You’d think that once the new owners of the Junior A Crushers assumed control of the team on April 1, they’d at least have given four-year coach Doug Doull the courtesy of a phone call.
Crickets, though (perhaps they were out of cell phone range, or busy).
Instead of twisting in the wind, wondering about his coaching future, Doull took control of his own destiny and resigned this past weekend. There’ll be no shortage of coaching opportunities for Doull: he’s a proven coach and knows a lot of people in the game.
And now the Crushers face the unenviable task of attracting not only a credible bench boss, but one who’s also willing to live with the idea that the two new owners both have sons playing on the team.
Oh, it could get complicated, alright. It doesn’t have to, but it could.
While co-owner Scott Burden offered assurances in a January interview that neither he or Bruce Ryan would meddle when it comes to roster decisions, that’s easier said than done. When you get yourself a new toy, you want to play with it; you don’t let the other kids play with it before you do, and maybe you keep it all to yourself, and don’t let others play with it at all.
PLAYING NICE
With all that being said, it’s beneath Pictou County to be unwelcoming – for now – so let’s not forget that the new owners might have saved the Crushers from leaving Pictou County.
The team wouldn’t have been sold in the first place if they were even close to making any money, and it’s possible that, had new ownership not bellied up to the bar, the Crushers would have been in a race with the St. Stephen Aces to see who could get to Fredericton first (the Aces recently announced their move to the New Brunswick capital).
The new owners deserve a chance to prove themselves.
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I see some Montreal Canadiens’ fans are chirping about the Maple Leafs on social media. They should sit in the corner and remain quiet, lest we take a long look at the state of their team’s future. Which we would, if we cared.
• Last September, former Leafs general manager Brian Burke was at the Pictou County Wellness Centre (for reasons that have never been clearly established) and looked me right in the eye.
“Jake Gardiner can play on my team anytime,” said Burke, who drafted Gardiner in 2008.
Well, good old Jake was at it again on April 23, giving the puck away, choking in big games, doing his part in another Game 7 loss in the playoffs.
But I try to look on the bright side in such instances: he’ll be a free agent this summer, so that will be the last time he ever wears a Leafs jersey.
So long, Jake, and no thanks for the memories.
Non-Sports Thought of the Week:
• Graffiti can be interesting, when it’s colourful and clever and not splashed on the property of someone who doesn’t want it there.
In New Glasgow, there’s graffiti under the little train bridge that hangs over Dalhousie Street – It adds colour to the drabness of steel and asphalt.
When the person (charged with 28 counts of mischief) who allegedly has been spray-painting the word ‘evol’ everywhere tagged the beautiful painting on the side of the building at the bottom of MacLean Street, he lost my vote.
Kevin Adshade is a writer with The News. His column appears each week.
