Manitoba Moose

He's still so wrapped up in hockey -- after all, it's his job as assistant GM of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers -- that when John Paddock first discovered he was about to join the class of 2010 in the AHL Hall of Fame, he thought there must be some mistake.

The 55-year-old product of Oak River, Man., will be one of four inducted into the Hall today at the AHL's All-Star week celebrations in Portland, Maine.

"It just made me seem like I'm older than I am," Paddock said via phone from Portland. "I'm really surprised by this but I don't consider my hockey career done, whether I coach again or not.

"And I really think I could coach again. I don't feel like I'm too old to ride the bus. Of course, that could change but until now, I hadn't really thought much about any of this.

"Bottom line is I'm honoured and surprised."

Surprised is just Paddock, pretty much an unassuming prairie lad -- known to his friends as "Too Tall" -- who authored 10 playing years in the pros with just 87 NHL games, but whose contributions to different teams behind the bench and in the front office has been extensive.

He was the coach and GM of the Winnipeg Jets before they left town, also the coach of the Ottawa Senators for most of 2007-08.

But winning Calder Cups with three different AHL teams (Maine in 1984, Hershey in 1988, Hartford in 2000) is one of Paddock's greatest resume lines, and he's the only person to ever do it.

(Quick aside: playing on Paddock's first Cup-winning team in Maine in 1984 was present Canucks coach Alain Vigneault.)

Paddock's 585-424-98 record puts him third overall in the league's coaching register.

Moose GM Craig Heisinger, who worked for Paddock with the Jets for a time, and is now an AHL rival of sorts, thinks his former boss's selection is nothing short of perfect.

"Knowing about the criteria, well, he fits all of them," Heisinger said. "And success-wise and people-wise, he's one of the most genuine and humble guys you'd ever want to meet.

"In the AHL, very few people have had the success he's had."

After coaching the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms last season, Paddock assumed the assistant GM's job in the off-season.

And in that capacity, representing the Flyers interest at the AHL meetings in September, Paddock inadvertently discovered the 2010 Hall of Fame plan that also includes MacGregor Kilpatrick, goalie Marcel Paille and sniper Bill Sweeney at today's induction.

"I knew nothing about the nominations," Paddock said. "I was flipping the pages of the agenda for the meetings and came across it on one of the pages and I was really surprised.

"At one point I went out of the room for a phone call and when I got back in, they had got to that item and Dave (Andrews, AHL president) told me welcome back and welcome to the Hall."

Paddock said that this week's honour has made him a little nostalgic, not for his playing days but for some of the people he has engaged during his career.

"There are some people I've associated with, people like Frank Mathers in Hershey, that I'd never think about putting myself in the same class as that," Paddock said.

"To my good fortune and pleasure, the Flyers had their team in Hershey and ran it there, but Frank was the manager and business manager of the team. His experience and reputation, though, made him more than that to any coach that was working under him or with him.

"It was an opportunity to be around an exceptional man and to watch how he conducted himself within hockey and the sports world and I can think of no better example for anyone than him."