Two losing seasons and a firing later, it’s easy to forget that Willie Desjardins was one of the most highly-coveted coaches back in 2014. He was coming off an Calder Cup Trophy with the Texas Stars and was just a few years removed from coaching Team Canada to gold and silver medals at the World Junior Championships, one as an assistant and one as head coach.
And yet, when Desjardins was announced as the head coach for Team Canada at the 2018 Olympics, it was easy to forget his past accomplishments based on a few bad seasons with the Vancouver Canucks.
Picking a coach for the 2018 Olympics can’t have been easy, particularly with “not having an NHL job” being a key criteria. In that regard, Desjardins fit the bill. But his coaching experience with Canada’s junior team and success at the AHL level helped his case.
Let’s be honest: Desjardins has done well with AHL players in the past and, in Vancouver, seemed to frequently prefer them to the NHL players on his roster. In Pyeongchang, he’ll have some of the best AHL players in the world, as well as some of the top Canadian players currently plying their trade in Europe.
The team could include several former Canucks, like Mason Raymond, Derek Roy, Linden Vey, and Andrew Ebbett, which should give you some idea of the level of competition you can expect next February.
Desjardins likely could have had a job as an assistant coach in the NHL, but this is an excellent opportunity for him: coaxing a strong performance out what looks to be a ramshackle Canadian team could get his name back in the mix for NHL head coaching jobs.
THat’s not the way he’s looking at it, however, as he seems to be taken with the romantic, patriotic ideals of representing your country: “I’ve been able to see our flag go through the rink, and I’ll never forget when I first saw it. To stand on the blue line and hear our anthem. It just gives you chills. Canada is a such a great nation, and the Olympics are the biggest sporting event.”
Certainly, going from Mike Babcock to Willie Desjardins is a bit of shock, but the same can be said for going from Sidney Crosby to Brandon Kozun.
