One of the most important relationships in any team sport is that of a player and their coach. I have had the good fortune of working with many different types of coaches over the years. Some I really liked, some not so much, but they all had at least a small impact on the way I learned to play the game.

People have asked me over the years: What, in my opinion, are the characteristics of a good hockey coach? It's not an easy question to answer. Two coaches with totally different methods can have comparable levels of success. Ultimately, I think it comes down to a couple common traits.

Apart from increased ice time, what players really want from their coaches is a clear picture of what's expected from them. There has to be a structure in place, a team concept and a sense that the coach has a handle on how to use his personnel to put them in a position to succeed. Beyond that, it's up to the players to meet these expectations.

It goes without saying, but to often it is just that – unsaid. On this day before Thanksgiving in the U.S., I jus want to say thank you to all of my coaches. I owe a lot to them. Whether it was instilling good habits as when I was a young player or challenging me to be better, my coaches had a major impact on my career both on and off the ice.

Here’s a rundown of the men I called “coach” throughout my career, and what I learned from each man.

MINOR HOCKEY

Bruce Stewart, Bill Watkins, Glen Wallace were all great coaches for me in minor hockey. I owe a big debt of gratitude to each of them for teaching me not only how to play hockey, but valuable life lessons that stick with me even today.

Bruce coached me the majority of my minor hockey days. Minor hockey was different back when I played. Yes, the game was meant to be fun but the object of playing was to give your absolute all to win. Your fun came from winning. Your fun came from accomplishments.

The Fair Play Code of Ethics wasn’t even thought of yet, but the respect was there from both players and parents. You had to earn your ice time, and those who worked hard played more. It was as simple as that.

I not only learned how to compete as a youngster playing hockey, I learned the value of outworking your opponent. I learned about teamwork. I learned about treating the game and its history with respect. In fact I learned a lot of life lessons as a kid playing hockey, and I owe a lot of that to Bruce Stewart.

During an interview on Hockey Night in Canada later in my career, I was asked who was my best coach and I didn’t hesitate to answer: Bruce Stewart. Bruce taught me so much about how the game is played, and the meaning of hard work on the ice.

JUNIOR HOCKEY

I played for Ted Powers for both of my seasons of Junior B playing for the London Squires. Ted was a very hard-nosed coach and an excellent hockey player in his own right. I was a 14-year-old kid playing with 18-, 19- and 20-year-old guys. Ted didn’t coddle me but he made sure that I was ready and aware of each opponent that we were playing.

When I think of Ted, the first thing that comes to mind is a great story that would never happen in today’s game.

We had just arrived home from Sarnia after getting beat real bad. It was one of those games where things start our bad and then go downhill from there. As we were unloading our frozen equipment from under the bus, Ted told us to get dressed and be ready for practice.

WHAT!?

We were shocked. It was late, we were tired and post-game practice was just about the last thing any of us wanted to do. When we took to the ice, it was not your typical practice. Ted did not think we competed tough enough or hard enough in the game against Sarnia so we’d have to show our effort in practice.

We lined up in the corner with pucks, and then, one at a time, we skated along the boards, the length of the ice. At the opposing blue line stood Ted. You had to skate between him and the boards. Ted was out to teach us a lesson about competing and playing tough even when things didn't go our way. I think we all got the point that night.

Over the years much has been said about my skating and shooting ability. To be honest, I’ll agree with many of the comments, but one thing that I could do well was pass the puck from tape-to-tape. I would thank my London Knights Junior A coach, Bill Long, for this.

Bill was all about repetition in his practices, which is a big key to teaching. It seemed like in the four years that I played for him, all we did was practice breaking out of our end. You know what? It might have been boring at the time, but those skills stayed with me and got me out of many tough situations later in my career.

ATLANTA/CALGARY FLAMES

Fred Creighton was my first NHL coach and was very old-fashioned. His methods were from the pre-Fred Shero era of thinking in NHL coaching. His only warm-up drill ever was to skate circles around the ice and skate hard between the bluelines; hence his nickname “Blueline Freddie."

Fred taught me a lesson very early on about mentally moving on after a setback. It was one that would be very instrumental in my career.

The game was in Pittsburgh, and the score was tied with only a few minutes left. I gave away the puck that led to the winning goal. Dejected, I headed back to the hotel by myself, and I bumped into Fred as I was going up to my room in the elevator.

He asked me what I was doing and I replied “Going up to my room. I cost the team the game.”

