I just got off the phone with Dave Tippett, and he was philosophical.
``It's just what you sign up for as a coach, and I don't think you can ever let it get to you,'' he said. ``In this business, you have to focus on the job at hand and do it to the best of your ability. Then, if you are moved on, you have to see that as an opportunity. When one door closes, another one opens.''
Tippett said he will head to his summer home in Noirthern Minnesota today and will try to take a step back from the situation and breathe a little bit.
He's been going hard since the end of the season with his stint as an associate coach on Team Canada at the World Championships and then the GM change when he got back.
He would not say if he was talking with other teams, but you can be sure he will rocket to the top of a few coach-search lists. Possible head coaching openings exist in Minnesota, New Jersey and Calgary.
As for his seven years in Dallas, Tippett said he was blessed to be here.
``It's a wonderful state, a wonderful city and a wonderful organization, I was really lucky to spend as much time as I did here,'' he said. ``I mean, my daughters grew up there, and I made a lot friends there, it was just a great place for me. Honestly, I wouldn't trade it for the world. It was a great time.''
One of the reasons I couldn't report the news on Wednesday was because Tippett asked Joe Nieuwendyk to wait a day to release the news, and Nieuwendyk said he would honor that wish. As such, he made everyone in the organization promise that they would say anything. Our sourcing policy is a source has to agree to be a source, and nobody would meet that standard.
But as broken up as Tippett was Wednesday, he seemed fine on Thursday morning.
``Any time you have a challenge, it test you, and you learn about yourself,'' Tippett said. ``Experiences are good for you in life. They make you a better coach. They make you a better person.''
When I asked if he had any specific regrets _ maybe the year that they lost out to Anaheim and the Ducks went to the Stanley Cup Finals _ he had an interesting reply.
``Yeah, that I didn't win six Stanley Cups,'' he said.
That was Tippett's philosophy. He stayed in the moment and he wanted to win it all every year. And he will probably take that sam philosophy going forward.
_Mike Heika
Very classy. Thanks for the memories, Dave.
OTOH, I am glad to see new blood in here and I hope the Stars will find away to be an offensive team for once rather than what always seems to be a defense-only team.
Posted by: John in Big D | June 11, 2009 at 01:55 PM