herman
Well-known member
Some light reading while we wait for final Training Camp cuts.
http://www.macleans.ca/society/mike-babcock-23-men-23-ways-to-coach/
http://www.macleans.ca/society/mike-babcock-23-men-23-ways-to-coach/
Q: At the same time, you?ve stressed a need for more accountability?to teammates, management, the fans and media. How do those two concepts go together?
A: I call it ?sharing the love.? You know when your wife?s having a good go at you? I always say to the guys, ?Hey, she?s just sharing the love. If she didn?t love you, she wouldn?t talk to you like that.? To me, it?s kitchen-table accountability. When you sit around your kitchen table with people you love, if you say something stupid, they call you on it right away?because they?re honest with you and they?re making you better. That?s what we?re going to have here. We?re going to have an honest respect for one another, to make everyone maximize the potential they have. I expect the players to listen to me, and I?m going to listen to them. We?ve got to make each other better here, and it?s another way to create safety, because the players know you?ve got their backs. When you tell a player what you want, he will try to please you.
Q: Doesn't all that ?honest dialogue? create friction?
A: I think it?s 100 per cent the opposite. I think being honest with one another creates an environment that?s comfortable. You want to know where you stand, whether you?re doing a good job. The players know what?s going on before you do. They?re trying to see if you?re going to do something about it. And when it?s not like that, everybody is pissed off, because they know that people can get away with stuff and that nobody is keeping them in line. That?s not a team to me.
[...]
Q: Last year, the Leafs never seemed to be able to find a balance between offence and defence. How will you fix that?
A: I?m a big believer that you don?t want to play defence. Having the puck is way more fun, playing in the offensive zone is way more fun. So let?s build a structure and habits so that we can do that. If you don?t work, if you don?t execute quick in the [defensive] zone, if you don?t slow people down through the neutral zone, you can?t be on offence. I call our end the work zone, neutral ice, the speed zone, and their end the fun zone. Let?s figure out a way to get in it.