This past week I attended the Notre Dame Alumni Sports Dinner in Calgary. The Alumni group does a great job of organizing these events and consistently attracts great speakers.
We were regaled by Dave King as he recounted many of his experiences as a head coach in the NHL, Europe, Russia, Japan and with Team Canada. Dave is a great story teller with a unique set of experiences in the competitive world of professional sports. Clearly very grounded, he has assembled a vast amount of experience with amateur and professional (read: extremely well paid!) athletes. I can only imagine the unique challenges of motivating professionals in contrast to the amateur athlete.
King spoke of the difference in hockey players today as compared to when he started in the great game in the late 70’s. Specifically, he spoke of players in his early days possessing a sense of obligation and responsibility. He contrasted that with the hockey professionals of today; where the prevailing focus is on rights and privileges. Now where have you heard that before?
So what are we to make of the Calgary Flames recent decision to install Mike Keenan as the new head coach of the local NHL team? If we are to accept King’s view on today’s professionals, one would expect that the present day coach would be better served by espousing the nurturer rather than the drill sergeant approach. Keenan has a colorful history, earning the name ‘Iron Mike’ for his demanding nature with his players and unique relationship with the media and on-ice officials. During this past season, sports pundits took many shots at the Flames lack of discipline and woeful away record. Clearly, Keenan has been brought in to instill that sense of responsibility with his charges. Time will tell how this story will end; will certainly make for some highly charged media scrums during the upcoming NHL campaign.
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