How did you start coaching?
I had to leave school at a very young age to work on a Coca Cola truck. My mom passed away when I was 16 and my dad a few years later. I wasn’t a very good hockey player. I played a little bit of Junior B, but I was very, very average. There was no possibility of a career in the game. My objective when I was young had been to play in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens, but it wasn’t to be. That’s when I started coaching a juvenile team in St. Leonard, Quebec, in the ’60s.
My brother-in-law at the time, who was president of hockey, talked to me about coaching. We had some quick success, and I started to enjoy it. When I played Junior B I was always competitive, but not being a good hockey player I be- came more of the grinder. I always seemed to be in the front row in terms of inten- sity. When I coached, it was like what I wanted to be as a hockey player. I always brought the intensity behind the bench. I was a lively guy. I was emotional. With time I’ve changed, although I can’t say I control my emotions all the time. I went to Junior B coaching in St. Leonard and Chateauguay and then in Montreal.
I started to get recognized and was offered a job in the Quebec major junior league, but I had to ask for a leave of absence at Coca Cola. They didn’t want to do it because there was no leave-of-absence policy, so they said I couldn’t coach major junior. That was basically my only goal. Our Junior B team went to a provin- cial championship, and it was then that I realized that maybe I had some kind of talent here. I have always had the opinion that you’re born an athlete, and I also
think you’re born a coach. You have that in you. I don’t think just anybody can coach.
How did you get to the NHL from junior?
Marcel Pronovost noticed me and brought me to the WHA from Junior B. I spent seven years there as an assistant coach. I moved a lot, but both athletes and coaches have to sacrifice to be successful. I always believed there’s a price to pay. There’s no such thing as a free pass to success. The WHA brought me recognition, if you want. General manager Maurice Filion hired me to coach the Nordiques in Quebec City in the last year of the WHA, which was ’78–’79. The WHA, as much as it got a lot of people in the NHL upset, was my springboard to go to the NHL. There was no way a little guy coaching Junior B in Montreal would ever have been looked at to coach in the NHL.
Walk us through your NHL career.
My NHL career was full of ups and downs. The ups were many but there were also some downs. During my first of two years with the Quebec Nordiques, one in the WHA and one year in the NHL, I gave an off-the-record comment to a reporter who proceeded to put it on the record. I learned a lot from that and then went to the minors to coach. I went to Fredericton in the American Hockey League and worked my way back. I became the American Hockey League Coach of the Year in my second year.
When there was an opening in St. Louis, I was hired by Ron Caron in 1983 to be their head coach. There we had the likes of Bernie Federko, Doug Gilmour, Mike Liut, and Brian Sutter, all character players. I’ve always loved character players. I’ve had a hard time dealing with soft players. I don’t judge an athlete on their talent as much as their desire to compete and their desire to want to play at whatever talent level God has given them. You’ve got to use that talent. If you’re soft I’m very, very uncomfortable with you.
For three years the owner in St. Louis, Harry Ornest, promised a contract but never delivered. I was nominated for Coach of the Year my third year in St. Louis. I lost to Glen Sather, but went to the final four. In 1986 I signed a five-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings to become their coach. I took over the worst team in hockey. They had 40 points and were called the “dead wings,” but I had a young kid, a very determined young man that I named captain, Steve Yzerman. I recog- nized instantly during my first conversation with him that he was dedicated to his profession, and we had an instant good marriage with others added to it. Gerard Gallant, Harold Snepts, Tim Higgins, and Glen Hanlon were solid guys. Together we took the Red Wings into the playoffs and the conference finals in my first year there. We improved by 53 points in two years from 40 to 78, and then 78 to 93 and went to the conference finals again, this time against Glen Sather and the Edmon- ton Oilers. They won the Cup both years, in ’86 and ’87.
It seems that a coach’s welcome wears out after four years, especially if you have the same players and they tune you out. It does happen. They all say that you can fire one coach or trade 25 players, so instead of firing 25 players, Detroit got rid of one. From Detroit I went to do radio in Quebec City and went back to working for the Quebec Nordiques, where I started. After two years of radio, Pat Burns was moved to Toronto and Serge Savard gave me the opportunity to coach his team, the Montreal Canadiens, which for me was a dream come true. A French Canadian kid back in Montreal with all my family and friends, that was instant success. We won the Cup my first year, and after my third year, which was the year of the strike, I think, Mr. Corey decided that he was going to clean house, and everybody left. They kept me in the organization, but Rejean Houle, who became the general man- ager, decided he was going to hire Mario Tremblay to coach. I stayed on as a pro scout so I could get paid and be seen around the NHL and maybe have a shot at coaching another team.