His reply was to the point and direct: “Would you make that pass again?”

“No.”

“So that means that you learned from this mistake?”

“Yes.”

“Well, seems to me that you should be out with your teammates. You are going to make lots of mistakes before you are done playing – just part of the game. Learn from them and you will be better for it.”

That advice stayed with me, I was always able to brush off anything that would happen during a game. Some players have never learned to do this. If their first shift isn’t good, then they are a write-off for the rest of the game. Same thing if things start off fine, but then a big mistake happens. Some players can't put that aside. Suddenly, one mistake becomes two and two become three.

Fred may have also had one of the best lines I ever heard. We had played poorly in one particular game, doesn’t matter who it was against, but Freddie was beside himself. He came into the dressing room to address us after the game and we expected a lot of yelling and shouting. He paced up and down in the dressing room a few times and then simply said in a low very calm voice.

“Practice is at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning... [pause]... and tell your wife to pack a lunch for you, you are going to be here awhile,” then he walked out of the room.

When Al McNeil came to Atlanta he had pretty impressive resume. He had previously coached the Montreal Canadians to a Stanley Cup Championship. Hopes were real high in Atlanta when Al arrived, but as in other years the Flames lost out in the 1st round.

It wasn’t until our move to Calgary that we finally had playoff success. My biggest memory of Al was that he was always on my case – on my case to be better, on my case to take better care of myself physically.

I never really appreciated his advice at the time; in fact, it created some friction between us.

My answer to Al when he was talking to me was that “Al, I always give you 110%.” His answer was “Yes, I know that you do but, Marshy, your body only has 70% to give.”

This advice did not sink in for a few more years but when it did, it had a big impact on me. Without a doubt, getting more serious about my conditioning enabled me to have a longer career in the NHL.

I remember when I played in Ottawa, my 15th NHL season, I saw Al. I pulled him aside and thanked him for his advice.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

My first coach in Philly was Pat Quinn. I always liked and respected Pat, and he got a raw deal at the end of his tenure as Flyers coach. I only had Pat for a part of one season in Philly – I was traded there in November and he got fired in March with only 8 games left in the season – but he was a great coach and it would’ve been nice to have more time with him.

I was kind of at a crossroads in my career when Bob McCammon came in to coach the Flyers. I was being pigeonholed into the category of a slow, plodding defenseman and from a conditioning standpoint I had not yet began to work out.

Looking back, I now understand why I wasn’t on Bob’s list of go-to defensemen for crunch-time situations in games. I played, but not key minutes and that is what you want as a player. I really have nothing positive or negative to say about "Cagey." Looking back, it was my fault, not his, that I was not playing the minutes I craved and perhaps those struggles put me in the mindset I needed to make a change.

Bob had a bit of a reputation as a coach whose team lacked a clear structure. Our teams had talent and did well in the regular season but we couldn't get out of the first round of the playoffs. He took much of the blame for it. He had his share of success as a coach in the AHL, but it didn't translate to playoff success in the NHL.

Mike Keenan was the first coach that challenged me to be better. He challenged me to raise the bar, and to never be satisfied. I have said this many times: Along with many of my teammates, I had the best years of my career playing for Mike.

Keenan was the first coach I had that brought in high-tempo practices – quick, fast and demanding. I loved those practices. I ate them up. I had always enjoyed the going to the rink, enjoyed seeing my teammates etc., but now I couldn’t wait to get to practice.

Players either liked Mike or hated Mike. I played a lot for him, so I liked him. Even so, I understood why so many players hated him. As one of the players in a leadership role on the team, I did my best to keep teammates on board. So did guys like Dave Poulin and Mark Howe. Eventually, it was evident that there were more players that disliked Mike regardless of how much ice time they got.

One more thing about Mike Keenan: He was never one to coach by sentiment. He didn't care how well you played for him last week, much less last season or the season before that. He cared only about what he believed he could get from you that night and the next game. He set the bar very high, each and every day.

That's not a bad thing, but his relentless style meant that Mike had a shorter shelf life than some other coaches. The nickname "Iron Mike" was well-earned.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

John Brophy was a real old-school coach who had an approach that the younger generation of players could not adapt to. I’ve got all the respect in the world for John, but he just wasn’t a good fit for our team at the time. John had tremendous success at the minor league level, winning several championships. It’s too bad that he didn’t have the same success in the NHL.

