Bonus Episode: Sheldon Keefe’s Q&A New Jersey Devils Press Conference
you’re locked on Devils your daily podcast on the New Jersey Devils part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hi this is Bryce Salvador and you’re locked on Devils Tre Matthews scor oh Steven stepped up nailed got the what a shot that Devils win the Stanley Cup we are grateful for a large Contin from the media who have joined us today and we will open the floor for some questions uh we ask that you wait for the mike to come to you and we also ask that so that Shelton could get to know you a little better give us your name and your workplace Association so we will start here Amanda hi Sheldon um Amanda from the New Jersey Devils nice to meet you um I just wanted to start off because in the last couple weeks maybe days there’s been so many parallels that people have drawn from Toronto to New Jersey and just a lot of similarities but how much of this has really been about a fresh start something new for you to take on when when you look at what’s ahead here well it’s a great question it’s something that very much is is top of mind for me you know I think um you know right away I was able to quickly bring some closure to the situation in Toronto you know uh it was important for me as you know I released released a video shortly thereafter to thank people and bring some some closure to me to the situation because I didn’t quite know what was going to be next and what was ahead uh but I did know that I wanted to bring some closure to the situation in Toronto knowing that I I learned and and grew a lot through that opportunity but I was going to be excited for whatever was going to come next and uh in terms of the parallels I think the the major parallel that I’m focused on is that this is a good team with really good players great resources and high expectations I’ve never coached a game at any level with any team where I didn’t expect to win every single time we put our gear on went out and played and that was really important to me so that parallel is important but uh this is a fresh start and a great opportunity ahead it’s completely unique and different than from anything I’ve experienced uh previously I don’t think uh any one thing is is ever the same in fact I don’t think any one day is ever the same when you’re in this job that’s what’s exciting about it is every day you come it’s a new opportunity to continue to get better and learn something um with this uh you know uh with the fresh group of players uh and to be able to create new relationships with uh the incredible young talent that we have uh is is very exciting and I’m focused on looking forward would you think about what your coaching philosophy is and how you like to run a team where did you really feel that that started to really align with Tom Fitzgerald when you guys started having those discussions to you know not only did Fitzy say that he knew that you were the guy that he wanted but it had to be something that you knew knew that you wanted to be a part of too yeah well the first thing is just the structure of the organization I think was really set up in in uh set up for success in terms of giving me the things that I needed um which is to say that you want the players to be taken care of and and I think uh from a sport science uh perspective I think that the players are very well covered and taken care of here and gives me a great resource to lean on to be able to maximize the potential of the players on a daily basis uh then also the analytics team in the way that it’s set up to give me the information that I need to be able to help us make hockey decisions on a daily basis and uh live and in real time so those resources are important to me um and then also of course the talent and the skill level of the group uh to be able to work with that and lean in on that but also uh get to work at establishing the necessary uh competitiveness and physicality and structure that is required to have any level of success uh and sustainable success for for an NHL team um you know I believe those those things are all place here and uh from the initial uh Communications I’ve had with players I think they’re they’re very hungry and excited uh not pleased with last season and and ready to get to work at UH putting together something sustainable here and then Fitzy for you when you started having your discussions with Sheldon whether it was on the phone or texting or or in person where was that moment for you where everything kind of solidified you know you said that yes this was you know once he was available he jumped to the top of your list but where did that moment happened for you in those discussions probably on that three-hour call but prior to that I was you know doing my due diligence and calling people who knew Sheldon um just about his personality you know drives him you know what are what are all the positive things these people saw in him as a coach and it it it really got me excited to I I look forward to talking to him I I look forward I I hope he accepts my call um to further this but it was it was that 3 hour I called it the hockey talk where it was just and um where I realized that we’d be fortunate enough to have him as our coach because you know there are areas that we’re tapping into now that he’s very experienced in that that can help us um utilize those resources and really tap into the the and maximize our talent here and our players um so I just thought this this is this is the perfect guy for us um and just kind of continue to go through