Time of the Year for Coaches to Watch Their Back

With the NHL’s Winter Olympic Games break two days away, expect struggling teams to take a closer look at their coaching before play resumes Feb. 26.

Thanks to the success New Jersey General Manager Lou Lamoriello had two years ago when he fired Robbie Ftorek late in the season and the Devils responded by winning the Stanley Cup under Larry Robinson, it has become more acceptable for GMs to make 11th-hour coaching changes.

It wasn’t a surprise when Pittsburgh got rid of Ivan Hlinka and Florida canned Duane Sutter earlier in the season, but eyebrows were raised after Ken Hitchcock and Robinson, coaches who have won two of the last three Stanley Cups, were fired last month.

Dallas terminated Hitchcock after his players seemed to tune him out for good and Robinson was let go by Lamoriello for almost the same reason.

“I know the focus is that if a coach has been there for a couple of years and for whatever reason, the team is not playing to expectations of the owner or the general manager ... “ said Mighty Duck Coach Bryan Murray, the sixth winningest coach in NHL history. “The coach is blamed rather than have the players read a riot act.”

Word around the league has Washington’s Ron Wilson as the coach most likely to get the boot next.

Washington General Manager George McPhee and owner Ted Leonsis have stuck behind Wilson all season but they can’t be pleased with the Capitals’ play this season. Despite adding Jaromir Jagr during the off-season to go along with sniper Peter Bondra and goaltender Olaf Kolzig, Washington is fading fast in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Carolina has a comfortable lead over the Capitals in the Southeast Division and Wilson is starting to feel the heat.

“All the things that become a loser’s mentality is us right now,” Wilson said earlier this month. “If the players want to slough off all the responsibility on me, I’ll take it. But you’re a professional athlete, you’re paid to perform, you’re paid to compete hard.”

Wilson, who coached the Ducks from 1993-1997, led Washington to the Stanley Cup finals in his first season (1997-98), but hasn’t advanced past the first round of the playoffs since.

Only Detroit’s Scotty Bowman (ninth season), Carolina’s Paul Maurice (seventh), Ottawa’s Jacques Martin (seventh) and St. Louis’ Joel Quenneville (sixth) have been with their teams longer than Wilson.

If Wilson is fired, he’ll become the latest victim of a disturbing development around the league, according to Murray.

“I hope it’s not a new trend because there are some good people that get let go,” Murray said. “I was disappointed that both Ken and Larry were let go because they’ve won Cups and that is the ultimate goal. To see them released from top-notch organizations is not a good sign.

“I know New Jersey and Dallas were both down a little bit this season but to me, that’s a shared responsibility. The leadership within the room is supposed to step up to the plate once in a while. But that seems to be the shock therapy that we’re using around the league.”

Brother vs. Brother

Toronto’s Robert Reichel will compete for the Czech Republic in the Olympics and thanks to Germany’s advancement into the group of eight, Reichel will go up against his brother, Martin.

It will be the second time in Olympic history that brothers have competed against each other in hockey. The other time was in 1960 at Squaw Valley when Frantisek Pikal from the Czech Republic played against brother Zdenek Pikal, who competed for Australia.

“It’s not the first time I’ve played against him,” said Robert, who is playing in his 11th NHL season after spending two years in the Czech Republic playing for Litvinov. “I played at the World Championships in 1996 against him, and 1997 too. I’ve played him a few times. Usually, we just talk after the game. Otherwise, I’m concentrating on my game and hopefully my team.”

Martin Reichel has been living in Germany since 1980 and hasn’t played for the Czech Republic in international competition.

Line Shifts

Longtime NHL referee Paul Stewart reportedly plans to retire next season after 19 seasons. Stewart, who survived colon cancer in 1998, wants to spend more time with his family and would like to finish working a Boston-Montreal game, the same two teams who played in his first NHL game....

Before the season began, not too many people thought the Phoenix Coyotes would still be in the playoff picture at the Olympic break. But Coach Bob Francis has done a formidable job keeping the Coyotes’ postseason dreams alive.

Francis has not been afraid to make changes and his latest decision to shake up his lines, which included the teaming of Ladislav Nagy and Daymond Langkow, has resulted in nine goals in the Coyotes’ last two games....

The most inspirational story in the league took a positive turn recently when Saku Koivu said the stomach cancer that has sidelined him all season is in full remission and he hopes to rejoin the Montreal Canadiens in April.

Team doctor David Mulder said there were no traces of cancer but that Koivu has to be monitored closely for the disease for the next five years. Mulder doesn’t think that Koivu could play this season but said the player has “proved us wrong in every case” during his recovery and added “nothing’s impossible.”

Koivu, who underwent chemotherapy to battle non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, said he will try to work out six times a week in his comeback attempt....

The once high-flying Edmonton Oilers have crashed back to Earth and there are reports out of Canada that all but five players are available. Goaltender Tommy Salo, left winger Ryan Smyth, center Mike Comrie, defenseman Eric Brewer and forward Georges Laraque are the only untouchables. Soon to be restricted free agent Anson Carter would be a great pickup for the Kings, who finally have some depth to work with.

Edmonton’s Comrie noticed an illegal curve on one of the sticks used by Atlanta rookie Ilya Kovalchuk at the NHL’s YoungStars game at Staples Center. Oiler Coach Craig MacTavish informed a referee of the infraction in a recent game between the teams. After Kovalchuk spent two minutes in the penalty box for playing with an illegal stick, he returned to the ice with a legal stick and scored a goal.