Articles

[hockeygod]

Hitchcock hire brought young talent to surface on St. Louis Blues

The Canadian Press, 2012-04-07

ST. LOUIS – Thirteen games in, another St. Louis Blues youth movement was foundering. Even after fortifying the roster with a smattering of seasoned playoff veterans, they were just 6-7.

Once and for all, the front office needed to know if it was on the right track hoping that a collection of high draft picks could make a run at top tier of the NHL.

"We just had too many young players we weren't sure about," team president John Davidson said. "Somewhere along the line, you've got to rely on those guys. It was time to show us something."

In early November, the Blues replaced one of the youngest coaches in the league with the most experienced hand on the market. They've been an elite team since the day Ken Hitchcock, pushing 60, replaced 41-year-old Davis Payne and took charge.

"Hitch knows exactly what this team needs to be successful," forward David Perron said. "He's leaned really hard on us and we've responded.

"All the guys in this room are making it happen."

A franchise that had missed the playoffs five of the previous six seasons was the first to qualify this season. The first to clinch its division, too.

The Blues entered the final weekend having clinched no worse than the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, and with an outside shot at the President's Trophy despite a so-so finish. It's their first playoff berth since 2008-09, when they were a No. 6 seed and made a quick exit.

"We needed somebody with a resume that was long, and Ken was available," Davidson said. "Everybody wanted to be grabbed by the scruff of the neck and say, 'OK, let's go!'"

St. Louis stockpiled draft picks during lean times and Perron, T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund and Alex Pietrangelo are all former first-rounders. Captain David Backes was a second-round pick. Now those picks are finally paying off.

The Blues have a pair of young offensive-minded defencemen in Pietrangelo, the fourth overall pick in 2008, and Kevin Shattenkirk, a former Avalanche first-rounder acquired in a trade with Colorado for former No. 1 overall pick Erik Johnson. The duo had combined for nearly 100 points without sacrificing in their own end, with both among the league leaders in plus-minus.

The 22-year-old Pietrangelo is the youngest player in franchise history with consecutive 40-point seasons, and is among the league's most durable players, too, playing 24 or more minutes in a dozen consecutive games entering the weekend.

"He's had very few low points and he's logged a lot of minutes," veteran defenceman Barret Jackman said. "He knows when to get rid of it, knows when to skate. Leaps and bounds."

The offence lacks a bonafide scoring threat or a line that'll scare you, with only Backes, Oshie and Pietrangelo topping 50 points. So it relies instead on a relentless attacking style to wear down the opposition. Veterans Jason Arnott, Jamie Langenbrunner and Scott Nichol, all signed last summer with the belief the franchise was ready to make a move, add seasoning.

What makes this team really click is the league's best goaltending tandem.

Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak have combined for an NHL-record 15 shutouts, tying the mark set by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1969-70. Elliott leads the NHL with a 1.49 goals-against average and has nine of the shutouts, and had a scoreless streak of more than 3 1/2 games before giving up two late goals in a shootout loss to the Red Wings on Wednesday.

Halak, who had seven more starts than Elliott, was fifth in the league with a 1.97 goals-against average. Both are 26.

"Our goaltending has been unbelievable all year," Jackman said.

When the playoffs start, Hitchcock probably will have to choose between the spidery Halak, who came to the Blues after a deep playoff run with the Canadiens, or Elliott, who fills more of the net, is more fundamentally sound and was the franchise's lone all-star representative.

"Don't go there," Hitchcock said earlier this week. "I'll go there next week."

St. Louis entered the weekend with a shot at the league record for fewest goals allowed in a season, and its stingy penalty killers had allowed a goal on just five of 91 chances.

Until the last few games the Blues have been a juggernaut at home, setting a franchise record with 65 points and with just five regulation losses.

"St. Louis is a great team," Columbus interim coach Brad Richards said. "They're going to test you, they're going to make you make mistakes."

Unlike last season, when injuries exposed a lack of depth and the Blues faded, the lineup has weathered extended absences for Perron, Andy McDonald and Alex Steen due to concussions.

"The players' buy-in has really made me proud," Hitchcock said. "They've been willing to look in the mirror, do the hard things, change in some cases individually, and collectively. I'm very impressed. That's what's given us a chance."

Hitchcock is the Blues' fourth coach in six years, all of them in-season hires. He's hired through next season, and figures to end the revolving door.

This is his sixth division champion and 10th playoff team in 15 seasons.

"He's a great hockey mind," Jackman said. "He's pretty loose most of the time, too, keeping the guys focused but having fun."

It was an easy call to make for general manager Doug Armstrong, who was an assistant GM when Hitchcock coached the Dallas Stars to the Stanley Cup in 1998-99. Davidson has known Hitchcock for decades, too.

During a 1 1/2-year absence from coaching after getting fired by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Hitchcock prepared mentally and physically for what might be his final shot. While scrutinizing rosters and doing his own job of scouting, Hitchcock embraced a workout routine and improved diet habits.

He gets points for trying to better relate to a younger generation and its reliance on social media.

"He didn't sit around waiting for the phone to ring," Davidson said. "He made himself a better man, a better coach, so when the opportunity came around he'd be ready."

Hitchcock didn't change much. He just made players accountable.

"We feel like if we work," Hitchcock said, "we're going to win."

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

[hockeygod]

Don Cherry the latest to blast Sidney Crosby

TORONTO— The Canadian Press, Apr. 07, 2012

Don Cherry is the latest hockey personality to call out NHL superstar Sidney Crosby for his attitude and his playing style.

Cherry spoke out against the Pittsburgh Penguins captain Saturday during his weekly “Coach's Corner” segment on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. He joined the chorus of critics who claim Crosby is a cheap player who whines to the referees.

“A long time ago when Crosby was coming out I tried to warn him 'quit diving, quit whining,' I was the worst guy in the world … and all I was trying to do was help him,” Cherry said.

“All I said was stop whining, stop diving and snapping the head back.”

Cherry says that Crosby is being targeted by opponents because they don't respect him.

The former Boston Bruins coach said that Crosby has to learn to rise above the physical play of his opponents, or he will get injured.

“If you want to survive in this league, he's got to suck it up and stop getting stupid penalties and going back at guys,” Cherry said.

Crosby has struggled with head and neck injuries over the past two seasons.

Cherry showed a clip of Crosby giving Philadelphia forward Brayden Schenn a retaliatory shot in a game last Sunday. Schenn later replied with a cross-check to Crosby's back, an incident which was partly responsible for touching off a line brawl between the two teams in the game's dying minutes.

Cherry said Crosby shouldn't have retaliated against Schenn.

“Listen, I admire him, but he should be like (Montreal great) Guy Lafleur,” Cherry said. “All you have to do is look at (Tampa Bay star Steven) Stamkos, he gets more abuse than anybody. You cannot be the greatest player in the world and expect to get a free ride. And what you've done, you've turned the league and teams against you.”

Earlier this week, New York Rangers coach John Tortorella, Philadelphia assistant Craig Berube and former NHL coach turned TV analyst Mike Milbury all took turns accusing Pittsburgh of being one of the dirtiest teams in the league. Tortorella was fined US$20,000 for his comments.

All three had choice words for Crosby, while Tortorella and Berube also showed disdain for the Penguins' other superstar, Evgeni Malkin.

Milbury started the avalanche of criticism on Monday, calling out Crosby on a Philadelphia radio station.

“So you know, Crosby gets cross-checked, big whoop,” Milbury said. “He said after he came back from his 35th concussion, ‘I'm not going to do this anymore, I'm not going to get into this scrums, I'm going to stay away from that stuff.’ He couldn't help himself because there's a little punk in Crosby.”

