NHL: Shanahan says coaching has crossed his mind — down the road
Brendan Shanahan as a coach?
The president of the Maple Leafs suggested on a podcast released this week that he might like to give it a try one day.
“Who knows, maybe when my kids move off to college and we’re empty-nesters I’ll be the only guy to go backwards, and go from team president to coach,” the 51-year-old Shanahan said on “SmartLess,” hosted by actors Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and uber-Leafs fan Will Arnett. “Quite frankly, they make more money.
“Any chance you have to get these young players and help mould and shape them and have an impact on their lives, it would be a positive one. But my guess is I’ll stay where I am.”
The coaching topic came up when asked about his competitive nature.
“It’s hard to watch my team play a Game 7 because I’m standing there in a suit, in a suite, and I can’t do anything,” said Shanahan. “I remember as a player I might have felt sick to my stomach that morning, but I found it easier as a player to be in those moments. You get to go out, use your energy and skate and bodycheck guys.”
Though he didn’t mention any Leafs by name, he brought up the kind of drama that can tear teams apart — about respect, credit, playing time — in a discussion about “The Last Dance” documentary on the rise and fall of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls and contract issues between general manager Jerry Krause and star Scottie Pippen.
“I want to grab our young players — and they’re like your kids, you care about them,” said Shanahan. “You want to say: ‘I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I made,’ or ‘I want you to learn what I learned, but learn it earlier so you can have more fun doing this.’
“But they have to learn it on their own and figure it out on their own.”
Shanahan also said he prefers big plays to big hits.
“The way (today), I think, is not necessarily the way I played,” said Shahanan. “I know people get p---ed off at me when I say stuff like this, but I don’t get excited to see a big hit. I get excited when I see a big goal. I don’t want to see any of these young guys on the ice getting carried off (on a stretcher). I don’t get off on it.”