FORMER DOGS COACH ON THE MOVE?

According to the London Free Press, former Saint John Sea Dogs head coach Jacques Beaulieu could find himself once again head coaching a Canadian Hockey League club in the near future.

Apparently, there have been some rumblings that Beaulieu could be hired to coach the Guelph Storm. The Storm fired their head coach, Jason Brooks, on Monday.

And while this is all speculation, there are already rumblings that Beaulieu is one of the men being considered to take over from former Knight Jason Brooks, who was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Storm on Monday.

Beaulieu has all the tools. He’s been a long-time assistant with the Knights and has coached them during their most successful years. He left four years ago to become coach and general manager of the Saint John Sea Dogs. He made them successful and even though he was fired in his third year, he built the foundation of the team that is now No. 1 in Canada.

He returned to the Knights as an assistant coach, and does a lot of the heavy slugging. Also, he’s proven he can handle all aspects of building a team. (London Free Press)

Beaulieu was hired as the Sea Dogs head coach back in 2006 and later took over the general manager role that season (2006-07). He rebuilt Saint John’s roster, allowing the team to make the semi-finals in 2007-08 after finishing with just 20 wins the season before.

In 2008-09, the Sea Dogs failed to meet the lofty expectations put on them over the off-season, falling to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in four games in the first round of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs. Beaulieu was fired not long after the Dogs’ playoff run came to an end.

Beaulieu will certainly be remembered more for his job as general manager than his role behind the bench. If not for current London Knights assistant coach, Saint John likely wouldn’t have made it to the President’s Cup Final last season. Although the Mike Kelly/Gerald Gallant era drafted and traded for a number of players who make the Dogs the No. 1 team in Canada today, Beaulieu is responsible for setting up most of the major acquisitions.

Ironically, Guelph’s general manager is one of the many Mike Kelly’s circulating around the Canadian sporting scene.

The father of Sea Dogs defenseman Nathan Beaulieu finished his coaching career in Saint John with a 95-111 record.

Beaulieu has, however, attached himself to the Knights nicely once again and is an asset to London’s coaching staff.

“I don’t know 100% yet what I would do (if I was asked about Beaulieu),” Knights general manager Mark Hunter said. “I would have no problem at the end of the year, but this is the middle of our season. It’s a tough position.”