Among those that have interviewed for the job were former head coaches Ron Wilson, Marc Crawford and Doug MacLean, current assistant coaches Bill Peters (though he agreed to coach the Hurricanes earlier today), Tom Renney, as well as former Penguin and current Rangers coach Ulf Samuelsson. The Pens attempted to interview current LA Kings assistant John Stevens but were denied.
I personally would love to see Ulf Samuelsson as the Pens next head coach. He knows the organization. He knows the city. And he knows a thing or two about grit and character, being maybe one of the grittiest (if not verging on dirty) players to play for the Penguins in their history. There have also been discussions about former Penguin Rick Toccett joining the coaching staff as well as former Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour. A staff of Samuelsson, Toccett and Brind'Amour would be aces in my book.
Well that's all sunshine and lollipops and fun to think about, but according to reports within the last hour are that the front runner, and maybe announced as soon as tomorrow, is Willie Desjardins. Desjardins just wrapped up his season as the head coach of the Texas Stars Monday night by winning the Calder Cup. According to several tweets he is the choice of Rutherford (or I am believing more the choice of David Morehouse). The tweets I have seen include the following:
"Willie Desjardins told his players, associates this afternoon he was heading to Pittsburgh to become Penguins coach. Contract not finalized." -via Insidepghsports on Twitter @insidepghsports
"It's believed Willie Desjardins has made his way to Pittsburgh. He's the frontrunner for the coaching job but a deal needs to be finalized." -via Dreger Twitter @DarrenDreger
As of this exact moment, the Pittsburgh Penguins still do NOT have a coach. But that could change very very soon. Be sure to check back for a write up on whoever is named coach as soon as an announcement is made.
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