Alles Andere » 46-year-old into the most pressure-packed job

MONTREAL — Not many get a second chance at a job theyve turned down once before, but Hockey Canada officials felt Benoit Groulx earned it.And theyve put the 46-year-old into the most pressure-packed job in all of junior hockey — head coach of Canadas team at a world junior championship to be played on home ice in Montreal and Toronto.Groulx, the dome-topped coach of the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, was named as national junior coach in 2009 only to walk away when an offer came to guide the Florida Panthers farm team, the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League.It wasnt a missed opportunity, it was just the wrong timing, Groulx said this week. I was (coaching) in juniors for seven or eight years and I had this chance from (Panthers ex-general manager) Jacques Martin in Florida and for me, it was just natural to move up the ladder and try that.Now I feel Im privileged to be coach of this team because you dont get that second chance often in your career. When I came back from Rochester, I thought Id like to have a shot at this team again. But I know there are phenomenal coaches in junior hockey, and thats why I feel privileged to have a second chance.His return began a year ago when he was named as an assistant to head coach Brent Sutter for the world junior championship in Malmo, Sweden, where Canadas second-youngest team ever finished out of the medals in fourth place.This years squad has seven returning players, including the gifted 17-year-old Connor McDavid, and captain Curtis Lazar, who was playing in the NHL until last week when he was loaned for the tournament by the Ottawa Senators.It is an older team with more skill up front than a year ago. Going without a medal, as Canada has done the last two years, is out of the question. For fans and hockey officials, the real task is to end a five-year gold medal drought.Groulx understands the pressure, but his message has been to embrace it and thrive off it.We want to play a fast game. Fast on the forecheck, fast with the puck, fast at getting the puck back, he said. Were working on it.You can tell that its not a habit yet on our team, but were showing video to our guys, were talking to them on the ice. Were trying to have it in our drills so our guys can integrate that into their style and have more cohesion on the ice.Groulx is said to be a tough, no-nonsense coach, but also one who excels at making in-game decisions from the bench.Hes been very direct with us, said goalie Zach Fucale. Very honest every time. Hell always tell us the truth, if its at a practice or a game. He really wants us to be at our best.Aside from endorsing Canadian-style, forechecking hockey, Groulx has international experience to enhance his qualifications for the job.As a player, he was a scoring centre for the defunct Granby Bisons of the QMJHL and then learned much about the European game playing 11 years of pro hockey in France.He returned in 2000 and spent a year as assistant coach of the Shawinigan Cataractes before landing the head coaching job with the Hull (now Gatineau) Olympiques. His teams won championships in 2003, 2004 and 2008. He was the QMJHL coach of the year in 2004.He also served as assistant to Dave Cameron on a world champion Canadian under-18 squad in 2004, and was an assistant to Sutter for Canadas 7-0-1 dominance of Russia in the 2007 junior Super Series.Groulx was a natural for the head coach position for the 2009 world juniors in Ottawa, but the chance to get on the ladder toward an NHL coaching job proved more attractive.His two years in Rochester were quiet. He missed the playoffs the first year and made them the second. Then Ted Nolan was named vice-president of hockey operations. The two didnt see eye-to-eye and Groulx opted to leave with a year left on his contract and return to Gatineau, his hometown.I learned that when youre going to pro hockey, youre hired by a group of people, and when that group is not there anymore, philosophies change and either youre part of it or you dont fit in, he said. I just thought it was not a good fit and I decided to go back to junior hockey.Also, I had a young kid at home (son Benoit-Olivier, now a promising bantam player) and it was difficult for me to be away from him. The best thing was to go back to junior. If it would have been somewhere (other than Gatineau), I probably would have stayed one more year in Rochester, but having the chance to come back home made the decision easy.It took a few years to get back in the world junior picture, but Hockey Canadas management team decided he deserved another look.When he turned it down, at the time it was disappointing, said Scott Salmond, Hockey Canadas vice-president for national teams. But at the end of the day, hes a good coach.Hes been back in the league and proved himself again, so we welcomed him back last year and this year hes the head coach.Theres still a good chance that Groulx will end up as an NHL coach, but he doesnt want to talk about that with the world juniors about to begin on Boxing Day.Right now my focus is not there at all, he said. Im enjoying this tournament.My goal was to come here, put the best team together, work at it every