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“He was good at identifying what guys needed. Some needed a rub on the back and some needed a kick in the ass and Dave wasn’t shy. It almost felt like he was more suited to be a head coach (with the Flames) than an assistant because a lot of times as an assistant you have to be the good cop.

“He’s a sharp guy. It doesn’t surprise me that his name is mentioned for head-catching situations. And you want to pick the right job and not hitch your wagon to somebody else’s success as an assistant coach. I see Dave as a head guy.”

Lowry was a pain to play against and McLennan is convinced that will help him direct his own bench at the NHL level. He had 176 penalty minutes in the 1986-87 season with the Canucks and had 168 minutes in the 1990-91 season with the St. Louis Blues. He wouldn’t give in on the ice or off of it.

“Some coaches will conform and guys respected him for what he believed in — and he played like that,” added McLennan. “Whatever it took to be effective, whether that was getting under the skin of opposing players or being hard on the goalie in front of the net. He maximized himself and he’s taken that into coaching.”

How the Canucks view their coaching situation — and how they’re going to replace fired assistants Perry Pearn and Doug Lidster — is open to interpretation because they’re not commenting on the process. They have retained assistant Doug Jarvis and a new coach usually gets to choose an assistant.

Desjardins brought Lidster with him from the AHL Texas Stars and it’s fair to suggest that if Green takes over, he may want Comets assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner to run the defence. That would leave room for another assistant.