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Claude Noel: The official head coach of the unofficial Winnipeg Jets

Claude Noel, Kevin Cheveldayoff

Claude Noel, left, is introduced as the new head coach of the unnamed Winnipeg NHL franchise during a hockey news conference Friday, June 24, 2011, in Minneapolis. At right is Kevin Cheveldayoff, general manager of the team. (AP Photo/Genevieve Ross)

AP

While word circulates that True North’s new Winnipeg team will indeed be the Jets, that official announcement will have to wait. There was, however, one official confirmation of well-founded rumors today as the team officially named Claude Noel their new head coach.

This completes a dramatic front office upheaval in which the team added a new general manager (Kevin Cheveldayoff replaces Rick Dudley), a new head coach (Noel for Craig Ramsay) and replaced various staff members from the Atlanta Thrashers days with members of their AHL franchise, the Manitoba Moose.

Noel gave a rather odd quote in reaction to the news that he would be the new head coach while Cheveldayoff described the hiring process as “thorough.”

“I leaned over on a can of tomatoes and thought and took about a minute,” Noel said Friday. “I was both nervous and when I got the news I was extremely excited. There was a lot of emotion. I’ve gone through this process a few times. I can’t wait to get started. I can’t tell you how happy I am. In my world there’s a high level of joy.”

(snip)

True North decided on Noel after what Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff described as a “thorough process.”

“It is very exciting for me to be standing here knowing how strongly we feel that we have found that guy, and that the group of young players that we have moving forward,” Cheveldayoff said. “The young players that we’re going to be drafting here today are going to be coached by a guy that is a tremendous leader, a person who spends a lot of time getting to know each and every individual player.

“A coach that over the course of our due diligence that we talked to many, many players who have played for him, was coached by him, that said the dressing room was a fun place to be. It was a place where we enjoyed coming to the rink, that on the bench we enjoyed playing for him ... and that he was a fair, and kept everybody accountable.”


Here is a quick rundown of Noel’s coaching credentials and the challenges he will face in his first season on the job from yesterday’s post.

Noel should be familiar to Winnipeg hockey fans after spending one season as the head coach of the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. He also spent four seasons as the head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals and was an assistant coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets for three years. Noel had a brief stint as interim head coach of the Blue Jackets, coaching 24 games after Ken Hitchcock was fired in 2010.

It could be a challenging first year for Noel and the Winnipeg Whatevers. They’ll remain in the Southeast Division this season, likely putting a great amount of strain on the team during road trips. The former Atlanta Thrashers roster was in a transition, too, so it’s not as if he will enjoy an overwhelming amount of talent. (Unless, of course, Cheveldayoff re-makes the team with some star free agents.)