After laying out the lineage of the current crop of NHL General Managers, the next logical step was to root through the family trees of the current crop of NHL Head Coaches. To be honest, the chart doesn't represent the true intermingling of the coaching profession. I tried to connect the men who've worked together with red and blue lines to keep things legible, but I just ended up with something resembling graph paper, as drawn by Mondrian.
This is not a comprehensive chart by any means (I'm working on that beast), but it does trace the origins of each of the 30 active NHL coaches.
*Click to enlarge the chart below. Get the full-sized chart here. A yellow block indicates the start of the lineage that follows and each man in yellow is the head of their own line.
- There are a number of extremely famous and accomplished lines that have gone dormant in the last few years. Al Arbour, Dick Irvin, Sam Pollock, Glen Sather, and Fred Shero are all missing from the chart, though each of them have a significant number of assistant or minor league coaches still active. A couple of firings next year could mean the reactivation of some formidable lines. Those five lines account for more than 35 Stanley Cups.
- Harry Neale's influence is wide-ranging. Not only is he responsible for allowing Colin Campbell entrance to the old boys' club (and we're still dealing with it), but he can account for as many active head coaches as anyone else on the list.
- The Flyers' line, started by Mike Keenan, is bizarre. I'm not sure how Andy Murray escaped orbit, but he should thank his stars. Both Laviolette and Keenan had their cup wins away from Philadelphia.
- The most cups won by any active line is two: Marc Crawford, Bob Johnson, Mike Keenan, and Rick Dudley. Except for the latter, they all won cups themselves.
- I have an inkling that Guy Boucher is going to greatly expand Jean Pronovost's lineage.
If I've overlooked any connections or you know of a better origin for any of the men on the chart, please let me know in the comments.