Wild assistant has varied resume
By Michael Russo, Star Tribune – As a junior player, Dave Barr played on four teams in three years, so he got vast experience at an early age how to handle life being uprooted.
Barr might be the newbie assistant on the Wild’s coaching staff, but this is no newbie.
In hockey, he’s lived it all.
After turning pro in 1981, the former winger played on 14 teams — seven in the NHL, seven in the minors — in 16 years.
Barr was the definition of a journeyman yet still managed to play 614 games in the NHL, skating for some the game’s best coaches, such as Gerry Cheevers, Jacques Demers, Bryan Murray and Herb Brooks.
He played alongside legendary teammates, from young Ray Bourque and Steve Yzerman, to Wayne Cashman, Brad Park and Bernie Federko, to Doug Gilmour, Claude Lemieux, Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer.
He grabbed bits and pieces of everything and carried it into a coaching career that’s taken him from Houston to Guelph, Ontario, to Denver, and now to the Wild. Barr, who turns 49 Monday, relates to players because he’s able to convey how he’s personally dealt with every situation imaginable.
