BACK WHERE HE BELONGS
Chynoweth doing what he loves
Sitting around at home wasn’t sitting well with Dean Chynoweth.
Despite being in hockey for 30plus years — 14 years as a player and 18 as a coach — he wasn’t quite ready to be put out to pasture. He’d worked the phones and interviewed for several coaching positions after being let go by the San Antonio Rampage, the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, in April 2016, but nothing tangible materialized.
Not until he fielded a call from Vancouver Giants owner Ron Toigo. And then one from GM Glen Hanlon. And then one from head coach Jason McKee.
On Aug. 4, Chynoweth was named associate coach with the Giants, leaving his family behind in Texas to get back into the game.
“I had lots of interviews, but I got shut out. I don’t believe sitting and hoping is a healthy situation,” said Chynoweth, 49. “My option at the start of the year was to sit for another year and maybe land somewhere, or get back in there and throw everything at it, and immerse myself in the game.
“We discussed it as a family. Ron had reached out to me, Glen and Jason had as well, and we had some healthy conversations. I felt this was the best opportunity to go back to where I started and be a part of something.”
Chynoweth brings a rich coaching pedigree, not to mention the history his family has with the WHL. He was head coach of the Seattle Thunderbirds for four years before moving on to take on the coaching and GM duties with the Swift Current Broncos for five years, then making the jump to the NHL ranks as an assistant with the New York Islanders.
He’s seen it all in the game, including 241 at the NHL level as a player with the Isles and Boston Bruins. He’s watched it evolve. He’s watched the world evolve.
To wit: His first year in the WHL was 1984, the year the first Mac computer came out, boasting 64 KB of RAM. Now his players show up holding iPhones with 3,145,730 KB of RAM. (That’s 3GB for the math challenged).
Technology has taken a quantum leap. So has the game.
And so has Chynoweth. “I’ve been fortunate to stay in the game as long as I have,” he said. “You’re constantly evolving. If you’re not working to get better every day, then you’re falling behind.”
Whether it’s establishing a lockbox for cellphones at the rink — they’re hidden away to minimize distractions for the young, social media engrossed players — or using group chats to communicate everything from practice points, game strategy, and travel itineraries, it’s all part of the game’s growth.
And that’s why Chynoweth is back in the WHL. He’s doing what he loves: coaching, guiding, mentoring.
“The teaching and development part is so critical in today’s NHL because we want to fast-track those entry-level contracts. You have a window of opportunity and a time frame where players need to make strides. They’re raw … and they’re even more raw at this level.
“We’re trying to change a culture and grow these young guys. There’s nothing better than junior hockey to do that. You have challenges every day on different fronts.
“That’s very important moving forward, for me as a coach, as well. To be able to adapt to these players and the teaching/development part. I take it very seriously and believe in it.”