The junior hockey season officially came to an end Sunday when the Halifax Mooseheads defeated the Portland Winterhawks 6-4 in the Memorial Cup championship game. And with that game’s completion, can an Everett coaching hire be far behind?
Everett has been without a head coach since Mark Ferner was fired in January. Tips general manager Garry Davidson, who served the remainder of the season as the interim head coach, said he hoped to have a new head coach hired by June 1, so that deadline is upon us.
(UPDATE: A quick call to Davidson resulted in an overarching “no comment” regarding the coach search. But he did suggest an announcement was more likely to come next week rather than this week.)
However, the completion of the Memorial Cup is also significant, because it means the Tips can now inquire about Travis Green.
It’s almost universally agreed that Green, Portland’s assistant coach and assistant general manager, is high on Everett’s wish list. It makes sense. Green performed incredibly well as Portland’s acting head coach this season in the wake of Mike Johnston’s suspension, taking the Winterhawks one game away from the Memorial Cup title. Davidson worked with Green in the recent past, when Davidson was Portland’s director of player personnel. Green has stated he wants to be a head coach, and that presumably wouldn’t happen next season in Portland with Johnston returning from his suspension. And though Davidson has stopped short of saying he’d like Green to be a candidate for Everett’s coaching position, he’s had nothing but glowing things to say about Green when asked.
But a word of caution. There are those suggesting Green is a slam dunk. He isn’t. We don’t know whether Green would be interested in taking the Everett job. He did so well this season as Portland’s acting coach I suspect he has expanded his pool of job opportunities. Johnston, whenever asked about Green’s future, has said he doesn’t see Green taking a head coaching job with another junior team. The Oregonian has the latest comments regarding Green’s future (they’re toward the end of the article).
But with the Memorial Cup over, the Tips should now be able to get an answer regarding Green — one way or the other — and one has to think a hire will soon follow.
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