Becanic fired (updated)

Published 3:30 pm Friday, April 3, 2009

The Tips have fired head coach John Becanic. More to follow. This will also push back the season-ending blog series.

—- UPDATE, 3:30 p.m.

OK, I’ve talked to both Becanic and general manager Doug Soetaert, and here’s the main points at a glance:

– Becanic said he saw this coming, and he even gave me a quote that he said he had prepared for more than a month for this occasion. Other than that somewhat cryptic quote (which you’ll have to read in tomorrow’s paper) he declined to discuss the hockey side much.

– Soetaert also said he had a pretty good idea this was going to happen for a while, but wanted to see how the playoffs went before making a decision.

– Soetaert cited the “roller coaster” nature of Becanic’s two seasons in charge for the decision, adding that there was too much emphasis put on systems and not enough on compete level. He also was concerned about the players becoming too accepting of losing. He also didn’t put all the blame on Becanic, saying the players share the blame as well.

– Associate head coach Jay Varady and assistant coach Mark LeRose will be asked back, but Soetaert has yet to hash out the situation with either of them.

– Don’t expect a new head coach anytime soon. Soetaert said June and July, particularly following the NHL draft, is when he’ll be focusing on the new hire, and that he’s open to any and all possibilities.

I’ll add my thoughts at some point, but I’ve got a busy day/night of writing ahead, so I don’t know whether it will come later today or tomorrow. But stay tuned.