that soft process I call it with him um and his family where it just let there’s more information take it in absorb it and let him come to us and and that’s what that’s what happened which was great and then finally Sheldon um one of the things that Fitzy said at the end of the the season for this team was taking a next step in terms of accountability um and I imagine that has to do not just with you know coaches and coaching but having a locker room keep each other accountant able what is that process like for a coach to help um a locker room Empower themselves to keep themselves accountable and how do you see that kind of playing out with your philosophy yeah I think obviously that is integral in in uh building a successful team is to have first of all players that are accountable to themselves and for what their responsibilities are uh to the team and then ultimately having the group hold hold one another accountable I think really it’s about having um actions match Ambitions you know we we uh we set that right away as the ex we know what the expectations are here and what the potential is is for the team to to be uh to challenge uh for playoff position to to make the playoffs and ultimately compete to win the Stanley Cup those are the expectations here and that that’s why I’ve come here because the the group has that and expectations only come when they’re earned um and I think uh they have been earned here and the team took a step back uh this this season here but has shown the potential that they have and they’re going to continue to grow and get better um the accountability piece for me as I say starts there but you have to Foster that as a coach and you have to first make it clear what the Ambitions are and then make sure our actions are matching not on a daily basis for me as a coach it’s to uh police that process and enforce it uh when when the time comes and when necessary but uh you starting the relationships and having the clear communication and setting the expectations uh very early is important and then it’s just about making sure that we we hold one another accountable as we go through because myself as a coach I expect the players to hold me accountable as well I have a job to do and I want their communication their feedback if I’m not holding up my end or or any member of our staff is not holding up our end to give them what they need but uh you know we’ll work together towards uh making sure that our actions match our Ambitions on a daily basis I hope you guys are enjoying today’s bonus episode before we continue I want to tell you guys about FanDuel it’s winner take all time in the NBA and NHL and FanDuel is giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 150 bucks to bet on spreads money lines player props and more visit fanduel.com locked on and make every playoff shot count FanDuel American number one sports book if I had to make a suggestion I am predicting championships throughout Dallas I am picking the Dallas Stars to win the Stanley Cup and the Dallas Mavericks to win the NBA finals and that will be the third championship in the last few months for the State of Texas because the Texas Rangers won the World Series please remember to gamble responsibly all right let’s get back to today’s bonus episode featuring Sheldon ke’s media availability take it away once again Sheldon Jim C from Sports not welcome to New Jersey congratulations thank you um you were so gracious with your video uh that you posted after Toronto uh let you go I was wondering if you can just go back to to that moment and your emotions and your thoughts and then part two was you knew there were a lot of options there were a lot of coaching available ities this offseason so I’m curious as to how quickly your mind as you’re kind of going through the possibilities he said huh New Jersey and and then if so why yeah so the first first thing in terms of the video as I as I mentioned earlier was about bringing some closure to the situation I had a pretty good sense um that day believe it was a Thursday perhaps but I I had a pretty good sense that that day I was going to wake up and and be called in for uh for a meeting and they knew what the the result was going to be I didn’t sleep much that night I was up around 3:00 a.m. and uh rolling around in bed and and uh knew I wanted to bring some closure to the situation and and uh had the idea of of having a video like that I just thought it’s it’s an easy way I didn’t want to spend much time going through any sort of media or anything like that but I wanted to be able to share a message to to the fans and to um everyone that I’ve been a part of you know I spent a lot of years in Toronto as the coach of the Marley’s in the leae and and and worked with some incredible people and wanted to be able to control my message and get it out there um had the idea of of of uh utilizing social media to do so had that spot uh picked out which is not far from where we live and uh it’s been my happy place to to go down there and by the water and spend some time to clear my head so um I went you know directly from my meeting with rater living that morning to to go down and shoot the video and get my message out and then you know from there didn’t quite know what was going to happen next quite frankly uh it’s the first time I’ve been in a situation you know where I’ve I’ve been uh let go and uh unsure of what was going to come next so didn’t quite know what was to come I went from shooting that video to taking my wife Jackie out to lunch uh her and I and was during that lunch