COACHING’S NEW BREED
AHL a proving ground
Dave Andrews didn’t have to look up the stat. He had the number ready and waiting as soon as the phone rang.
“It’s up to 23 now,” he said. “That’s a pretty significant number.”
The American Hockey League’s commissioner was talking about the amount of NHL head coaches who had previously coached in the minors, a number that continued to grow on Thursday when the Colorado Avalanche hired Jared Bednar.
For the Avalanche, who lost Patrick Roy as head coach after he walked away from the team earlier this month, it was a timely hire considering that training camp is about a month away. But this was not a case of settling on the first name out there.
Bednar, who has spent the last 14 years toiling in the minors and is fresh off a Calder Cup championship, was long overdue for a promotion.
“We knew we were in a rush situation, but I wanted to do what I thought was the best thing for the franchise,” Avalanche GM Joe Sakic said on a conference call Thursday. “I look at the track record and I place a lot of value in winning championships. I know Jared’s won in the (ECHL) and he just won a Calder Cup. It’s tough to win in any league and to be able to win you’ve got to be doing something right.”
Bednar, who guided the Columbus Blue Jackets’ AHLaffiliate in Lake Erie to a league title last season, had been considered a minor-league lifer. The 44-year-old spent seven years coaching in the ECHL, where he won a championship with the South Carolina Stingrays in 2009, before spending another seven years as an assistant and head coach in the AHL.
But with a 251-158-42 overall record as a head coach, he had a winning pedigree.
The term “paying his dues,” does not do Bednar justice. He earned this promotion the hard way. And yet, the previous 14 years were necessary steps in his development.
“It hasn’t been an overnight thing,” Bednar, who reportedly beat out Washington Capitals assistant coach Lane Lambert and Chicago Blackhawks assistant coach Kevin Dineen for the job, said on a conference call.
“It’s taken some time and I think that all my stops along the way have helped prepare me for this. I’ve never been trying to get on a fast track to get to the NHL.”
Coaches end up in the NHL from a variety of different routes. Some are re-treads (Columbus’ John Tortorella) or assistants that get promoted (Calgary’s Glen Gulutzan); others springboard from major junior (Florida’s Gerard Gallant) or the NCAA (Philadelphia’s Dave Hakstol);
and in rare cases, they even come from Europe (Ottawa’s Guy Boucher).
But after Mike Sullivan was hired from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the middle of the season — he replaced Mike Johnston, who previously coached in the Western Hockey League — and then steered the Pittsburgh Penguins to a Stanley Cup, the AHL is getting love once again.
The reason seems simple: if NHL teams are calling up players from the minors, then why not grab their coaches as well?
That dynamic has worked in Tampa Bay, where Jon Cooper’s familiarity in coaching Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and several others from the team that won a Calder Cup in 2012 has translated to success at the NHL level. The same was true of last season’s Penguins, in which Sullivan knew first-hand what AHL graduates like goaltender Matt Murray, Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust could bring to the team.
“I think there’s something to be said for players on an American League team whose coach makes the jump to the NHL and has the confidence in the players he
had in the AHL,” said Andrews. “In terms of what the American Hockey League is able to do for coaches, it’s a step now that NHL clubs now believe is important for them to work with pro players.”
It is not just coaches who are benefiting from spending time in the minors. While in the past teams have rushed players from the draft floor to the NHL, more and more are now taking a longterm approach when it comes to the development of their top-end talent.
William Nylander, who the Maple Leafs selected with the eighth overall pick in 2014, spent almost two full years in the minors before making his NHL debut. The Avalanche did something similar with Mikko Rantanen (10th overall, 2015), who as a rookie, finished ninth in AHL scoring last season.
“I’m seeing investment in NHL teams with their AHL affiliate,” said Andrews.
“I just think that the role of the league has changed. Teams are taking a longer view on player development.”