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Nieuwendyk to meet with Leafs about position; team close to signing assistant coaches


2008-07-06 00:52:18

Former NHLer Joe Nieuwendyk will meet with Toronto interim GM Cliff Fletcher Sunday to discuss a possible front-office position.

"We'll be talking to (Nieuwendyk) next week," Fletcher is quoted as saying in the Waterloo Region Record.

The Leafs first attempted to interview Nieuwendyk last month, but were denied permission by the Panthers because he was under contract. Nieuwendyk’s contract with Florida expired June 30.

Nieuwendyk, who retired in 2006, scored 564 goals and 1,126 points in 1,257 career NHL games. He won Stanley Cups with three different teams, the Calgary Flames, Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils.

Fletcher is also quoted in the Record as saying he is close to signing two members of head coach Ron Wilson’s staff from San Jose, Tim Hunter and Rob Zettler, to be assistants in Toronto.

“We have verbal deals with both,” Fletcher said. “We're trying to get the proper language in the contracts sorted out to everyone's liking, but there are no hitches there.”

COMMENTS (8)

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JamesS Posted
(2009-04-30 06:33:32)



Another stroke of genius moves by the team thatr brought us such terrific moves as tuka Rask for andrew Raycroft, or Kubina, Mccabe, for 40 million over the next 4 years with no-trade clauses along the way. Why would you wanna jeperdize breaking up the great winning combination that ron wilson had in san Jose, All they did was choke their way out of stanley cup finals consideration every year. Just because you were a good player doesn't mean you can coach. Neiwendyck should go be an associate coach on a good team or their minor league affiliate to learn the ropes, not get off with a sinking ship like the leafs
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Jim Jam Posted
(2009-04-30 06:33:09)



Hey nor cal did you even go to school because your comment looks like a first-grader typed it out. Maybe you are one, because you don't seem to know much about hockey either. Would a southern California candy ass lead a underrated team to the finals (Washington) and then coach a team to multiple seasons of having the best record only to have a bunch of playoff chokers on the team? I didn't think so. As well Joe Niewendyk would be a rare class-act in Maple Leaf manangement if he did join them. I say they should axe their assistant GM and name Joe their assistant GM. Let him gain experience in the upper ranks for a few years and then name him the GM after a few seasons with experience. I bet the leafs would get good in a hurry if that was their plan.
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Frank Posted
(2009-04-30 06:33:03)



With Nieuwendyk in the mix, the Leafs should win the Stanley Cup for sure. Maybe if we bring in Dan Daoust and Todd Gill, we can win it even sooner.
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nor cal Posted
(2009-04-30 06:33:02)



hey leaf fans hope youre not into forecheking and stuff like that cause ron wilson gona tell all his players that there the best and to get creative at the blue line i think he calls it a puck control system what a joke. and when you guys lose he'll say i think we played well we just didint get tha bounces,barf he's definitly a southern california candy ass...... he's no daryl sutter
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JayR Posted
(2009-04-30 06:33:01)



Who in their right mind would want to work for this pathetic franchise????
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Dave Posted
(2009-04-30 06:33:01)



Joe is from Oshawa and has a good relationship with Fletcher from their Flames days. He's a class act and Leaf fans should see this as a step in the right direction if they can work out a deal. I'm also thinking they should have an award for "Player Agent of the Year". My vote goes to whoever signed Jeff Finger!
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vinny Posted
(2009-04-30 06:32:56)



Neilw...why would they want to sign a centre...wouldnt that possibly hurt their tradition of losing?? hahahaha....Leaf fans really deserve much better...than this joke of a franchise has given us all of these years. The unions have helped ruin hockey...and Bettman and all of his clowns are also helping...we sure areant gonna see another Hockey team close to toronto anytime soon. Too bad Ballsie cant buy any team and move them to Hamilton...that would hurt the leafs television revenue.... I dont think any canadian team will win the championship in the near future...and the League wants it like that.
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neilw Posted
(2009-04-30 06:32:55)



Oh. When I saw the Nieuwendyk headline I thought that the Leafs had convinced him to come out retirement to centre their third line....or their second line...or their first line.
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