Glass and Out

In many ways, the Boston Bruins have been one of the model NHL franchises over the past 10 years. Over that span, the B’s have won a Cup while making three Finals appearances, captured two Presidents’ Trophies and only missed the playoffs twice. One of the main reasons for their success? Top notch special teams — and more specifically, their penalty kill. Bruins assistant coach Joe Sacco is currently in his sixth season with the team and is in charge of the PK. The Bruins have finished with a top-three unit three times under his watch, including the current season. Sure, having arguably the top two-way forward in the league in Patrice Bergeron, along with super-pest Brad Marchand and a 6-foot-9 Zdeno Chara helps, but a lot of the credit belongs to Sacco. The Medford, Massachusetts native played college at Boston University and was selected by Toronto in the fourth round of the 1987 NHL Draft. He would go on to play 13 seasons in the NHL and represent USA Hockey eight times, including the 1992 Olympic Games in Albertville, France. Following his playing career, Sacco was hired as an assistant coach by the AHL’s Lowell Lock Monsters. Two years later, he’d join the Colorado Avalanche organization and become the head coach of their AHL affiliate in Lake Erie. The Avs would promote Sacco to head coach of the big club after two seasons. His first season resulted in a Jack Adams Award nomination and a playoff birth for an Avalanche team that was expected to finish at the bottom of the standings. After three more years with Colorado and a brief stop in Buffalo, Sacco would join the Bruins organization. This season saw Boston capture the Presidents’ Trophy as top team in the NHL when the season was suspended. They now await the start of the playoffs as a top four seed in the Eastern Conference. In this week’s podcast, Sacco explains his thoughts on creating a successful penalty kill, how USA hockey has evolved over the past 30 years, and preparing for a summertime postseason run.

Ownership instability, the constant threat of relocation, and only two playoff series victories in 22 years have made the history of the Arizona Coyotes franchise one filled with turmoil. But for the first time in years, it appears that things could be trending upwards for the Desert Dogs. A young core that includes Clayton Keller and Jakob Chychrun, plus veteran stars like Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Taylor Hall, and a solid goaltending-tandem of Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta compose a team looking to end a seven-year playoff drought. They will take on the Nashville Predators in a best-of-five play-in series this summer. Assistant coach John MacLean is his third season with Arizona and knows the struggles of trying to build a contender. MacLean spent 22 years as a player (14) and coach (8) with the New Jersey Devils, and played a pivotal role in their journey from basement dwellers to NHL powerhouse. Drafted sixth overall in 1983, he would finish his career as their all-time leading scorer (347 goals and 701 points) and help the organization capture their first Stanley Cup in 1995. MacLean joined the Devils' coaching staff as an assistant immediately following his playing career. Working under Hall of Famer Pat Burns, New Jersey captured their third Stanley Cup in franchise history that season. Six seasons later, he would take over as head coach of the AHL affiliate in Albany, before moving back to the NHL club the following season as the team’s head coach. After three seasons as an assistant in Carolina, MacLean took a three-year break from coaching and pursued a broadcasting career. He then made his way to Arizona in 2017. In this week's podcast, we'll cover how he's brought his experiences from New Jersey to the desert, his philosophy for handling the Coyotes' forwards and penalty kill, and the challenges his team faces in the upcoming best-of-five series with the Predators.

Well, it appears that NHL hockey will be resuming sometime this Summer. While the unprecedented circumstances will create a playoffs like we've never seen before, the unique best-of-five series play-in round that kicks things off is sure to offer some intriguing matchups. The Minnesota Wild and assistant coach Bob Woods are now in preparation mode as they get ready for a series with the Vancouver Canucks. The Wild have had a turbulent year that saw head coach Bruce Boudreau replaced by Dean Evason in February. The Wild went 8-4 following the coaching change and appeared to be turning things around right as the season came to a halt. With no exact dates currently set, Woods and the Wild staff now face the tough task of two months of uncertainty and designing a plan for Elias Pettersson and the upstart Canucks. After an ECHL Hall of Fame playing career, Woods would take on a role as a player-assistant coach with the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks and Mississippi Sea Wolves for four seasons. It was there that he met Boudreau, whom he would go on to work with throughout his coaching career. After a stint as head coach of the Sea Wolves for four seasons, the Leroy, Saskatchewan native's next stop was back under Boudreau with the AHL's Hershey Bears. Woods took over as head coach after three seasons and led the Bears to a Calder Cup Championship in 2009. He joined Boudreau in Washington, helping the Capitals to a Presidents' Trophy in 2010, and followed him to Anaheim in 2011-12, where they coached together for another two and a half seasons. After a two-year stint as head coach/GM with the WHL's Saskatoon Blades, Woods made the jump back to the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres for one season before again rejoining Boudreau's staff, this time in Minnesota, where he is currently in his third season with the Wild. In this week's podcast, Woods shares his experience of having a Hall of Fame career in the ECHL, what he’s learned about working with veteran players, and how the Wild are preparing for their best-of-five series with the Canucks.

Hockey's transition from a standard of big, tough, physical defencemen to mobile, puck-movers has truly been one of the more interesting changes the game has seen. Not only are undersized defencemen now given a legitimate chance to succeed, they're flourishing as some of the hockey's brightest stars. If Nashville Predators assistant coach Dan Lambert had been born 20 years later, his playing career may have played out very different. As a 5-foot-9 defenceman, Lambert had an impressive junior career that saw him rack up 319 points in 244 games with the WHL's Swift Current Broncos, capture a Memorial Cup championship and represent Canada at the 1989 World Junior Championships. He was drafted in the sixth round by the Quebec Nordiques but would go on to play just a handful of NHL games, spending most of his career in the AHL, IHL and DEL German pro league. Following his playing career, Lambert got his first coaching gig as an assistant with the WHL's Kelowna Rockets. After five seasons, he was named head coach and would lead the Rockets to a WHL title and Memorial Cup Final. He spent the next two seasons in the Buffalo Sabres' organization, one as an assistant with the big club and the next as head coach of their AHL affiliate in Rochester. He would return to the WHL as head coach of Spokane for two seasons, leading the Chiefs to total record of 81-46-5-8. Lambert would then join the Nashville Predators as an assistant. He currently oversees one of the top defensive cores in the league, which includes Norris-candidate Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm. The Predators are now destined for a best-of-five play-in series with the Arizona Coyotes if/when the NHL does resume play. In this week's episode, he'll discuss how the Predators are preparing for a possible return to play, how he approaches coaching the power play, and his thoughts on developing defencemen for the modern game.

Here at the Glass and Out Podcast, we tend to focus on topics like tactics, player development and leadership/communication. This week, we’ll be focusing on an often forgotten side of the game — but one that is just as integral to success on the ice: the mental game. Dr. Leonard Zaichkowsky is credited as one of the pioneers of sports psychology, bringing together cognitive neuroscience and sports performance. He has spent his career researching, writing and speaking on performance psychology, sports science, and the emerging technology that allows us to better understand it. A co-founder and senior consultant at 80 Percent Mental Consulting, Dr. Zaichkowsky advises coaches, teams and sports organizations on developing athlete cognition. His current list of clients includes the Pittsburgh Penguins and Golden State Warriors. He’s also consulted with teams in the NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB, Australian Rules Football, the Spanish men’s national soccer team and Olympic sports organizations around the world. From 2010 to 2012, he served as the Director of Sports Science for the Vancouver Canucks. Dr. Zaichkowsky’s resume also includes nearly four decades as the Director of the Sports Psychology Program within the school of Education and Graduate Medical Science at Boston University. He is a former President and a fellow of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, and currently section editor on psychology for the International Journal of Health & Sport Science. Recently, the American Psychological Association honoured Len with the “Distinguished Service to the Profession” award. In this week’s podcast, we’ll be discussing the adoption of neuroscience as a driver of performance in the sports, his book The Playmakers Advantage: How to take your mental game to the next level, and what strategies coaches can implement to enhance the performance of their players.

Look up the phrase “hockey lifer,” and you’ll likely find a picture of Rick Bowness right next to it. Bowness has coached for an incredible 35 consecutive years in pro hockey and currently sits in first place in all-time NHL games coached with over 2,400 of them. At 65 years old, he doesn't appear to be slowing down either. Bowness is currently the interim head coach of the Dallas Stars after taking over the team in December. The Stars sat in third place in the Central Division at the time of the season postponement. Ranked second in goals against with 177 allowed, there's no doubt that they will be a contender in the Western Conference if/when the season resumes. The Moncton, New Brunswick native began his coaching career in 1984 as a player-coach with the Sherbrooke Jets, Winnipeg's AHL affiliate at the time. The Jets promoted Bowness to assistant coach of the big club the following season. After four seasons back in the AHL, he would join the Boston Bruins as head coach for one season. Bowness would then have the honour of being the first head coach in Ottawa Senators franchise history, a job he would keep for three and a half seasons. His next stops would be with with the New York Islanders and Phoenix Coyotes for nine total seasons. In 2006, Bowness joined Alain Vigneault’s staff in Vancouver for seven seasons, capturing two Presidents' Trophies and coming within one win of the Stanley Cup in 2011. He would then John Cooper’s staff in Tampa Bay for five seasons, again making an appearance in the Finals but coming up just short. Considered one of the all-time good guys in hockey, there's few in the game who wouldn't like to see Bowness hoist the Cup before he calls it quits. In this week's episode, Bowness discusses his philosophy on playing defensive hockey, lessons learned from 35 years of professional coaching, and what a Stanley Cup would mean to someone who has dedicated his life to hockey.

One of the toughest challenges a coach can face is to be named interim head coach of a struggling team that is expected to make the playoffs, midway through a season. There’s no exact playbook for turning things around in such a short timespan. That is the exact situation that the Minnesota Wild’s Dean Evason faced this season. With the team sitting at 27-23-7 under Bruce Boudreau, Evason was promoted from assistant to interim head coach on February 14. He would guide the Wild to an 8-4 record and within a point of the final Western Conference wild card spot when the season was put on hiatus. The appointment was 22 years in the making, as Evason had progressed from coaching junior hockey in the WHL, to professional hockey in the AHL and NHL. After getting his career started with WHL stops in Kamloops, Vancouver, and Calgary, his first shot in the NHL would come as an assistant with the Washington Capitals. Seven seasons later, he would move to the AHL and become head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals for six seasons. Evason made the jump back to the NHL with the Wild, where he is now in his second season. The Flin Flon, Manitoba native played 858 NHL games over 13 seasons, including time with the Washington Capitals, Hartford Whalers, San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames. His longest stint was with the Whalers, where he played with the likes of Joel Quenneville, Dave Tippett, Ron Francis, Marc Bergevin, Kevin Dineen, Ulf Samuelsson, Brad Shaw, John Stevens, John Anderson, Brian Lawton, and Don Maloney – all of which have spent time in management or coaching at the NHL level. It is truly one of the more incredible coaching trees in hockey history. In this week’s podcast, we’ll discuss how Evason approached the midseason takeover, the unique coaching tree out of Hartford, and what NHL hockey might look if the season resumes.

From his pro career as an undersized enforcer, to his journey through unlikely destinations as a coach, Kevin “Killer” Kaminski has just about seen it all. The former tough guy recently finished his first season with the La Ronge Ice Wolves of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, leading them to the playoffs after three consecutive last-place finishes. In fact, the Wolves won more games under Kaminski than they had the previous three seasons combined. As a result of the impressive turnaround, he was named co-SJHL Coach of the Year. Standing at just 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, Kaminski was able to carve out a 12-year pro career as an enforcer after being drafted 48th overall by the Minnesota North Stars in 1987. He would go on to play 139 NHL games, collecting 528 PIMs and battling heavyweights like Bob Probert, Tie Domi, and John Kordic. Did we mention he was 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds? Following his retirement, Kaminski accepted an assistant coaching gig with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the AHL under Mike Babcock. His next 16 years would include stops in the WCHL, ECHL, UHL, CHL, SPHL, NAHL, and the WSHL. He was named the Central Hockey League’s Coach of the Year in 2009 while behind the bench of the Mississippi River Kings. His next challenge would be returning to his home province of Saskatchewan to help revive the Ice Wolves. Find out how Kaminski was able to turn things around in the La Ronge, what life was like while growing up in hockey-crazed, small-town Saskatchewan, and how he he’s been able to overcome adversity throughout his career in this week’s edition of the Glass and Out Podcast!

There are few coaches in the history of hockey as accomplished as Ken Hitchcock. While he may not be officially there yet, it’s fair to say that’s it’s only a matter of time before he receives a call from the Hockey Hall of Fame. Hitchcock has dedicated nearly 50 years of his life to coaching and his list of achievements are endless: - 3rd all-time in NHL wins(849) - 6th all-time in NHL games coached(1598) - Stanley Cup winner - Jack Adams Award winner - 3 Olympic Gold Medals with Team Canada - World Cup of Hockey Championship - WJC Gold Medal - 2 WHL league titles - 2 WHL Coach of the Year awards - CHL Coach of the Year - Honoured with the Order of Hockey in Canada Hitchcock's coaching career began at the grassroots level in his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta with the Sherwood Park Chain Gang Midget AAA program. After 10 seasons of great success, he would join the WHL's Kamloops Blazers. In his six seasons there, the Blazers would advance to the Memorial Cup twice. His first shot at the NHL would come as an assistant with the Philadelphia Flyers for three seasons. He would then join the Dallas Stars minor league affiliate in Kalamazoo for three seasons as head coach. Partway though his third season, he would be promoted to head coach of the big club in Dallas. After one Stanley Cup and two Finals appearances in seven seasons with the Stars, he would make his return to Philadelphia as head coach. Hitch's NHL career also includes stops in Columbus, St.Louis, back to Dallas, and a one-year stint in Edmonton. He is currently a senior advisor for the Oilers. Hitchcock has also been a staple with Hockey Canada, coaching in a four Olympics, a World Cup of Hockey, four World Championships and a World Junior Championship. In this week's podcast, he'll discuss his illustrious career in junior, professional and international hockey, how the game has changed throughout his many years of coaching, and what it takes to win the ultimate prize.

When you think of sports and the state of Nebraska, Cornhuskers football and the College World Series are usually the first things that come to mind. But thanks in part to current Omaha Lancers head coach David Wilkie, you can now add growing pipeline for ice hockey players to that list. There are few people as deep rooted in Omaha hockey as Wilkie. Prior to his three seasons with the Lancers in the USHL, he guided the Omaha AAA Hockey Association for seven seasons as their Director of Hockey Operations. He coached the program’s U16 and U18 teams to 34 major championships, bringing the program to national prominence. During that time, the program produced 92 junior hockey players, 44 NCAA Division 1 commitments and four NHL drafted players. Included in that list is his son Chris Wilkie, who finished this season second in goals in the NCAA as a senior forward for Colorado College. As a player, Wilkie was a first-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens and would go on to play 167 NHL games. He also represented Team USA at two World Junior Championships. Wilkie's transition to coaching would come during the 2001-02 season, as a player-coach for the ECHL’s Augusta Lynx. He would later spend one season as an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Find out about the challenges that come with coaching in a non-traditional market, his unique mentorship from coaching legend Scotty Bowman, and how the USHL supports the development of world class coaches in this week's Glass and Out Podcast!