Despite an ongoing battle with cancer, Craig MacTavish is back behind the bench .
PENTICTON - It's all about staying on the move for Craig MacTavish these days.
Biking, swimming, and running through a pair of triathlons this summer, and now hustling down a coaching track he was beginning to wonder if he would ever be allowed to run on again.
And, most importantly, distancing himself from the cancer.
"Like many, many other people who are living with cancer, I've got it, and everyone has a different timetable," MacTavish said here in Penticton, where - as the head coach of the American Hockey League's Chicago Wolves, Vancouver's top farm club - he is behind the bench of the Canucks rookies.
His "timetable" is unknown, as any cancer survivor knows. But it's in his rearview mirror now, and when you talk to this old centreman you get the feeling that he aims to just keep winning his draws and letting the rest of the game take care of itself.
MacTavish is 53 years old, tanned and muscular after a summer in the Okanagan, and looking anything like a cancer survivor. He is 14 lbs below his playing weight but looks strong, having trained for a half- and full-triathlon this summer.
"I feel good. I've always felt good. I guess, who ever is guaranteed tomorrow?" he reasoned. "I feel good. My prognosis is good…
"I've got it so far in the back of my mind, I couldn't even tell you exactly what I have (laughing). That might be a lie. It's been a couple of years now, and I feel great. So, what are you going to do?"
He was the last player ever to play in the NHL without a helmet, and of course, Canucks fans will remember MacTavish as the Rangers centre who took the last faceoff back in '94, winning that draw with 1.6 ticks left on the clock that sealed the Cup victory for New York.
Now, some will look at him as the guy in position to replace Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault, should the Canucks falter.
It's an inference MacTavish doesn't like very much.
"The goal for me is to really enjoy my year this year. You probably don't believe that; you probably think I'm more ambitious than that. But, I'm really not," he said. "I'm not looking forward to the next move. I'm just going to enjoy the year."
News of MacTavish's health battle slowly made its way through the hockey world, and who knows if the cancer's questions marks hurt his chances in a string of job interviews with Dallas, Minnesota and Winnipeg, among others. But after eight years as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, he had a rude welcome back to the coaching fraternity Sunday night in a one-sided 7-2 loss to the Oilers rookies.
"It was about 30 minutes before I felt like my pants were down again," he laughed. "There's lots of heartache in this business, as we know. Tonight … was a welcome back."
The loss is meaningless in the big picture. Just being back - in health and in the game - is the main thing here.
"I was anxious to get back, (and) I was a little surprised I wasn't given the chance to get right back in at the NHL level. But, … sometimes you've got to take a step backwards to go forward," he said.
A decade ago the coaching carousel would have spun a veteran coach like MacTavish into his next NHL job within a few months. Now? Well, times have changed.
"The young guys like Dan Bylsma did such a tremendous job when he went on an interim basis into Pittsburgh. The perception out there is that these young guys are connecting at a higher level than the older, more experienced coaches.
"Ownership (says), 'Why can't we get the next Dan Bylsma. Or Guy Boucher?' The experience part of it has been deflated a little bit. Older guys haven't been the no-brainers they were."
Between job interviews, MacTavish went to Queens University and completed his Masters of Business Administration. He scouted NCAA colleges last season for the Edmonton Oilers, and also took his medicine as a TV analyst, a move he wasn't ecstatic about, even though he was very good on camera.
"I really wasn't too enthused about (the analyst job), but it really forced me to stay in touch with the game at a level that I'm not sure I that I would have done had I not been forced to prepare for a lot of those nights," MacTavish admitted.
He faked it well, but after 11 seasons behind NHL benches as an assistant and head coach - and another 1,286 regular season and playoff NHL games - MacTavish's heart wasn't really in it.
"At the end of the day I like to be on the inside, rather than on the outside like a lot of you (media) folks," he said. "I like to be in the trenches."
