against Canada at their last meeting in April, goaltender Noora Raty is capable of stealing games. She backstopped the Minnesota Golden Gophers to a perfect 41-0 record and a national championship last season. Four days later the Canadians meet the rival Americans in the round robin. The last Canada-USA matchup didn’t go so hot for Canada. The night Church resigned, the Canadians got walloped 5-1 by the reigning world champion Americans, with their assistant coaches at the helm. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak the Canucks had been riding against the Americans since a heartbreaking world championship loss at home last April in Ottawa.
All we know now is Dineen’s success or failure with this team will come down to that gold medal game in Sochi. If a fifth-straight Canada flag is raised to the Olympic rafters, he’ll be applauded as a guy who “gets women’s hockey.” If not, there’ll be question about his appointment, and even more about why Church left this team on the eve of the Games.
Still, even if it’s the latter, Olympic silver sure beats another losing season in Florida. Right?