Milbury later apologized for his comments.

On Tuesday, Berube picked up where Milbury left off. Speaking on CSN Philly Daily News Live, Berube called Crosby and Malkin “the two dirtiest players on their hockey team.”

“I've got no problem with what Schenn does,” he added. “And if somebody runs (Crosby) over, that's great. They should run him over.”

Tortorella's comments came after the Penguins' 5-2 win over the Rangers on Thursday, which included a knee-on-knee hit by Pittsburgh defenceman Brooks Orpik on New York forward Derek Stepan.

“It's a cheap, dirty hit,” Tortorella said. “I wonder what would happen if we did it to their two whining stars (Crosby and Malkin) over there. I wonder what would happen. So I'm anxious to see what happens with the league with this. Just no respect amongst players. None. It's sickening.”

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

[hockeygod]

Toby Petersen: Before I Made It
Toby Petersen, like so many NHLers, had plenty of help from his family early on in his hockey career.

With Kevin Kennedy, The Hockey News, 2012-04-07

I grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota, the former home of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. I’m a big Twins fan and I blame my brother for getting me into hockey instead of football or baseball. My brother is three years older than I am, so when he was playing early on it obviously caught my attention. I got into hockey because of him and I also got some hand-me-downs.

My dad also played a significant role in my minor hockey career. He would let me know what I could’ve done better on the way home in the car. He wouldn’t hesitate to give me advice, but my he never said a word during games; he was very quiet and just observed. There are always a couple parents that yell “shoot” or whatever, but he wasn’t one of them.

Getting us boys to the games and practices was truly a team effort in our household. My younger sister played as well and my other younger sister had dance classes. My parents relied on a pretty sophisticated network of car pooling. I remember there was one rink in particular that I hated to see on the schedule: the Minnetonka Ice Bubble. It was freezing cold. The rink was cold. The locker rooms were cold. There was nowhere to hide. You knew once you stepped in the rink you were going to be freezing.

I had two Minnesota hockey legends, Dan Trebil and Tom Saterdalen, as coaches in minor hockey and they both had a big impact me as a player and as a person. They taught me discipline on and off the ice. I owe a lot to those guys. Tom Saterdalen coached me at Bloomington Jefferson High School and he’s coached a bunch of guys playing in the NHL today.

My fondest minor hockey memory was winning the silver stick in Sarnia, Ontario. Coming up from Minnesota, we’d won our regional tournament in St. Paul and went on to win it all. It was pretty special at such a young age

—–

Hats off to parents, family and coaches who contribute to our minor hockey kids! Nice to see someone remember their roots and give them accolades.

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

[hockeygod]

Oilers’ coaching situation up in the air:
Tom Renney says he accepted being a lame-duck coach long ago, playing it one game at a time until Game 82.

Jim Matheson, Postmedia News Apr 8, 2012

VANCOUVER — Edmonton Oilers coach Tom Renney says he told his players Saturday morning to approach the last game of this season like it means something, “like it’s the first game of next year.”

But will Renney be around to see it?

Renney and his coaching staff — Ralph Krueger, Kelly Buchberger, Steve Smith and Fred Chabot — don’t have contracts for next season, and Renney says he’s had no indication whether they’ll be back or whether the Vancouver Canucks game Saturday was their last act as a group with the Oilers.

There has been no announcement on a new deal for general manager Steve Tambellini, either.

Renney, who has been limping around for some time on a bad knee that will need some off-season work, says he accepted being a lame-duck coach long ago, playing it one game at a time until Game 82.

“This is the first time I’ve actually made it to the end of a season,” he said with a laugh.

Renney started his NHL coaching career with the Canucks in 1996 and was fired in November 1997 when Vancouver brought in Mike Keenan.

He was instrumental in drafting plenty of the current New York Rangers as their vice-president of player development before replacing GM/interim coach Glen Sather in 2004. He stayed there until he was released in February 2009 and replaced by John Tortorella.

Renney joined the Oilers as Pat Quinn’s associate coach a few months later, then got the head job in 2010-11.

“I’m quite happy with that . . . I got to February 22nd in New York and we were 10 games over .500 and we were having a little difficulty,” he said. “I don’t think I’m naive. I try to work hard, I try to be the good soldier that the organization requires of me. I try to let my body of work speak for itself.”

How does Renney judge himself as a coach?

“If I’m going to make an honest assessment, certainly the young players have grown . . . I think the player development has been really good,” he said. “If you look at various parts of our team, there’s improvement for sure, but if you take our start and our finish and sandwich that with the three months in the middle, which is significant, we weren’t good enough.

“There’s lots of reasons why. I won’t go there (to break them down). I’ll let your judgment determine that. Bottom line: We’re an improved team.”

The Oilers had 74 points going into the Canucks game, compared to 62 points in each of the last two seasons. Their special teams also improved this season, with the power play ranking third in the league and the penalty-kill 14th.

“As we continue to stock the shelves we should be able to overcome depth issues and injury issues,” Renney said.

The Oilers haven’t had enough secondary scoring to help Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall. Shawn Horcoff has had a miserable year offensively, scoring just 34 points going into the last game, while Ales Hemsky had 36. Ryan Smyth had 24 points in his first 22 games but struggled to put up points in the last 60 games.

The defence was also in constant flux for months, starting with Ryan Whitney’s ankle problems.

“I think we would have been better on the blue-line if we were more settled, but we needed to be better in front of our goaltender, too. We started the season with Whitney hurting and we played a lot of the season with a back end that we were . . . not sure if they were NHLers. That’s OK,” said Renney.

The Oilers don’t have an established top-two defence pairing that can play big minutes and put up points and worry other teams. It’s no secret they have to get better back there.

“Really, I think we have to become more responsible as a team. You’re never satisfied as a coach unless you’ve got Nugent-Hopkins, Hall and Eberle. I’d like to see that on the back end. But we don’t have that,” he said.

Winning and development are tough things to juggle for a coach.

“I want to win with the best and win a Stanley Cup before I’m finished,” he said. “I’m all in as an Oiler. I’ll do whatever it takes to help this team grow and become a contender. I keep saying this: We’re growing up in front of everybody in hockey.

“There’s impatience and frustration, but this isn’t my first rebuild. If we can step back from the ledge and understand what we’re building, I think people can watch the Oilers and be very happy with them.”

Smyth feels for Renney and his staff.

“Tom’s stayed the course. He’s done things the same way throughout the year. It’s tough when you’re out (of the playoffs months ago),” said Smyth. “He’s done a really good job. He’s a very good teacher.”

—–

I feel Tom is a very good motivator and technical / tactical coach – a great teacher! I learned a lot working with him with the National Team. As an A/C, even I felt motivated working with him… he has great communication skills. I hope the Oilers keep him but that will first depend on what happens above him – they have to have the GM solidified before making staff decisions. Good luck Tom!

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

[hockeygod]

On the hot seat: Evaluating NHL GMs and coaches of Canada’s teams

Sean Fitz-Gerald, National Post, Apr 6, 2012

All seven Canadian teams will be in action as the National Hockey League regular season schedule comes to a close on Saturday. And then, as is becoming tradition, most of those teams will re-appear on TSN and Sportsnet a few days later, clearing out their lockers and talking about what could have been. And then, yes, many of them will go golfing. What impact will this have on the people in charge? Post hockey reporter Sean Fitz-Gerald takes measure of the temperature around the coaches and general managers across the country below, with green meaning good, yellow meaning caution, and red meaning “don’t sign a long-term housing lease.”

