CRAWFORD, MACLEAN ADD YOUTHFUL SPICE TO CUP.Byline: John Mossman John Mossman (1817-1890) was one of a number of English sculptors who dominated the production and teaching of sculpture in Glasgow for 50 years after his arrival with his father and brothers from his native London in 1828. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Is the face of NHL NHL Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, see there coaching becoming more fuzzy-cheeked? It is if young coaches such as Marc Crawford Marc Crawford (born February 13, 1961 in Belleville, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian National Hockey League head coach of the Los Angeles Kings and former forward for the Vancouver Canucks. and Doug MacLean Doug MacLean is a Canadian ice hockey coach and general manager. He was born in Summerside, Prince Edward Island on April 12, 1954. He is the former president/general manager and head coach of the National Hockey League's Columbus Blue Jackets and was also the head coach of keep taking their teams to the Stanley Cup Stanley Cup: see hockey, ice. Stanley Cup Trophy awarded annually to the winning team of the National Hockey League championship. Named for its donor, the Canadian governor-general Frederick Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston Finals. At 35 and 41, respectively, Colorado's Crawford and Florida's MacLean have recently been accorded the sort of respect usually reserved for hockey's elder statesmen. In a sport that once recycled coaches the way baseball kept hiring the same managers over and over, Crawford and MacLean are not only bucking the trend but carving out a new one. They are bright, but not so bright as to be unapproachable. They have firm beliefs, but know when to be flexible. They know better than to stand in the way of their players, or to steal the spotlight. Above all, they possess superb people skills. ``Marc is a tremendous communicator,'' said Avalanche veteran Troy Murray, only 2 years younger than his coach. ``He motivates you positively; he doesn't focus on a bad game. He has let the players accept the credit for what they do; he hasn't made himself the focal point focal point n. See focus. . He knows the game. He was a fringe player who had to work hard, so he knows what it takes to play in the NHL. ``He has always focused on the long-term goal - that the playoffs were more important than anything. He knows that the playoffs are how you are measured as a team in the NHL.'' After five seasons of minor-league coaching, Crawford was named coach of the Quebec Nordiques in July 1994. His first NHL team posted the second-best record in the league (30-13-5), and he was named coach of the year. Quebec moved to Denver last spring, but Crawford didn't miss a beat. The Avalanche again had the league's second-best record (47-25-10). After Tuesday night's 3-1 win over Florida, he has taken his team within three victories of a Stanley Cup championship. ``We've all kind of grown with him,'' Colorado defenseman Uwe Krupp said. ``I think we've learned from each other. He gave us a lot of freedom during the regular season. He knows the regular season is important, but his main approach was always to get us to concentrate on the playoffs.'' STANLEY CUP FINALS Colorado leads series, 1-0 Game 1: Colorado 3, Florida 1 Game 2: Tonight at Colorado, 5 p.m., ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network Game 3: Saturday at Florida, 5 p.m., Fox Game 4: Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., ESPN Game 5x: June 13 at Colorado, ESPN Game 6x: June 15 at Florida, 5 p.m., ESPN Game 7x: June 17 at Colorado, 5 p.m., ESPN x-if necessary CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Doug MacLean went from Florida's director of playerpersonnel to Stanley Cup coach in just one year. Associated Press Box: STANLEY CUP FINALS (see text) |
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