Some of the most familiar faces on late-night sports roundups on TV are National Hockey League coaches. Oh, sure, Sidney Crosby's mug shows up regularly, and if somebody scores an overtime goal or makes a spectacular individual play, he might rate a one-on-one interview. But invariably, the go-to guy for the post-game TV cameras are the coaches - the winner and the loser.
Some are real characters. They all know their hockey, obviously, or they wouldn't be behind an NHL bench making more than a million dollars a year. But not all of them have taken Dale Carnegie courses on how to make friends and influence people. Face it, some of those NHL coaches can be real jerks. Others are people you'd like to accompany on a fishing trip, or go for a post-game refreshment.
To be honest, in compiling this list, I couldn't even name all 30 NHL coaches. Did you know Ron Rolston coaches in Buffalo? Jon Cooper in Tampa Bay? If you could name all 30 NHL coaches off the top of your head, you're truly a hockey geek.
But back to the topic. Never fearing a long walk out on a limb, here are my choices for the three nicest NHL coaches and the three at the opposite end of the 'likeable' spectrum.
The Nice Guys
1. My favourite has to be Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators. Big bushy moustache. Usually a smile. Always open and honest in post-game interviews.
2. Mike Babcock: The consummate pro, Canada's Olympic coach is all business, but he normally pays more compliments - to his own players and opponents - than he offers criticism.
3. Barry Trotz of the Nashville Predators is a good ol' Manitoba boy who sometimes looks like he's wearing a scary Halloween mask, but that only covers a real nice-guy demeanour. The longest-serving coach in the NHL seems to be a great guy.
The Jerks
1. Topping the list is a rookie coach, Colorado's Patrick Roy, one of my least favourite people in hockey for a variety of reasons, starting with his complete lack of respect for opponents. We'll stop there.
2. John Tortorella of the Canucks and the media are always at loggerheads. He is the most sardonic and sarcastic post-game interviewee ever in sports.
3. To some, Claude Noel of the Jets has a dry wit who's often hilarious. To me, he's the ultimate put-down artist who always displays the air of someone who has a bad stomach ache.
Blogger TC Chong, on the NFL plans to play three games in London next year: "You'd think they would schedule at least one game for another huge emerging market - Los Angeles."
RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com: "The Chicago Cubs are looking for a new manager. The job comes with the salary set high and the bar set low."
Comedy writer Jim Barach: "A report says the Chicago Cubs have a "very short list' of candidates for manager. Mostly because the only people who have even applied are two auto mechanics, a retired cop and a former McDonald's trainee."
Randy Turner of the Winnipeg Free Press on Twitter: "My new favourite sports name is Cleveland Browns defensive end Barkevious Mingo. He sounds like a sinister tree."
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, on Twitter: "#Dolphins have run the ball six times for minus-1 yard. That means that you, sitting on your couch, have more net rushing yards than Miami."
Blogger Torben Rolfsen: "Dennis Rodman sort of got his wish: he's been nominated for the 2014 Nobel Pierce Prize."
RJ Currie again, still from sportsdeke.com: "Reuters reports an Australian pig drank 18 cans of beer, got into a fight with a cow, then passed out. On the bright side, it's been made the official mascot of the NHL."
An RJ Currie hat trick: "This year is the 125th anniversary of Marvin Stone patenting the drinking straw. And for over a century the Chicago Cubs have sucked."
Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald: "The UFO spotted at a baseball game in Canada has been revealed as a hoax. Imagine if an actual UFO had landed on the pitcher's mound? That would have been the second most shocking story of the 2013 season, right after the Pittsburgh Pirates making the playoffs."
Barach again: "Nolan Ryan has announced his retirement as the CEO of the Texas Rangers. He needs to be watched. The last top executive to leave the Rangers went on to start two wars and wreck the U.S. economy."
Another one from Barach: "Cleveland Browns fans have posted the quarterback position on Craigslist. The thing they should be wary of is that is the same place the Cardinals found Carson Palmer."
From Houston Chronicle sportswriter Dale Robertson, offering up some favourite quotes from former NFL coach Bum Phillips, who died recently at 90. After running back Earl Campbell had difficulty completing a mile run at training camp, Phillips said: "Well, I guess I won't give him the ball if it's first and a mile."
