Sean Burke, Canada's general manager for the upcoming Spengler Cup tournament, approached Wayne Gretzky about guiding the team in December.
"It was a nice surprise when Sean called," Gretzky told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun on Tuesday. "I thanked him. I was excited about it. Team Canada is pretty special. I think the Spengler Cup is the oldest tournament that we know of. It's a pretty nice honor. I told him I needed some time (to sort things out). The only problem for me is that it's over Christmastime. It's a tough decision to make."
"So, we're talking about it and debating it," he added. "But it's a great honor that he reached out."
The hockey legend has never coached Team Canada but represented his country numerous times. He also built the Canadian squad that won Olympic gold in 2002, as well as the Canadian team that won the World Cup of Hockey in 2004.
Gretzky served as Arizona Coyotes bench boss from 2005 to 2009. The club went 143-161-24 during that time before he stepped down ahead of the 2009-10 campaign.
More recently, he coached the Metropolitan Division All-Stars, including Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, to victory in the three-on-three format at the 2017 festivities in Los Angeles.
The 2019 Spengler Cup will take place from Dec. 26 to 31 in Davos, Switzerland.
Don Cherry isn't happy with former Hockey Night in Canada partner Ron MacLean.
MacLean publicly apologized Sunday for Cherry's offensive comments from the night prior.
Cherry, who was fired by Sportsnet on Monday, said MacLean "buried" him with his response.
"Very disappointing," Cherry told Global News on Tuesday. "We're still friends, but I was very disappointed in the way he handled it. I don't want to go and condemn him or anything like that, but I was very disappointed."
MacLean initially apologized on Twitter for Cherry's remarks and followed that by issuing a second apology during Sunday's broadcast, calling the comments "hurtful," "discriminatory," and "flat-out wrong." MacLean admitted he "sat there, did not catch it, (and) did not respond."
Cherry's comments came just days before Canada's recognition of Remembrance Day.
"You people that come here, you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple of bucks for poppies or something like that," he said.
Cherry, who refused to accept any wrongdoing Monday after being dismissed by the network, said he intended to apologize on the next edition of "Coach's Corner."
"I was ready to apologize," he said Tuesday, according to Global News' Morganne Campbell and Andrew Russell. "I was gonna put out a tweet, or whatever they do, saying I was wrong and I think it could have smoothed over pretty good. But that's the way they wanted it and that's the way it goes."
The 85-year-old admitted he should have chosen his language more carefully.
"I think the closest I'll come to apologizing is I wish I had used different words," he said. "I should have said 'everybody.' If I had to do it over again, I would have said 'everybody.'"
Cherry has worked as a broadcaster for nearly 40 years following a career as an NHL player and head coach.
Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri provided a unique perspective following the aftermath of Don Cherry's dismissal from Sportsnet on Monday for making offensive comments about Canadian immigrants.
"(Cherry) has been there for so long, it's going to be hard to see (Hockey Night in Canada) without him. That's definitely unfortunate," Kadri told the Denver Post's Kyle Fredrickson. "I know Grapes and I don't think it came across like everyone is making it sound. I think with what he said, it was maybe just said incorrectly. People maybe took it out of context a little bit. I know Grapes is a great person and am sad to see him go."
NEW — Nazem Kadri, of proud Lebanese descent, reacts to Don Cherry’s firing for controversial remarks about immigrants in Canada: “People maybe took it out of context a little bit.” (more: https://t.co/rfob09YzSI) pic.twitter.com/F7DumMxC6J
Cherry, a longtime supporter of the Canadian troops, went on a rant during Saturday's edition of "Coach's Corner" about the country's immigrants not wearing poppies to honor Canada's veterans.
"You people that come here, you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple of bucks for poppies or something like that," Cherry said on Hockey Night in Canada. He didn't apologize for his comments in the days following, adding "I know what I said and I meant it."
Other NHLers took a different stance than Kadri, including Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat, who said Cherry's comments have "no place" in hockey.
Kadri has a bit of a history with Cherry, though. As a 22-year-old with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he appeared on-air alongside Cherry and Ron MacLean in 2013. Cherry famously kissed Kadri on the cheek, just as he did to Doug Gilmour 20 years earlier.
Kadri's father immigrated to Canada with his parents in the 1960s.
"The sport brings everyone together with the team values and the work ethic," Kadri said. "It taught me a lot about those two things. Now, I go watch my little cousins play in their youth development programs and there are a variety of ethnicities on their team. When I was growing up, I was kind of the only one. It’s good to see now."
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The post-win ritual always began with a quick exchange of text messages between pranksters. Matthew Ford, the veteran captain of the Grand Rapids Griffins, would smirk to himself in the visitors' dressing room as a question beamed from his iPhone.
"Who should we pick on?" video coach Bill LeRoy would text following victories on the road.
After tapping out a short response, Ford and the rest of the AHL squad - players, coaches, staffers - would board the team bus and settle in for the long ride. The next stop might be another minor-league outpost. It might be home. No matter the destination, LeRoy had the stage.
