In his third go-around as an NHL head coach, Claude Julien, right, may be the perfect match for the Boston Bruins, says Hockey Night in Canada's Scott Morrison. (Toby Talbot/Associated Press)

Four NHL clubs began the 2007-08 season with new coaches, men who run the gamut in the experience department.

Brent Sutter is the lone rookie at the NHL level, hired by Lou Lamoriello to provide stability to New Jersey's recent coaching carousel. Sutter parlayed success with the Western Hockey League's Red Deer Rebels and the Canadian national junior team into his new opportunity.

John Paddock, the new bench boss in Ottawa, waited over a decade for his second head coaching opportunity in the NHL after a stint with the Winnipeg Jets in the mid 1990s.

Claude Julien, on the other hand, has barely had a chance to unpack between his NHL jobs. When Julien was hired by Boston in July, the Bruins represented his third club in 18 months, after stints in Montreal and New Jersey.

At that pace, Julien may one day challenge the number of coaching assignments held by Mike Keenan, who is now coaching Calgary, his eighth NHL club. Keenan last coached four years ago in Florida.

Coaches who have been fired are sometimes better served taking time off or going back to coach in the minors or juniors, but Hockey Night in Canada analyst Scott Morrison told CBCSports.ca that Julien may be the perfect match for a team that has struggled as badly as the Bruins have since the lockout.

"Bringing in a guy like that, he's familiar with the league and all the players and what the teams are all about and his curve of getting back up to speed is going to be not as severe as it might be for a guy who's been out of the game for a while," Morrison said.

General manager Darryl Sutter surprised many hockey observers in the off-season by tapping Keenan as head coach after Calgary bowed out in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight season. More eyebrows were raised when Jim Playfair agreed to a demotion from head coach back to assistant.

The consensus is that Keenan fits best with a veteran-heavy team, though it remains to be seen if his penchant for challenging players will reap dividends.

Keenan runs 'excellent practices'

While many hockey fans point to Keenan's lack of success in recent coaching stints, few get see one of the former Stanley Cup winner's best attributes, according to HNIC analyst Kelly Hrudey.

"From a technical standpoint, Keenan runs excellent practices," said Hrudey. "[They're] high tempo, quick, hard and it really prepares players for the tempo of the game."

Lamoriello had reportedly been interested in hiring Sutter for some time. The Alberta native takes over a squad with several veterans who've enjoyed Stanley Cup success in the past, though not in recent years.

"I think this team is changing a little bit in character and sort of redefining itself to a certain degree," said Morrison.

"Sutter's the kind of guy who can put his fingerprints on it, and I think he'll be allowed to do it."

That Sutter is the only NHL first-timer this season is consistent with recent history. Of the last 24 vacancies, only seven have been filled by men with no prior NHL head coaching experience.

It's in line with trends in the NBA over a similar period, but there is much less aversion to hiring rookie coaches in baseball and football. In the NFL, for example, 12 of the last 17 vacancies have been filled by first-timers.

NHL rookie coach Brent Sutter built a solid resume in the Western Hockey League and with Canada's national junior program. (Lynne Sladky/Associated Press)

NHL clubs with a coach in his second go-around number in the double digits (11), such as with Detroit's Mike Babcock and Pittsburgh's Michel Therrien, with a healthy number (five) of coaches on their third city – Marc Crawford (Los Angeles) and Jacques Lemaire (Minnesota), for example.

"I think some of it has to do with relationships," said Hrudey. "The longer all of us [are] around this business, it seems as though you get to know them really well and so you're familiar with their behaviours."

Role of NHL coach has changed

Hrudey added that the job of NHL head coach has become much more systems-oriented in the past decade. Such a tangible job requirement could reinforce the trend toward the same names popping up again.

While every general manager is confronted with a unique set of circumstances before choosing a coach, it's interesting to note that on paper, at least, the ultimate goal hasn't solely been the domain of the experienced.

Of the last eight Stanley Cup winners, half of the coaches were in their first NHL head coaching job (Bob Hartley, Ken Hitchcock, John Tortorella, Randy Carlyle).

Hope springs eternal in October, and it could also be that the playoff format in hockey and basketball, where most teams make it to the playoffs, inhibits hiring a coach without big league experience. Hiring a rookie coach could send the wrong signal to fans.

But while firing a coach mid-season happens infrequently in football, such is not the case in hockey.

That was evident last season when St. Louis, Columbus, Philadelphia and Chicago all made changes before December when their teams got off to weak starts. It's a trend that could continue, said Morrison.

"Because of the salary cap, it's a lot tougher to fix your mistakes and maybe the easiest way to go is to fire the coach because it's a little more difficult to move players because of the contracts, so that doesn't bode well for the coaches," Morrison said.

Parity and the point awarded for an overtime loss make the beginning of the season crucial, as it can be tough to dig out of an early hole.

The Blues, for example, went 27-18-9 record after Andy Murray took over in December, a record that ranked in the top 10 in the NHL over that span. Despite that, they still finished 15 points back of the final Western Conference playoff spot.

Clearly the stakes in October and November are high for coaches both old and new.