Mike Keenan has been living off his reputation for 15 years. Franchises keep hiring the guy . . . and they keep firing him, too. Aside from a brief and impressive run coaching the Bruins, Iron Mike has made a mess everywhere he has gone since leading the Rangers to the Stanley Cup.

This time he brought heartache to Calgary. He coached another promising Flames team to another playoff failure. Regular readers of the Hockey Guy blog were not surprised by this unhappy turn of events.

Keenan was destined to fail. Predictably, he wore down goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff.

He gave lumbering Todd Bertuzzi a wide berth. He orchestrated the exit of needed skilled players. He didn’t get enough out of Dion Phaneuf and Jarome Iginla, franchise cornerstones, leaders who were supposed to be his type of players.

Keenan has never been a great tactician. He has never been the hardest working coach in the league, either.

His forte was motivation – and his famous intimidation tactics became ineffective once players began earning millions to play their sport.

Oddly, Keenan went soft on the Flames. “Fact is Keenan was too nice to the fellas, giving them the run of the place while betraying the Iron Mike persona that would likely have served him better in Calgary than the Mild-Mannered Mike we got to know,” wrote Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun.

Iron Mike peaked in 1994, with Mark Messier’s considerable assistance, and has mostly disappointed since then. But a sucker is born every minute, so Hockey Guy assumes he’ll keep getting more chances to fail.

Flames GM Darryl Sutter, Keenan’s long-time buddy, gave him the axe. Look for the Flames to take a run at Devils coach Brent Sutter, who seems eager to leave Jersey for Alberta.

(But Lou Lamoriello would likely demand big compensation to let him loose, so Brent may have to play this one out. Lamoriello will eventually fire him, probably right before the playoffs start. Lamoriello, like Keenan, is as predictable as the tides.)

The Calgary Sun floated names of experienced coaches (Jacques Lemaire, recently retired from Minnesota) and inexperienced ones (former Blue Dave Lowry) as replacements. The Toronto Globe and Mail wondered if Darryl himself would be the best man for the job.

Sutter needs to get this hire right, for his own professional sake.

FLIGHT OF THE PENGUINS

Here is what is scary about Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby is the second-best player on that team. Evgeni Malkin is a beast, physically, and now he is maturing into one of the best all-around players in NHL history.

Crosby remains the more mature competitor. He is far more likely to get his nose bloody while scoring goals in tight.

But Malkin is becoming a monster right before your eyes. When the Penguins get their Stanley Cup rematch against the Red Wings, Evgeni’s professional growth could be the difference maker.

RUNNING INTO THE BRICK KRONWALL

When Niklas Kronwall rung up Blackhawks winger Martin Havlat, he took another big step forward in his professional career.

He is a big kid. The Red Wings need him to play big, too, since Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski are finesse defenseman. Nobody can expect Kronwall to morph into Scott Stevens all of a sudden, but he needs to crush people from time to time to reduce the comfort level of opponents.

When he plays like that, he makes the Red Wings an even bigger threat to win it all again.

AROUND THE RINKS: Jay McClement played a vital role in the Blues’ playoff surge this season, so the team was wise to lock him in with a three-year deal. He picked up his offensive game while doing stout work on the checking line and on the penalty kill . . . Scott Niedermeyer is teasing the Ducks again. He is mulling retirement – or moving up to Vancouver with brother Rob to finish his career back home in British Columbia. As KFNS radio personality Andy Strickland notes, why would Anaheim move Chris Pronger if Niedermeyer left? That would gut the blue line . . . Phaneuf was so disappointing this season that Calgary could sign free agent Jay Bouwmeester, then move Dion . . . The Flames had cap issues, so losing winger Mike Cammalleri (Ottawa?) is a real possibility . . . If the Canadiens can’t make the big play for Vincent Lecavalier at the draft, look for them to lead the bidding on multiple UFAs. Bob Gainey is clearing massive amounts of cap room and is preparing to overhaul his roster. The Habs will drive the free agent market, as this list reminds you . . . Marian Hossa took a pass on long-term money to take a one-year deal in Motown, for the chance to win the Cup. Given the dire economic picture for the next five years, Hossa better not pass on big free-agent money again. Several teams will bid on him . . . The Blues have committed big money to defenseman Eric Brewer, but he is early in his recovery from a second neck operation. The club will want this closely as the NHL Draft nears and trade opportunities arise. If it appears Brewer will play next year, his return, along wit the return of Erik Johnson and Alex Pietrangelo, would give the blue line a whole new look. But if Brewer is a big question mark for next season, that changes everything . . . Wish new Wild GM Chuck Fletcher luck. He has a LOT of work to do . . . The Bruins have all sorts of contract and salary cap issues to grapple with this summer. Also, both Dave Krejci and Phil Kessel could still be recovering from off-season surgery when camp begins. Kessel could miss a chunk of the season.