Edmonton Oilers have more resolve in Cup rematch with Florida: Ken Hitchcock

Edmonton Journal

2 days ago

Article content
As the fourth winningest coach in NHL history, Ken Hitchcock has a pretty good feel for hockey teams and what he sees from the Edmonton Oilers through this 16-game run to the Stanley Cup final against Florida is more resolve in their style of play.
Article content
They took the Panthers to Game 7 last June but Hitchcock sees a better Oilers today.
'They have learned a very valuable lesson, one that takes a long time to learn,' said the Hall of Famer Hitchcock, whose last coaching job was with his hometown team. 'You can talk about it but what the Oilers have learned is there's a big difference between fighting for space and looking for space.
Article content
'The Edmonton Oilers now fight for that space as good as anybody in the National Hockey League. They're not looking for quick areas, they're not hoping pucks squirt free. They're fighting for that space and that's why they're going to be such a hard out in this final,' said Hitchcock, who coached defenceman John Klingberg in Dallas and had fellow blueliner Jake Walman when both were in St. Louis, so he has an attachment to the Oilers apart from growing up here.
Worm vs. the rat
Hitchcock greatly admires both Corey (the Worm) Perry and Brad (the Rat) Marchand and is keen to see the two villains in the finals.
'Perry's got it (greasiness) naturally. He's just that type of player. Corey has a presence and he plays to that presence whereas Marchand can impact games in numerous areas. He seems to make the right play at the right time, get the big goal, make the right assist,' said Hitchcock.
Article content
'They're both exceptional players getting on in years, guys who still make an impact on a game in a major way. Perry was never the quickest player but what's impressed me about him is he hasn't gotten slower, at all. Boy, he brings a lot to the table. He's an honest competitor. Marchand is a small guy who plays like a big player,' he said.
Marchand, 37, is chattier on the ice than the oftimes laconic Perry, 40.
'As an opposition coach, Marchand can really make you laugh. I know he got on me a few times. Yeah, it was pretty funny,' said Hitchcock.
Marchand's sense of humour has been on display in Florida as fans throw all the plastic rats on the ice at game's end — their tradition since Scott Mellanby killed a real rodent in the dressing room at Florida's home opener in 1995, and Mellanby went out and scored three goals which brought out the 'rat-trick' line.
Article content
Article content
Now?
'They just see all my family out there on the ice and want us to be together,' kidded Marchant in a recent nhl.com story.
Another ex-Oiler in Hockey Hall of Fame
Daryl Reaugh, once the Oilers second-round draft pick in 1984 and back-up in net to Grant Fuhr, was just voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the broadcast wing after his 30 years in the business in Dallas — as a colour commentator and a TV play-by-play man.
'I was shocked when I got the call, incredible honour,' said the rapier-witted Reaugh, 60, who was always the life of the party here, once being the master of ceremonies at the Oiler Christmas get-together and doing bang-on imitations.
'He humoured those (junior) bus rides like you couldn't believe… you should see the ones (imitations) he did of me, make you cry and laugh. He was hard on me, in a good way,' said Hitchcock, who had Reaugh as his goalie in junior in Kamloops.
Article content
Reaugh, who finished playing in the 1993-94 season, was the first ex NHLer doing play-by-play when he replaced Dave Strader on the Stars broadcast with the Hall of Famer Strader fighting bile-duct cancer.
Reaugh says he greatly appreciated listening to Oilers' Hall of Fame radio voice Rod Phillips when he was part of the Oiler organization.
'I loved Rod from my Oiler days. I loved the way he called a game. Rockin' Rod. He was very passionate,' said Reaugh, who was working the Dallas-Edmonton playoff series as a colour commentator with play caller Josh Bogorad
'Daryl was at every pre-game skate, he would find new words in the dictionary or the thesaurus. He didn't just ask the question of what you were doing (as a coach) but why you were doing it,' said Hitchcock, from his days behind the Dallas bench. 'He had a tremendous work ethic from playing and competing and he transferred it into broadcasting.'
Article content
Reaugh played 27 NHL games and would have played longer but the injury bug kept biting him. He last was in a hockey net in the East Coast Hockey League in Dayton when he was 28 and gave play-by-play a first-time whirl there.
'As a player Daryl ran into some significant injuries…I remember we had him in Kalamazoo (Dallas farm team) at a training camp when he was a free-agent and he was the best goalie by a mile. We were looking to sign him but a day later he got injured and couldn't play forever. He made up for it as a broadcaster. I'm so happy for him (Hall of Fame honour). He's worked his butt off,' said the Hall of Fame builder Hitchcock.
Handshakes after series ends
Count Hitchcock in the same group as Florida's Paul Maurice who doesn't like coaches standing in a handshake line on the ice with players when the battles end.
'I probably changed (his view) five or six years ago. The ice surface is where the players bleed and sacrifice for each other. It's their surface,' said Hitchcock.
Article content
'I looked at other sports and none of them line up with players. It's just coach on coach. I know I got hassled for it once (opposing hockey coach) but I didn't care. The other coach can do what he wants (handshake line or not) but my competition is the coach.'
Hitchcock hasn't liked what he's seen from coaches in the locker room, either.
'What bothered me more than anything,' said Hitchcock, who coached 1,598 NHL games, 'is I think the coaches were becoming too dominant. The locker room is for the players first and foremost. We can stick our head in there but when I see coaches handing out pucks (post-game) or awards or making speeches… the players don't get any time for themselves. You have to turn it over to the players at a certain stage. I feel pretty strongly about this.'
How icy is the goalie-coach relationship in heat of Dallas?
Needless to say, Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger wasn't happy after coach Pete DeBoer gave him the hook following Oiler goals on the first two shots of Game 5. One was off a 10-footer by Perry on a powerplay when all alone in front of the net. The other was a partial breakaway by Mattias Janmark.
Article content
'It sucks, it's embarrassing. Anytime you get pulled, it doesn't matter if it's the playoffs or regular season, you just want to go right off the ice and crawl in your bed and not talk to anyone,' Oettinger told the Dallas media Saturday, with the veteran head coach and his star goalie not yet speaking of the Thursday yank.
This 'n that
That Darnell Nurse slash on Roope Hintz in Game 2 of the Stars' series broke a bone in the Dallas centre's foot. It wasn't much of a whack but it appeared to catch him on the laces. Hintz missed Game 3 but played the last two and was skating hard enough in Game 5 to almost chase down Connor McDavid on his breakaway.
Things to watch out for in the Florida-Oiler series: four of defenceman Nikko Mikkola's 21 career goals have come against the Oilers. The Panthers might not have fourth-line forward A.J. Greer when the series starts. He was hurt in Game 5 against Carolina. But valuable third-liner Eetu Luostarinen, also banged up when he crashed into the boards, should be ready.
Article content
Latest National Stories