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Mike Gillis, general manager, green Vancouver made it to within a game of winning the first Stanley Cup title in franchise history last season. Both Sedins are under contract for another two seasons (with an identical cap hit, naturally, of US$6.1-million) and most of the core is guaranteed through at least next season. There is a goaltending question that will need answering, with Cory Schneider set to become a restricted free agent, but Gillis has built Canada’s strongest team.

Alain Vigneault, head coach, green You are the head coach of a team in the running for the Presidents’ Trophy, one year after falling 60 minutes short of the title. Naturally, some fans in your city have already called for your head, as happened during a dry spell in the schedule last month. Barring an unreasonably early playoff upset, he seems safe.

CALGARY FLAMES

Jay Feaster, general manager, yellow All Feaster needs to do this summer is decide if he wants to trade goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff and ask captain Jarome Iginla about his plans for the future. Basically, this is the moment in which he can pull the trigger, blow up the franchise and begin the rebuilding process.

Brent Sutter, head coach, red His three-year contract is expiring, and Sutter has nothing but three years of playoff misses to show for his time in Calgary. The Flames have been one of the league’s lowest-scoring teams this season, and Sutter has already fallen on his sword, telling reporters: “It’s very disappointing to know that you’re not going to be in the playoffs again … and you feel totally responsible for it, as I do.”

EDMONTON OILERS

Steve Tambellini, general manager, yellow Edmonton has missed the playoffs every year since its surprise trip to the Stanley Cup final six years ago. Tambellini signed on to lead the rebuild four years ago, and in the final year of his contract, the Oilers are headed for a familiar trip to the NHL draft lottery. It has been reported he will be granted a multi-year extension, but nothing official has been announced.

Tom Renney, head coach, red Like Tambellini, Renney has been working without a deal in place for next season. Despite its young talent — alarmingly, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle are headed into the final years of their entry-level contracts next season — the Oilers have obvious holes, and a coach is always an obvious scapegoat.

WINNIPEG JETS

Kevin Cheveldayoff, general manager, green Even with his team nibbling on the fringes of the playoffs, Cheveldayoff shipped a veteran defenceman (Johnny Oduya) to Chicago for draft picks at the NHL trade deadline, following on the plan to build the roster slowly and methodically. These are still the Atlanta Thrashers, after all. It will take time.

Claude Noel, head coach, green Ever since Mark Chipman’s group brought the AHL to Winnipeg to fill the void left behind when the Jets moved to Phoenix, they have only fired one head coach. Jean Perron was released 50 games into his maiden season with the Manitoba Moose (who were then in the IHL). That was two decades ago. They seem like a patient bunch.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Brian Burke, general manager, green So, a few people tried to start a “Fire Burke” chant at a Leafs home game last month. It did not catch on. Burke remains popular around Toronto despite the fact the team has not made the playoffs since he signed a six-year contract in the fall of 2008. The sale of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment to Bell and Rogers is expected to close this summer, and a new board of directors will then need to be formed. Burke still needs to reform his roster — beginning in goal, and including a long-desired No. 1 centre — and he will get that chance.

Randy Carlyle, head coach, green Signed a three-year deal when he joined on March 2.

OTTAWA SENATORS

Bryan Murray, general manager, green Last June, Murray made an announcement that has since made him look like a genius: He hired long-time Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Paul MacLean to a three-year contract as head coach. Veteran junior coaches Dave Cameron and Mark Reeds were soon added to the staff. Heading into the final game of the season, the Senators are in a position to finish 20 points ahead of where they ended last season, when they missed the playoffs.

Paul MacLean, head coach, green Defenceman Erik Karlsson and centre Jason Spezza have been among the players to flourish most under MacLean, who, had Ken Hitchcock not turned the St. Louis Blues into a defensive powerhouse, might have become a popular choice as coach of the year.

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Vacant, general manager, red A season in which an assistant coach (Perry Pearn) was fired 90 minutes before a game in October, and in which one veteran (Mike Cammalleri) was pulled from a game after the second period and traded, contributed to the dismissal of embattled general manager Pierre Gauthier last month. Tampa Bay assistant general manager Julien BriseBois, Leafs executive Claude Loiselle, player agent Pat Brisson and television analyst Pierre McGuire have been mentioned among the potential candidates.

Randy Cunneyworth, head coach, red It is not every coach who can inspire a faction of his team’s fans to protest his employment outside the arena. That happened in Montreal in January — because Cunneyworth could not speak French, not because the team was struggling. Of anyone on this list, Cunneyworth is probably on the shakiest ground.

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

[hockeygod]

Former NHLer Geoff Courtnall's new path leads to Boston Marathon

Jack Knox, Victoria Times Colonist, April 10, 2012

Sometimes, when runners power past, you wonder if they're trying to escape life or embrace it.

Geoff Courtnall doesn't run from much. His work ethic and swing-a-hammer-by-day, swing-a-stick-by-night teenage years are legendary. So, now, is his unflinching honesty about topics many would avoid: the mental illness that took his father's life, the drinking that masked his own struggles with darkness.

When the 49-year-old begins next Monday's Boston Marathon, it will be about pursuing a goal, not fleeing a past.

He has dreamed of running it since playing for the Boston Bruins in the mid1980s. The team massage therapist was Jock Semple, who was also an organizer of the world's most famous long-distance event. (Semple is the guy famously photographed in 1967 trying to tackle Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run the race.) Semple would disparage the hockey players: "You guys aren't in shape until you've run a marathon."

Courtnall, whose 17-year NHL career ended at age 37, got it in his head that he would run Boston before his 50th birthday.

The idea firmed up when he saw Cam Neely, a former Bruins teammate and fellow Vancouver Island native, at the 2010 Winter Olympics. "I told him, 'Next year I'm going to run the marathon in Boston to raise money for the Cam Neely Foundation.' " Neely founded the cancer charity in 1995 in memory of his parents.

As it turned out, Courtnall got hurt and couldn't run Boston in 2011 – meaning April 16 will be his last chance to do so before turning 50 in August.

"I've been training for a year but got injured twice, so I didn't know if I could make it," he said Monday. He finished the Victoria marathon – his fourth 42-kilometre race – in a blistering 2: 58 last October, but then got sidelined for six weeks by a deep calf pull in November. "It has been quite the commitment."

He'll have his own cheering section Monday, being accompanied on the trip by son Adam. They'll meet up with his other son, Justin, who plays hockey for Boston University.

Pushing Courtnall along is the promise of money for charity – much of it his own. He'll donate $1,000 for every minute under 3: 10 that he runs. Friends have pledged to match the sum. "It's pretty motivating."

The money will be split between the Neely Foundation and the Courtnall Celebrity Classic Society, established by Geoff and his brothers Russ and Bruce in 2003. So far the latter organization has pumped more than $3 million directly into Victoria mental health initiatives, including the Archie Courtnall Centre, the emergency psychiatric-care facility at Royal Jubilee Hospital.

Archie was a strong, vital man whose struggle with depression ended in suicide in 1975, just two weeks before Geoff's 13th birthday. Geoff grew up fast. By age 18 he was running several businesses – building fences and patios, hauling goods – while also playing for the Victoria Cougars.

"I learned lots about working hard when I was young."

He credits his father for that – and for planting the seed that has seen him grow into something of an activist. "It was probably from my dad and the way I was raised." In hockey, they say that having a tough guy on the team makes the others skate a little taller; as an advocate for those with mental illness, Courtnall has had that effect off the ice, too.

He is seen as a hardnosed man with the courage to be open about his challenges. "I think it's life. We all have issues." He told the Times Colonist's Lindsay Kines last year that it was his friend Neely, at the Vancouver Olympics, who expressed worry about his drinking.

