PALM DESERT, CA – Game days start early for the coaching staff of the American Hockey League Coachella Valley Firebirds. Head coach Derek Laxdal is the first to arrive at 6:30 a.m. at the Berger Foundation Iceplex near Acrisure Arena. His assistant coaches, Brennan Sonne, Stu Bickel and Colin Zunianello, along with video coach Peter Thome, will soon follow.
The first meeting of the day for the Kraken AHL affiliate starts at 7:45, which takes about 10 minutes for the coaches to put together the day's plans for power plays, faceoffs and defensive breakouts (including morning skate practice and game strategies). Laxdal and other coaches prefer the same length of meetings with players throughout the day. They rely so heavily on rapid-fire video clips to make their points that there's almost no chance for players' attention to falter.
In the first week of December, with two practices (Monday and Wednesday) and two games (Tuesday and Thursday), Laxdal gave the opportunity to mingle with the Firebirds coaches and team, giving an inside look at how the Seattle and Coachella Valley hockey teams operate. boost the Kraken's prospects, make sure any number of CVF players are ready to be called up ASAP and, of course, always strive to win games and attract fans. The Firebirds are currently 13-8-1 after a two-game weekend sweep of Pacific Division rival Calgary, which has the best winning percentage in the entire AHL.
Game Preparation Begins Immediately After The Last Game
The meaningful use of video during team meetings and 1-on-1 sessions between coaches and players is a team effort. Laxdal said he creates 130 to 200 videos per game while Bickel records specific plays for the Firebirds' defensemen, and Zulianello relies on video coach Thome to cut videos of both goaltenders connected to headphones while they play. Thome, a former goalkeeper himself, said he cuts about 130 to 150 videos for the various needs of the coaching staff and players in every game. But the CVF coach does not neglect the video activities.
“I will try to find time after the game [and finish early the next morning],” said Laxdal. “Many coaches do it differently. I have to watch the game because little things happen defensively. I have to know what the defenders are doing, and I want to know what all 12 players are doing.
“I used to do it just because of the scoring chances and the forks, but then you always go back and see what happened at certain points in the game, right? By the time I finished [checking back and forth]I thought, 'I could cut the whole game.' I learned it early. What I do now is cut the whole game. I know 'Bicks' is talking about the D-men, but when he shows our team the video, I know in my head that I saw that play, rather than, 'hey, play again.'
Morning, Game Days
After the regular 7:45 meeting, Sonne is busy preparing a video to show in about 90 minutes for the power play meeting. He looms over his desk, his setup a little different from the L-shaped row of desks of the other three coaches. Zulianello and Thome turned their backs to Sonne and Bickel, in his first year getting to know Laxdal, he sits facing the third wall (there are no windows in hockey coaches' offices) but he can look anywhere. Bickel focuses on clips that will be used for individual sessions with the defensive team he directs, as well as a 5:20 team meeting where he will talk about defensive strategy before Laxdal talks about offense and team mentality.
These are men who are committed to winning games and developing players, prospects and AHL veterans alike, not putting one job on top of another. The ideal is to develop prospects while establishing a winning culture. So far, so good for Bickel and Zulianello, who played on Dan Bylsma's staff that won two straight Western Conference titles. Laxdal and Sonne came out of the programs they won for themselves. At the beginning of December, the group of five has clearly tied and the team, getting used to the new coach, is once again among the leaders of the conference. But the seriousness and determination to continue as the AHL's top franchise for only three years is tempered by the comfort and care we all dream of experiencing in our professional lives.
Working in the Assistant Coaches Room
According to the word in this room of assistant coaches in the morning (8 to 9:15 before the room is passed by ten players in Sonne's power play units that night, and then again at 9:30 until each coach assembles the morning boats. skate, a good conversation comes through -11 a.m. to 1 p.m.): Topics include Laxdal helping Bickel with car repairs, and a master trainer/enthusiast mechanic giving back the required engine part itself. Thome, who went on to play in the NCAA and ECHL, something tens of thousands of us in this so-called goaltending organization can only dream of, made light of his goaltending ability when talking about the night's opponent, Henderson (NV) goaltending coach and former NHL goaltender, Fred Brathwaite. . Julianello and Brathwaite are friends.
