By Allan Mitchell (The Athletic)
Pat Quinn’s training camp in Edmonton is the stuff of legends. He entered his only camp talking about changing attitudes, but by January 2010 he was talking about intelligence and intangibles.
Craig MacTavish at training camp brought a lot to the table. Most years there was a winger he felt could play centre, and that would occupy plenty of time. One year, MacT threw a difficult drill at the defencemen (keep the rushing winger to the outside, match him stride for stride and take him to the end of the rink, all without a hockey stick) that nearly ended Igor Ulanov’s desire to play the game.
Jay Woodcroft was just starting his pro playing career when Ulanov wanted the ice to melt on that fateful day the drill came out, and he was a San Jose Sharks assistant coach when Pat Quinn said one of his defenders was Barbara Ann Scott (a helluva skater by all reports) and the team itself was “sucking hind banana” during the 2009-10 season.
The 2022 training camp currently underway at Rogers Place in Edmonton is Woodcroft’s first as an NHL head coach, but he has been a part of an NHL coaching staff since the fall of 2005. Every coach is unique, Woodcroft more than most, and his innovations are on display already at this year’s camp. Here are some observations.
Recent Comments