I already got a call from Brad living letting me know that Tom had reached out and and uh was wanting to talk so there wasn’t a whole lot of time uh to to process things but it was very clear that that uh I had to make a decision whether to engage in a process or take the time uh to you know to recover and regroup uh from the situation in Toronto um and it it didn’t happen right away quite quite frankly it was something that I it took time with you know not not a lot of time clearly but uh Tom was extremely patient uh which I’m incredibly grateful for because he gave me time to process things to have conversations with my family and uh with each day that passed and with each conversation that I had it just felt right uh with New Jersey uh for lots of reasons um with the top of the list is uh as I came out here uh my wife and I to New Jersey to learn more about the organization uh to spend time with David and uh to hear him speak with such passion for Devil’s hockey for Sports in general um and uh that was incredibly exciting to know that you would have the support and uh and the resources necessary and then also just how aligned Tom and I were with each conversation with each day uh became more and more exciting and more real to me that I was going to want to jump right back into it and and uh take on this responsibility that uh I will not take lightly for a second um but also the the privilege to to coach the New Jersey Devils and work with Incredible Talent we have here and just a quick followup uh since last Tuesday have you reached out to any of the players yet uh have you started to have those conversations and I guess where are you did you jump into the waters already you know about putting your staff together yes so I reached out to um just about every player at this point uh I made connections with them um very surface level stuff at this point but but uh plan of course to to expand on that here in the very near future to have conversations with them and and give them a greater sense of what I’m about and and try to see what I can I can glean from them in terms of where they’re at individually and how they feel about the group and where we can go here uh and then very similar with the coaching staff uh the plan is to spend time with each assistant coach and get a sense of where they’re at and how they feel about the group and and how we may be able to work together and then uh you know in in the appropriate time uh when I feel comfortable with it we’ll make some decisions and how we progress as as a staff and and I’m excited for that like I said there that’s a lot of work ahead but that will be the priority for me to spend the time with with both the players and the coaches here in the very near future if I could just interrupt for a moment one of those assistant coaches has joined us three times Stanley Cup winter member of our Ring of Honor Sergey [Applause] breelan uh Sheldon right over here Ryan novinski nj.com um congratulations and I’m just curious I mean how do you what what have you what did you learn in Toronto um just from the playoff shortcomings um specifically this most recent one and how do you plan on using that to I guess learn and and get over the hump now in your new job well I I mean what’s very clear I’ve known this long before I ever coached in the in the NHL is that winning the playoffs is extremely difficult uh it’s very hard to do um so every everything matters every detail matters and that’s why I think it’s so important to focus on on what’s right in front of you on a daily basis uh and uh you looking to uh looking to master every day that you have uh capitalize on every day you have so that when the tough moments come that you’re confident you can just go out and play and trust yourself and your ability to to execute in those moments um in terms of Toronto itself you know certainly there’s lots of things that I’ve taken away from that you know after five years and and uh six playoff rounds uh I’m a far better coach now than than I was before I arrived in the NHL but I’m coming here to New Jersey excited to take on a new opportunity here uh uh there’s young hungry players that are here there’s guys here that you you know you look at the Young exciting players that in their first opportunity uh won their first round and pushed through and excelled in those moments uh but timately didn’t reach the goal and uh I’m excited you know to to learn about them learn from them and then uh get to work and and growing together as a group so that ultimately we’re ready for you know whatever competition might come and how no matter how how high the stakes may be and for Tom um you talked about the gauntlet uh obviously the interview process um just I are you able to get into specifics how many people that you interviewed for the job um and how much did did ownership and and players uh were they involved at all and giv feedback or anything as far as U communication with ownership for sure they you know David and Josh knew exactly the list that we built and it was it was extensive to start um cut that down a little bit but if I had to guess 8 to 10 um pretty curious there were a lot of guys that I I spoke to that I I knew weren’t ready for the job but curiosity drove you know put them in front of me knowing that uh some in certain individuals that I did talk to will be NHL coaches um at some point down the road here and and that’s always interesting to me to say you know hey you know I got a chance to talk to this young young person you know back in the day um some experienced people