The Unemployment Office...

...has a load of hockey Coaches and General Managers.

Let's recap...

Edmonton Oilers...
Coach Craig MacTavish ousted at the end of the season, Pat Quinn hired as new Coach. Former NY Rangers benchboss Tom Renney hired on as an assistant.

Minnesota Wild...
Coach Jacques Lemaire quits, GM Doug Risebrough gets shitcanned. Chuck Fletcher, son of the "great" Cliff Fletcher, hired as new GM, Todd Richards, former assistant under McLellan in San Jose, hired as new coach.

Calgary Flames...
GM Darryl Sutter blows off 'Iron' Mike Keenan after an early dismissal from the playoffs this year. Sutter announces himself as one of four front-runners for the job, and states that the other two are current NHL coaches but doesn't name names. But then...

New Jersey Devils...
Coach Brent Sutter turns green with homesickness, and tells GM Lou Lamoriello that he's resigning, creating an interesting possibility in Alberta.

Colorado Avalanche...
Team President Pierre Lacroix dumps GM Francois Giguere, and attempts to hire 'Saint' Patrick Roy on for dual-duty as Coach/GM, "allegedly," all before he officially releases Coach Tony Granato from a very public hell. Patty passes, Lacroix finally lets go of Granato, hires his son to some bullshit front office position, and promotes assistant general manager Greg Sherman to GM. And now, they're looking at Adam Deadmarsh, a guy who cries when you spell his name wrong, almost, for the head coaching spot? Or are they?

Florida Panthers...
GM Jacques Martin quits, gets hired as new coach of Montreal Canadiens. Panthers are sold, at least in the news. No new GM hired.

Dallas Stars...
Co-GM's Les Jackson and Brett Hull are sent home packing. Joe Nieuwendyk hired as new GM. The 'Dyk sends Coach Dave Tippett out on a rail, and brings in the 'Hair,' Marc Crawford a day later.

Did I cover it all?

Probably not, but that's all I can remember.

There are actually quite a few viable head coach candidates for the vacancies around the league. Tom Gulitti, writer for the Bergen County Record, broke down a great list of potentials for the Devils on his Fire & Ice blog.

Its easy to see Lemaire head back to Jersey, given his previous work with Lou, but the word is he's headed back to Montreal.

Guy Carbonneau was canned by Bob Gainey before the postseason, and seemed like the more logical choice for Joey 'Dyk to go with in Dallas.

Peter Laviolette's a young, American coach with a ring from the last team that dismissed him. I'm surprised he's remained on the market this long, since his broadcasting skills are brutal on his TSN guest appearances.

As for General Managers, teams are grasping at straws to find a captain to man the helm. Risebrough is the only viable candidate with previous experience in the position, but unless you want your team to turn into a reason to change the channel, he won't be getting much of a look. However, teams in dire straights and with bad decision making will be looking for that experience no matter what the cost. Giguere's resume consists of poor choices, and puppet strings, neither of which will bode well for a new opportunity for him.

Unless of course, somebody wants to hire Pierre McGuire?