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Craig Ramsay interviews to keep his job with Winnipeg hockey club

Craig Ramsay

Atlanta Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay talks to players after the Pittsburgh Penguins’ final goal of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, April 10, 2011, in Atlanta. Pittsburgh won 5-2. (AP Photo/John Amis)

AP

The process of changing things up with the Atlanta Thrashers and their move to Winnipeg means everyone who had a job with the Thrashers has to interview to see if they can impress the new management. Already True North decided to go away from GM Rick Dudley and hired on Kevin Cheveldayoff to take over in Winnipeg.

The next position that’s being examined is the head coaching spot. Last season, Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay had a solid first season in Atlanta leading the Thrashers to a solid season most of the way before the team faded down the stretch. With that one solid year of action under his belt and a missed chance at the playoffs, Ramsay’s future in Winnipeg isn’t set in stone.

On Saturday, Ramsay talked with the new bosses to see if they’d like to keep him around in Manitoba. Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution spoke with Ramsay about the opportunity.

“It was a good talk,” Ramsay told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I enjoyed the conversation. There was no commitment and no timeline [for a hire]. Nothing has been decided.”

Ramsay is a candidate for the position when the team relocates to Manitoba for next season. He has one year remaining on the contract he signed to coach the Thrashers before last season.


Ramsay won’t be the only one involved in talks with Cheveldayoff and Winnipeg as Vivlamore reports. Blackhawks assistant Mike Haviland, Manitoba Moose coach and former Blue Jackets coach Claude Noel, and former Oilers coach Craig MacTavish are all on the list for Winnipeg’s people to talk to. Given Ramsay’s experience with the team and the fact that he’s got one more year left on his contract means that things could go either way for him.

The Winnipeg ownership has shown they’re not afraid to eat money on a contract to get their own people in charge as that’s what they did to get Rick Dudley out and Cheveldayoff in and Dudley had multiple years left on his deal. Doing the same to Ramsay won’t bother them in this case should they want to go in another direction. It might not seem fair, but with new bosses it’s not always fair.