uh lots of experienced people um but again then it became obvious um I think patients helped you know waiting for the first round and see what shook out um what was important to me was you know the timing of starting this process with other people um they were they were ahead of anybody who was going to come out of the first round uh that became an option Sheldon um I wanted to give Sheldon every opportunity as much as I gave everyone else the opportunity to go through the gauntlet um so I could have a clear uh picture of really what was who was going to be the best coach for for this team um and that’s where the patience came in and Sheldon went through it and you know as we went through it I I recognized early that we’d be fortunate if if he was our coach um and here we are hi Sheldon uh James Nichols New Jersey hockey now congratulations welcome to New Jersey uh first question for you you mentioned your video in your happy place and in that video you mentioned potentially taking a break how close were you actually to doing that I know you had said this kind of came along quickly and then you know you contemplated for a little while yeah I I don’t I don’t recall exactly saying I was going to take a break other than saying I was going to take a break from me from media but here we are um uh what I said is I didn’t know what was going to come next and that was real I really didn’t um I do know that my time with my family is extremely important to me and yet as I said with each day that passed it became clear to me and it was really through the support of my wife Jackie who reminded me with after a couple of days that you’re a hockey coach and you should take this seriously um and her support you know all through my career you know from the time I made the decision to stop playing um to get involved in coaching we move that move moved out to a small town in pemr Ontario and you know I started my coaching Journey coaching Seven Seasons at the junior a level um not the most glamorous uh level um but it was an opportunity for me to learn it was through her support in moving there you know uh asking a girl from Scottdale Arizona to move up to to pem Ontario and then off to S St Marie Ontario uh and then ultimately to Toronto which has been an incredible run for us there uh to to grow our family um but but ultimately her support um you know really allowed me to to spend the time on in the process and have the conversations with Tom not knowing where it was going to lead because I was still very much um you know very first of all you you lose in the playoffs that in itself is difficult lose in a game seven it’s even more difficult and then um not sure not long after that you’ve lost your job so now you’re you know there’s a lot happening at once and you’re trying to process it all um and you’re sitting there in that situation also s you have term left on your contract so all these things are are are are all factors in trying to process what was going to come next but as I said with each conversation that I had and with each day that passed it became very clear that this was an incredible opportunity here in New Jersey that was going to be a fit for my family and I and was going going to be one uh an opportunity in which as I say the expectations are high and I’m drawn to that I’m I’ve never coached any team at any level didn’t expect to win every time they put their their equipment on and that’s the case here and that’s that excites me right from day one so uh here we are and you know obviously you’re going from one star sted roster to another how much of a factor was that in making your decision to come here and how maybe different might this roster be than where you were previously well I think as I say the team is very good which is why the expectations are high uh and the team is good because the players are good and there’s incredible depth here um there’s there’s a great mix of of Youth and experience um there’s skill at all at all positions on forward and defense that are very exciting to be able to get those get those groups connected on both sides of the puck offensively and defensively and to be able to capitalize on on those skill sets and continue to grow them together so lots of things are exciting there um you know with with us how quickly things have gone I I don’t sit here and say I have all the answers um and have all the information frankly but I’m very excited to get to work what I do know is the the talent is there uh the hunger is there and the commitment is there I can tell from from the initial conversations that they’ve had uh you know going back and forth with with some of the players it’s been very clear that they’re not happy with last season and they’re excited to to look ahead and get to work uh so all those things together uh for me you know made it very clear clear that you know that I was ready to get back into this and this was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up and we’ve mentioned you know the playoff shortcomings and you know in that process what have you learned from you know your your previous experience about getting as much out of you can at as your roster especially your top guys and how do you maybe see yourself overcoming that that obstacle yeah listen it’s it’s an obstacle for sure as I said I bring closure to the situation Toronto I’m excited for what’s ahead you know um winning in the NHL is extremely difficult winning in general is extremely difficult I’ve at every level I’ve been at before the NHL I’ve coached very deep into the playoffs