Kevin Cheveldayoff offered General Manager Position for Winnipeg’s NHL Team –NHL Update
Kevin Cheveldayoff, currently the assistant general manager of Chicago Blackhawks and Senior Director of Hockey Operations of the National Hockey League (NHL), has been offered the position as General Manager of Winnipeg’s NHL team by franchise owners at
True North Sports and Entertainment. It was reported by Winnipeg Free Press on Sunday:
“After meeting with Rick Dudley this week, we have decided to go in another direction with the position of general manager of our team”, True North chairman, Mark Chipman, said in a press release.
Since the Atlanta Thrashers franchise is heading out to Canada in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Thrashers’ GM, Rick Dudley, will not be retained along with the team as its head, thus, sources have confirmed that Cheveldayoff has been offered the position.
"We informed Rick of our decision late yesterday afternoon, and thanked him for his work in building a foundation and future for this team”, said Mark Chipman after letting go of Dudley.
Cheveldayoff was appointed to his current position back in September 2010, and he led Chicago Blackhawks to its first Stanley Cup Finals since 1961.
Before NHL, he was the GM of Chicago Wolves, a minor league team of the American Hockey League (AHL), and led them to four championships.
The 41-year-old assistant GM was drafted by New York Islanders in 1988 and remained with the minor leagues until finally retiring in 1994 due to constant recurrences of injury related problems.
The ownership group of the new Winnipeg team has a firm belief that if Cheveldayoff accepts the position of GM, he can certainly guide the franchise to success in a matter of months as they could possible emerge as a powerhouse club in the 2011-2012 regular
season.
The name of the team has so far not been decided along with a number of other decisions, which is why Chipman considered hiring a renowned GM as the first step to ensure a good start.
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