"We'd start pulling out," Griffins head coach Ben Simon recalled, "and Billy would scream at the top of his lungs, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop the bus! Stop the bus!'
"The bus driver would be in shock and be like, 'What's wrong?' And one of the players would be like, 'What's wrong, Billy?!'" Then, it was time for LeRoy to ask the player that Ford had chosen: "Hey, did we remember to pack the two points?"
The punchline hit every time, with the player tabbed to "pack" those cherished standings points - a distinction considered a badge of honor - chuckling along too. "The whole bus," forward Dominic Turgeon said, "would go wild."
Bill LeRoy at his Van Andel Arena workstation Mark Newman / Grand Rapids Griffins
Over the past 11 days, reminiscing about that postgame bus ritual and other memories of the quirky LeRoy has helped members of the organization cope with the loss of someone largely unknown to the public but immensely valuable to the Griffins' inner circle.
LeRoy, video coach for the Detroit Red Wings' top affiliate since 2001, died on Nov. 1. The 56-year-old passed away in his Winnipeg hotel room ahead of the Griffins' weekend set against the Manitoba Moose. The cause of death has yet to be determined, though foul play has been ruled out. A diabetic, LeRoy had battled serious health issues for several years.
"Nothing can prepare you for this type of thing," general manager Ryan Martin said. Turgeon spoke for Griffins players, current and former, when he said: "He was family to us."
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Bill LeRoy was never much of a hockey player. His brother, Tim, said a local men's league was the height of Bill's on-ice pursuits. He instead excelled at baseball, playing collegiately.
LeRoy also wasn't a typical hockey coach. Sure, he bore the title of "video coach" for 36 seasons - 18 with the IHL's Kalamazoo Wings and then 18 with the Griffins - but he was more of a video savant than a traditional coach, working efficiently behind the scenes. He kept a low profile.
"There were days you didn't even know he was there," said legendary coach Ken Hitchcock, who spent three years in Kalamazoo in the mid-1990s.
This cloak of relative anonymity allowed LeRoy to bring a fresh perspective to meetings. By nature, head coaches live almost exclusively in the moment, focused on the next game or practice. The guy manning a laptop in the bowels of the arena offered an alternative viewpoint.
"Billy always had his opinions, but we had to ask him. He always had his ears open," said Todd Nelson, the head coach who led Grand Rapids to its AHL title in 2017.
Todd Nelson (left) and Ben Simon behind the bench Getty Images
From age 20 to 56, LeRoy worked under 18 head coaches. Half of them - Hitchcock, Nelson, Curt Fraser, Kevin Constantine, Jim Playfair, Guy Charron, Claude Noel, Bruce Cassidy, and Jeff Blashill - graduated to the NHL. Grand Rapids is a model AHL club known for developing and nurturing both coaches and future Red Wings. The odd couple of LeRoy and equipment manager Brad Thompson became the through-line during countless personnel changeovers.
"He was always off my left shoulder. We're always together. And now, I'm a one-man wolf pack," Thompson said. "Even at the airport on the way home (from Winnipeg), I kept looking back. I'm always like, 'Billy, c'mon. Let's go, man! We've got to get going!' That was my job, to get him from Point A to Point B for 20 years."
LeRoy was "a different bird," as former Griffins player Daniel Cleary put it, and there's no shortage of stories to back up the claim. Thompson remembers a young LeRoy asking him for black spray paint on multiple occasions so he could add a shine to his shoes ahead of games. LeRoy's all-time practical joke involved leaving a dead fish in a hot hotel bed to get even with a staffer. "Got him," he dryly told Thompson after the deed was done.
Then there's the time a staffer caught LeRoy ironing his necktie with a coffee pot moments before a road game. "Billy leaned over, put his tie on the table, and put the coffee thing on his tie to iron it out," said Cleary, who's currently a development coach for the Red Wings. "And he wasn't doing it to be funny. That's him. He's just like, 'What are you looking at? I'm trying to iron my tie. What's your problem?' That's him." A grainy image of the act is part of Griffins lore.
Normally, hockey video coaches aspire to move up the ranks, with the ultimate goal of one day becoming a head coach. LeRoy had no such aspirations. "Bill had no interest in anyone else's job," Simon said with a laugh. "None. He came in and he was happy with what he did. He took pride in what he did. And he was good at what he did. This is what he loved to do."
LeRoy was best known for his meticulous work cutting live clips for the coaching staff to watch during periods. He also tracked faceoffs, scoring chances, and time on ice. "You don't realize what you have until it's gone," Simon said of LeRoy's impact on his job.
Brian Lashoff appeared in his first game with the Griffins when he was 18. Now 29, the defenseman is a trusted mentor for young players as Detroit undergoes a significant rebuild. LeRoy was there from Day 1 of Lashoff's tenure and, along with unsung heroes like Thompson, helped create a middle ground between the players and the coaching staff. Bonds grew organically.