um and uh won championships and have an expectation to have a short summer every single year uh so when that doesn’t happen the way it has in has in Toronto that drives me you know but as I say this is a fresh start for me uh this is a different group and a different opportunity um yet I know that the expectations are high you know I drove in here this morning and see the statue of Marty Broder out front and it’s just a nice reminder that this is a place with high expectations but also we’re winning as possible and uh it’s very exciting uh for me and uh and for the players I think every player that you know that I’ve communicated with here is very clear that uh there’s an excitement about being in New Jersey and that comes through uh when you’re when you’re communicating with them and I’m excited to learn more and and build upon that and last one for me Tom in having these conversations with Sheldon what convinced you uh that that was something that was going to be able to to happen that you know we they were going to he was going to overcome that first round uh exit obstacle well let’s be clear there’s only one winner every year um it’s hard the NHL is a hard League extremely hard to win in um a lot of things have to go right at some points there’s a lot of random when you get to overtime you don’t know how a puck going to end up cross that goal line if you’re going to be on the winning side of it when I looked at Sheldon’s career to be quite honest you know the playoffs didn’t enter it when you’re when you’re in the Playoff round five times six times and you you lose a game seven four those times and a game five uh once and you get through to the second round it’s to me it’s you know David touched on you know the stats um incredible it’s only one other coach who’s gotten to 200 wins uh prior to faster than than than Sheldon um it was the person his beliefs you know the passion he has for the game of hockey for his family he’s a family guy who happens to coach hockey um they resonate with me you know uh I played a lot of years in the NHL and never won a Stanley Cup Cup Final once I coach one round in I coach one year in from February to to June 12th and I won a cup right um I’m looking no different than last time we went through this four years ago someone I can partner up with um someone I that can challenge me and vice versa um group think is not something we believe in here and at the end of the day using those resources um and the collaboration to to make proper decision on with roster Personnel lineup that night um was important to me and from the get-go uh it was it was evident that you know Sheldon would be a great partner for me um and push each other um because at the end of the day we have the same goals and that’s to bring a Stanley Cup back to to New Jersey hey Sheldon good morning Mike Mor on hl.com welcome to New Jersey uh so I guess my question here is going back to your your first coach as a player John torella I’m curious what you learned from him and what impact he might have had now as a coach and how you evaluate players and how you coach players yeah thanks for the question uh you know when I made the transition from playing to being a coach um made that decision to a coach I knew I had a pass passion for teaching young players uh during a time I had injured my knee um and during rehab my season was over and I ended up spending uh time in in Penbrook at the at the junior a level and and um working with young players it was very clear I was drawn to that I was very much drawn to working with video in particular and spending time with it with players and trying to get an edge that way so I was drawn to coaching yet when I took on the role as head coach at that level it was uh was okay now I’m going to be a coach I don’t know what I’m doing though so you what are you going to do to create your foundation and your core values as a coach and then you lean on your experiences as a player to do that initially and my time spent with John torella and the Tampa Bay organization really set the foundation for me as a coach because I learned a tremendous amount from him that that I apply to coaching and it was through the experience of being a part of an organization that was trying to uh raise the standard when torch came in and went through some very difficult times both as the team and with some of the individuals some of the some of the best players that were young and were trying to grow um and were challenged by torts on a daily basis to raise their standard uh and then ultimately the team got to the point where it was too good for me to play on it anymore but they won the Stanley Cup in 2004 and while I wasn’t there I I was a part of that process of the team improving and and seeing towards do his work on a daily basis and how he challenged the group it was not easy it was not comfortable but ultimately got to to uh to win and you know that process really showed me you know what’s required in terms of creating a times uncomfortable situations but uh showing love and commitment to your players at the same time knowing that you’re in it for their best interests and you’re in it for ultimately the best interest of the team uh seeing towards that at work they really you know Set uh set that up for me and and when I started coaching the NHL I had an opportunity to thank him for that um which which was a great opportunity for me he’s been incredibly gracious with his time um since I’ve been in the NHL he may not be as gracious anymore now that I’m in the division but um uh that that really