In four years with the Arizona Coyotes, Wayne Gretzky didn’t have much success as an NHL coach. And the more the league’s version of the game evolves, the more Gretzky’s struggles behind the bench make sense. In the minds of millions of people – this writer included – Gretzky remains the greatest player in the sport’s history, but the type of creative genius you need to succeed behind the bench in this day and age isn’t the same type we saw from “The Great One… in his 20-year NHL playing career.
When Gretzky was marauding through the league decades ago, his brilliance was about creating – about making something out of nothing. Sadly, the coaching profession doesn’t reward minds that work that way. As we see on a nightly basis, the way you get ahead in the NHL coaching fraternity is by making nothing out of something. And in a recent interview with the New York Times, No. 99 lamented that fundamental change in the sport.
“When I was 10 years old, they’d throw a puck on the ice and say, ‘Go score,’ … Gretzky said this week. “Now, at 10 years old, the kids are taught to play in their lanes. Defensemen stay back. Everybody blocks shots. I mean, my goodness, I don’t think I ever blocked a shot, and I killed penalties every single game. I thought goaltenders were paid to block shots, not forwards. It’s changed completely. I think the biggest thing we’ve lost is a little bit of our creativity and imagination in general.…
To be sure, coaches aren’t the seed from which all of hockey’s problems have spawned. Goalie equipment bulk is a major issue that requires the NHL’s attention, as does the size of nets, the head injury conundrum, the scourge of shot-blocking and the scope of video replay, among others. And let's be fair – if you want to appreciate the game and its players on a more intricate level than you otherwise ever would, you’d do well to figure out a way to talk to Dave Tippett, Barry Trotz, Mike Babcock, Lindy Ruff or just about any coach. They’re paid to do their job as best they can within the confines of the rulebook, and the most accomplished deserve a ton of credit and admiration for devotion to their craft.
However, if we’re being honest, we have to recognize the league’s product is being terribly diluted by the lengths to which coaches will go in order to keep their jobs. Again, that’s not their fault, but there’s no excuse for the NHL to not acknowledge who the game ultimately is being played for – the fans first, and the players second – and figure out how it can stay one step ahead of coaches and provide an entertaining experience.
Does that mean there’s something to be said for the concept of an illegal defense rule? Maybe. Does it mean you need the equivalent of NHL goalie equipment guru Kay Whitmore – a former member of the fraternity who now acts in the best interest of the league rather than the position in which he made a name for himself – to actively monitor the way coaches gum up the game and put a limit on the impact they can have? Perhaps. But at the very least, can we get an NHL head coach on the league’s competition committee? As it stands, the committee is comprised of players, team owners and GMs. To not have one of the key voices in the way the sport is contested involved in improving and adjusting it? That’s a mistake, and a big one.
The NHL has a cap on player salaries to ensure a degree of parity. And the longer it allows its coaches to employ safe game plans, the clearer it is the league needs a cap on coaches' influence on the game. If they could achieve that, they’d ensure there’s a place in the league for vision, for imagination, and for excitement in the years to come.
Unfortunately, by not tackling their hyper-coaching problem, all they’ve ensured thus far is there’s a place for systems. And although the hardcore hockey fan can find value in poring over the different systems coaches employ, you’re not going to grow the sport through systems. Nobody buys an NHL jersey with “system… or “structure… on the nameplate. Kids don’t play road hockey by throwing their sticks in a pile, choosing sides, then figuring out how the blueliners are going to jump into the rush while the forwards sag back to provide defensive support.
The reason why Gretzky was so special, why he astounded so many of us in his Hockey Hall-of-Fame career, was because he ultimately had the freedom to put his own stamp on the game. But go back to that quote he gave the Times this week, and watch the way the playoffs are played. You’ll quickly see the only ones who have true freedom in the NHL these days are the coaches. That may be fundamentally sound, but something about it sounds fundamentally wrong.
In sport, people pay money to see the horses, not the reins.