Articles

[Eric Fink]

I know that a lot of us are always looking for new ways to get different ideas through to play or drive home a point, or provide examples of points of emphasis. We use a lot of articles, stories, handouts others have given, etc. that we either hang in the locker room or discuss during team meetings. I thought we could use this thread to post these in so we could all use them. Searching for them individually can usually take a long time and not always provide fruitful results.

[Eric Fink]

I'll get things started with a couple examples:

From the Toronto Star

Talent not the only thing NHL scouts look for

October 03, 2010

Kevin McGran

Toronto Maple Leafs Tim Brent during Leafs pre-game warm-up Monday September 27, 2010 at the Toronto Air Canada Centre.
Tara Walton/Toronto Star

Jack Ferguson always knew Tim Brent would make the NHL. But Brent’s not the fastest skater, the hardest hitter or the best shooter, and he’s not particularly big.

But Ferguson, recently retired after 38 years of scouting, saw something in Brent that can’t be judged on a report card. Ferguson saw character.

“He’s probably got more character than ability,” Ferguson says. “In this day and age, character is almost as important as playing ability.”

This is not a story about Brent, who appears to have shed the label of journeyman AHLer by emerging from anonymity to stand on the cusp of making the Maple Leafs after a stellar training camp. Nor is it a story about Nazem Kadri, the Leafs highly touted prospect, who appears to have failed to make the team out of camp. Kadri has all the tools teams crave — speed, skill, creativity and confidence. He just needs more time to develop that talent.

This is a story about what scouts are looking for when they try to project what a 17-year-old will do in the NHL. Maybe at 19, maybe at 20, or maybe, in Brent’s case, 26. He made it because of his character, the kind of person he is, the student of the game in him who wanted to get better every shift, every game, every season. He didn’t quit. He continued to develop his skills. That’s what Ferguson saw when he first noticed him and had urged the St. Mike’s Majors to take him in the midget draft.

“I’m just looking for the kid who just seems to want it more than anybody else,” says Ferguson. “Tim Brent is my idea of a hockey player, a guy that comes to play every shift, doesn’t play dirty but plays hard.”

Scouting is partly objective and partly subjective.

When scouts sit on their perches in junior hockey arenas this winter, they’ll compile all kinds of data, using checklists and spreadsheets. Teams run computer programs to correlate that data regarding players — who’s the fastest skater? Who’s got the hardest shot?

They’ll break it down even further.

If he’s a scorer, does he score on the road? At even strength? In the playoffs? Or is it all at home on the power play?

If he’s a skater, does he skate at one speed? Can he change speeds? Dictate the flow of the game with speed? Can he skate backwards?

Is he a leader? Does he communicate with the coach and his teammates? How does he talk to the officials?

The Maple Leafs run spread-sheet based programs to generate draft lists based on objectively-rated skills. But Dave Morrison, the Leafs’ director of amateur scouting, said his staff spends a great deal of time debating “intangibles” — the subjective side — when it comes to a player.

“Things like the work ethic, the character, the strength of commitment. So many different things. It may not be obvious,” says Morrison. “The background of the player, where did he come from? Where is that potential? Can we work with this player? Can we make him better?”

The belief is if a player works hard every shift and every practice — a sign of character — he has more upside, more chances to improve. Background checks play a vital role.

“We do different assessments with sports psychologists, by talking to the coaches, by talking to the billets if necessary, the parents, getting to know the player,” says Morrison. “If the going gets rough does he get going? You try to ask as many questions as possible and get as much information as possible. Do they compete shift in and shift out?

“You’re talking about 17 and 18 year old kids, some days are just not going to be as good as others. If they’re having a bad day, are they still trying to make it a good day?”

Tyler Seguin was listed by NHL Central Scouting as the No. 1 prospect heading into the draft because when the league’s scouts compiled their data — skating, puck skills, competitiveness, physical play, hockey sense, defensive play and lumped in some psychological factors— he beat Taylor Hall for the honour. But Hall went first overall because Edmonton’s scouts saw things differently.

