My life sucks right now. I’m laid up after having tendon surgery on my ankle, so my days are filled with watching NHL Live on the NHL Network, playing NHL 08, and wearing out my Blockbuster card. So, it should be no surprise to anyone that I saw the live Ron Wilson press conference this morning on TV, and he made an effort to charm the Canadian media. The coverage I saw appeared to go well, with Ron showering high praise on Vesa Toskala as an equal to Nabby, stating that he would “flip a coin to see who was going to play each night” and also that he knows Pavel Kubina was almost a Shark last year, and that he could quite possibly have been the missing piece San Jose needed on the blueline, and if the Sharks had acquired Kubina, “I might not be sitting here right now”, Wilson said. Interesting comments – a slight backhanded slap to Brian Campbell and Kyle McLaren (who the Sharks would have traded in that deal). Ron made no guarantees about the playoff future of the Leafs, but was quick to point out the immediate turn around the Flyers had last season, going from worst to the Eastern Conf. finals.

The rumor mill continues to swirl about who the next coach of the Sharks will be. An Ottawa sports blogger has gone so far as to declare Bob Hartley as their new coach, so if you want to believe him – remove Hartley from the list. So who does this leave that we have heard was not just being considered, but has actually been interviewed.

Joel Quenneville – If it was going to be him, it would have happened by now. Some reports have Joel Q. miffed over money offered, but I just have a hard believing it ever got that far. He doesn’t fit the description of what Doug Wilson says he’s looking for. Isn’t Joel Q. just a less successful version of Ron Wilson?

Todd McLellan – This makes sense from the standpoint that DW loves the Red Wings, want to model the Sharks in their style so bringing in their top assistant would do the trick. The fact that there has been no announcement means that DW was likely waiting to talk to McLellan after the Stanley Cup finals. He has reportedly also interviewed in Atlanta.

John Tortorella – Some call him the front runner. Some say he’s a terrible fit. I think he’s a proven winner with all the traits that DW described that he’s looking for…plus he would likely bring assistant coach, Mike Sullivan, with him – my original pick for head coach, but clearly he isn’t a candidate.

Mike Milbury – Was he interviewed? DW acknowledged they spoke at the Cup finals. He destroyed the Islanders as a GM, trading away promising player after player. I can’t see him working out as a coach after running a team, too many cooks in the kitchen – especially one that has burned the meatloaf as many times at Milbury. Please no.

Kevin Dineen – Rumor has it that DW asked permission from the Ducks to interview Dineen, an underrated player and successful AHL coach. He could be the dark horse in all of this and has been linked to several other NHL gigs.

Peter DeBoer – a new name now linked to San Jose, he was discussed at length on NHL Live this morning by EJ Hradek. Hradek felt it would be a big mistake, that a Junior coach would not be ready to assume a team with aspirations of taking the next step such as San Jose, but he confirmed that DeBoer was in the mix, from what he had heard.

That’s it. The main players from the rumors and reports I have read. It appears Pat Burns and Pat Quinn aren’t in the mix for any of these gigs. They are too high profile to go unnoticed. I am going to say that by this time next week, we will know who it is. Doug Wilson won’t wait much longer, especially if he’s after a guy who might be desired by another NHL team as well. As for a prediction, it’s so hard to know. If we are going to pay attention to any of the clues he has dropped at State of the Sharks, it could very well be McLellan. Either way, we’ll know soon – especially with the LA Kings firing Crawford today, the race for the best available coaches is officially on.

Who do you think it will be?