ANNOUNCEMENT : Ollie Watkins announce his resignation and departure from Aston Villa
Manchester United’s winning streak came to an end on Saturday when they were defeated in what may be regarded as an unexpected fashion by Fulham.
After converting a Bernd Leno blunder, Harry Maguire appeared to have given his team a point late in the game, but Alex Iwobi scored a goal much later to guarantee the points would be returned to London.
The outcome ended United’s five-game winning streak, of which four were in the Premier League, and dropped them eight points off of a top-four position.
Defenseman Michael Kesselring played just eight games with the Tucson Roadrunners before being recalled by the Coyotes in November, according to head coach Steve Potvin. In the American Hockey League, where winning frequently takes a backseat to development and NHL opportunity, those kinds of lineup losses are not uncommon. Kesselring, who was playing more than 20 minutes every night and playing a big part in the ‘Runners’ penalty-killing unit and second power-play unit, thrilled Potvin and his staff.
A few of the other recalls presented a bit more of a challenge. Dylan Guenther, the top scorer for the Roadrunners and an AHL All-Star, was recalled by the Coyotes when Jason Zucker was suspended for a hit on Nick Cousins in January. He is still not back.
Following Connor Ingram’s injury, the Coyotes summoned Matt Villalta, the starting goalkeeper for the Roadrunners and an AHL All-Star.
Potvin’s team has continued to perform well in the Old Pueblo despite everything. With two games remaining, the Roadrunners trailed Coachella Valley by five points going into this weekend’s series at Tucson Arena against the Bakersfield Condors. In the early phases of the rebuild, very few of the team’s best prospects have traveled to Tucson, but the Roadrunners are still planning to make a run at the Calder Cup playoffs.
Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong stated, “Steve hasn’t had teams that are like the Hershey teams where they’re just stacked with skill.” “He’s had to grind his way into the playoffs because of grinding teams, but that group doesn’t accept no.” They simply work so damn hard, and he did a terrific job down there.
Which raises the question, why, among emerging coaches, is Potvin not receiving more national attention? Is it time for his name to be on the next level’s possible hiring list?
Armstrong remarked, “You don’t hear his name, but I think you will.” “I believe there is some discussion among the inner groups. Look, Jay Varady was given the chance to continue on. Steve will have his chance, in my opinion, just as Mike Van Ryn did. He is still quite young.
Additionally, Potvin does not have the conventional resume that Van Ryn (now an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs) and Varady (now an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings) do. Before taking the helm as head coach of the Roadrunners in 2018, Varady held coaching positions in the NCAA, WHL, USHL, and OHL. Before taking over as head coach of the Roadrunners in 2017, Van Ryn was a coach in the OHL and AHL. Both guys gained a variety of experiences from those resumes, but maybe more importantly, they made a wide range of contacts and ties throughout the hockey community.
In contrast, Potvin served as a skills coach for the Junior Coyotes from 2014 to 2015 before being named the Coyotes’ skills coach in 2016. In 2017, he became a member of the Tucson staff. Although he has only coached for three seasons as a full-time head coach and this is the first team he has ever worked for above the youth level, players both past and present attest to his methods and believe he has what it takes to succeed in the NHL.