has worked started for me shelden welcome Bruce Beck NBC4 New York what’s your overall vision for this fr franchise well the vision is to win the Stanley Cup you know that’s that’s that’s very clear however um it’s also very clear to me that in order to do so you have to maximize every single day you know today is about being welcome to New Jersey and uh communicating and talking with you and tomorrow is about starting the Journey of you know communicating with the assistant coaches and with the players more directly and then UL Ely building getting ready for a training camp and focusing on that you cannot win the Stanley Cup until you make the playoffs you have to make the playoffs you cannot win the Stanley Cup until you win the first round and so on and you can’t do any of that until you until you get uh get to win each day so that’s really what my focus on is it’s it’s establishing a process that we’ll adhere to on a daily basis and ultimately seek sustained uh high performance that will lead us you know to have opportunities to compete for the Stanley Cup uh Bill Spalding MSG networks uh Sheldon we we’ve talked already a bit about accountability but because it was such a big word around here over the last month I’m wondering if you could expand a bit on your philosophy of accountability and and also how your Communications philosophy maybe Works hand inand with that well my philosophy accountability is giving the players what the players and the team what they need in the moment you know I don’t think you can have one philosophy hey this is how I do it uh and that’s it I think it’s you have to be able to read adapt to what this to the situation to each player each personality and with where the team is at sometimes you’re doing it on a one-on-one basis um in your office sometimes you’re doing it right out in front of the team because it’s uh the team needs to know it and and see it and and know that uh uh the expectations are higher and we’re not meeting them so I I think you’ve got to be flexible and everything you do as a coach that you got your core values and your non-negotiables and that’s all we work through you know um I’ll I’ll be committed to being as educated as I can about what this team has been through to get to this point uh and then we’ll chart a path to continue to grow and build from here and then you know the standard will be high we’ll continue to raise the bar on a daily basis to get to the point where you know we have something sustainable here that um you know ultimately runs itself and the players are pushing and challenging one another that’s my goal uh to grow uh leaders we’ll have we’ll have leaders that are obvious right from day one and then we’ll have emerging leaders that will develop underneath them that uh will allow us to continue to grow um you know day by day and year by year and Tommy mentioned talking to say eight to 10 people how how valuable was it to get so many different outside perspectives about this team and the way other people from the outside see this team and and what did you take from that as you look ahead toward this off season very valuable information’s knowledge um what people think you could have biases internally of where you think you are and um the reality is there’s there’s steps and processes that you want to go through to get to where we need to go um creating those standards and expectations are are as plain as as our face right now it’s just very uh matter of fact um I just like I said I felt bill when when Sheldon you know just started when we started communicating that you know he was he was the right person for for this job uh Sheldon welcome to New Jersey uh Josh RIT hockey writers J um excuse me um can you for people who haven’t watched your teams play as much can you just talk about the characteristics on the ice of a Sheldon Keef te team what people can expect to see uh from your players style of play those kinds of things sure uh I I think what you would expect from from us is to play a style that is fast and competitive um that prioritizes pressure on the puck in all zones uh but also leans in on the skills makes plays and uh in order to do that you have to have the proper uh tools to do so and I believe that we have those here so I’m very excited to build out a plan that can maximize the strengths of our team but also um have a group that can develop uh cohesion and connectivity within the group on both sides of the puck that that really shines through in all zon so um and then ultimately building a team that that is very good not just in the skilled parts of the games not just in the defensive parts of the games but the game within the game and I think there’s in our sport uh as you see this time of year you’re turning on your TV watching the playoffs there’s a lot that goes on that you have to be very comfortable in and the group has to really stick together um and those are areas that uh I think you know we’ll be focusing on a lot and um you know as we we bu the plan for training camp and into the regular season we’ll be working uh towards towards that end from the start thanks and Tom um in terms of what bill was saying about all the different people he spoke to was there anything that surprised you about your team was perceived or anything you learned about the team that you can share no um you know there are I’ve been very open about this you know certain areas we want to grow in um and add uh to the team um we’re a very very skilled team you know um I think we’ve got young players that will emerge into to Stars