“We would all like to drop a dime into a machine and have the answer spit out: ‘Player A: Hall of Famer or Ordinary Player or AHL Player,” says E.J. McGuire, the NHL’s director of central scouting.

But it’s not as easy as that.

“Psychological factors are one of the hardest factors to determine,” says McGuire. “We can determine whether a slapshot is hard or soft by observing. Psychology, that’s where the team scouts have to really do their work.

“These are valuable picks and you only get seven of them,” McGuire adds. “It’s the first rounders that get the ink. But if you are better than other teams at drafting fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-rounders, then you’re going to come out smelling like a Detroit Red Wings scouting staff.”

[Eric Fink]

They don't need to be about hockey… this might be good to use for a team meeting or speech of some kind…

Inspirational Story Of Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan’s parents could not afford to feed him when he was a baby. They considered selling him for US$26 to the English obstetrician who delivered him. At the tender age of 7, Jackie was apprenticed at the infamous Academy of Chinese Opera. For more than 10 years from 5am to midnight, seven days a week, he endured a brutal program of music, dance and traditional martial arts training.

The training he received was particularly harsh and cruel. The students was beaten and starved for not performing up to par. Later he appeared in some early Hong Kong films as a stunt man and worked his way up to stunt coordinator, then to director.

When Bruce Lee died, Jackie, along with many others were picked to filled the vacuum. Jackie failed miserably.
“Very hard, very hard,” he said, “So instead of trying to be Bruce Lee, I decided to be myself.”

Jackie was born to be “Steve” who was later changed to Jack Chan. Later, Raymond Chow, a director changed it to “Jackie Chan”. His first big break came in 1978 with the movie “Snake In Eagle’s Shadow”.

Today, Jackie is indisputably Hong Kong’s biggest movie star and is currently making big in US too. Jackie’s fees are up to US$50 million a year!

Jackie Chan childhood was tough and inspirational

[Eric Fink]

I collect a lot of articles that talk about players being cut from youth hockey as the theme and their story of sticking with it and working hard to overcome obstacles. Im not quite sure what I am going to do with them all, but something will come of them 🙂

Doubters always there for Jackets' Dorsett
Scrappy winger willed his way to hockey success

Saturday, March 7, 2009 3:09 AM
By Tom Reed
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

NEAL C. LAURON | DISPATCH
Derek Dorsett, 22, is one of four rookies to see regular time with the Blue Jackets this season.

The scrapes were multiplying and the welts on his back were turning an angry shade of red, but 12-year-old Derek Dorsett would not submit.
Another ball hockey game had gone wrong — sticks dropped, punches thrown and Derek's mouth running as usual. He was giving up 10 to 15 pounds to his older brothers, Michael and Chad.

But he was not giving in an inch.

In an effort to silence Derek, they did what older siblings sometimes do: They rammed his back against the inside of the garage door, slamming him into the jagged screws and metal ridges.

"I kept (talking back) and they kept throwing me into the door," said Dorsett, now a winger for the Blue Jackets. "They probably threw me into the door 15 times. I was always the smallest kid, but I never backed down."

Blue Jackets fans get to see Dorsett channeling his inner 12-year-old almost every game. He is 5 feet 11, 185 pounds of attitude. He agitates, he disrupts, he fights opponents he has no business fighting.

Dorsett, 22, is one of four rookies to see regular time with the Jackets this season, and his rise to the NHL is the most unlikely. Goaltender Steve Mason and forwards Jake Voracek and Derick Brassard had the amateur pedigree. Dorsett, of Kindersley, Saskatchewan, was the 189th player selected in the 2006 draft, in the seventh round.

At age 14, he was cut in tryouts from eight Midget AAA teams. The reason became a weary refrain for the 5-4, 90-pound Dorsett: too small, not strong enough.

Seven years later, the energetic Dorsett is in the NHL, a veteran of 42 games, drawing a regular shift.

