ST. PAUL — New Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes has many assignments to complete, but arguably none are more important than helping the team reclaim its identity.
Before Tuesday’s 3-1 win over the Blues at home, the Wild had lost seven games in a row and 13 of 16. Wild President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin believes the team has strayed from the identity it has established over the last few years.
“I think maybe right now, we’re not quite playing to it,” the fifth-year general manager said at Hynes’ introductory news conference. “We’ve lost it a bit. That’ll be one of John’s big tasks is to get the players back on that track because when we are playing to our identity, we’re very good. We’ve proven that the last couple years.”
Enter Hynes.
“When you come into these situations, the team’s hurt in certain ways,” Hynes said, “whether that’s individual player’s confidence — (or) whether it’s belief and execution of what you want to do.”
Hynes acknowledged working on the Wild’s identity, and there’s going to be an emphasis on speed, he said, which is something lacking right now.
“We can be predictable in our room but unpredictable to the opponent,” he said.
Hynes doesn’t plan on making major changes, instead, it will be tweaks.
“I think when it comes to the what side, it’s really just pinpointing simple things,” Hynes said. “You’re not going to come in in-season and make wholesale changes, but you want to work on identity.
“I think you want to work on the mindset of the team, and I think you come in and make some slight tweaks.”
After all, the Wild are a difficult team to play against when they’re playing to their identity as a team.
“We have a fast, physical, hard team,” Brock Faber said, “and when we win hockey games, that’s the way we play. We just need to get back to that. So we’ve been trying to find our identity all year.”
This is the second time Hynes has been hired mid-season. He was hired by the Nashville Predators on Jan. 7, 2020, after the New Jersey Devils fired him on Dec. 3, 2019 — his first NHL coaching job.
Fast forward to now, Hynes has taken over a struggling Wild team for Dean Evason, who was fired Monday along with assistant Bob Woods.
“John’s just a guy I believe in,” Guerin said. “He’s extremely professional, detailed, passionate about coaching this game. He brings a lot of elements to the table that I really believe in, and I think he’s gonna have a tremendous amount of success here.”
Hynes knows where the Wild are right now, a “foxhole” he says. After all, Hynes started watching struggling teams in late October and early November — and the Wild were among them.
Hynes stressed the importance of getting to know the team and coaching staff. “It’s a collaborative approach,” he said, with communication being the hallmark of his coaching style, which is paramount when establishing an identity.
“It’s important to really come in and connect with those guys, connect with the coaches, get feedback particularly from the players on some of those things that they’re seeing and feeling,” Hynes said, adding “That’s the start of it. It’s first who, then what.”
As far as helping struggling players?
“I think it’s understanding their perspective and then you giving them perspective back to try to help them, communicating with them (and) giving them some time to be able to get their games going,” Hynes said. “Every player has an identity and sometimes when players struggle, they lose their identity that makes them who they are. …
“There’s usually two or three points that make every player who they are, particularly at this level and trying to get back to those, reinforce those (and) help them understand what those are, and I think gradually you can do it.”
Of course getting to know a team on the fly is helpful when you know players. Hynes knows Marc-Andre Fleury from his days in Pittsburgh, and he coached the trio of Marcus Johansson, Pat Maroon and Jon Merrill in New Jersey.
“He’s going to give us everything we need,” Maroon said. “He’s engaged into the players. He wants the best for the players. He brings the best out of players.
“He’s going to lean on us, and I think he’s gonna be good for us. He’s an intense coach. He’ll bring some life back into this room that we need. And he’s got energy, and he’s got structure. Now we just have to go out there and do it.”
Not only has Hynes provided a glimpse of how he wants the Wild to play, but he has said all the right things.
Time will tell.
“I think the buy-in will be right away,” Guerin said. “You just feel like a weight’s been lifted off your shoulders. It’s tough because it comes with a tough message, a tough decision — but it’s a new chapter.”
The Wild took a step in the right direction in Tuesday’s win.
"We wanted to come away with an identity that we can build off of," Hynes said postgame Tuesday, "and I thought (we did that) tonight (with) the way that the guys battled. We played a fast game with the puck. Without the puck, we were skating and checking."
The Wild can build on it tonight in Nashville.
“It's a new chapter for this team, for this organization,” Filip Gustavsson said, “and of course you want to play good in front of your new coach.”