On Thursday morning at Thursday's game, Sonne, clearly determined to get his message across to the players and a highly successful young coach in his first role as a producer, carefully and expertly draws the Nutcracker in a black suit. players and coaches are required to complete Laxdal (and part of the Firebirds holiday schedule). The winning black Nutcracker gets the group talking about car paint jobs with “Zuli,” “Bicks” and “Lax” agreeing that they look good on certain cars. Later, Zulianello, Bickel and Thome (who are nicknamed “Pete”) quiz each other about the nicknames of teams in the lower leagues, including the Federal Prospects Hockey League: Danville (IL) Dashers, Elmira (NY) Ooh, no, they were Mammoths, guess, but now River Sharks. Baton Rouge (LA)? The new band, don't tell me, it's okay, Zydeco.
Let's be clear: banter fills and surrounds the cracks in the stone wall of coaching activities like watching/preparing video, meeting with players in sideline sessions on coaches' laptops and discussing practice drills (Zulianello and Bickel talk about the type of warm-up shots suggested by rookie goaltender Nikke Kokko). .
Laxdal, on the other hand, has a corner office near the ice where he can see the players coming and going on the practice rink and up to the upper level, an open practice room overseen by Strength and Conditioning. Coach Brandon Wickett. Laxdal holds one-on-one meetings with prospects and veterans during the mornings of games, while on practice days, he sometimes conducts face-to-face meetings with three players. Laxdal is determined to keep a record of his 1-on-1 meetings with line-players, so he responds briefly when Kraken executives call him to ask how a certain player or prospect is doing.
Pre-Game, Afternoon
The trainers return after a few hours of rest and relaxation. Bickel's tradition for home games is a long walk with his dog, which is possible all winter long with the Coachella Valley weather. The coaches returned at 3 pm with Laxdal earlier. There is no set agenda for game preparation that continues until the team meeting at 5:20 in the locker room. As with both Tuesday and Thursday game days, the Kraken play an East Coast road game starting at 4 p.m. Thome fixes a big-screen TV and a bench on the wall of the non-coach room, allowing occasional viewing. Laxdal goes in and out to watch.
Sonne pauses his video tutorial to watch a shift featuring recent Firebirds Mitchell Stephens and Ryan Winterton, who are among five players who started the season in the CVF but played in Seattle games. Laxdal credits Stephens with blocking Carolina's opponents to hold space in the offensive zone for scoring opportunities. Laxdal spoke early Tuesday about how it took 25 games for veteran players like Stephens and Thursday's game hero, Ben Meyers, to fully acclimate to the Kraken's game plans, which are reinforced by CVF playing the same way. way.
The game continues and Winterton earns his first NHL point, assisting on a crucial insurance goal by Brandon Tanev. The Kraken fan-fave made an attempt to retrieve the puck as a souvenir of Winterton. “I've got goosebumps,” said Sonne, who has worked with Winterton every day (except for NHL call-ups) since training camp.
Pre-Game, Team Meetings, 5:20 pm
All players' eyes are glued to the large screen monitor at the open end of the U-shaped lockers. Most of the team's players are sitting in their stalls, and NHL-tested defensemen Cale Fleury and Gustav Olafsson are in the same position in the middle of the room next to each other on the night of this week's game. Thome goes through a dense, detailed scout ahead of the night's opponent; Bickel is instructive as he reviews the Firebirds' defensive strategy and tight-rope plays (rookie Ty Nelson gets audible cues from teammates for “takes” or blocked shots).
The meeting ends with Laxdal showing his selected video. On Tuesday, he insists on limiting changes to the opponent's blue line and above the sideline circles. Thursday, reflecting on Tuesday's tough 4-3 loss in which AHL Henderson played a better first period to take a 2-1 lead, Laxdal said, “We have to step up our fight game. There is no dipping your toes in the water to start this game.”
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