I wanted to give you some more reaction from people close to Chuck Fletcher that I wasn’t able to squeeze into the main story for tomorrow. First, I was able to confirm that both Tom Lynn and Tommy Thompson were asked to remain in their current jobs by Fletcher and both have accepted.

Also, our editor Mark posted an update from Russo on the beach about any potential Mike Keenan rumors but wanted to recast it. According to Russo (in between drinks from his mai tai) it’s not going to happen.

Fletcher said he hopes to begin interviewing candidates next week and have a guy in place by the draft. He said head coaching experience is not necessarily a requirement. 

Also, Russo was able to chat with Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ray Shero today and passed along his quotes.

“It’s so well-deserving for Chuck. He’s had such success in his career. Chuck and I have known each other a long time, but not real well. But when I got the job here, I approached Brian Burke about speaking with Chuck. He took the chance to come and it was a great fit. We have such similar backgrounds with our fathers (Fred Shero and Cliff Fletcher) being involved with the game and us being around the game forever. He’s got a great sense of humor.

“I gave him a ton of responsibilities that [Nashville GM] David Poile gave me. It was basically the same job I had in Nashville. The thing with Chuck I found is he’s very decisive. He makes decisions, and being my right-hand guy, for anything I did here, he would always be my first and last voice I went to for a final decision before I made mine. The great thing with Chuck is there never was any waffling. He had a strong opinion one way or the other, which is what I needed.”

(How instrumental was he in helping you figure a way of getting Crosby, Malkin, Staal and Fleury to long-term deals in a cap system?) “He was huge. My background with David Poile, David was such a planner. David was always looking ahead. The coaches worried about the upcoming game. David worried about next year. That’s what I learned from David, and that’s what Chuck and I always tried to do here, whether it was looking at available free agents and what that market can be and trying to stay ahead of everything as best you can. Chuck had so much to do with all the success we’ve had here so far. The good thing with Chuck is he was so experienced and it was good to bring in someone that had that type of background with different organization working with so many different people. It was perfect for both of us.”

Russo also asked Shero about Todd Richards, who presumably will be a leading candidate to become next head coach. 

“I have a great deal of respect for Todd Richards. He was one of my first hires when I came here. [With Nashville], he was one of my first hires in Milwaukee as an assistant coach. I got to work closely with Todd for a number of years. When I came here, I had already hired Chuck. While I knew that Todd was my guy, Chuck had all the responsibilities of running our farm team in Wilkes-Barre. Part of that was hiring a coach. I told Chuck I really believe Todd was a guy worth talking to, but having said that, it’s your decision. Chuck went through a real good list of candidates – maybe five, six, seven people to interview and came back and said Todd is the most qualified and best fit. So it was his decision at the end.

“Our organization has a lot of respect for Todd – his intellect, his communication skills, his passion for the game, he pushes the pace. One of the first things I heard back on Todd from Chuck was that our pregame skate was harder than some team’s practices. He really pushes the pace and makes players better. … He had the opportunity to move on to San Jose. It was a fantastic decision for him. This job in San Jose I believe really prepared him to being around the pro game with the fantastic coaching staff they have in San Jose. He’ll be a great head coach in the NHL, I believe, whoever will give him that opportunity. He’s got the right age, he’s got the right experience. I’m a big Todd Richards fan. He’ll be a great fit for someone.”

I also talked to Lou Nanne, who is close friends with Fletcher and his father. Lou had this anecdote about Fletcher’s work ethic:

“When [the Penguins] beat Washington in Game 7, they flew home and got home about 1 in the morning. He jumped right in his car and drove to Wilkes-Barre three-and-a-half hours away because the farm team got beat that night and he had to have exit interviews with all those players the next day. He did that, got right back in his car and went back to Pittsburgh. He’s really a committed guy. He loves the game and loves being in the game.” �

Aloha from Honolulu. About to head out into the night on Waikiki Beach suckers. I think I’ll be on KFAN live at 9:40 a.m. with P.A. — yes 4:40 a.m. Hawaii time because I’m loco like that.

Figured I’d jump back on as promised to toss on some more thoughts on the hiring of Chuck Fletcher as the Wild’s second general manager in history.

Here are the links to the stories from Friday’s papers:

Main Fletcher hired story by Russo

Jim Souhan’s take on the Wild and Wolves’ hires

Sid the Kid Hartman weighs in

As somebody joked with me a few weeks ago — and I honestly can’t remember who, so I apologize in advance — but if Fletcher got the job, he should be nicknamed the “Brown Fox,” since his dad has always been known as the “Silver Fox.”

Whoever told me this, if you want credit, send me an email and I’ll post. I give credit where credit is due, but my brain is sunburned.

Some call Fletcher Chuckie, others call him Fletch. Funny, but for a name that can easily be turned into a nickname as so often happens in hockey, I’ve always just called him Chuck.

I covered Fletcher for seven of his nine years in Florida, and I can tell you he’s a sharp cookie. I’ll throw on a bunch of stories in the weeks ahead, but as I told him a few weeks back, who would have thunk back in the late 90s that quite possibly one day I’d cover him as a GM — only in Minnesota.

Back in the day, Fletcher was always expected to become the Panthers’ GM, and quite frankly, until the lockout happened, I never considered I’d go off and cover another NHL team.

But Fletcher, considered the next big thing in the NHL for some time, has finally got his opportunity. And by the way, the thing you should know about Fletcher is he has not gone for every job out there. He never wanted just any GM job that came his way. It had to be the right fit, so for him to take this opportunity says a lot about where he thinks this franchise is and can go, and what type of hockey hotbed it is.

First up for Fletcher will be to determine a coach. In the NHL, folks usually hire people they know and are comfortable working with, so right away, Todd Richards becomes a favorite. Fletcher hired the San Jose assistant and former Gopher in Wilkes-Barre, and he had great respect for him.

Peter Laviolette, Craig MacTavish and Pat Quinn would be the obvious experienced coach pickups, Kevin Constantine warrants a look. So does Detroit assistant coach Paul MacLean and Chicago Blackhawks assistant John Torchetti. Some respected junior coaches include Portland Pirates coach Kevin Dineen and Manitoba Moose coach Scott Arniel.

Another possible candidate just popped in my head. Anaheim Ducks assistant coach Newell Brown for two reasons: 1) Fletcher’s relationship with him in Anaheim; 2) The Panthers nearly hired Brown a couple times as head coach during Fletcher’s tenure there.

As I wrote in the story, I see Fletcher going young and up-and-coming after witnessing the transformation Pittsburgh had under Dan Bylsma. These hockey players today are young. Look at 20-year-old James Sheppard, who just did not communicate very well with 63-year-old Jacques Lemaire. Sheppard even admitted it after last season with the infamous I’ve been playing hockey since I was 3 quote. 

Some of these youngsters need coaches more in tune with their generation. These players today ask why, and instead of being told “because that’s the way I told you to do it,” sometimes you need to take 10 extra minutes and explain why.

I think Fletcher believes that, too. But I think right now Richards is the guy. Word in NHL circles is Fletcher and Ray Shero wanted Richards when they fired Michel Therrien this season but obviously couldn’t get him out of San Jose in the middle of the season. Bylsma was only supposed to be interim so they could hire Richards. But Bylsma did such an amazing job, they extended his contract earlier in the playoffs. So I believe the Moose is the guy.

OK, I’ve got an early flight to the Big Island on Friday morning to cover the Kona Coffee Pickers against the Hilo Gilamonsters in the Hawaiian Hockey League, so I’ll be reluctantly out of touch and will miss the Brown Fox’s introduction to the “State of Hockey.”

But we at the Strib have you covered, so no worries.