Seattle Coach Among Finalists For Jack Adams Trophy
Just over 24 hours from now, Seattle Kraken fans will hope to hear the names of Matty Beniers and Dave Hakstol called at the NHL Awards in Nashville.
As we wrote here, Beniers is a finalist for rookie of the year, Hakstol for coach of the year.
In this story, the Kraken coach explains why you won't see him throwing a tantrum behind the bench, and the key to his team's sophomore season success.
"Winning By Committee" Approach Paid Dividends
"That starts with our depth. Everybody being part of it, and everybody knowing going into any night that they've got to do their part or else our opportunity to win is significantly damaged.
"That's a fun group to be part of as a player. You want to make sure that you have an opportunity to have an impact every night. Because of that, we had a lot of nights where we started well, and it took us a full 60 minutes, but we were able to come out on the right side.
"That has a way of building momentum and building confidence and belief within the group.
Seattle Kraken coach Dave Hakstol.Coach Plays It Cool
"There's emotions flying around all the time, whether you show them or not, whether you see them out on the bench.
"I haven't thrown a bunch of sticks on the ice. The last time I threw a water bottle was in Green Bay when I was coaching in Sioux City. And that wasn't very smart. There's a couple of other incidents along the way that I don't care to get into.
"You know what, everybody shows their emotions in different way, and I'm no different in that respect, but I picked my spots."
Communication Received
"We had a group that, it was really important just to communicate well with. We've got a lot of good pros in there, guys that have been around, guys that understand the situation.
"I really found as the year went along more and more, it was important just to communicate in a real sense the truth of the matter, where we're at and how we're going to be successful. Guys were really receptive of that."