I liked John, and I worked hard, so he liked me. To fully appreciate any story about John, you have to understand John. He was one of the toughest players ever to play - period. He could not understand why other players could not play as tough. His hair was white, his face scarred in many places. When he was mad, his face was red -- not a blushing red but a crimson devilish red with eyes that pierced through you.

If you ever have a chance to be in a situation to sit and listen to a few Alumni tell some Brophy stories, get comfortable and take it all in. They are priceless. Much of Keenan's ferocity was calculated to get a response from his players, but he could really push your buttons. With John, you sometimes wanted to laugh -- but you'd better not if you knew what's good for you! He was one legitimately tough, tough guy.

After Brophy left, our struggling Leafs I had head coach Gorge Armstrong and assistant coach Gary Lariverie. George was a great player but not fit at all to be a coach; in fact, he did not even want to coach but owner Harold Ballard insisted that he take the reigns. Gary did his best to keep everything in order but in the end, the three-ring circus that Ballard created was too much for anyone to survive.

Doug Carpenter came after and brought a teaching attitude to the team which was exactly what the young Leafs needed at the time. He was very much an Xs-and-Os type of coach, which is good up to a point.

A heavy emphasis on Xs and Os give you direction, but it does not win games by itself no matter how much they are discussed,. At some point in time, you have to react to situations instead of thinking about where another X is supposed to be when O is curling in.

Tom Watt falls into the category of, if you do not have anything good to say about someone then do not say anything at all. In all fairness, I didn’t play at all under Tom. He had other priorities and that is his prerogative as the coach.

I immediately went from playing 20-25 minutes a game to being up to the press box as a healthy scratch for 30 straight games with really no explanation of what I was doing wrong in his estimation or what I could to get into his lineup. My opinion of him is solely tied to my lack of ice time. I just wasn't in his plans in any way, shape or form.

So be it. My issue was that there was no communication; no relationship whatsoever.

Once I was traded to Detroit, my only goal in hockey was to play longer than he coached the Leafs. He was fired before I retired; another doubter proven wrong.

DETROIT RED WINGS

From my experience with him, Bryan Murray was a true players' coach. He was a great hockey guy and he not only understands the game, but he can relate to the game as well. You always knew were you stood with Brian and the Red Wings, no head games or non-truths.

If you asked Bryan a question, you got an honest answer -- straight and to the point. There was no hidden agenda. This is sorely missing in today’s game. In my estimation, there needs to be more Brian Murrays in the game.

OTTAWA SENATORS

It’s pretty obvious that the Sens inaugural season was a rough one -- as a brand new expansion team, we were one of the worst teams in NHL history -- but I have to give credit to coaches Rick Bowness, E.J. McGuire and Alain Vigneault. Rick was the head coach but I will put all of these guys together.

Basically, they all did a great with what they had to work with. Nobody worked harder at their jobs than these guys did. They treated each day, each practice, and each game like it was going to be the turning point of the season. They prepared us as if we were still in the playoff hunt. Even then, you could see that Vigneault was going to have a bright future ahead of him and was destined to become a longime NHL head coach.

Before our time together in Ottawa, I had also worked with E.J. in Philadelphia during the Keenan days. He was a good motivator, as someone who really took interest in helping you work on unlocking your potential. He was very positive and can-do in his manner, which gave some balance to the coaching staff. In tough times, the head coaches relied on E.J. to deliver a gentler and more positive-sounding version of the message that your play needed improvement. In good times, E.J. offered suggestions to perform even better.

Away from the ice, E.J. McGuire was one of the nicest, brightest and most caring human beings anyone could ever hope to meet. The hockey world lost a wonderful person when E.J. passed away two years ago. Anyone who knew him or met him was better for the experience.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Since my retirement I have been very active in coaching minor hockey. Each one of the teams I’ve coached has experienced something I’ve learned from each one of my coaches at some time.

Sometimes it was something little, like keeping the dressing room spotless to show respect as Bruce Stewart taught me. Sometimes it was bigger things, like always working hard and challenging yourself to be better like Mike Keenan preached to my young Flyers team.

I have always tried to pass on the best of what my coaches imparted to me. I know of no better way to honor these men for what they taught me.

Join the Discussion: » 5 Comments » Post New Comment

» Consistency: The Forgotten Skill

» Xmas Blast From the Past

» Shootouts, Ugly Uniforms, Quinn and Beliveau

» Let It Snow: The Joys of Backyard Rinks and Canadian Blizzards

» Hexy Scored a Goal, I Had My Head Examined