From coach killers to soft poems
Teams love to ‘get in your brain and mess around,’ players say of the NHL combine
The Vancouver Canucks are looking for a few good men. Who isn’t?
The ongoing process of compiling their wish list for the NHL draft June 23 and 24 in Chicago could hit critical forks in the road this week in Buffalo.
The annual scouting combine will put prospects through the usual gauntlet of aerobic, anaerobic and strength testing.
But the 106 invited players will also face a barrage of intriguing questions from teams hoping to gain a better read on the draft-eligible players through responses to tricky and telling queries.
The only certainty in the pro game is uncertainty. How players handle success, failure, injuries, a team dynamic, schedule stress and family issues plays into determining the overall makeup. It either solidifies the belief in a player or scares teams away.
“It’s of the utmost importance,” said Canucks general manager Jim Benning. “We know what the players can do on the ice, but we really value character a lot and we want to make sure we get to players and get to what makes them tick.
“What motivates them and how bad do they want to win? We look at all those things and factor them in with the skill set.”
With the fifth overall draft selection this year, the Canucks will have a vested interest in highly rated centres and puck-moving defenceman. That means those who should be available when they select — unless the Dallas Stars trade the third overall pick and the projected pecking order is altered — will receive extra scrutiny in Buffalo.
Centres Gabriel Vilardi, Cody Glass, Casey Mittelstadt, Michael Rasmussen and Elias Pettersson will be grilled by the Canucks as hard as defencemen Cale Makar, Timothy Liljegren and Cal Foote.
“When I look at our team, I see that playmaking centre point producer as a hole to fill and the other is a pure power-play defenceman who can shoot the puck from the point,” said Benning. “I feel confident that we’re getting a real good player at No. 5. We’ll talk to teams ahead of us and see what it takes to move up, but we’re happy at No. 5 and we’re going to get a skilled player — a foundation piece.”
Which, of course, gets back to those interviews.
“I want kids to be honest and truthful,” Benning said of his interview staple.
“One question I like to ask is: ‘If we were to go and ask your teammates what type of teammate you are, what would they tell us?’ Then they’ve got to think for a second. They can’t say something that’s not true because we could go and actually ask their teammates and get the answer.
“If a kid comes across as too cocky or too full of himself and if there’s another player you like more with a better personality and who would interact better in a team environment, then you take him.”
The previous Canucks management regime certainly got that right with Ben Hutton (fifth round, 2012) and Bo Horvat (first round, 2013). The current hockey operations department appears to have done the same with the articulate and well-educated Thatcher Demko (second round, 2014) and Brock Boeser (first round, 2015).
Canucks assistant general manager John Weisbrod was operating in a similar capacity with the Calgary Flames and recalled his interview with Horvat at the 2013 combine.
“We obviously liked Bo as a player and he came through as a real salt-of-the-earth guy, an earnest and committed kid,” said Weisbrod. “Some teams are inclined to go for flashy skill and didn’t have Bo rated as high, but the group that was here (in Vancouver) at the time obviously assessed it right.
“With his maturity, hockey sense and two-way game, he was obviously a good pick. He was high on our (the Flames’) list.”
As for those actual interviews, Lucas Johansen had a memorable 2016 combine experience. The Kelowna Rockets defenceman was interviewed by 27 teams, including the Canucks, and came away with these observations:
“I don’t remember which team, but one kind of made me laugh,” he recalled of this question: “‘This is going to be your third coach in three years, are you a coach killer in Kelowna?’ I laughed and said: ‘I hope not.’ They try to get in your brain and mess around.
“The Canucks interview went really well and there were about a dozen guys. It was pretty easygoing and it’s funny because I don’t know if you want your meetings to be easygoing or want them to be strict. If it’s too easy, maybe they think you don’t care. And if they’re too strict, maybe they’re more curious. I didn’t know which one to hope for.”
Former Prince George Cougars winger Brett Connolly had this recollection of the 2010 combine before he was selected sixth overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“You have to think fast and answer honest, for sure,” he said. “I got one question where they asked me if I would rather read a soft poem or shoot a gun. I said shoot a gun. I don’t know why. I was nervous and I just wanted to get something out.”