Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 18, 1994 TAG: 9407180113
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DES PERES, MO. LENGTH: Medium
In the latest in a series of surprising announcements concerning Keenan, the Blues confirmed the deal while still meeting with Keenan at a restaurant in suburban St. Louis.
"This has come around very quickly. I'm very fortunate to have the opportunity," Keenan said.
Terms of the deal were not released, but Keenan said it was a multiyear agreement.
As coach, Keenan will replace Bob Berry, who coached the Blues for the last two seasons. St. Louis was swept by the Dallas Stars in the first round of the 1994 playoffs.
As general manager, he will replace Ron Caron, who was due to retire after this season. Caron, who was at the restaurant where the negotiations took place, endorsed the move.
"What's good for the team is good for Ron Caron," he said.
It will be Keenan's fourth job as an NHL head coach in a nine-year career that has been marked as much by clashes as by success.
His departure last week after what he called a breach of his contract - the team's failure to pay him his playoff bonus within 30 days of the end of the postseason - caught Rangers officials by surprise.
New York responded by saying it still considered Keenan an employee and would fight any attempt by another NHL team to sign him.
"We took the position that we were free agents," Keenan said Sunday.
The Rangers' public relations director, Barry Watkins, was reached at his home Sunday night.
"I have no comment at this time," he said. "I'm sure the Garden and the Rangers will have something to say [today]."
Keenan had told The New York Times he and his lawyer, Rob Campbell, met with Red Wings owners Mike and Marian Ilitch in Detroit on Saturday. Keenan said another meeting was planned this week.
Red Wings spokesman Bill Jamieson said Sunday he spoke with the team's senior vice president, Jimmy Devellano, and he had no knowledge of any talks.
Reporters in St. Louis got word of the meeting at Benedetto's Restaurant in Des Peres, 15 miles outside St. Louis, and Blues executives and Keenan confirmed the deal when the media arrived at the darkened restaurant.
The Blues and Keenan had begun negotiating about 24 hours earlier, Campbell said.
"It came very easily. It was like going back to my old neighborhood," Keenan said.
"It's a very exciting day for the St. Louis Blues," Caron said. "The right people are in place, the team is moving forward. I believe that."
Keenan was not particularly happy in New York and had an adversarial relationship with the team's general manager, Neil Smith.
In Philadelphia, he had differences with Flyers players. In Chicago, it was with management.
In each case, Keenan's attitude and abrasiveness were factors in his departure. New York sports columnists called him a "traitor" and a "liar" and bid him "good riddance" when he resigned Friday.
But despite his poor relationships with people in each city where he coached, no one could argue with Keenan's success - four trips to the Stanley Cup finals, a coach of the year award and a 476-311-77 lifetime record.
Keywords:
HOCKEY
by CNB