With the dismissal of Ken Hitchcock as coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, it’s getting easier to make a case the trend continues towards “new school” coaches and away from the old guard.
The success of new NHL faces like Dan Bylsma in Pittsburgh, Bruce Boudreau in Washington, Cory Clouston in Ottawa and Joe Sacco in Colorado certainly give weight to the argument and the NHL, like most professional leagues where a different approach leads to success, is prone to imitation.
The key to dealing with this generation of players, said one coach, is avoiding the “players and the game were better in 1980s” approach and recognizing today’s young players, unlike their predecessors, will not simply accept being told to do something. Nor do they tolerate very long being brow-beaten.
“It’s not just hockey players; it’s kids of this generation. They want to know why and you have to be prepared to explain why,” said one coach. “The days of players just doing something because you tell them to do it are gone.”
For the “old school” guys, the choice is obvious. Adapt or find something else to do.
“You can change or not change,” said Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, the longest tenured bench boss in the league, who has been known to be, well, unpleasant.
Interesting that it was hanging out with the Canadian Olympic coaches - Mike Babcock, Jacques Lemaire and Hitchcock - during the summer and listening to Lemaire that Ruff realized he had to tone it down.
“There’s still a method to my madness at times. It doesn’t mean I haven’t gotten mad. There have been a few times I’ve been fairly mad. There’s a hole in the wall here still, and there’s a hole in the wall in the odd road game. And then you pull back.”
Ruff, apparently, isn’t ready to host Extreme Makeover, but he’s getting close.
He punched a hole in the wall of his office and kicked a hole in the wall at the end of last month in GM Place, which he will visit next week as a member of Team Canada’s coaching staff.
When asked by Buffalo reporters if he prefers punching or kicking holes in walls: “I usually take turns.”
REVELATIONS: New Devil Ilya Kovalchuk was barely out of Georgia before saying: “I’m excited. For the first time in my career I’m with a first-class organization.” Ouch. He liked the fact Devils GM Lou Lamoriello flew to Washington to pick him up and bring him back to Newark. Sounds like they served Lou’s Kool-Aid on the plane.
THE BUZZ: The Stephane Auger incident and the resulting Ron MacLean controversy has overshadowed the on-ice performance of Vancouver forward Alex Burrows, who has emerged as a wonderful fit with the Sedin twins. Burrows isn’t given enough credit for his hockey sense and his ability to read and react off the Sedins where many had gone before with mixed results...
SPECULATIONS: They sold 110 Dion Phaneuf #3 sweaters in one night at the ACC. Garnet Exelby gave up the digit to his new teammate. No word how many Exelby #7 sweaters were sold...They aren’t concerned about 6-foot-8 D Tyler Myers hitting “the rookie wall,” in Buffalo. “He just steps over it,” said Ruff, in a rare moment of levity. Save some of that for the Olympics, Lindy...
LEMME SAY THIS ABOUT THAT: My favourite phrase during the whole Kovalchuk gabfest this week was colleagues saying there was going to be a “surprise team,” emerge for his services. Then they weighed in on what they thought the surprise team would be, which, I guess, means it no longer qualifies as a surprise...
JUST WONDERING: At the pace Toronto’s Brian Burke and Lamoriello are going, is there going to be anybody left to trade besides picks and role players by the deadline March 3? How are they going to fill a combined 100-odd hours of TV time with Kovalchuk - the big prize - gone a month ahead of time? You’re going to know more about Ray Whitney than you ever thought you would.
chris.stevenson@sunmedia.ca
