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Originally Posted by Ped
Not sure how true that is about Bure. He asked for a trade the year Keenan was hired (although I don't think it had anything to do with Keenan), and Messier allegedly talked him into playing the year. But the following year, when Keenan was still around, Bure held out until his trade to Florida.
Interesting that iirc in both St Louis and Vancouver, there were players that everyone assume Keenan would get along great with (Shanahan, Linden), and they didn't.
Keenan also brought Brian Noonan with him pretty much everywhere.
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According to Keenan STL ownership demanded high priced talent other than Hull be moved. Bye Shanahan. Now, I'd be interested to read Shanahan's book (when he writes one) about his side on that.
He noted that Bure's hold out and trade demand were about money. Bure was traded by Burke halfway through the season (Jan. 99) after Keenan was fired (June 98). If Bure had issues with Keenan, I doubt FLA would have hired him.
He states that he did not get along with Linden and felt there was heat between Linden & Messier. Bye Linden.
It was also clear in the book, though not explicitly written, that Keenan had "his guys" - guys who knew how to win, who had been in the trenches before, and that he tried to have on his teams at each stop.
Interestingly, though, he said that, though he was offered the opportunity to hire his own ass't coaches at each stop, he always kept the previous ones on staff (who wanted to stay). He would bring along various other coaches - strength, video, pysch.
He, of course, cops to a few regrets and a few incidents that ended friendships. He was lucky, like a lot of coaches were/are. Ever wonder how many used cars Sather would have sold over the years if Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, & Coffey hadn't landed in his lap?
Again, I found it a bland read. Was only interested in the CGY chapter. Left disappointed. If you are really curious about his time in CGY, I recommend just going to Indigo and reading that section there.