Very early in this training camp Capitals’ general manager George McPhee made an observation about Bruce Boudreau I’d never heard before. The context was a question from a reporter seeking the GM to identify the core identity of his team, and McPhee noted that his head coach, during three weeks of training camp, would be on the ice every day, working with every player individually in virtually every session. That’s not something your typical NHL coach does.
The point McPhee aptly made was this: in Washington, we’ve a special head coach, one already distinguished as ranking among the very best in his profession, and when you choose to come to a Washington camp, he’ll be committed to improving you as a hockey player. So I asked the coach — given that so many of the guys at camp this week won’t enjoy full-fledged NHL careers, why make so personal a commitment to each and every one?
“It’s my job, to help make them better,” he replied. He seemed to want to leave it at that, but then after a silent pause of a few seconds he continued. And his reasoning drew heavily from his own playing days of fairly long ago.
“Everybody here is part of the organization. They need to hear things from me. I remember when I was just a minor league player . . . I might not ever get talked to by anybody on the coaching staff of the NHL team. Then you get cut and you go, ‘Ok, what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to get better?’
“The initiative, to me, would be to go up and say ‘Listen, you just sent me down, why can’t I play in the NHL, just tell me what I have to improve on.’ A lot of times in the olden days they never told you [how to get better]. I try to say something to everybody. It’s amazing how much these young guys — or the older guys — appreciate that.”
Bruce Boudreau loves hockey and he loves hockey players, but in listening to him in this line of inquiry it was clear to me that his commitment and passion in every minute of hockey camping originates from a very personal well of something akin to disappointment with the way he was handled when he was a young prospect. Jack Adams worthy indeed.
2 Comments
You nailed it…
That is why Superstars rarely make good coaches. You have to be able to empathize with the players. Superstars are on a different level. Life comes to easy.
Along with the point you made in the article is the fact that his players will play for him, they love him as a coach. They know, that he knows what its all about and they also know that he treats them the way he would want to be treated himself.
He’s the ideal coach.
I like your point about superstars who attempt to transition to the bench. Don’t about 99 percent of them utterly fail? And yes, we should include Gretz in that discussion, I think. And I also appreciate your observation about Gabby’s inherent empathy. It’s abundantly clear as you listen to him discuss individual players that he has it, by the truckload. In fact, just this afternoon, when Semyon Varlamov was watching the scrimmage by the glass in the third period, after yielding eight goals, Gabby walked up to him to check on him, and tell him that he expected a strong showing from him tomorrow.
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