Coach Peters runs uptempo practices
New coach putting his high-intensity stamp on Flames, writes
The new boss doesn’t just demand sweat.
He drips it.
For many of the Calgary Flames’ go-to guys, their exhibition odyssey to Shenzhen and Beijing for the 2018 O.R.G. China Games also doubled as an introduction to the on-ice intensity level of new head coach Bill Peters.
The 53-year-old runs an uptempo practice.
In China, the proof was often trickling down his forehead.
“He’s on the ball, man,” said Flames captain Mark Giordano, whose weary crew returned home in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
“He seems like he sees everything out there and obviously he’s really upbeat, uptempo. I like it. If you put the practice in at that intensity, it really prepares you for the games.
“I’m sure that’s probably his thinking behind the pace out there.”
The Flames’ getaway to the 2018 O.R.G. China Games was as much about getting to know each other as getting to know a new system and new terminology, but Peters was able to finally start putting his own stamp on what he described as a “a real coachable group” and “a hard-working and honest group.”
When their equipment wasn’t stuck in customs or being trucked out of a typhoon, they hit the ice for three practices. (In three separate rinks, all international-sized sheets.)
After limited viewings as an opponent and plenty of prep work over the summer, the new skipper gained some behind-thebench intel on his key pieces in back-to-back losses to the Boston Bruins — a 4-3 shootout setback in Shenzhen and then a 3-1 bummer in Beijing.
On a slow-go bus ride to the Great Wall of China, Peters analyzed video on his laptop.
“He’s enthusiastic, he likes to get a high-tempo practice going and he’s real energetic,” assessed superstar winger Johnny Gaudreau prior to Wednesday’s trip-capper at Cadillac Arena in Beijing. “It’s great. I like it. And if we’re not going, he lets us know already, and this is only Day 6 or Day 7.
“And then when he blows the whistle, he’s skating as fast as he can around the rink with us, as well. It’s great to see a coach that involved.”
Originally hailing from Three Hills, Alta., Peters guided the Carolina Hurricanes for the past four seasons before opting out of his contract and signing on to try to squeeze more out of a Flames squad that fell way short of expectations last winter.
Thankfully for his new charges, he’s not the only off-season arrival from Raleigh. Especially in their first practice in Shenzhen, the bulk of the boys were clearly counting on a hat-trick of former Hurricanes — trade acquisitions Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin and free-agent signee Derek Ryan — for frontof-the-line, follow-me duties during drills.
“I think you just need to be prepared every day when you go to the rink,” Hanifin said. “As you guys can probably see, it’s pretty uptempo and fast and we go from drill to drill pretty quick. So you really have to be dialed in every day. But if you are, it’s going to pay off.”
Ryan knows Peters better than anybody on the payroll — their player-coach relationship dates back to their days with the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League, and they were later reunited for three winters in Carolina.
The 31-year-old Ryan, finally a right-handed option for the Flames at centre, understands that he’ll be quizzed about the new whistle-man at the Saddledome.
He expects those questions will stop soon enough.
“I don’t think it will take long for fans and people in the organization to really get a feel for who Bill Peters is as a person and a hockey coach. He’s a pretty assertive guy and he’s not shy to share his opinions,” Ryan said.
“He has a great memory, and I think that’s a big thing that stands out to a lot of guys who have played for him — he remembers certain situations, certain games, certain things that happen and the exact players that were involved and all that. He’s really knowledgeable like that, and he knows his Xs and Os really well.
“He’s not an easy coach. He’s definitely hard and he expects a lot of his players, but I think that’s a sign of a good coach, too — to have that and to be able to expect big things out of your players.”
If the China-trippers weren’t sure what to expect from Peters, they know now.
They better break a sweat, because the boss will.
“He’s definitely to the point,” said starting goaltender Mike Smith. “But I think that’s a good thing for our group. I think we need some accountability out there, and I think he’s going to bring that.”
He’s not an easy coach. He’s definitely hard and he expects a lot of his players, but I think that’s a sign of a good coach, too.