I never thought in my lifetime that I would be having discussions with people regarding the NHL playoffs in September when all prior years they were finished by May/June timeframe.
Nature of the beast as they say during the COVID-19 era that the NHL and all other professional sports are dealing with to complete or start their seasons with various protocols to ensure the safety for all parties concerned.
Although I am a long time Habs Fan having grown up in Montreal, and was disappointed when they and then the Vancouver Canucks were knocked out of this years Bubble Playoffs, I am happy to see that Rick Bowness and the Dallas Stars will be heading to the final for the first time in 20 years.
Two reasons why I feel that the “stars” have aligned for them to get there this year, the amazing coaching job that “interim” coach Rick Bowness has done since he took over the reigns after former head coach XXXXX was fired mid season and the later is the leadership from team captain, Jamie Benn, whom I have highlighted in numerous talks and interviews when I been asked to share insight on the benefits of multi-sport participation.
RICK BOWNESS – AKA BONES
Rick Bowness played in the NHL for a number of teams like many other NHL coaches after he played Major Junior and in the NHL. He has been a head coach for a number of NHL teams but this is the first time in his career that he has lead a team to the Stanley Cup Final
His coaching career ironically started out in 1982-83 as a player coach (AKA Reggie Dunlop for the Chiefs in Slapshot) for the first Winnipeg Jets minor league affiliate Sherbrooke Jets.
Much like the infamous “Chiefs” in Slapshot, the team really struggled under his watch so he retired as coach and player at the end that season and a year later was recruited by Winnipeg Jets Head coach in 1984 to join his coaching staff as an assistant.
He has gone on to coach a number of teams in the NHL since, many as the head coach and several years as associate or assistant coach, including the Vancouver Canucks where he was Alain Vignault’s right hand man when they had their amazing run in 2011.
He moved on from the Vancouver Canucks in 2013 and was with Tampa when they advanced to the final in 2015 but lost to Vancouver’s long time nemesis, Chicago Blackhawks.
Rick has now been in the NHL as a player and now a coach for 45 years and many are pulling for him to win his first Stanley Cup.
Why are so many pulling for him?
#1. He is a player’s coach – loved by all of his players who will do everything they can to win for him
#2. He truly cares about his players as people, not just as hockey players.
The list of players under his watch for decades have all shared in interviews time and time again how he connects with them as individuals, is approachable and takes the extra time to help them not only become better players, but better people.
“He Cares about his players. You can just see it in his actions. He will never chastise them, he will never embarrass them in front of his peers or in front of other people, if there is a tough conversation to have he does it behind closed doors.” George Gwozdecky (Tampa Assistant Head coach with Rick 2013-2015)
#3. He has a high level of emotional and social intelligence.
Although this past Hockey Season the NHL saw several coaches fired from their roles due to what many feel are no longer (nor were they ever) appropriate coaching styles, Rick has always set the bar as the players coach
“He’s a coach you just want to do everything for, lay your body on the line for”
Jamie Benn
#4 – He has coached more games than any other coach EVER in the NHL, now over 2,500 games leaving Scotty Bowman’s record of 2,164 3 years ago and he is still going
#5 – He has adapted to being either a head or an assistant coach depending on the team needs, many of his head coaching stints he took over mid season when the head coaches were let go much like this season with the Stars.
#6 – Cody Hodgson played under Rick and Alain while in Vancouver and shared that “you get some coaches that are very talented but not necessarily good people (as the firings in recent year showed). But Rick ‘s a great coach and a great person …. and will be able to stick around as long as he wants to”
#7 – He is very humble. Whenever people try to give him credit for his leadership, he defers to the players, much like he did when was interviewed after they advanced the final.
#8 – He’s a great coach.
Ironically he played as a forward, but has spent much of his coaching career working with defence and is acclaimed for helping develop many D-Men over his career, most recently was helping Victor Hedman become one of, if not the best, d-men in the NHL currently.
#9 – He is transformational and focuses on connecting with his players vs. many coaches still focusing on the X’s and O’s. Per former player he coached, Brad Barry who is now coach of University of North Dakota X’s and O’s are one thing, but if you don’t have the communication skills or the ability to connect, then I don’t think the X’s and O’s matter anymore.”
#10 – He loves the game as much now as he did when he was a kid.
In every talk I do with coaches I end with key takeaways and one is the measurement of a great coach is one that creates a culture on their teams where kids love the game more at the end of the season then they did at the beginning and come back the following year with big smiles on their faces.
JAMIE BENN – AKA Chubbs
Below is a slide from one of my core talks LTPD vs. Early Sport Specialization where I talk about Jamie Benn’s path to the NHL.
Jamie and his brother Jordie grew up on Vancouver Island and played a number of sports growing up, both played hockey in the winter and baseball in the spring as well as tried several other sports until they both found the one they loved the most – Hockey.
Note on the slide some of Jamie’s accolades – Gold in the World Juniors, Gold in the Olympics, Art Ross Trophy and now he is going to the Stanley Cup Final.
Did you know that he did not decide to focus on hockey until he was 19?
This is why Hockey Canada did not even identify him for any of the U16, U18 or U20 Junior Camps until he was 19 as his path was junior B, then Junior A, then WHL and was drafted in the 5th round to then become the captain of the stars in 2013 when he was 24 years old.
His path the NHL, much like the majority of players, was playing multiple sports until his later teens. When I interviewed Ken Martel for one of our summits last year, he shared with me that over 90% of NHL players were multi-sport athletes until at least 14.
“Just a game boys, there’s always next time” Tyler Sequin
Now at 31 he is considered the old guard with the NHL youth movement, but as much as I would love to see a Canadian team be in and ultimately win the final since the Habs won their last one (and last one for a Canadian team) in 1993 27 years ago, I will be pulling for the stars to align for Rick, Jamie to hoist their first and ultimately drink from the Stanley Cup.