Barry Smith Rumor

Wings' associate coach Barry Smith, who came with Bowman in 1993, and was, in many eyes, shafted when Lewis was hired as head coach, is now seeing his name in the rumor mill for the head coaching positions in Florida and Buffalo. Smith was Bowman's associate coach in Pittsburgh. The head coaching job in Florida will be open at the end of the season, since GM Rick Dudley fired coach Mike Keenan and took over explicitly for the rest of the season. Lindy Ruff's job is in limbo in Buffalo with the Sabres currently last in the Northeast. Smith gave no indications that he was actively pursuing any head coaching positions: �The goal right now is to help this team win a Stanley Cup.� One interesting fact is that Smith was a head coach for a time when he left the Red Wings during the 1996-1997 season to become the head coach of Malmo in the Swedish Elite League. Luckily for the Wings, they were able to talk him into coming back, and he returned in time for our playoff run and Cup win in 1997. He was also a "head coach" when Bowman was recovering from knee surgery during the 1998-1999 season, but the title was shared with other Wings' assistant and current head coach, Dave Lewis. The tandem had a 4-1-0 record.