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Neilson, Lightning courting over job
By KEVIN KELLY © St. Petersburg Times, published June 22, 2000 Roger Neilson is still waiting for a head-coaching job, but Tampa Bay definitely has his interest. On Wednesday, the Philadelphia Daily News reported the Lightning offered Neilson a chance to become the team's assistant general manager and associate head coach. Neilson disputed the report when reached at his Ontario home Wednesday evening. He said Tampa Bay general manager Rick Dudley called two weeks ago to talk about the job but that no offer was made. "He asked if I was interested," Neilson said. "Yeah, I could be interested. Then, I talked to (Tampa Bay coach) Steve Ludzik up at a coaches clinic up in Windsor and he thought it would work out really well. So we've agreed to talk about it after the draft." Dudley, who is in Calgary for this weekend's draft, also denied the report and said he planned to fill the coaching vacancy after the draft. "I have not offered him a job," Dudley said. "We have 15 picks in the upcoming draft and have basically four more days to get ready for that. Right now, we're spending a lot of time on that." Others being considered include Flyers assistant Wayne Cashman and Rangers assistant John Tortorella, who was in Tampa last week and spoke with Dudley about the job. Neilson, 65, coached the Flyers until February, when he left to receive treatment for bone marrow cancer. Craig Ramsay finished the season as interim coach and was recently given the job permanently. Dudley and Ludzik both played under Neilson, who has inquired about the head-coaching jobs in Calgary, Minnesota and Columbus. "I'd like to stay in the game," Neilson said. "I wasn't really thinking I would if I couldn't get a head-coaching job. I thought I'd just come back up to Canada and maybe do some TV or radio. But when Rick phoned, the thought of going back to Florida was pretty good. That was probably the place I enjoyed the most, over there with the Panthers." Staff writer Damian Cristodero contributed to this report.
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