It ended up that way. I coached Tampa Bay Lightning and wasn’t very suc- cessful. The team made the playoffs once in 10 years. They still missed the playoffs the three years after I left. Artur Williams, the owner, had given me a four-year deal, and about a year later decided to sell the team. The new owners came in from Detroit and decided to hire Rick Dudley, so I was out of a job. Timing is important, and I’ve been fortunate to be in the right place at the right time for the most part, but maybe in this case I was in the right place at the wrong time. I had worked very hard to establish myself around the .500-mark in this league, but in Tampa I really slipped lower than that. Those things happen. It was a gamble on my part, but it paid off financially, and the money is important because I have four children.
What motivates you as a coach?
I really believe that the motivation came from my youth. We were brought up in a very difficult situation, and when I was working for Coca Cola at 17, although I don’t knock that, I thought I could do better. I had difficulty in school, and I thought there was a way to prove to everybody that even though I went through a hard time, I could still do something and be successful at it. I love hockey and I was dreaming, but dreams don’t come true. You wake up and they just go away. I keep motivated by always wanting to prove something. I think a lot has to do with having been ridiculed, but I’m always out to prove that I can do it. I’m motivated by getting up in the morning and putting in a day’s work. I’m motivated by success be- cause success is healthy. Success is joy. When you’re successful in life, everyone else around you benefits.
If you want to be successful at something, however, you have to pay a big price. There’s the moving. I am, unfortunately, a divorced father, as well as a grand- father. I am still very, very close with my children and will continue to be, but it also motivated me to keep working for them. They needed me. I was the provider in the family. I was the one who continued to give them a good education. My son is at university right now. If I’m not there physically, I’m there with my heart. I call them a lot. I didn’t see them as much as I wanted to just because of the job I had, so in return I wanted to give them a good life. That motivated me.
Does the fear of losing motivate more than the joy of winning?
The joy of winning is so short and small. The fear of losing stays with you. Without it you could continue losing. If you have the fear, you’re going to do some- thing about it. I think losing becomes a habit, and I think winning becomes a habit. When the Red Wings had 40 points, there was a habit of losing there, and Stevie Yzerman wasn’t comfortable when that happened. He enjoys winning.
The lows in professional hockey are much greater than the highs. You play 82 games. If you have a .500 season it still means you may have lost 41 games. If you have 90 points you have lost 35 times.
So what really motivates me? I would like to think I’m a perfectionist, but if the table is crooked by one-tenth of an inch I’m not going to bother fixing it. I’m not a perfectionist to the point that it bothers people around me. I want excellence, but to a point where there is also a margin of error. If I wasn’t going to be able to give my players that margin of error, they couldn’t function as human beings in the fastest game in the world. There is that margin of error, but there is also that push for excellence.
Did you, as a coach, believe that you had the responsibility to motivate players?
I think that is the coach’s responsibility in many ways. People talk about moti- vation as yelling, throwing tantrums, kicking Kool-Aid buckets, and breaking sticks. That’s all part of coaching, and we’ve all done it. We’ve all said things that we’ve re- gretted, but I think personally it’s the coach’s responsibility to motivate. Bringing a team together motivates players. Having a system motivates players. Having a good and organized practice motivates players. Having discipline and being on time, at the bus on time, at the airplane on time, and having a curfew motivates players because this says to a player that if he is well organized he will be a better hockey player. He’s going to win because I am well structured. If I’m not well struc- tured and not well organized I will pull my players down. They won’t go to practice if it’s not a good practice. It’s not going to work if we have a meeting at 8:00 a.m. and one player doesn’t show up until 8:05. If I kick the late one out it’s going to motivate the other 20 players because they will realize with this kind of attitude we will progress.
Were there any techniques that you used to keep players at their peak level?
I’m very strong on compliments. I will compliment you, I will compliment suc- cess, and I compliment effort. If you do not buy into the team concept I won’t drag you down, but I’ll put you in your place. I don’t believe in dragging people down to the point of taking their self-esteem away, which you can do. Coaches who have done that have really destroyed a human being. I’ve blasted some players at times, but I always thought I chose the right timing. The strength of a coach is to be able to understand each individual. There are players that you could put in their place in front of a group of 24 or 25 and it won’t affect them, but if you do that to other players, then you just took them out.
Are different players motivated in different ways?
