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By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Sports Writer
The Associated Press - Friday, June 01, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS

Kevin Constantine was enjoying life as a junior-level coach, leading the Everett Silvertips to plenty of success in the Western Hockey League while continuing to hone his style behind the bench and in the meeting room.

The Minnesota Wild were searching for someone to take over their top minor-league team, certain that his background and approach were well-suited for the position - if they could convince him to make another move at this stage of his career.

"I started thinking that the NHL may not come knocking too often," Constantine said.

Wild general manager Doug Risebrough and his assistant, Tom Lynn, were persistent in their pursuit of the International Falls native and former NHL head coach. The more they talked to Constantine, the more he realized he shared their philosophy toward player development.

"It was just consistent with the things that I believe in, and I started to recognize it as a good opportunity," Constantine said.

His children live in Eagan, so - though he'll be coaching the Houston Aeros in the American Hockey League for much of the year - their proximity to Wild headquarters in St. Paul was another plus. For Constantine, overqualification was not part of his thinking.

"I've coached at all levels and grown to just enjoy the process, too," he said. Getting back to the NHL is not "something that's an absolute must."

It is, however, a goal for a 48-year-old who has been a head coach for more than 23 years and 1,000 games. Constantine led the Silvertips to division titles in three of his four seasons, including a 54-15-1-2 record in 2006-07.

He has created a reputation as an innovative, technologically savvy film freak. Disciplined and demanding, Constantine worked well with young players and got the most out of marginal squads.

Taking over the San Jose Sharks in 1993, Constantine guided a team that won 11 games the season before to a first-round upset of top-seeded Detroit in the playoffs that year. He's the only coach in NHL history to twice lead No. 8 seeds to first-round series victories over No. 1 seeds, also accomplishing that with the Pittsburgh Penguins against New Jersey in 1999.

With the immensely talented Penguins, however, his team underachieved. All-Star Jaromir Jagr didn't get along with him. Months after the playoff victory over the Devils, he was fired early in the ensuing season when management decided the team had tuned him out. Mario Lemieux once said he found Constantine's system boring and difficult to watch, essentially the same comment he made about Jacques Lemaire's Wild after a frustrating loss to them in Minnesota in February 2001.

Hmmm.

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