Employment Line

They could have taken the safe route just as easily, opting for comfort and ease of mind. But both sneered at that notion, got the OK from their families to tackle something more challenging and confidently moved onto the fast track.

Don Hay severed his ties with the local fire department.

Walt Kyle walked away from his college campus.

Hay didn’t have far to go. Born and raised in Kamloops, Canada, a city of about 70,000 in British Columbia, Hay first took a two-year leave of absence from the fire department to concentrate on coaching the local junior team.

Kyle moved from Northern Michigan in Marquette to Seattle, to coach the junior team there.

They were rookie coaches in the Western Hockey League, one of several feeder leagues that provides NHL teams with standout players. They met at league meetings, had coffee before games against each other, talked hockey and coaching and of their dreams to one day coach in the NHL. They even mused about working together in the NHL.

It took some time, but five years after their first meeting, they are indeed co-workers, assistants to Mighty Duck Coach Pierre Page.

Hay, 43, coached the Kamloops Blazers to league championships in two of his three seasons in the WHL. He jumped at the chance to become Page’s assistant with the Calgary Flames in 1995-96, then moved to Phoenix as the Coyotes’ head coach last season. He was fired after one season with the Coyotes, but landed a job in Anaheim during the off-season.

Kyle, 41, spent two seasons as coach of the Seattle Thunderbirds, then bolted when the Ducks made him coach of their minor-league affiliate in San Diego and later Baltimore. He became the Ducks’ top assistant last season.

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Hay played in the minor leagues three seasons, then returned to Kamloops to “get on with my life.” When he landed a job on the fire department, he figured, “I’d probably be there for the rest of my life.”

Hockey’s hold was powerful, though, and soon enough he was juggling jobs at the firehouse and as coach of the Blazers. In time, it proved too much to try to handle both.

Coaching won out.

“I probably left one of the most secure jobs around,” Hay said. “I had a pension. I had medical. I was making a good salary.”

But the lessons learned on the fire department were invaluable.

“Facing life-and-death situations every day really makes you appreciate what people go through,” Hay said. “It’s not like TV where there’s a happy ending every time. I think when you’re trying to save a young child you’ve just pulled from a pool and isn’t going to make it, it puts hockey in a different perspective.

“Hockey is a little different from saving lives.”

With hockey firmly planted in its proper spot on Hay’s list of priorities, he thrived as the Kamloops coach, taking the Blazers to Memorial Cup victories in 1994 and 1995. He also coached Team Canada to the World Junior Championship in 1995.

The NHL was the next step and Hay took it gladly, accepting a job as Page’s assistant in Calgary. Phoenix was the next stop, his first NHL head coaching position.

Yes, Hay was moving up quickly. But in hindsight, he figures those were logical moves to make.

“With the success we had [in Kamloops and with the Canadian junior team], it wasn’t that big a deal,” Hay said. “There were a lot of things that happened in a short span.”

Hay led the Coyotes to a 38-37-7 record and a playoff showdown with the Ducks in the Western Conference quarterfinals. The Ducks won the series in seven games, proving to be slightly more resilient and a tad luckier.

A week later, Coyote General Manager Bobby Smith fired Hay because he wanted to hire his own guy. Hay had been hired by former GM John Paddock. It was as unpopular a move in Phoenix as the Ducks’ decision to let Ron Wilson go was in Southern California.

Hay refused to discuss his firing and wasn’t eager to rehash an emotional, violent series against the Ducks either.

“There were a lot of things happening, but it was a good series,” Hay said. “I think the biggest thing about the Ducks was they played as a team. They relied on key players and played their roles well. It says a lot about their character guys.”

Conventional wisdom holds that Hay got a raw deal in Phoenix and some day soon will be a head coach in the NHL again. For the moment, he’s simply happy working with two old friends in Kyle and Page.

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Kyle never played a minute as a pro, moving into the coaching ranks at his alma mater of Northern Michigan after wrapping up his playing career.

He spent 10 seasons as an assistant at Northern Michigan, helping the Wildcats win the 1991 NCAA Division I championship. It seemed like a long stay in hindsight, particularly given Kyle’s rapid rise to the NHL.

But there was a reason: Cancer.

He had bone cancer first, losing a rib in 1985. Eighteen months later, the cancer returned in his lung. Chemotherapy helped Kyle whip the cancer into submission. He has been clean for eight years now.

Kyle stayed at Northern Michigan because the support system was so strong. He rarely pursued coaching jobs elsewhere because of concerns over insurance and other medical issues.

It was a difficult period, but Kyle figured it afforded him a chance to hone his coaching skills. Prompted by Duck General Manager Jack Ferreira, who also is involved with USA Hockey, Kyle began coaching the 1992 U.S. junior team. Ferreira encouraged Kyle to take a job coaching the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL.

Kyle met Hay and the two bonded quickly. They were kindred spirits--each aiming for the NHL after taking their time to get started. Their friendship helped to ease the transition from the college game for Kyle.

“It’s different at the lower levels of hockey,” Kyle said. “You can really identify the guys who want to move up the ladder. They have the same values you do. Their teams play the same way. [Hay] had been an assistant in the league and he was good to me, really accepted me.”

Hay asked for Kyle’s advice on coaching in the World Junior Championships, which produced a marathon bull session that cemented their friendship.

“We talked five or six hours about it,” Kyle remembers.

Ferreira offered Kyle a job coaching the Ducks’ top minor-league affiliate and the race to the NHL began. After one season in San Diego and another in Baltimore, Kyle joined Wilson’s staff in Anaheim.

Last season’s experience was bittersweet in many ways, but Kyle won’t discuss it in detail. He remains close to Wilson and their wives are good friends. Kyle prefers to focus on the upcoming season.

“We’re a real united staff now,” he said. “It’s a good staff, a strong staff. In my opinion, Don Hay should be a head coach in the NHL right now. Pierre’s a real progressive hockey mind.”