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*I’m posting this a bit earlier than normal. News is going to start trickling in as the playoffs wrap up, so I will need to be able to make some “emergency” posts. I want to give this feature (as well as Chris Chelios and Kevin Allen) the respect they deserve in making sure they stay up for the good part of 24 hours.
Keep an eye out. Much to HenryHockey’s delight, Vancouver is shopping Schmidt. That’s a player a couple of you wouldn’t mind seeing as a stop gat left side defenseman. H2 has been at the forefront of that segment.
My third “Gear Corner” focused on helmets. In the early days, players had total control over what they wore on their head. Now regulations are in place that the helmets have to be ready to wear and use right out of the box. After years of research and development (as well as certifications from multiple organizations) a player still has to like how it looks. No pressure.
My first “summer reading post” covered Chelios’s career defining fib.
My second summer reading post took a look at the world’s funniest bar fight. In the third installation, it’s time to see Chelios put on the Winged Wheel.
Going through “Made in America” is a trip back through time. I forget how much “friendlier” hockey is now. I’m not saying players aren’t tough or strong, the conditioning now is through the roof. But, the way penalties are called you just don’t see the “nastiness” that guys like Chelios came to see. Slashes that would break ankles, elbows gone in penalized, two hand slashes over someone’s head. Going back to what guys were allowed to do to Fedorov, Gretzky, Yzerman and others it’s amazing their careers weren’t much shorter.
The locker room has changed, as well. The media will find out about a coach yelling or embarrassing a player and I’ll hear guys say, “coaches were never like that in the 90s”. Oh good grief. If the 90s had social media, some coaches may well be incarcerated. There were scuffles, border line fist fights (some not so borderline) and players were ripped to shreds in front of their teammates. The Scotty Bowman of the Montreal era was one of the most hated coaches on the planet. Chelios would say to Larry Robinson, “but you won 5 Stanley Cups”. Robinson would say, “we should have won 10”. Scotty chilled out a great deal by the time he got to Detroit.
In reality, coaches have lost a lot of the pull they once had. Players can leak stories and get a coach fired. Ownership isn’t going to let you bench a player that sells tickets. The in room leadership has to buy in to what a coach is doing, or it will all fall apart. If the captain has free reign to straighten guys out, the coaches job gets much easier. That was the scenario that Chelios walked into in Detroit. He’d worn the “C” in Chicago, and was happy to see it on someone like Yzerman. This excerpt is from Chapter 9 “From the Indian Head to the Winged Wheel” on page 162 (hardcover) in “Made In America - Chris Chelios with Kevin Allen”. Head to
Triumphbooks.com and you can find this and several other titles by Kevin Allen. Digital formats are also available.
“Yzerman was an intimidating presence, even among the veteran players. If we lost a game, there wasn’t a guy in the room who would make eye contact with Yzerman. Even at my age, I had a healthy fear of him.
Once, in front of the entire team, Yzerman called me out after Paul Kariya had scored an overtime goal to beat us. On the play, I had left Kariya alone to try and help Yzerman.
‘Stay with you F***king guy,’ Yzerman told me.
I didn’t much like how he opted to bring that to my attention. I had always made it a point never to embarass a teammate.
The next day I told Yzerman how I felt about his approach.
‘If you don’t like what I’m doing, just pull me aside and talk to me about it,’ I said.
To Yzerman’s credit, he did apologize. But I respected how much he cared about how the team played. He was a great captain and a great player. He jus wanted me to do my job. I understood that. “
That excerpt does shine a little light on Yzerman’s management style. Whether it’s with players moving on or with media members getting “corrected”, Yzerman can be fairly blunt. I wish we got to see more of his “behind the scenes” workings, but part of what make Yzerman so effective is his ability to keep closed door conversations, well, behind closed doors.
If you haven’t grabbed a copy of Kevin Allen’s book, I strongly suggest it. I continue to enjoy re-reading each chapter. I was wondering when exactly I’d purchased the book, and a small souvenir fell out. My bookmark is a ticket from the 2015 Red and White game at Training Camp in Traverse City. On the stub are Zetterberg, Nyquist and Abdelkader. That was the last camp I went to, and just 6 months before the injury that changed my life forever. It’s safe to say I wouldn’t be writing this blog if my entire world hadn’t been turned upside down. That story isn’t one that will ever grace the pages of a best seller, but the insane twists and turns that life takes can still lead to great things. This blog, and your readership, have been one of the greatest for me.
Check out some of my previous posts
My third “Gear Corner” focused on helmets.
Alex Tanguay is a new assistant coach in Detroit.
I posted about the state of the Wings being at about half of the team it needs to be..
Frank Seravalli’s top 20 list has some options for Detroit.
My second summer reading post took a look at the world’s funniest bar fight.
My second “Gear Corner” talked a bit about gloves.
The Golden Knights are out of the playoffs.
Updated mock drafts have Detroit looking at Wallstedt, Eklund and Edvinsson.
Helm and Filppula could be moving on.
Jared McIsaac may finally be healthy enough to have a solid pro year.
My first “summer reading post” covered Chelios’s career defining fib.
Friday was my first gear corner with Doug Todd from Warrior Hockey.
Albert Johansson won’t be competing for a spot in North America this season
I will be featuring the writings of Kevin Allen for a summer reading program this year. It’s tough to break up the summer months, and the one on one formats that Kevin has perfected is not only a pleasure to read but gives insight that isn’t easy to come by. I’ll be starting with Chris Chelios “Made in America”.
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