day and enjoy the process. After this, Im going back to Gatineau and were going to have to get our team better and try to have a long run in the playoffs. I dont look further than that. Air Max Cheap Sale .Y. -- A month ago, Syracuse was unbeaten, ranked No. Nike Air Max Mens Sale . Lauzon rushed for 42 yards on 15 carries for the Vert et Or (2-3) while quarterback Jeremi Roch completed 19-of-32 passes for 251 yards and one interception. Alexandre Aube scored the other touchdown for Sherbrooke. http://www.airmaxtrainerswholesale.com/. -- Thirty years ago, the Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets 186-184 in triple overtime, a game that remains the highest scoring in NBA history. Cheap Nike Air Max Shoes . The team of Lars Nelson, Daniel Richardsson, Johan Olsson, and anchor Marcus Hellner cruised to victory in the 4x10 km event, winning in a time of one hour, 28 minutes, and 42. Air Max 2018 . Louis Cardinals are one of Major League Baseballs model franchises. SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Jim Harbaugh pirouetted in frustration following a personal foul on Dan Skuta. He got hit with his own unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing following a catch by Vernon Davis that went to review before being ruled a touchdown. And that was just last Sunday. Harbaugh has been at his emotional best -- or, to some, worst -- with his cartoon-like faces and quirky sideline antics in leading San Francisco back to the NFC championship game for the third time in as many years since taking over as 49ers head coach in January 2011. On Davis TD during Sundays 23-10 win at Carolina, Harbaugh ran well onto the field during the play. "I think Harbaugh gets away with murder myself," former Seahawks coach and ex-49ers assistant Mike Holmgren said. "If I ever did that it would be a penalty." Harbaugh should be as charged up as ever come Sunday, when he faces off once more against the rival Seattle Seahawks in an NFC championship game featuring that familiar coaching sideshow with Pete Carroll. This time, theres a Super Bowl berth on the line. But if you ask Harbaugh, "Whats your deal?" is so five years ago. Enough already, he insists, keep it about the players. "That might have been something four or five years ago," Harbaugh said. "But, I havent seen it as of late. And, it would be as irrelevant now as it would have been then when people made a bigger deal out of it. So, irrelevant, irrelevant." Sorry, not this week. Theres no avoiding such chatter. Harbaugh has to expect that infamous phrase to come up often. It dates back to their college days coaching in the Pac-10 Conference. In 2009, Harbaugh and No. 25 Stanford ran up the score on 11th-ranked USC in a surprising 55-21 rout, even attempting a 2-point conversion with the game way out of reach -- prompting Carrolls infamous "Whats your deal?" when they met afterward at midfield. Whatever their past or perceived differences, Harbaugh knows what to expect every time a Carroll-coached team takes the field. The Seahawks ended San Franciscos two-year reign as NFC West champion. "Its hard to get to this position," Harbaaugh said.dddddddddddd "Talking about a year of preparation and planning and off-season and training camp and games. And they did it better than anybody did it this entire season. So, a great task, great challenge ahead of us." The 49ers have already accomplished plenty this post-season by winning in the bitter cold of Green Bay and at Carolina. Harbaugh is the first coach in the Super Bowl era to reach the NFC championship in each of his first three years. Place kicker Phil Dawson wanted to be part of the winning vibe after 14 mostly disappointing years with Cleveland. Nose tackle Glenn Dorsey left Kansas City to join a team with Harbaugh at the helm. Even if Dorseys first impressions of the coach left him shaking his head. "I noticed what everybody else noticed: a coach going crazy on the sideline having fun," Dorsey recalled. "Always pumped up and always getting his team hyped. He works hard, even now being on the inside seeing him every day and how he goes about doing his job, the enthusiasm that he has and the motivational stuff that he has, the knowledge that he has. Hes a great coach." Dawson appreciates how Harbaugh takes chances in the kicking game based on his trust in the veteran -- and it certainly didnt hurt that Dawson converted a franchise-record 27 straight field goals until the streak ended in the regular-season finale at Arizona. The 50-year-old Harbaugh, a 15-year NFL quarterback himself, regularly moves around the team plane to visit with players about football and life. He shares meals with rookies and veterans alike on occasion in the team cafeteria. "Hes the kind of coach you want to win for," Dawson said. "Theres a special satisfaction with having a relationship with the head coach. Being a place kicker, on a lot of teams the head coach never even speaks to the kicker. Hes around, he gets it, hes been there. Hes sat in those seats. I think its probably one of the biggest reasons hes successful is his ability to communicate with the guys and relate to them on their level and be able to instil whatever it is hes trying to instil in a way that guys will receive it." ' ' '