NHL

Ex-Lightning coach wants back in

Terry Crisp enjoys his TV gig but seeks a chance to win his second Stanley Cup.

By TOM JONES
Published December 10, 2005

	[AP photo (1997)]
	Terry Crisp, the Lightning's first coach, instructs against Boston. Three days later, after a 2-7-2 start, he was fired.
	[AP photo (1999)]
	Since being fired by the Lightning, Terry Crisp has been an analyst for Fox and Nashville, calling his job the third best in hockey behind playing and coaching.

TAMPA - Terry Crisp was 54 years old when he was fired as coach of the Lightning. Since the day he was fired - Oct. 26, 1997 - Crisp has not coached again. He hasn't interviewed for a job or even gotten a feeler or a telephone call about an opening.

But now at age 62, he has the itch again.

"I would like one last go-around at it," Crisp said Thursday over the telephone from his home in Nashville. "It would have to be the right circumstance. I would like to take over a veteran team, a team that's ready to win now. I don't want to babysit kids or go through a rebuilding process. I've done the kids thing."

"I would like one more shot at a Stanley Cup. I want to do it."

Crisp remains around the game on a daily basis as the television analyst for the Predators, who visit the Lightning tonight. To him, being a color guy is the third-best job in hockey, right behind playing and coaching.

"I miss coaching," Crisp said. "I miss the day-to-day interaction with the players and the coaches.

"I miss getting up in the morning and knowing you have decisions to make. I miss getting up and facing something new every day and working with 23 players to figure it out."

Crisp might never know that feeling again. Being out of coaching for the past eight years, his name has slowly faded from the consciousness of NHL general managers.

He's not some hotshot minor-league coach or an up-and-coming assistant. His name is never mentioned by team executives or the media when there is a coaching opening even though his reputation is solid and his success is respectable.

And Crisp knows why. It's the same reason he has never been asked.

"I've never really pursued it," Crisp said. "I never have had an agent. I never have thrown my hat in the ring. I never let anyone know that I wanted to coach again. After I left Tampa, I took some time away. Then I became involved in television, and suddenly, eight years have gone by and you realize you haven't coached."

Crisp played 11 seasons in the NHL, ending his playing career in 1977 and immediately becoming an assistant under legendary coach Fred Shero in Philadelphia. After paying dues in junior hockey and the minors, he finally landed his first NHL head coaching gig with Calgary in 1987.

He was named NHL coach of the year in his first season, and in his second season, Crisp's Flames won the 1989 Cup. They were favorites to repeat the next season, but after being upset in the first round of the playoffs, Crisp, whose disciplinarian ways ruffled veteran feathers, was fired despite a three-year record of 144-63-33.

Soon after, Lightning founder Phil Esposito was looking for someone to coach his expansion team.

"I needed someone who could handle veteran players because that's what we were going to have at the start, and Terry came highly recommended by a lot of people I respected," Esposito said. "Plus, I knew he could help sell the game to a new hockey market. He didn't mind going out and speaking to groups. He was a natural at it."

Esposito's plan was to have Crisp coach two or three seasons then make him the assistant general manager while giving the coaching reigns to then-assistant coach Wayne Cashman. But the Lightning was more respectable than predicted and made the playoffs in only its fourth season.

The Lightning's success made it impossible to get Crisp out from behind the bench, and quickly, a rift developed between Esposito and Crisp. When the Lightning got off to a 2-7-2 start in Crisp's sixth season (1997-98), Esposito jumped on the chance to fire Crisp.

When asked what he doesn't miss about coaching, Crisp never used names but alluded to his experience in Tampa: "I don't miss the politics. I don't miss not being on the same page as other people in the organization and having to watch your back."

That's why the next job Crisp would be willing to take if offered has to be perfect: the right general manager, a stable ownership and a team on the verge of a Cup. Crisp isn't willing to take any old job simply because he and his wife enjoy the life they lead.

"We've really loved our time in Nashville," Crisp's wife, Sheila, said. "We're happy. But I know Terry is thinking about coaching again. You ask why he hasn't coached? My answer is: That's a good question."

Crisp doesn't know if he will get another kick at the can. He believes his job as color analyst has kept him in touch with the game. At age 62, he said he feels good.

"It used to be that I would get the itch at the start of the season and then again at playoff time," Crisp said. "But lately, I've thought about it more and more. Yeah, I would like one more shot. I guess we'll see what happens."

[Last modified December 10, 2005, 00:51:18]