The Rise and Fall of David Wilkie
May 5, 2003 14:54:03 GMT -5
Post by Yeti on May 5, 2003 14:54:03 GMT -5
...as a hockey player and coach. Amazing what you can find with Google news and habs as a key word. I was actually looking for a recent article involving Gainey but stumbled into this.. Good luck David.
The Augusta Lynx are again in the market for a new head coach after David Wilkie said he will not return next season.
After meeting with acting general manager Larry Kish for more than two hours Wednesday evening, Wilkie has withdrawn his name from consideration for the coaching job to pursue a management opportunity with a local car dealership.
With no guarantee he would be re-signed - or even offered the job - Wilkie said he told Kish he wasn't willing to jeopardize his position with Augusta Lincoln-Mercury Suzuki.
The former National Hockey League defenseman has accepted a position as sales manager for the dealership's new Evans facility set to open later this month.
"It's very tempting to wait it out because hockey's in my blood, it's been my life my entire life," said Wilkie, who has a wife, Jackie, and three children ranging in age from 2 to 6. "I love this organization and I love coaching. It was an agonizing decision. But there comes a point in time you have to realize when an opportunity is presented before you, there are life decisions you have to make."
According to Kish, Wilkie was on his short list of coaching candidates, but now the Lynx will open the 2003-04 season with their fifth coach in six years.
Kish said the coaching search is on the back burner as he focuses on season-ticket and corporate sales as well as restoring order in the club's front office. He hopes to have a coach by mid-June.
"I met David for the first time (Wednesday) and we had a very good meeting," Kish said. "I saw him come up as a player with the Canadiens and I thought he was a very smart hockey player, and I figured he was also a smart man. He told me he had an opportunity to go work for the car dealership, and it's a wonderful opportunity for him and his family. So he proved me right, that he was a very smart individual. It's an opportunity that was too good to pass up."
Wilkie, a first-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens who played parts of six seasons in the NHL, retired after one season with the Lynx to become an assistant coach this past season.
The 28-year-old took over as head coach in early November after the Lynx opened the season 3-7-0 under Jim Burton, who was reassigned to the front office as the team's general manager.
Under Wilkie, the Lynx slowly improved through a series of trades and signings and were in the playoff race until the next-to-last day of the regular season. Augusta went 24-32-6 under Wilkie to finish 27-39-6 overall and miss the playoffs for the second straight season.
"I really wanted to come back to take care of unfinished business, because I really felt we had turned the corner and had a chance to be a very good hockey team next season," Wilkie said. "From an outsider looking in, nobody knows what the team went through last year, except for the people who were around it every day. The only solace we can take out of the year is we made a legitimate run for a playoff spot. It was easy to write off the year at Christmas, but the guys hung in there to their credit."
The Augusta Lynx are again in the market for a new head coach after David Wilkie said he will not return next season.
After meeting with acting general manager Larry Kish for more than two hours Wednesday evening, Wilkie has withdrawn his name from consideration for the coaching job to pursue a management opportunity with a local car dealership.
With no guarantee he would be re-signed - or even offered the job - Wilkie said he told Kish he wasn't willing to jeopardize his position with Augusta Lincoln-Mercury Suzuki.
The former National Hockey League defenseman has accepted a position as sales manager for the dealership's new Evans facility set to open later this month.
"It's very tempting to wait it out because hockey's in my blood, it's been my life my entire life," said Wilkie, who has a wife, Jackie, and three children ranging in age from 2 to 6. "I love this organization and I love coaching. It was an agonizing decision. But there comes a point in time you have to realize when an opportunity is presented before you, there are life decisions you have to make."
According to Kish, Wilkie was on his short list of coaching candidates, but now the Lynx will open the 2003-04 season with their fifth coach in six years.
Kish said the coaching search is on the back burner as he focuses on season-ticket and corporate sales as well as restoring order in the club's front office. He hopes to have a coach by mid-June.
"I met David for the first time (Wednesday) and we had a very good meeting," Kish said. "I saw him come up as a player with the Canadiens and I thought he was a very smart hockey player, and I figured he was also a smart man. He told me he had an opportunity to go work for the car dealership, and it's a wonderful opportunity for him and his family. So he proved me right, that he was a very smart individual. It's an opportunity that was too good to pass up."
Wilkie, a first-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens who played parts of six seasons in the NHL, retired after one season with the Lynx to become an assistant coach this past season.
The 28-year-old took over as head coach in early November after the Lynx opened the season 3-7-0 under Jim Burton, who was reassigned to the front office as the team's general manager.
Under Wilkie, the Lynx slowly improved through a series of trades and signings and were in the playoff race until the next-to-last day of the regular season. Augusta went 24-32-6 under Wilkie to finish 27-39-6 overall and miss the playoffs for the second straight season.
"I really wanted to come back to take care of unfinished business, because I really felt we had turned the corner and had a chance to be a very good hockey team next season," Wilkie said. "From an outsider looking in, nobody knows what the team went through last year, except for the people who were around it every day. The only solace we can take out of the year is we made a legitimate run for a playoff spot. It was easy to write off the year at Christmas, but the guys hung in there to their credit."