"When we won a couple of (Calder) Cups with him, the look on his face is something you'll always remember," Lashoff said, choking up over the memories of 2013 and 2017. "The ovation the guys gave him when he got the Cup at the end, it showed how much he meant to us."
From conversations with more than a dozen of LeRoy's loved ones and colleagues, an overwhelming theme emerges: He was deeply satisfied with living an uncomplicated life. The man cared about his 21-year-old twin children, Tyler and Becca; his parents and brother; his girlfriend, Tami; his hockey team; and that's about it. "My brother," Tim LeRoy said, "was a simple person."
LeRoy with former assistant equipment manager Andrew Stegehuis Grand Rapids Griffins
Selfless, too. A few years ago, after the Griffins had bowed out of the playoffs, Martin received a handwritten note from Bill LeRoy. The letter to the GM asked if it would be OK if LeRoy donated his playoff bonus to Simon, who at the time was earning only a small stipend as the newest assistant.
"He knew how much Ben meant to the team, how many hours he had put in, and I just thought it was an unbelievable gesture," Martin said. "I called him up personally, told him, 'That bonus was meant for you. But I appreciate that you recognize what Ben's done.' It showed his character."
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A couple of weeks before he died, LeRoy purchased Joe Hicketts' fantasy football team. The Griffins were on the road in Texas when the video coach and defenseman completed the transaction. Almost immediately, the other players in the league pounced, sending LeRoy wild trade proposals.
He didn't bite, but the non-hockey banter benefited everyone. It's the kind of thing that bonds co-workers into family. And then, one Friday in Manitoba, he vanished from their lives.
"Initially, it was just such a shock," forward Matt Puempel said. "You see this person, you have a relationship with them, and you saw them 10 hours earlier or 12 hours earlier. They're on the trip with you, in the same hotel only a few floors apart, and then you hear about this tragedy."
The Griffins are still dealing with the loss and trying to move forward as they await funeral details. Puempel, who made a habit of catching up with LeRoy while coaches held penalty kill sessions with teammates, now sits alone with his thoughts. Ford isn't used to walking by the coaches' room at Van Andel Arena and seeing LeRoy's empty desk and chair. Turgeon misses joking around with LeRoy, a stats guy, about his faceoff numbers.
There are no immediate plans to fill LeRoy's role. "We are going to take some time to let things settle down," Simon said. "Then we will evaluate and see what our needs as a staff are."
Dominic Turgeon wearing 'BL' helmet sticker Sam Iannamico / Grand Rapids Griffins
Tim LeRoy, who's the equipment manager for the Columbus Blue Jackets, says his brother suffered from various health issues relating to diabetes. Without complaining, he endured kidney and pancreas transplants, a heart surgery, and multiple procedures on his eyes and feet.
Through it all, the Griffins remained a part of his life. A part of his being.
With the LeRoy family in attendance this past Friday, the Griffins honored Bill and then beat the Toronto Marlies 4-1. Players donned "BL" helmet stickers while staffers wore matching patches on their jackets. The 7,000-plus inside Van Andel Arena paused for a moment of silence before puck drop.
"We miss you, Billy," PA announcer Eric Zane said. "But don't worry, we'll always remember to pack the two points."
Hyman suffered a torn ACL in Game 4 of the club's first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins this past spring. He stayed in the lineup for the remainder of the seven-game series, unaware he had suffered the major knee injury.
Hyman was given a six-month recovery timetable after undergoing surgery on April 29.
The 27-year-old set career highs with 21 goals and 41 points in 71 games last season. He's expected to take his familiar spot at left wing alongside John Tavares, with Kasperi Kapanen likely rounding out the line while Mitch Marner remains sidelined with an ankle injury.
Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat agrees with Sportsnet's decision to fire Don Cherry after the longtime host of "Coach's Corner" went on a divisive rant about immigrants not wearing poppies during his most recent segment on Saturday.
"He's been in the game for a long time and he's been around, but at the same time hockey's supposed to bring people together and there's no place for stuff like that," Horvat said, according to CBC's Eva Uguen-Csenge.
"I think it's the right decision to be made."
Cherry was let go on Monday after intense backlash from his comments lit up social media.
"You people that come here, you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple of bucks for poppies or something like that," Cherry said on Saturday.
After being axed from the job Cherry held since 1981, he doubled down rather than apologizing, saying "I know what I said and I meant it."
Kaskisuo is slated to fill in the backup role behind starter Frederik Andersen after Michael Hutchinson was placed on waivers Monday. The 26-year-old Finland native is 6-1-1 in eight starts with the Marlies this season with a .928 save percentage. He could make his first NHL start as early as Saturday as Toronto travels to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins in the second half of a back-to-back.
Petan was waived by the Leafs last week but went unclaimed. He returns to the big club in the wake of the recent injury to Mitch Marner, who is sidelined for at least four weeks with an ankle injury.
The 24-year-old has appeared in five games for the Maple Leafs in 2019-20, notching one assist. Petan's also registered seven points in three contests in the AHL this season.