It was shortly after the Games, while in the Seattle airport en route to a gold-mining venture in Peru, that he grabbed a copy of Christian author Joel Osteen's Becoming A Better You. His faith has been renewed. "It has been life-altering for me."

So has running. "It gives me lots of time to think about things in my life." Beats waking up with a hangover, too, he adds.

"Sports has always given me a release," he says. Hockey was all about chasing goals. "Running is no different."

For more information, go to courtnallclassic.org.

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

[hockeygod]

Communication and the art of creating confidence

SEAN GORDON, Globe and Mail, Apr. 09, 2012

Stats, video and objective measures can only tell you so much. Sometimes, the hockey whisperer has to go with his gut.

Ask the men who play for Ottawa Senators head coach Paul MacLean, and they’ll tell you his competitive advantage boils down to a willing ear and a Maritimer’s gift of gab.

“He’s got a good feeling for when to talk to you and when not to, and what to say at certain points,” defenceman Erik Karlsson said.

When the Senators’ playoff push was in danger of stalling in late March, MacLean had a meeting with key veterans after a road loss in Montreal, and, mostly, he listened.

“Paul wanted to know what we were feeling, what the mood of the dressing room was … he’s done a great job of having that relationship with us,” forward Jason Spezza said.

The Senators duly spun off four wins in a row.

In his first season as an NHL bench boss, the man from Antigonish, N.S., has taken a 13th-placed squad and fashioned it into a playoff team. He should earn a coach of the year nomination for his trouble.

Asked if his roots had anything to do with his ability to communicate with his charges, MacLean said: “Well, when you go to the ceilidh, you can’t just sit around and listen to the fiddle.”

MacLean and his staff have righted the Senators ship with communication, teaching and a dash of old-school motivating. As team captain Daniel Alfredsson put it recently: “He’s done a great job of making everybody feel part of this group.”

In conversation, MacLean cites the influence of his father and hometown minor-hockey coach, Irving McGibbon, he credits Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, under whom he served as an assistant for nine years, with helping him understand how to handle today’s NHL players.

“They want to be invested in what you’re doing, they want to know why you’re doing it, and if you can show them how you’re going to be successful, it’s way easier to demand the expectation that they do it,” MacLean said.

Born on an Canadian Forces base near Grostenquin, France, in 1958 – he moved to Nova Scotia as a child – the winger really made his name in Winnipeg, where he had three 40-goal seasons alongside Dale Hawerchuk.

“I understand how hard it is to get here, but I also understand what it’s like to be the everyday player that’s expected to score … I don’t think that pressure has changed. I think that gives me a little bit more of an insight on how to approach the players – I’ve handled that. Poorly at times, and well at times,” MacLean said.

Familiarity is also a factor for MacLean, who worked for Ottawa general manager Bryan Murray as an assistant coach in Anaheim. His relationship with assistant coach Mark Reeds stretches back to their playing days with the 1980-81 Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the old Central Hockey League. (Reeds would later room with a youngster named Claude Julien and play with another named Alain Vigneault.)

That was also the season MacLean met Dave Cameron, another of his assistants, who was playing for the CHL’s Indianapolis Checkers. Perhaps that closeness has encouraged MacLean to embrace a philosophy that swims against the prevailing tides of the new NHL.

“I don’t think you can just defend your way to the Stanley Cup, you have to be able to score your way to the Stanley Cup,” he said.

To that end, MacLean has preached a system based on quick transitions, aggressive fore-checking and lots of skating. The result: Ottawa was fourth in the NHL in scoring this season. MacLean’s approach has paid spectacular dividends for players such as Spezza, who finished fourth in scoring, and Karlsson, who at 21 has put up Norris Trophy-worthy numbers.

“[Maclean] has a good way of explaining it to everyone and letting everyone know what he expects of them and what he wants them to do out there,” said Karlsson, who had 78 points in the regular season.

MacLean, whose penchant for having four players on every offensive rush has helped make Karlsson nearly impossible to defend, also has a novel approach to mistakes: he doesn’t automatically punish them with reduced ice time.

“He teaches you when you do things wrong, but at the same time, gives you the confidence to go back out and play your game by learning from your mistakes, as opposed to being scared to make mistakes,” centre Kyle Turris said. “The biggest thing a coach can do is create confidence … he’s done a great job of that.”

—–

Sounds like Paul uses many similar 'Coach Whisperer / Ignitor" techniques that John the Colombian and I use… awesome!

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

[hockeygod]

Turkmenistan leader set on ice hockey glory

REUTERS, April 10 2012

ASHGABAT, TURKMENISTAN – Reclusive Turkmenistan has new and ambitious hopes to join the club of the world’s ice hockey greats some day as the sport becomes the latest craze of the nation’s absolute leader.

President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, whose interests vary from horse riding to riding sleek racing cars, has ordered the state ministries to establish their own ice hockey teams, the official daily Neitralny Turkmenistan said on Wednesday.

His word is final in the arid, gas-rich former Soviet republic of 5.5 million people where the patriarchal president, 54, who was trained as a dentist, enjoys virtually unlimited powers and a rising personality cult.

“Interior Minister I. Mulikov, who was present at the meeting, reported straight to the head of state about the creation of the ministry’s own hockey team,” the newspaper said.

“The leader of the nation stressed that it was necessary to provide efficient material stimuli to award those sportsmen who would win first places at Olympic games and other international competitions,” Neitralny Turkmenistan said.

Berdymukhamedov’s marble-clad showpiece capital Ashgabat, where summer temperatures often hover at 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit), has two spacious ice palaces for winter sports.

On April 4-7, the first four Turkmen teams, consisting of youths, took part in the president’s first ice hockey cup tournament during what Berdymukhamedov proclaimed as the Week of Health and Happiness.

The cup winner, Burgut (Golden Eagle), sponsored by the state sports and tourism committee, was awarded a $20,000 prize by Berdymukhamedov and will spend two weeks training with the youth team of Russia’s Ak Bars Kazan of the Kontinental Hockey League, grouping 24 adult clubs from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Latvia.

As part of the Soviet Union until 1991, Turkmenistan was one of the poorest among its 15 republics.

But after independence, late autocratic leader Saparmurat Niyazov and his successor Berdymukhamedov have lavished part of the Central Asian nation’s gas-generated revenues on glitzy special projects.

They have included a posh resort, Avaza, on the Caspian Sea and a giant artificial lake at the heart of the Karakum desert.

Berdymukhamedov is keen to attract foreign investment and markets for the Central Asian state’s future gas ambitions. He has taken some steps to bring Turkmenistan out of the isolation that accompanied the maverick rule of Niyazov, who banned opera and renamed the months of the year.

—–

Sweltering Turkmenistan creates hockey league:
Overcomes weather issue by building costly indoor skating rinks

The Associated Press, Apr 11, 2012

Ice hockey is hardly the most suitable sport for a desert nation where temperatures can soar as high as 50 C.

But, Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov has ordered a hockey league be created by state enterprises and departments.

State daily Neutral Turkmenistan reported Wednesday that the police are already busy setting up their own team.

Turkmenistan has overcome the weather issue by using revenue generated from its natural gas exports to build costly indoor skating rinks.

Critics are unlikely to make their thoughts public in a country where government opponents face severe reprisals.

Berdymukhamedov is the subject of an increasingly grand mythology and won presidential elections in February with 97 per cent of the vote.

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

[hockeygod]

Where is Allaire's goalie magic?