"All of their life, players like Derek have been told they won't make it and they have used that motivation to prove people wrong," Jackets development coach Tyler Wright said.

'Couldn't sit still'

Dorsett is a product of his environment, a town of 4,400 residents in western Saskatchewan fighting to become a city, but lacking the population to earn the title. Kindersley and neighboring Brock are known for oil and hockey.

Small in stature, they boast three current NHL players, Dorsett, Steve MacIntyre (Edmonton) and former Jacket Curtis Glencross (Calgary).

Donna Dorsett is probably the only mother in Kindersley wishing her son had spent more time in front of a television.

"I was the first person he lipped off," said Donna, who ran a restaurant with her husband. "He would come to me and say, 'Mom, I'm bored.' He couldn't sit still. He never played video games; he still doesn't."

Dorsett rode dirt bikes, got in schoolyard scraps and played hockey.

He dreamed of being a goaltender until the day the Brothers Dorsett got hold of a tennis ball machine and cranked it to Al MacInnis speed.

"They pelted me with tennis balls," Dorsett said. "At the time, it was tough having older brothers, but looking back, it was the best thing for me."

The low point was being cut from Midget teams. He had broken a bone in his right hand from numerous brawls in tryouts and thought about giving up, but his father, a former coach, encouraged him to keep plugging.

Dorsett grew slowly, and his skill began catching up to his desire. When he was 17, Dorsett led the Swift Current Legionnaires (Midget AAA) in goals and penalty minutes. Over the next few years, he combined with Blue Jackets defenseman Kris Russell to help make the Medicine Hat Tigers a junior-league power.

The season after the Jackets drafted Dorsett, the Tigers reached the Memorial Cup final. He scored eight goals in 17 playoff games.

"He has the heart of a lion," Jackets defenseman Mike Commodore said. "But you know what? He's also a good player and he's only going to get better."

'It's the only way'

Dorsett spent last season with minor-league Syracuse, which served as a finishing school for agitators. Under the tutelage of teammates Jon Mirasty and Zenon Konopka, Dorsett thrived in the chaos.

He scored 10 goals and racked up 289 penalty minutes in 64 games, sometimes fighting tough guys nearly a foot taller.

"Konopka was always trying to get me to test my limits," Dorsett said. "Mirasty taught me how to fight bigger players."

He credits Wright, a fellow native of Saskatchewan, for prodding him to develop his skating and skills. Dorsett has 12 fights this season, including a memorable Oct. 30 drubbing of Colorado's Darcy Tucker, but he plays well enough to earn consistent ice time.

Lately, Dorsett and left winger Andrew Murray have teamed up to form an effective energy line.

For a grinder who lives by the motto, "Every game is a Game 7 for guys like me," Dorsett knows his back is always against a garage door of some kind.

"I'm going to have to prove myself," he said. "It's the only way I'll stay here."

[hockeygod]

Eric – great idea about having articles as their own thread. I have posted some in other threads and will begin by posting more here. I might re-post a few of the older ones that I think are good – or other people can cut and paste them too!

I love using articles to help generate discussion with my skill academies.

Thanks!

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Maxims of John Wooden

John Wooden is the former coach of the record-setting UCLA basketball team, winning 10 National Championships in 12 years

Attachments

• John Wooden Rules of Life.doc (123 KB)

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Competition is Everything

(Partial transcript from a TV interview…)

“Competition is everything. If you ask me, "What am I?" I am a competitor. I battle at everything. Every single day at practice is competitive. Every day, somebody wins and loses.”

– Pete Carroll, Head Football Coach – USC Trojans –

———-

“What’s inside of kids and makes them different is the inner feeling that I am not going to let one day go by without getting better.”

“You are constantly in game prep. That never changes throughout the whole year. You are preparing for that moment – even in January.”

“What I look for in a recruit is a kid that can move… and so I want to see a kid that can jump, that can run, that can move after the fact. It’s not about how much you can bench, or what time you can run in the 40 – no that’s not it! The weight room is a facilitator to movement. Football is about going from A to B to C and then back to D and making a play… and making an impact when you get there!”

The X factor between two kids with the same ability is ‘want to.’ How much does he ‘want to’ do it every time. Not every place – that’s easy – you see Saturday’s, 92,000 people in the coliseum – that’s easy to ‘want to’ – but how about January 16th? Do you want to go hard that day? Do you want to train at the highest levels? Do you want to go ahead and keep pushing that envelope on how good you can be? Coach Carroll said, ‘I want to prepare at the highest level; so we can practice at the highest level; so we can play at the highest level.’ You gotta make them understand that everything that what we are doing right today, is gonna make us better in September.”

“I always watch these programs where a kid goes less than full speed and I am thinking, ‘what are you preparing for?’ How can you prepare for less than full speed unless you are going to play that way? If you don’t prepare these kids at full speed; if they don’t work every time they put their hand down full speed; their not getting ready! You know what they are getting ready to do? They are getting ready to get beat.

– Chris Carlyle, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach – USC Trojans –

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Life of Reilly

There are some games in which cheering for the other side feels better than winning.

by Rick Reilly

Attachments

• There are some games in which cheering for the other side feels better than winning.doc (263 KB)

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

BC Soccer – PARENT EDUCATION

Attachments

• bc soccer parent education.pdf (1 MB)

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

KEEPING GAME FUN FOR KIDS A MAJOR CONCERN

BY SHAWN P. ROARKE, NHL.com Managing Editor, Molson Hockey Summit, Aug 24, 2010

TORONTO — The development of skilled hockey players at the youth level is the lifeblood of the pro game. While many esoteric and cutting-edge topics were discussed, the undeniable theme that the game must remain fun for today's youth players quickly and clearly took center stage.

All of the skill development schemes in the world will fall on deaf ears if the players those schemes target aren't having fun playing the game.

In a sobering stat, USA Hockey's Bob Mancini, a regional manager of its American Development Model, said that 44 percent of USA Hockey's youth players stop playing the game before they reach the age of nine.

That, he says, is an unacceptable attrition rate and while there are many reasons for it — the quality of coaching, the fear of injury and the cost of participation to name three — the main reason for the dropouts, according to him, is that the players stop having fun and become casualties of a hockey culture that has become too rigid at even the introductory levels.

"It has to be fun first," Mancini said of youth hockey's mandate. "We have to change the introduction kids get to hockey. Every decision we make in youth hockey has to be about the player first."

Brendan Shanahan, now the NHL's Vice President of Hockey and Business Development, spent more than two decades playing the game at the highest level, but still remembers how he first fell in love with it as a boy growing up in the suburbs of Toronto.

He says it happened more playing neighbourhood shinny games on the closest natural-ice surface and racing around the municipal rink — sans pads and stick — playing tag with whatever kids were handy.

Today, his seven-year-old son is just starting to play the game and Shanahan knows he needs to pass on those lessons that shaped his love of the game.

"I just wanted to play tag and I wanted to skate," Shanahan told NHL.com. "Looking back on that now, I would encourage my son to do that. I just think it is a great way to develop.

"Anytime you can get a kid out on the ice and just make it fun and he is developing and improving without knowing he's developing and improving, and all he cares about is that he is having a great deal of fun out there, that's when you have really locked onto something valuable."

The question Tuesday morning for the World Hockey Summit was how exactly does organized youth hockey lock onto those moments that hook initiates on the sport for good?

Virtually all agreed that one of the best ways to keep players interested is to introduce body checking as late as possible to the game.

"The later we introduce body hitting, the more we will be able to develop skill," Mancini said.

Mancini's assertion came just minutes after Dr. Marc Aubrey, the International Ice Hockey Federation's chief medical officer, presented a compelling study of the links between a rise in injuries — particularly incidents of concussions — in youth leagues that allow body checking as opposed to those that do not.

But numbers are one thing. Personal experience is another.

Peter Laviolette, the current coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, played a hard-nosed, hitting style throughout a pro career spent largely in the minor leagues. He understands the ability to play physical hockey is a meal ticket for many players, but that doesn't mean it has to be taught at the youth levels.

Tuesday, he told a poignant story about taking his sons, 12 and 11, onto the ice this summer to teach them the art of body checking. The older son, who has a 60-pound advantage on the younger son, got the better of the hitting session to the point that the younger son became more concerned in an ensuing scrimmage about being hit than enjoying the game.

He also says his oldest son has already suffered a concussion playing the game.

For those reasons, he would rather see the introduction of body checking reserved for older players.

Shanahan, one of the toughest players of his generation, grew up without the opportunity to body check as a youth player. At the time, body checking was illegal in Toronto-area youth leagues.

"I tend to agree with doctors and Peter Laviolette that think we should really put the body checking off," Shanahan said. "I think that it is a skill you can adopt at a later age.

"I didn't have body checking when I was a kid, my teammate was Bryan Marchment and he didn't have body checking as a kid, and he turned out to be a great body checker."

Marchment, an NHL defenseman for almost two decades, evolved into one of the most intimidating and effective body checkers the NHL has ever known.

Shanahan also believes youth players can follow a similar blueprint: enjoy the game and develop skills as a youth player. The physicality can always come at a later date when it is a more natural evolution, he argues.

"Again, a very small percentage of these kids are going to make it to the NHL or even play at collegiate level, so I think that player safety and skill development is more important," he said.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[Tom Molloy]

Dean, great articles. I started this site to help coaches run effective and enjoyable practices so that the young players would look forward to coming to the rink and enjoy the experience.

There are two themes to the ABC's of International Hockey. "Enjoy the Game" and "The Game is the Greatest Coach."

I have been putting on a drill a day because when the site was hacked I wasn't finished doing diagrams for every video; so my efforts have been more technical. I am trying to have material for every level of coach from the guy or girl who works every day and has no coaching background but needs help to organize practice and understand team play to the advanced coach who is looking for some new ideas to change up practice a bit.

The emphasis is that players learn by drills but more through simulating game situations. Study after study has shown that a drill practice has the players moving from 7-12 minutes and the rest of the time standing in line or listening to instructions. Is it a mystery why 80% quit organized sport by 14. Small area, full ice and transition games change the activity time around 180 degrees. So the players move more, play in realistic situations and have fun. We ARE teaching a Game after all. Not a series of individual movements.

Anyway I am very happy to see more discussion here.

Dean I can't find my dvd of the NHL practices so I can't break them down unless I get a copy of the dvd I gave you.

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'

[hockeygod]

Tom,

It is indeed great to see some more conversation starting up. I try to get on the site once / day of possible but the kids keep me busy! Not always do I have time to post responses…

I will see if I can burn a copy of the DVD you made for me and then try to get it to you in the next day or two… I have a few days off coming up with the holidays.

Dean
I am replying inside the post. Thanks for bringing the dvd. I think I have converted it to a format that I can take out the drills from the pro practices. I think the coaches are interested in seeing what the pro's do at practice. It is the same game; they just do things faster and better.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[DMan]

Here's a nice collection of articles on a wide array of topics.
http://www.dphockey.com/articles.htm

and another (scroll to bottom of page)…..
http://www.letsplayhockey.com/

I'm a big fan of the Jack Blatherwick articles myself.

[hockeygod]

The power of perspective and privilege

Players skip morning skate to honour those who paid the ultimate price for their luxuries

By Iain Macintyre, Vancouver Sun November 11, 2010

From rooms on the west side of the hotel where the Vancouver Canucks stay in Canada's capital, players can see from their windows the National War Memorial, although it is easy to miss.

Parliament Hill looms iconically behind it, home to the Senate and House of Commons and the Peace Tower clock. Next door, the Chateau Laurier hotel gleams at night like a castle palace. Across Wellington Street, between the Canucks' hotel and the War Memorial, is the Government Conference Centre, formerly Union Station and still magnificent in everything but name.

Amid this glorious triangle of Beaux-Arts and Gothic Revival architecture, the War Memorial stands humbly. But it is there. Players have looked at it. Few have probably really seen it.

They will today.

Believing there are things more important than hockey — yes, even Tuesday's 2-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens — Canuck general manager Mike Gillis and coach Alain Vigneault have cancelled the usual morning skate in Ottawa and instead will walk with staff and players to the War Memorial to observe Remembrance Day.

For once, these National Hockey League millionaires have no special privileges. They'll merely gather in the hotel lobby, and walk solemnly with their poppies and thoughts to the cenotaph, joining the crowd of thousands who gather annually at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

They'll watch and listen, see wreaths laid near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, see the faces of war's survivors and ponder the millions of lives sacrificed for freedom.

Perspective, Gillis believes, is a powerful thing.

"When you participate in the NHL, it's easy to lose sight of other things that are very important," he explained Wednesday. "It's good for everyone to have some perspective about life. If these guys can go and see the emotions and the interaction of veterans, it will be a healthy and lasting memory."

"We were all for it," associate coach Rick Bowness said. "Some things in life are more important than a morning skate."

The decision to attend today's ceremony was made during the Canucks' long flight Sunday between Vancouver and Montreal.

Bowness coached in Ottawa for four years but said the NHL schedule never allowed him to take the Senators, then an expansion team, to a Remembrance Day ceremony in the 1990s.

He did, however, take players to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington and once ordered the Senators' bus to stop in the forlorn neighbourhood around old Miami Arena so players, who had everything, could see on the streets people who had nothing.

"I still tell these kids today that every day in this league is a blessing and never take it for granted," he said. "Appreciate how lucky we are, how fortunate we are, how well we're treated.

"We're here in Ottawa and it's Remembrance Day. Why not take advantage of this opportunity and let players share in the Canadian experience? It kind of puts things in perspective for everybody."

After their poorest game in three weeks, the Canucks play the Senators tonight in suburban Kanata, Ont. Attending an emotional Remembrance Day ceremony is highly unorthodox preparation.

Yet, players who were asked after Wednesday's practice seemed genuinely eager to attend.

"I think it's a special opportunity," centre Manny Malhotra, who is from Toronto, said as blood trickled from his lip due to a deflected puck.

"You go through it in school, study it in history: What is Remembrance Day? But I don't think we can really grasp what those men and women went through.

"Compared to the rest of the world, we live in an incredible country. We had good childhoods without hardship. We live an incredible life. We should remember the men and women who gave their lives so we could have this life."

Winger Tanner Glass, who is from Craven, Sask., said: "Hopefully, we'll come back to the rink with a sense of all the things we have, how lucky we are.

"For me, when I think about the Second World War, I think about all the young men who were sent there. If there was a war today, that would be us. We would be the ones on the front line."

Canuck centre Ryan Kesler, who is from the Detroit area, has a better understanding than most players about war and what is at risk.

His brother-in-law, Derek Evans, is preparing to be deployed to Afghanistan with U.S. Forces. Kesler said it will be Evans' third tour in the Middle East.

He said his grandfathers fought in the Second World War, but neither talks about the experience, even to Kesler's parents.

"I think it's important that we're doing this," Kesler said.

"Hockey is not life and death. Some things are more important."

imacintyre@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Ken Holland has an easy formula for winning in the NHL, and will tell anyone who wants to listen.

Mark Spector on NHL – Sportsnet.ca
11 November 2010

EDMONTON — Ken Holland is poking my colleague Jim Matheson in the chest, just below left collarbone. And he keeps poking him: "This is what's important. Right here," he says, tap, tap, tapping, without ever uttering the word, "heart."

Inside Rexall Place, the home of the latest major Canadian rebuild, the theme of the conversation is: Rebuilding Once, Then Staying On Top For 15 years. You climb the mountain on that one, and you'll find Holland sitting up there, cross legged, dolling out the answers on the meaning of hockey.

You want to talk building? You couldn't get closer to the source if you got 15 minutes with Ron Popeil talking kitchen gadgets.

"In 2001 when we lost to L.A. (in the first round), there were some people saying, 'The Red Wings run is over.' We're too old," said Holland, the Wings' GM for 13 seasons now. "We're just about in 2011, 10 years later, and we're having the same conversation."

It's a conversation that should have Toronto listening. Calgary might want to hang around for this chat too. Edmonton, no doubt.

Vancouver is good, real good. But can they stay that way if, like Holland's Red Wings, they get one Top 20 draft pick in 19 drafts? (And even that came by way of lottery, in 2005).

A minute later, Holland has found a new, key principle to winning. "Environment," he says. "Everything is about the environment."

The "environment" is a multi-faceted, moving target however.

Edmonton is in Joe Louis Arena Thursday night. If you watch the game, think about the options Holland's winning "environment" affords him today, that aren't even in Edmonton's five-year plan yet.

Compare Taylor Hall and Henrik Zetterberg.

"Zetterberg was rookie of the Year in Swedish Elite League (SEL) at 19," said Holland, who ultimately decided to give Zetterberg one more year in Sweden. "The next year he was the MVP of the SEL, and the only Swede to play in Salt Lake City Olympics who wasn't an NHL player.

"We had a really good player. We just left him be."

Holland was a scout when Detroit, known as The Dead Things in the 70's and 80's, missed the playoffs in 1983. It was their 15th miss in 17 years, and that June they drafted Steve Yzerman.

Two more misses ensued, but this April Detroit will compete in the post-season for an incredible 20th consecutive springs.

"Two things," says Holland, when asked he's kept this thing rolling. "One, we still have the best defenceman (Nicklas Lidstrom) in the world. And two . we had a great one-two punch down the middle in (Sergei) Fedorov and Yzerman. One retired, one left, and our scouts found Zetterberg and (Pavel) Datsyuk.

"Ultimately it's about a foundation," he continues, finding yet another pillar on which to build his platform. "Our foundation in the late 90s was (Vladimir) Konstantinov and Lidstrom on the back end, and Fedorov and Yzerman up front. When we lost Konstantinov, we brought in Chris Chelios. Now it's Lidstrom and Rafalski, Zetterberg and Datsyuk. There are other really good players there, but we've got two premier defencemen and two premier forwards."

Oh. There is one more element he almost forgot.

"Let's put luck in there too," Holland says. "To find Zetterberg and Datsyuk in the sixth and seventh round? That's luck."

Truly, the Wings drafted seven players ahead of Datsyuk in '98. The first was Jiri Fischer, who was forced into retirement with a heart condition. The next six combined to play two NHL games. Datsyuk was selected at No. 171. In '94, Tomas Holmstrom was picked 257th .

Lidstrom was 53rd overall in '89, the year Toronto selected three Belleville Bulls in the Top 21 picks. Vancouver bagged Jason Herter and Rob Woodward in the Top 29 that June, while Calgary built around Kent Manderville, Ted Drury and Veli-Pekka Kautonen, all before the Sting look-alike Lidstrom's name was called.

Of course, once Detroit built its core, it had the proper environment for young players to walk into. But players don't just walk into that experienced, winning dressing room the way do in so many other cities, at 18 and 19 years old.

The way Hall and Eberle are walking into an Oilers room that was poisonous at the end of last season.

"We've got (defenceman) Brendan Smith. I think he could play in the NHL today. He could play 15 minutes (tonight), but he's playing 25-27 in Grand Rapids. He's on the powerplay, he's on the ice all night long against the other team's best players.

"I can't tell you what he's going to be. But he's an elite prospect."

No, he's an elite Detroit Red Wings prospect. That means the chances of him playing are better than good.

And better than if he were a member of any other organization in hockey.

FAST FACTS

* Holland was drafted as a goaltender 88th overall in 1975 by Toronto Maple Leafs
* Stanley Cup Champion in 1997 (Assistant GM), 1998, 2002, 2008 (GM)

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

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