NEW GLASGOW – If Pictou County coaches were looking for some magic formula, they didn’t get it from Gerard Gallant.
What they got was the simple hockey strategies that win games.
Gallant, the St. John’s Sea Dogs head coach, and the team’s associate coach Mike Kelly offered their advice and took questions yesterday from the local coaches while on a stop following a game against Cape Breton.
Earlier in the day the Sea Dogs held an optional practice for their players at the rink.
Gallant became the Sea Dogs’ coach in April 2009 and has helped lead the team to top spot in their league and the no. 2 spot in Canada.
Prior to joining the Sea Dogs, Gallant served as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders during the 2007-08 season. He also spent seven years on the coaching staff of the Columbus Blue Jackets and was that team’s head coach from Jan. 1, 2004 to Nov. 13, 2006.
Mike Kelly was named the Sea Dogs’ associate coach and director of hockey operations on April 24, 2009. Originally from Oakville, ON, Kelly most recently spent three years in the Vancouver Canucks organization as an assistant coach with both the Canucks and the Manitoba Moose (AHL).
If there’s one message that Gallant would like to leave with the coaches in Pictou County it’s to keep their focus right.
“It’s about kids having fun, especially in minor hockey,” he said.
There are lots of different aspects involved in being a coach, but ensuring that players have fun and that they are prepared for games and practices are the most important.
He doesn’t underestimate the impact minor league coaches have on players.
“It’s huge. Obviously as a kid growing up, I had lots of minor league coaches,” he said. “It’s all volunteer. It’s time committed for these guys and, as we all know, there’s a lot of parents involved with these kids and there’s always issues.
“For the minor hockey league coaches – the guys who aren’t making any money – they’re taking a lot of time out of their private lives.”
They deserve a pat on the back, he said.
“You don’t always get the positive backspin from the families and that, but for these guys it’s a great thing for them to do and I have a great respect for them,” he said. “Some of them do it and their kids aren’t involved.”
It’s those coaches that shape the players who will one day be on teams like the Sea Dogs and in the NHL.
An example is Michael Kirkpatrick who used to play for the Weeks Jr. A Crushers and is now one of the Sea Dogs’ leading scorers.
“He’s one of the top players in the league,” Gallant said.
As a coach, Gallant said it’s important for him to remind players to work as a team.
“It’s not about individuals or being selfish players. We’ve all got one goal and that should be to win. Everything else will take care of itself,” he said.
“Obviously we have players who want to be drafted to the NHL and we have players who already have been drafted. I try to preach to them that it’s about winning and playing well and getting prepared for the game. It’s not about 150 points. Do things the right way and people will appreciate it. The NHL is looking for winners not individuals.”
Weeks Jr. A Crusher coach Troy Dumville said it was a good message to hear.
“They’ve been there and done it and they bring it back to a level that shows that it’s not that much different,” Dumville said. “You still deal with the same things even if it’s minor hockey or it’s Jr. A, like in our situation. They go through the same things we are going through. Sometimes I watch NHL hockey games on TV and I see the guys making the same mistakes that our Crushers are making. The game is not complex. It’s a simple game. It just comes down to what they said – getting their players to buy in.”
Gallant said there’s nothing he can really do to get the players to buy in. All he can do is encourage them to play their roles.
“It’s a big adjustment because some kids want to be in the first line – they all want to be in the first line,” Gallant said. “I try to get them to realize there’s roles for everybody on every team. Things change over the course of the season, but the more successful team is when you get people who all want to play the same way.”
During the session, Dumville commended the ability they have had to get guys to do just that.
“Pat yourselves on the back because obviously you’ve got those guys buying in,” he said.