LANCE HORNBY, QMI Agency, April 11 2012

TORONTO – Brian Burke is not shy about calling Francois Allaire “the best goaltending coach on the planet.”

And he might be right. But when the Centre of the Hockey Looney-verse (great line, not mine) veers out of its orbit, then everyone and everything on Bay St. gets the equivalent of the Hubble Telescope.

That includes Allaire’s relationship with James Reimer and Jonas Gustavsson, two stoppers who were poised to be Toronto’s top tandem this past season. But rocked by two head injuries and more twists than a Canada’s Wonderland roller coaster the past 13 months, Reimer’s future is uncertain. And Gustavsson, who overcame so much on the personal front in three years here, is likely gone via unrestricted free agency. He could never hold the job for more than a few games.

The Leafs, Blue Jackets and New York Islanders are the only NHL teams to have allowed 250 or more goals the past three seasons — the span of time Allaire worked here. In the bullpen are three youngsters — Ben Scrivens, Jussi Rynnas and Mark Owuya — who came to the Leafs as free agents in large part because of the allure of Allaire.

So with Allaire poised to influence Toronto’s net results for years to come, should Burke start to worry about his methods? Is Allaire’s insistence on rigidity over reflex the right fit? Were Gustavsson and Reimer incompatible with him? Does Allaire’s long list of star pupils and Stanley Cup rings put him beyond reproach? Or can Allaire apply the best of his philosophy and let each goalie find a happy medium?

First, a little background for those not familiar with Allaire’s Quebec butterfly conservatory. In the mid-1980s, he became the Montreal Canadiens’ first goalie coach, Jacques Plante, Gump Worsley and Ken Dryden having done just fine on their own. His first project was a 6-foot-1 kid named Patrick Roy, who talked to his goalposts, but more importantly, listened to Allaire.

Allaire took the butterfly style a step further, teaching Roy to drop down, spread out and let the puck hit him, rather than fly by the seat of his hockey pants. Allaire stressed timing and distribution of equipment to make up for any deficiencies in acrobatics.

Allaire thus had a hand in Roy’s 1986 Cup win and the three Vezina Trophies that followed. Hogwarts for goalies was soon inspiring youngsters across the province who entered the NHL as juniors in the 1990s.

When Roy cut ties and stomped off to Colorado in 1995, Allaire was enticed to Anaheim by one-time Habs’ pro scouting director Jack Ferreira. He soon made unknowns such as Guy Hebert, Ilya Bryzgalov and Martin Gerber into quality NHLers. It’s something of a family firm, with brother Benoit the goalie coach for Phoenix and later the New York Rangers.

Francois’ top grads in Anaheim were 2007 Cup winner Jean-Sebastien Giguere and understudy Jonas Hiller. It was said Allaire did some of his best work with Hiller, briefing him on everything from game-day preparation to readying him for post-game media questions.

Allaire had arrived in the summer of 2009 half-a-year after Burke departed the Ducks with every intention of making the Anaheim Cup model work in Toronto.

“I think if everybody pushes in the same direction, it’s going to be easy,” Allaire told the National Post when he was hired. “If everyone wants to be better, it’s going to be easy.”

But Vesa Toskala proved too stubborn for Allaire to change. When the younger Hiller eventually forced a trade of Giguere to the Leafs, it was thought between Allaire, Giguere and Gustavsson, the Leafs would have a teacher, a veteran and a willing student.

But both goalies were hurt, leading to the arrival of Reimer, who won 20 games in half-a-season. In the summer of 2011, Burke decided to let Giguere go and hope Allaire could make Reimer and Gustavsson capable of holding the fort.

But neither man could stay healthy or consistent enough. When Gustavsson was on a roll, the Leafs insisted Reimer get back in the saddle. For three games, it worked, up to Feb. 7 in Winnipeg. It was a game the Leafs should have won in Reimer’s backyard, but turned into a one-goal loss and they dropped 15 of the next 17. Reimer was a mess, while Gustavsson never found his January form and the Leafs managed back-to-back wins only once the rest of the way. They finished 29th out of 30 teams with a 3.16 goals-against average.

“We have two young kids in the net, not a lot of experience,” Allaire told critics at one stage. “Nobody has more than 90 games in the NHL, so that is normal, sometimes you get some bumps in the road. We will see if we are strong enough to get through.

“We know we need somebody to take the lead and after that everyone will follow. But we’re not at that point right now.”

Like many, Allaire wondered how the year would have unfolded if Reimer had not been concussed / whiplashed after his hot 4-0-1 start.

“It’s something you don’t have usually for a goalie. It’s too bad. That breaks the momentum we had building in camp and during the season, but that is part of the sport. We have to deal with that and when you come back from that kind of injury, there are times when it is a little bit tougher to get through.”

Burke, who didn’t make a move at the trade deadline for a veteran stopper, felt the need to issue two public votes of support in Allaire as the Leafs’ goals against started to rise alarmingly. There had been a string of softies that Reimer and Gustavsson had allowed during the slide, but they had as much to do with mental errors, such as handling the puck and miscommunicating with defencemen, for which Allaire had no control.

“Francois is not going anywhere,” Burke told reporters in Montreal on March 3, the day he replaced Wilson with Randy Carlyle. “(Removing Allaire) is not changing our struggles in net. I’m not replacing a coach because we have two young goalies who are battling (confidence) right now.”

Yet there were 22 one-goal losses at season’s end, the sixth-highest in the league. It sounds simplistic, but reverse just half of those and the Leafs would have the same 92 points that put Ottawa into eighth place.

It should be noted that not all goalies are going to be ideal Allaire students, despite the best attempts to find the match before they arrive. Toskala certainly wouldn’t pay him heed.

“Vesa is not a guy who likes to be coached,” Allaire said the day Toskala went to Anaheim for Giguere. “He didn’t build a relationship with his last coach. In (today’s) NHL, you need as much information as you can get.”

But those who watched Gustavsson carefully in Sweden believe he fit the Monster label much better in his homeland before Allaire got custody of him. Gustavsson’s size and aggressiveness against shooters was evident in leading Farjestads to the SEL championship in 2009. Since coming to the Leafs, the same observers think Gustavsson sits back in his crease too much.

Reimer plays what Burke liked to call an “economical” style, but after coming back from the concussion, Reimer started springing leaks, especially over the shoulder and under the crossbar.

Yet both Gustavsson and Reimer remained supportive of Allaire right through the end of the season, while Scrivens has rallied behind him, too.

“I’m a different goalie than I was at school,” said Scrivens, the AHL goalie of the month in March. “I first got to work with Frankie between my junior and senior year (at Cornell) and put up the best numbers of my college career.”

Carlyle’s assistants will be shuffled next year, but Allaire will be back at practice and in his nightly press box perch. Carlyle said Allaire retained a say in the starting goalie each game night.

“He’s been around the game a long time,” Carlyle said. “He sees the little things I might not. But if you ask any coach, the No. 1 thing you want is (the coach to get the goalie) to stop the puck.”

Who has allowed the most goals against the past three years?

2011-12

Tampa Bay, 281

TORONTO, 264

Columbus, 262

NY Islanders, 255

Winnipeg, 246

2010-11

Colorado, 288

Edm/Atl, 269

NY Islanders, 264

Columbus, 258

TORONTO, 251

2009-10

Edmonton, 284

TORONTO, 267

NY Islanders, 264

Tampa Bay, 260

Columbus, 259

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

[hockeygod]

Wickenheiser says Russians don’t care enough about women’s hockey

Canadian Press, April 10, 2012

The new format at the women’s world hockey championship can’t hide the chasm between women’s hockey in Canada and Russia.

Canada steamrolled the Russians 14-1 to conclude the preliminary round in Pool A on Tuesday. Canada (2-1) awaited the result of the later Finland-U.S. game to determine their rank in the pool.

The world championship was altered to reduce lopsided scores by having countries closer to each other in ability meet in the preliminary round.

But fourth-seeded Russia remains light years behind No. 2 Canada.

“I think their biggest downfall is coaching and leadership,” Canadian captain Hayley Wickenheiser said bluntly.

“I just feel for those players because I feel the Russian federation doesn’t care enough about women’s hockey to do what needs to be done. They deserve better.”

Ten different players scored for Canada. Wickenheiser led with a hat trick and Natalie Spooner and Meghan Agosta each scored twice.

Caroline Ouellette, Laura Fortino, Lauriane Rougeau, Gillian Apps, Rebecca Johnston, Jayna Hefford and Jennifer Wakefield also had goals.

Charline Labonte faced just seven shots, giving up a power-play goal to Angelina Goncharenko in the third period.

Russia kept their best goaltender, Anna Prugova, on the bench to prepare for the Wednesday’s quarter-finals.

After Agosta scored Canada’s fifth goal on a penalty shot in the first period, Valentina Ostrovlyanchik was replaced in Russia’s net by 17-year-old Margarita Monakhova, who allowed nine goals on 28 shots.

The top four seeds of U.S., Canada, Finland and Russia were in Pool A, while fourth through eighth – Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia and Germany – were in Pool B.

The top two in Pool A are rewarded with byes to the semifinal, while the bottom two play in Wednesday’s quarter-finals against the top two from Pool B.

Switzerland and Sweden finished first and second respectively in Pool B to advance. The Swiss edged the Swedes 3-2 and Slovakia doubled Germany 4-2 on Tuesday.

Germany and Slovakia will meet in a three-game relegation round.

The Russian women won bronze at the 2001 world championship in Minnesota, but their federation did nothing to build on that result.

Russia neglected the women’s team until the country won the bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Now attention is being paid, but too late for the Russian women to get on the level of Canada and defending world champion U.S. The Americans beat them 9-0 in the round robin.

Russia’s goal is a bronze in Sochi, which is within reach of a country with a hockey culture and the facilities.

Russia has a six-team professional women’s league, in which the players are paid. But the country has just 530 female players in total compared to 85,000 in Canada.

Areas where Russia could make great strides in the time they have left before Sochi is in physical fitness.

Forward Ilya Gavrilova is a teammate of Wickenheiser’s on the University of Calgary Dinos and one of two players on the roster playing in North America.

She told The Canadian Press national-team players aren’t required to follow an off-ice training program. Head coach Valentin Gureyev insists they are.

Whatever the case, Russia couldn’t match Canada’s pace from the outset. They were beaten to the puck or easily muscled off it and thus rarely had the puck on their sticks.

“We need an individual program, but we also need girls to follow the program,” Gavrilova said. “The coaches are trying to push us harder and harder. For some young players, they need to realize they need to work harder.

“We have to give everyone a program so everyone will work individually, but the mentality in Russia is because it’s so easy to make the team, there’s not enough competition to make the team. That’s why I want them to go to North America so they can see how hard people work here.”

The end of Tuesday’s game was chippy as Russia’s frustration at their sound beating surfaced.

“I know Ilya. I train with her every day. She’s a very good player,” Wickenheiser said. “She’s capable of competing against us and I think they have several players who could do that, but I just don’t think their players are given any respect, nor do they respect themselves enough to believe they can compete.

“It’s unfortunate to see and very disappointing. That kind of hockey can’t be played if you want to compete at this level.”

The Russian team played games against club and university teams in Calgary last November. Gureyev said the national team will do so again next season.

It’s unclear whether Gureyev will coach the Russian women in Sochi. He says he’s been told to prepare the team for the Winter Games.

The Canadians weren’t willing to take their foot off the gas against their overmatched opponent. After a 9-2 loss to the U.S. to open the tournament, they want to build confidence in their offence heading into the playoff round.

“In women’s hockey you always want to showcase the best of play that there is and to feed into the game they wanted to play would have just been a mockery of it,” Wickenheiser said.

Notes: Rougeau’s goal was her first for the Canadian women’s team . . . Canada also beat Russia 14-1 in their previous meeting at the 12 Nations Cup in Finland last summer.

—–

Sad but not surprising to hear. I hope these comments stir up some action in Russia and other countries with Women's Hockey.

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

[hockeygod]

FRASER: HOW OFFICIALS ARE CHOSEN FOR STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

Kerry Fraser, TSN.ca, April 12, 2012

Kerry:

Could you explain how the officials are chosen for the NHL playoffs? What criteria are used to select who works these games and who gets to move into each ensuing round?

Thanks,
Clark Groome

Clark: I always enjoy our conversations when you and I meet in the Wells Fargo Arena press box to cover a Philadelphia Flyers home game. Yesterday the NHL announced the names of the Officials selected to work the first round of the 2011-12 Stanley Cup Playoffs which kicks off tonight with three games. Let me tell you (at least in theory) how the selections were made. Those fortunate enough to be selected are as follows:

REFEREES

Paul Devorski, Eric Furlatt, Marc Joannette, Tom Kowal, Steve Kozari, Mike Leggo, Chris Lee, Wes McCauley, Brad Meier, Dan O'Halloran, Dan O'Rourke, Tim Peel, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Chris Rooney, Kelly Sutherland, Francois St-Laurent, Stephen Walkom, Ian Walsh and Brad Watson.

LINESMEN

Derek Amell, Steve Barton, Dave Brisebois, Lonnie Cameron, Scott Cherrey, Greg Devorski, Scott Driscoll, Shane Heyer, Brad Kovachik, Brad Lazarowich, Steve Miller, Jean Morin, Brian Murphy, Jonny Murray, Derek Nansen, Tim Nowak, Pierre Racicot, Tony Sericolo, Jay Sharrers and Mark Wheler.

Noticeable omissions from the list of referees are veterans Dave Jackson, Dennis LaRue, Don Van Massenhoven and Greg Kimmerly. Absent from the linesmen list are previous playoff performers Mike Cvik, Pierre Champoux, Vaughan Rody, Michel Cormier and Mark Shewchyk (Dan Schachte has retired and I congratulate him on a tremendous career as an NHL Linesman).

Part of Terry Gregson's duties as Director of Officiating is to administer a numerical performance evaluation/rating system of his on-ice officiating staff for the purpose of playoff selection and to determine an official's ongoing employment status. This status would include termination through persistent substandard performance or succession planning relative to a mutually agreed upon schedule for an official's retirement.

Data is submitted through a computer generated game supervision report that is compiled by Gregson and his supervisory staff every time they attend a game and observe a crew of officials. Clark, you have seen several Officiating Supervisors at games in Philadelphia during the season. They travel around the League and similarly observe all the officials on staff.

The evaluation form or supervisor report deals in part with an official's skating ability, positioning and a "catch-all" category called comportment. Comportment includes how an official communicates and interacts and with the game participants (players, coaches, fellow officials) and reacts to situations that are presented throughout a game. Comments will be included relative to the standard of enforcement employed by the official including any calls perceived to have been made in error or missed as well as areas of concern or recommendations for improvement.

Terry Gregson's primary supervisory staff at the NHL level consists of former NHL officials Rob Shick, Mick McGeough, Don Koharski , Bill McCreary and Kevin Collins. Former referee Bob Hall administers a recruiting and development program responsible for those contracted officials working in the AHL and to compile a "draft list" of prospective talent working at various amateur levels of hockey.

Hockey Operations monitors every game that is played during the regular season and playoffs from the "situation room" in Toronto. League personnel that staff this room will record and clip questionable calls that they view or situations that are commented upon by play-by-play and game analysts for Terry Gregson to review.

Aside from officiating complaints received by Hockey Ops and/or the Director of Officiating via telephone communication during or after games, team General Managers can also submit a written request for review of a call or an official's performance. When this occurs Terry Gregson is obliged to investigate the claim and respond back to the team with his findings.

This adds up to a full season of scrutiny that the official's performances are subjected to. As with any rating system there is some subjectivity that is imposed by the people that review the performance and input the data. Office politics applies in every corporation, organization and job on the face of the earth and the NHL evaluation process for their officials is no different.

Any and all material gathered from the above listed sources can't help but influence the perception held by Officiating Managers to some degree as they conduct their evaluation process. A comprehensive package of information including discussions amongst the supervisors and evaluation meetings scheduled by Terry Gregson are utilized to determine each individual official's ranking.

Some Officials share a philosophy and openly state their concerted effort "fly under the radar." That means avoid controversy and stay out of the highlight reels. My objective would be to utilize sound judgment and react accordingly to make calls (especially tough ones) that can be defended and can stand up to any video scrutiny.

For those that were selected to the first round of the playoffs I congratulate you and wish you much success. The pressure is on to perform to the highest level of your capability at this most exciting time of the season.

Prepare yourself well for every game and maintain focus and concentration throughout. React to game situations and trust your instinct and gut without looking over your shoulder or upstairs for guidance even when unpopular or controversial calls have to be made. Place yourself in position to gain the best sightline and make the call with courage and conviction.

When this round ends and the management team reevaluates every officials performance to determine which of you will advance in the playoffs be able to look in the mirror and honestly say, "I gave the Game the very best that I had to give – I did my job to the best of my ability!"

Best of luck; we'll all be watching…

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

[hockeygod]

Bettman vows officiating and discipline standards will not slacken as playoffs progress

NEW YORK— Roy MacGregor, Globe and Mail, Apr. 11, 2012

Surely this has never before happened.

It has held beer, champagne and even babies, but the first known contact between water and the Stanley Cup was in 1905 when Hall-of-Famer Harvey Pulford, well into his own cups, drop-kicked the trophy off a bridge over the Rideau Canal following a victory by his Silver Seven.

Even then the water was frozen.

But there it was, the Stanley Cup, grown to more than 20 feet high and weighing 6,600 pounds, standing in the heart of Times Square with water squirting out its sides and all of New York invited to drink from it.

They erected the giant replica on Duffy Island, so named to honour Father Francis Patrick Duffy, a hero of the First World War, the most decorated cleric in the history of the U.S. Army and, appropriately for the occasion, born in Cobourg, Ont., in 1871.

Under spotty skies and in a chilly wind, poorly clad cheerleaders in New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils colours shivered and shook. Small boys wearing jerseys representing the 16 NHL playoff teams stood about staring more at the giant Stanley Cup than the real one, which was carried out by white gloves and set on a table for all and sundry to leave fingerprints on as they posed for photographs as if the Cup were itself a celebrity – and, in a way, it is.

“The greatest trophy in all of sports,” the emcee claimed over a loudspeaker. “The greatest tournament in sports.”

Among the thousands in Times Square – representing at least many dozen of the 800 languages spoken in New York – there might have been dissenters, but not among those let inside the ropes surrounding the NBC promotion for the playoffs that began Wednesday night and should end before the turn of the next century.

The first round is under way, and the first round, as all true hockey fans know, is the climax of the NHL season. Hockey is a most unusual sport in that the dictionary climax, the presentation of the real Stanley Cup, is anti-climactic and, often, of little interest to those fans who watch and get counted but really only want to get the damned thing over and get on with summer.

Even Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the National Hockey League, agrees that there is something special about Round 1, something that goes beyond games every night and the launch of the playoffs.

“The competitive balance is so great,” he says on this cool day in Times Square, “that any of the 16 teams could emerge, ultimately, as the Stanley Cup winner. You have seen in the last seven years No. 8 seeds go to the Stanley Cup final. You’ve seen unpredictable results. It’s a testament, I think, more than anything else in the game, to the way it’s being played. Nobody doubts that these 16 teams are happier than the 14 teams that didn’t make the playoffs. But nobody is happy with just making the first round. The players, the fans, the organizations expect more.”

“More” could reach four rounds, each capable of going seven full games, meaning the winner could conceivably play 28 games beyond the 82 already played in the regular season. That is wearing by any measure.

It has been suggested many times in recent years – certainly by Vancouver in 2011, by Ottawa in 2007, by the Edmonton Oilers in 2006, by the Calgary Flames in 2004 – that not only players wear down but officials as well. Slippage takes place, with tough calls less and less likely as the importance of the games grows.

This, the commissioner argues, does not happen and will not happen in 2012.

“The standard will be held,” he vows. “We were on a conference call with officials that Terry Gregson [director of officiating] was leading the other day and he reinforced the fact that the officiating standard is not to slip or change.”

The same standards, he promises, will apply to supplemental discipline and any action the league’s head of player safety, Brendan Shanahan, decides to take on players who cross the line on head shots or intent to injure.

“It is what it has been,” Bettman says.

It is, of course, what it will be that will be the measure. And, equally of course, there will be critics of the officiating regardless of how strict and fair it might be seen by others; that is simply the nature of the beast that is the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It would be wonderful if, come June some time, hockey could look back and say the whistles were consistent, the rulings fair and no one rioted just because he lost.

The ribbon-cutting and announcements over, NBC and the city officials invited the public to line up and do as Harvey Pulford once did, drink from the Stanley Cup – water only, which might have been good advice for Harvey, as well.

They lined up down the street but had to reconfigure the line because the water pipes feeding the giant Stanley Cup had sprung a leak and workmen were scurrying under the huge structure with rolls of duct tape.

They set up barriers near the heaviest flow, not wanting anyone to slip.

Which, of course, is exactly what we all want.

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

[hockeygod]

NHL unhappy with missed offside call on Briere goal

The Canadian Press, Apr. 12, 2012

Colin Campbell says he's almost as upset as the Pittsburgh Penguins over a missed offside call that led to a goal in Wednesday's playoff opener with the Philadelphia Flyers.

The NHL's senior executive vice-president of hockey operations acknowledges that linesman Tony Sericolo erred in not whistling the play dead prior to Danny Briere's goal early in the second period.

The Flyers forward was sent in on a breakaway off a long pass from teammate Brayden Schenn that came immediately after a turnover in the neutral zone.

Campbell believes that Sericolo was in position to make the right call but thinks the quick turnaround affected his view of the play.

Briere's goal was the first for Philadelphia as it erased a three-goal deficit and beat Pittsburgh 4-3 in overtime. After the game, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said the blown call wasn't responsible for his team losing the game.

Campbell says the incident could affect how director of officiating Terry Gregson handles staffing assignments moving forward.

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

[hockeygod]

NHLPA goal is nuturing game’s grassroots in Canada:
Players join Allstate Insurance to create program to reach youngsters

Adam Bowen, For the Calgary Herald, April 12, 2012

In 2010, the National Hockey League Players’ Association partnered up with Allstate Insurance Company of Canada to create the Allstate All-Canadians program, a platform for NHL players, past and present, to give back the game of hockey and help foster grassroots hockey in Canada.

Thanks to the success of the initial camp, the All-Canadians program is back and has included Calgary as one of the locations to hold a regional mentorship camp on April 21.

