In a natural follow-up to yesterday's news about Peter Horachek being fired, the Nashville Predators have hired a new assistant coach in Phil Housley, one of the top offensive defensemen in NHL history.

Considering the number of young blueliners in the Predators system with major scoring potential (Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm, etc.), it can be hoped that Housley's influence will continue Nashville's strong tradition of driving the attack with an active defense.

It does have to be said, however, that Housley is unproven as a coach at the NHL level. There are any number of amazingly talented players who haven't panned out behind the bench. It will be interesting to see what kind of fresh ideas his background can bring to the team, though.

The following (lengthy) release comes from the Preds: