Manny Malhotra didn’t just send his Vancouver Canucks players into the grind at the end of the first day of training camp - he jumped right in with them.
What the players expected to be the usual punishment lap turned into a scene they weren’t ready for, with Malhotra and the rest of the coaching staff lining up at both ends of the rink for the bag skate. And in a twist that caught plenty of people by surprise, the head coach wasn’t just going through the motions. At times, he was out in front.
“That might be a first for me,” said Luke Schenn, who is going through the 19th NHL training camp of his career. “I heard he had done that in Abbotsford; he came as advertised.”
Filip Chytil said the sight of the coaches skating with the group stood out immediately.
“It was impressive,” said Filip Chytil. “I was pretty surprised that they were skating with us, but that’s saying a lot about them. They try to push as much as they can […] It was cool.”
Schenn, too, noticed that the staff wasn’t easing off once they stepped onto the ice.
“That would be a first where you’re getting toasted in a bag skate by your head coach,” said Schenn.
The message landed with the players. Zeev Buium said seeing Malhotra, Ryan Johnson, Jason Krog and the rest of the staff out there changed the feel of the drill.
“You see Manny and [Ryan Johnson] and [Jason Krog] and the whole staff - I mean, they’re probably in better shape than half of us,” said Zeev Buium with a laugh. “That’s a credit to them, but that also pushes us. They’re setting the tone for what it needs to be, and it sends a message to the whole group: ‘We’re in this with you guys.'”
“We love to see it, and it makes you go a little bit harder because you don’t want to lose to them.”
Malhotra said that’s exactly why he wanted to be out there with the players.
“It’s that mindset of: ‘Don’t ask others what you’re not willing to do yourself,'” said Malhotra. “Our mentality as a coaching staff is that we’re all in this together. It’s not you guys and us - you guys do the work, and we’ll tell you what to do - it’s we are part of doing the work and building something.”
Schenn said the staff’s approach has already been obvious from the opening days of camp, even before they joined the drill.
“It’s not like they have to get on the line and bag skate to know that they’re in it with us,” said Schenn. “I think we all felt that beforehand.
These guys are former players, and they’ve been in the grind and in the fire themselves, and understand what it’s like to be in your shoes. It’s not like you expect your coach to do a bag skate with you.”
Malhotra said the coaches won’t be staying out of those drills as the season goes on. He made it clear, though, that the staff’s participation won’t mean fewer bag skates.
“Absolutely,” he said. “It’s much easier than getting in the gym to make you sweat.”
Schenn also suggested the timing gave the coaches an advantage, noting the players were already worn down when the drill started.
“They caught us at a vulnerable time right after a battle drill,” said Schenn. “All of a sudden, they turn the jets on, and we look like the slow ones out there.”
Malhotra admitted that was part of the plan, saying he timed the bag skate for when the players would already be tired so he could take part.
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