A Frank assessment
Frank Pietrangelo voted coach of the year by peers in Golden Horseshoe Conference
Frank Pietrangelo’s voice is the only one Niagara Falls Canucks players hear when they’re being addressed by their head coach on the ice at practice or behind the bench in a game.
But it’s not the only one he’s channelling in teaching moments with players in the development league. The former NHL goaltender and Stanley Cup winner freely admits that who he is as a coach is the sum of everyone who has coached him.
“I was fortunate enough to play under many really great coaches — Bob Johnson, Joel Quennville, Scotty Bowman, Willie Desjardins, Dave King and Rick Lee among them — and I can say that I’ve learned from each and everyone of them,” Pietrangelo said after he was voted by his peers as 2016-17 coach of the year in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Golden Horseshoe Conference.
Pietrangelo, the Canucks bench boss since he purchasing the junior B team three years ago, called receiving the Tom Kelly Memorial Trophy a “tremondous honour.”
“Especially, since the voting comes from our peers,” he said. “We have a lot of really great coaches in our league, and to receive this award is a tribute to my coaching staff and players, as they have just as much to do with winning this as I do.”
One of the things Pietrangelo learned over 16 years playing professionally and another four competing in the NCAA with University of Minnesota is that there is no one size fits all when it comes to coaching Canada’s national winter game.
“Every coach has their own way of doing things, and I try to emulate what worked best from each and every one of the guys who coached me over my career,” the 52-year-old Niagara Falls native said.
Pietrangelo saw action in 25 games as Tom Barrasso’s backup when the Pittsburgh Penguins won their first Stanley Cup in 1991. That turned out to be Bob Johnson’s first and only season behind the Pittsburgh bench, as brain cancer claimed the legendary U.S. college coach’s life in November of that year.
Despite his limited time playing for Badger Bob, Pietrangelo was greatly influenced by a coach who compiled a 394-22427 record in the college ranks, mostly at University of Wisconsin.
“I would have to say Bob Johnson was the most instrumental coach I played under,” he said. “Not only he lead us to the Stanley Cup, but his positive outlook and enthusiasm was definitely unique and unparalleled.”
With junior B players ranging in age from 16 to 20, the line between coaching and parenting can sometimes become blurred, acknowledged Pietrangelo, speaking from the first-hand experience of coaching his son Dylan, also a goaltender, in his first season behind the Canucks bench.
“There is definitely a bit of parenting in coaching junior hockey,” the elder Pietrangelo said. “Let’s not forget the simple fact that these young men are 15 to 20 years old, many of them away from home for the very first time and experiencing many challenges outside of hockey, including switching schools, leaving their friends and family behind.
“They need guidance and leadership.”
On top of all of that, the players need to elevate their game to the next level.
“This is not as easy a transition as some might think,” Pietrangelo said. “I try to keep this in mind as the season goes on, as these kids and their families sacrifice a lot to be part of our program.”
Pietrangelo also played for the then Hartford Whalers after started his NHL career in 1988. He played several more years in the International Hockey League with the Minnesota Moose, in Italy with HC Bolzano and Asiago Hockey AS, in Germany with the Kaufbeuren Eagles, as well as in England with the Manchester Storm before retiring following the 2001 season.
He helped the Penguins stave off elimination in their 1991 Stanley Cup run when he filled in for the injured Barrasso and backstopped the team to a Game 6 victory over the New Jersey Devils in the opening round of the playoffs.