Absolutely. If any coach said that he treated all his players the same way, he’d be lying. I’m telling you honestly that I didn’t treat all my players the same way. That’s impossible. I show respect for the fourth-line player. I show respect for the sixth and seventh defencemen, but I don’t treat him the same way as my first de- fenceman or my first centre or my number one goaltender. I respect them. If a coach does not show respect for his players and only looks at one or two or three guys on the team, he is going to eventually eliminate the other players.
I had to recognize that if I was going to win in Detroit I had to start some- where. My number one guy was Stevie Y, but I knew if I put him out there against four guys, no matter how good he was, he wasn’t going to win. So I had to give each of those players who were going to be with Stevie Y a role. You determine the role of each player and make sure every player understands. Every player wants to play 25 minutes, but everybody can’t play 25 minutes. Those who are persistent and don’t understand that they can’t play 25 minutes, are going to eventually have to be parted with, because everybody can’t play 25 minutes. Every player has a specific role.
A coach is a salesman. He has to sell his system and his way of dealing with people. He has to be honest. I’ve learned very quickly that there are things you can’t say. Give each player an opportunity to manifest or express himself in his role. After you’ve given the player a role make sure as a coach, and I repeat myself, that you don’t change that role. Be consistent in what you do. You can’t put in a system on Tuesday and say, “Boys, we’re going to be a defensive-minded team,” and a week later say, “Boys, by the way, we’re going to be an offensive-minded team.” You think about a decision, because if you’re changing your mind all the time you’re not motivating your players; you’re putting them down. They’ll say, “This guy’s not organized. This guy doesn’t know what he’s doing or where he’s going.”
How do you get that little extra out of your players?
They say I wasn’t a great technician, but I’ve always said that I understood the game. I’ve coached five teams in the NHL, and never once did I come up to my players during the first training camp or when we picked the team and say, “Boys, I’m your coach. You have to respect me.” Respect comes from your actions. Re- spect comes from your decisions. When you’re dealing with men, treat them like men. Now, if that man you’re treating with respect goes overboard, there’s going to be a fine line. I learned in my 14 years in the NHL that you can’t have players dic- tate to you, but I think the most important thing is to show respect for your players.
Successful coaches communicate with their players so that each player under- stands exactly why he’s benched, why he’s put in the press box, why he was scold- ed in front of teammates, and why he wasn’t put in the situation with five minutes left and you’re leading 2–1. It is so important never to embarrass your players. If you treat them like men, then everybody lives by the team concept. The players start saying what they like about the coach: He’s organized; he’s fair; he’s honest. When the time comes to win that game on Tuesday night, the player understands that you might have to shorten your bench. If he respects your decision and you’re consis- tent, he will accept that.
How does a coach instill confidence in his athletes?
You put players in situations where they can excel. I’m one who likes to set goals. You set team goals that are attainable. For example, team goals for and against, or points by segment. I can’t say in October, “Guys, we’re going to get 100 points by the end of the season,” because maybe in December five of my best play- ers will be out. Monthly goals are more realistic. If I tell a player who has scored an average of 20 goals a year for five or six years, “This year if you’re going to help the team I want you to score 40 goals,” I just cut his legs out from under him. I’m tak- ing away any drive that this guy had. I just cut it. It’s not attainable. I took away his desire, his spirit, and his enthusiasm because I’m asking him to do something that he can’t achieve. If I come to him and say, “Listen, by the way, Ryan, you scored 20 goals last season. You’ve had a little more experience in the league now, and I saw at the end of last year that you’re getting better. I’d like to see you score between 25 and 30.” You could score 27, but it’s seven more than last year. Don’t ask for unrealistic goals. Instead, put your player in a situation that he wants to be a part of. He’s a gamer. He’s a competitor. He’s a character player, so put him in a situ- ation where he can achieve.
Could you read a player’s ability or willingness to perform? For example, before a game if you looked into a player’s eyes or at his body language, could you feel whether he was going to have a good night?
I always loved to go into the dressing room before the game. There’s a time to go into the dressing room where you don’t speak. There’s a time to go into the dressing room, and there’s a time not to. My timing was good, and I always looked my players in the eyes. I was intense. I looked my players in the eyes and didn’t say a word just to get the feel of the room. Too noisy a room is not a good room. There’s a time to listen to the music, but there’s also a time to get prepared. There’s a time to get focussed. There’s a time to get ready to compete. I could tell if my team was ready, and I could also tell if my team wasn’t. You have to get the feel of the pulse of your team.
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