“We wanted to spread the program out as much as we could geographically and Calgary is sort of a central point for southern Alberta,” said NHLPA Director of Corporate Partnerships Colin Campbell. “Hopefully, we’ll have kids go onto the All-Canadians website to register for their opportunity to win a chance to attend the camp.”

“In a perfect world we’d love to do these camps in every city, there’s three more this year and hopefully we’re going to have some success with those and then we’ll continue to grow and expand.”

In its first year, the program was open to 42 of the best bantam-aged players from throughout the country, but the All-Canadians program has expanded its scope to include boys and girls of any skill level, which will give even more children a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to receive some of the best instruction from NHLPA members and experts of the game.

“These one-day camps will be very productive for kids at every skill level to get something back from our NHL players.”

Campbell hopes the program will help foster balance within the lives of the kids who grow up playing hockey in Canada.

“The name of the program itself, ‘All-Canadians’ encapsulates the program in general, what we’re trying to do is to provide some mentorship to how players can become All-Canadians on, and off the ice,” said Campbell.

The response from members of the NHLPA looking to volunteer their time has been overwhelming; with players attending camps as well as shooting personal videos with hockey related tips that are placed on the All-Canadian program’s website, allcanadians.com.

“Once our players went to the website themselves they got a clearer idea of what it was that we were asking them to do and have been quicker to volunteer their time to shoot their own videos and explain what helped them as an up-and-coming hockey player,” said Campbell. “The digital side is really the most accessible way for kids to engage, anyone can go online and access the information on the website, but it is the opportunity to attend the camp in person is quite a special opportunity.”

Former NHL defenceman and Stanley Cup Champion Mathieu Schneider is one of a host of NHLPA members who will be attending the various camps throughout the country, and believes it is important for professional players to be good ambassadors of the game of hockey, and foster the development and the love for the game within younger generations.

“A program like this gives an opportunity to young kids to hear what the current players have to say, some of the stories of how they made it and what it takes to get there,” said Schneider, who also is also involved with the NHLPA as a special assistant. “We have such a diverse cross-section and so many different messages that this program gives us that vehicle necessary to get the right messages out to the kids.”

The unique insights and information NHL players can provide is an invaluable resource, one which Schneider believes should be shared with those dedicated to the sport of hockey.

“The players are the keepers of the game. The game has evolved and changed so much over the years, but it’s such a unique perspective, there’s so much experience and so much knowledge in each NHL player that you really kind find anywhere else. There is such a small percentage of people that make it, and because of that I think we can be a voice of reason, to players and to the parents.”

Kids of all ages and skill levels are encouraged to sign up for their chance to attend one of the camps, and can do so by visiting http://www.allcanadians.com.

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

[hockeygod]

Rising star Ward destined for NHL job:
Abbotsford coach quickly turns into top teacher

Vicki Hall, Calgary Herald April 12, 2012

Apologies, self-recrimination and promises for a better future dominated general manager Jay Feaster’s eulogy for the 2011-12 edition of the Calgary Flames.

Understandably. After three straight seasons out of the playoffs, the fans in these parts want — no, demand — accountability and answers.

But amid the extensive analysis of the negative, Feaster took time to list the (limited) sunny side of a season to forget. Forward Roman Horak made the team out of training camp. At 27, Derek Smith established himself as an NHL defenceman. So did 21-year-old T.J. Brodie. Youngsters Lance Bouma, Blair Jones, Paul Byron, Sven Baertschi and Akim Aliu all received special mention.

And then there’s the man Aliu credited for resurrecting his dying hockey career.

“We believe, on a positive side, that we have one of the best development coaches in the game in Troy Ward and the staff he has assembled in Abbotsford,” Feaster told reporters assembled in the bowels of the Scotiabank Saddledome. “He is an excellent teacher. He is a great motivator.”

Ward specializes in reclamation projects as the head coach of the Abbotsford Heat. He loves the challenge of working with kids that others have counted out in their quest to make it to the National Hockey League.

Case in point: Aliu. The 22-year-old arrived in Abbotsford in January as a castoff from the Winnipeg Jets, Ward took the former bad boy under his wing. He told him to get a haircut. Buy new clothes.

Like it or not, Aliu had to play in a checking role on the third line. Mastering two-way hockey was a must.

In the end, Aliu played the last two games of the season in Calgary, registering two goals and an assist.

More importantly, he created absolute havoc on the ice and drove the Anaheim Ducks absolutely quackers in the season finale.

“Troy saw the talent he had right off the bat,” Feaster said. “Troy brought him along to the point he came up here and played two really solid games for us and now has put himself into the mix as we go into training camp next season.”

For the Calgary Flames, the season is over and done. For Abbotsford, the playoffs start next week with home-ice advantage up for grabs this weekend in two games against the Toronto Marlies.

The coaching situation in Calgary is up in the air with Brent Sutter’s contract set to expire after three years. Sutter has made it perfectly clear he wants to come back next season and take care of unfinished business.

Regardless of whether Sutter stays or goes, Ward has worked his way into the discussion for NHL job vacancies this summer in Calgary or other parts unknown.

“That’s the dream,” says Ward, 49. “That’s what I’ve been pushing for.”

The push began in North St. Paul where a young Troy Ward stayed up in bed each night to look outside his window and watch the neighbour kids play hockey on Casey Lake.

“My mom told me I would make my dinner plate into a hockey rink,” he said. “If she gave me mashed potatoes, I would push them all over and that would be the boards. The pea would be the puck. And I would sit there and play with my food like it was a hockey rink.”

The hockey-mad kid grew up to play Division 3 at the University of Wisconsin — Eau Claire — far short of his dream of playing for the Minnesota North Stars.

Nearing the end of his time in school, Ward discussed his future with then coach Wally Akervik.

“Well, now what are you going to do?” the coach asked.

“Well,” Ward replied. “I think I’m going to be an NHL head coach. “

“Are you serious?” Akervik said, laughing.

“Yeah I am, “ Ward replied. “I think I have the ability.”

Akervik told Ward he should never stay in one place for more than two or three years. He took that advice to heart, working as a coach for more than two decades at various outposts in the NCAA, USHL, IHL, ECHL and AHL. Holding a Master’s Degree in sports administration, Ward served as an assistant behind the bench for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1997-2000.

“That was the best education I ever had in coaching,” he said. “To sit on the ice and work individually with Jagr, Kovalev, Lemieux, Francis — you’re talking a major education.”

Teaching is Ward’s calling card in Abbotsford. At the rink most days by 4. a.m., he prepares for hockey much like a football coach complete detailed game plays and non-stop analysis of video with assistants Cail MacLean, Luke Strand and Jordan Sigalet.

“Troy spends a ton of time at the rink,” said Heat forward Carter Bancks. “The amount of preparation all our coaching staff does is intense. It’s tough not to respect that, because you know how much they care.

“Troy lets you know where you’re at. If you ever want to walk into his office and ask him what’s up or just chat with him, he’s very open with you. Very honest. That’s something you like about a coach. You know what you’re getting He makes you feel good when you’re playing well, and he’ll pump you up. He’s doesn’t brutally rip you.”

There’s not much to rip these days with the Heat reaching 40 wins for the first time in the franchise’s three-year history and the playoffs just around the corner.

Not bad for a club ravaged by injuries in Abbotsford and constant player recalls from Calgary.

“We devastated that team,” Feaster said. “Every time we recall a player to come here because of an injury, they’re scrambling and he’s kept that group together.

“To now have them sitting in fourth spot and looking to try to clinch home ice in the first round, I can’t say enough about the job that he and his staff have done.”

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

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