here um shortly you know uh but I don’t you know again the information I got it was knowledge um and power that a lot of us see the game the same way so a lot of it is hey we we think your team’s A or B but you are this this and that um you know part of the part of my responsibility is to well actually my goal was I know what our strengths are and I’m not looking for somebody I wasn’t looking for somebody to abandon what our strengths are um but to help us build on some of the things that we need to improve on um and there are a number of those things you know our players are they’re very coachable they they they want to be their best they want this team to to go as far as possible but they know that there are steps you know whether it’s you know keeping each other account accountable whether it’s you know being able to self assess your your own game and be truthful with it at times I think that’s important for growth um but the information that I was getting from from other people um it all resonated with me it’s it’s it’s exactly where you know my group is at where we feel we need to to get to um details habits those aren’t just things you turn on and off those are those are things that are instinctual uh and it starts from the first day of training camp and it’s hammered in you over and over and over again and when you get to this time of the year the teams with those great details and habits um and stick to them and believe in them are the teams that usually move on and win time for just a couple more hey Sheldon that’s Greg from ESPN how are you good good um you you had Austin Mitch Willie as your core in Toronto you come here with the Hugh boys and brat and heer I was wondering if you’ve learned any sort of tricks of the trade uh managing a a young star core in Toronto that you would apply in New Jersey the biggest thing that I’ve learned and I learned this very quickly coming up from the AHL you know I I can vividly REM recall a a meeting I had with Austin Matthews uh a couple weeks on that job and it was very evident to me that these are hockey players this just like every player you’ve coached at every other level these are guys that want to be guided they want information they want to know that you can make them better and how you’re going to do that they want to know that their their feedback is valued uh but they want to be pushed they want to be challenged want to be great and uh that’s really all you’re looking for as a coach is to have that um the the the bigger thing though is is to develop uh develop those players that you mentioned but also develop our team concept develop uh value throughout the lineup throughout the roster um having continuity that we can grow together as a group I think is extremely important um and uh that’s what I’m excited to do hi Sheldon Steve P from nj.com and the Star Ledger uh you saw this team up close early last season when it was at its at its best I think in in recent vintage you also saw it last season when it didn’t reach that level I’m curious when you were diagnosing this team from afar uh what did you see was the issue and how do you change that well I I don’t think there’s a lot of value in uh for me in in going in you know IND dwelling on anything in the past first of all we didn’t we didn’t um we didn’t see New Jersey this year towards you know there was a bit of an an anomaly in the schedule we played them three times in a in a two-e Span in in March um but didn’t see them all season so you we didn’t get much of a feel there but uh you did reference the season prior to that and some of those things really stand out to me in terms of what I believe this team is capable of uh I can remember playing against that team and and frankly feeling overwhelmed you know and we were a very good team as well in Toronto and uh you know we played in here I think at a time there you know there was an incredible streak going on and and the team was really clicking and uh you could feel the skill but also the pressure uh how much they were in control of the game those are all things that I value as a coach and I really saw that and felt that firsthand um so that’s that’s exciting you know what it’s capable of and then obviously when when season doesn’t go it doesn’t go um their way this year and there’s a step backwards you wonder why but what I’m most concerned with as I took on this position and you start communicating with players is how do they feel about it without even bringing it up it was it was communicated to me that they weren’t happy uh with with you know with the results and how things went last season they’re very motivated to get to work and that’s what we’re going to do uh one more for me sorry Tom you know obviously you have a lot of decisions to make this summer how much are you going to collaborate with Sheldon how much influence is he going to have on some of the Ross of decisions that you’re going to make well his his thoughts are very important to me you know as our my my team and you know what we really want to do and what’s first this was the priority is getting the coach and we’ve set our other priorities uh checklist that we need to to accomplish and you know building a team is a it’s a puzzle um to make sure we find you know the the right pieces to start so then all the other pieces can fall into play so um I’m again very curious on uh where Sheldon you know thinks of our players we haven’t really dove into all of our players and and really what the needs are but uh that’s coming
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