So it was rather odd for Hull to feel a little out of his element while attending his very first NHL general managers’ meetings in Naples, Fla., as co-GM of the Dallas Stars.
“On the first night when we gathered for dinner, I told the other managers that not in my wildest dreams did I ever think this would be a part of my life,” Hull says. “I said, ‘Please let me start out by apologizing to everybody that I offended or rubbed the wrong way.’ ”
The free-spirited Golden Brett always imagined riding off into the sunset when his playing days ended and spending the majority of his time at the country club, playing a round of 18 holes most days. Hunkering down with the rest of the NHL’s GMs trying to set the course the game will take in the future while making decisions about how he and fellow co-GM, Les Jackson, can get the Stars back to the Stanley Cup final for the first time since 2000 wasn’t on his radar.
Meanwhile, over in Phoenix, another former superstar is trying with all his might to get the Coyotes into the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. On a day when his old buddy Hull took in a morning meeting with the other GMs and then shot a round of golf in the afternoon, Wayne Gretzky spent a pleasantly calm night behind the bench as his Coyotes skunked the Los Angeles Kings 4-0.
So let’s get this straight: Brett Hull’s a GM? Wayne Gretzky’s a coach?
Truth be told, they didn’t see it coming either.
“I think I’ve surprised a lot of people,” Gretzky says. “Listen, as a player I was the first guy to stand up and say, ‘I’ll never coach.’ I said it my whole career. But when you retire, you wonder, what can you do that will give you that same excitement you felt as a player? You find out really quickly you’ll never replace that so you try to find something that is the next best thing. To me, being a coach and being in the (dressing) room and taking the blame when you aren’t successful and being showered with accolades when things are going well, that is the closest thing to being a player.”
After retiring in 1999, Gretzky became the alternate governor and managing partner of the Coyotes. The stakes got a whole lot higher when, on Aug. 8, 2005, he was named coach.
“I was flabbergasted when he first took the job,” Hull says, “but does anybody love the game more than Wayne Gretzky? He loves being in the action, so after my initial shock, I’m really not surprised. He is a great coach and I’ve said that from Day 1. He understands the game and he played on those great teams in Edmonton that had unbelievable talent, toughness and grit. He understands what it takes to make up a team. I don’t think I could coach because my best players would play all the time and the other guys would sit. But Wayne knows you need other people on the ice doing the other jobs.”
Coaching big-league hockey is not for the faint of heart…and, apparently, not for the game’s greatest players. Superstar Maurice Richard lasted just two weeks behind the bench of the World Hockey Association’s Quebec Nordiques. The Rocket said he couldn’t handle the pressure and the job forced him to spend too much time away from his family. Ted Lindsay tried his hand at coaching on an interim basis, but managed just five wins and three ties to go with 21 losses in his 29 games behind the bench. Even Bobby Orr served as an assistant coach of the Chicago Blackhawks when he was injured and again after he retired, but that didn’t last, either.
In fact, only three members of the NHL’s 500-goal club have even coached in the NHL – Gretzky, Phil Esposito and Bryan Trottier. Only Espo, at 24-21-0, has a winning record. (Trottier’s record is 21-27-6.) That’s not to say no star player has what it takes to coach. Anaheim’s Randy Carlyle, while not a Hall of Famer, did win the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman in 1981 and now has a Stanley Cup ring after leading the Ducks to the championship last season.
In his first two campaigns, Gretzky was 69-85-10 and the Coyotes missed the playoffs both years. Things are looking up this year, but even at 34-28-5 the Coyotes stood 10th in the Western Conference and were a long shot to make the postseason. As much as he’d give anything to make it, Gretzky has come to understand it is a process.
“To me the biggest adjustment a player has to make is from working a three-hour day to working a 10-hour day,” says Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock, who has worked with Gretzky with the Canadian men’s Olympic team. “Any ex-player can have success as a coach if he understands the amount of time that is necessary to put into the job to be successful. The one thing about Wayne is his love for every aspect of the game is holding him in good stead now because he’s able to help with his knowledge, but he has also learned to put in the time that is necessary to be a good coach.”
Like all coaches, Gretzky arrives at the rink early and his routine depends on whether it’s a game day or a practice day. Regardless, it usually starts with watching video. Gretzky gives a lot of credit to his coaching staff, which includes associate coach Ulf Samuelsson and assistants Rick Tocchet and Grant Fuhr.
“By the time I see the video I’m seeing about one-fifth of the video they have broken down,” Gretzky says.
Skate with the players, meet with the media, meet with the players, go over scouting reports about the opposition…it’s all in a day’s work when you coach in the NHL.
“As the coach you have to have the capacity to want to do all of that,” Gretzky says. “The people I’ve met in hockey, the Ken Hitchcocks, the John Mucklers, and people like that, it is their life. They’re not working; they’re enjoying their life.”
Enjoying life. That has kind of been Brett Hull’s motto. He never made any bones about it. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t take his profession seriously. In fact, when The Hockey News showed up in Detroit a few years ago to do a story about how Hull would change the game, he came prepared with a pad full of notes and a head full of ideas. Hull always tried to disappear on the ice, but when it comes to improving the game, he has always stood front and center.
When the Stars stumbled early this season, GM Doug Armstrong was fired and replaced by Hull and Jackson. It may be an unusual setup, but thus far it has worked. The Stars were second overall in the standings March 7 and were narrowing the gap on Detroit.
Hull may have knocked heads with a few coaches, specifically Hitchcock, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t management material. So if you think Hitchcock is shocked at Hull’s current job description, you’re wrong. A two-time Stanley Cup winner with Dallas and Detroit and the third-leading goal-scorer of all-time, Hull didn’t exactly fall off the turnip truck.
“Hully is a smart guy,” Hitchcock says. “He has a feel for the players, so it doesn’t surprise me. I didn’t think he’d be in a general manager position this early, I don’t think anybody did. But as far as analyzing players and figuring out what kind of players make up a good team, he has always had a good feel for that. You just thought he might take a little bit of a break before he had to roll up his sleeves. The eye opener for him will be the patience required to do the job at this level. It doesn’t happen as most players want it to happen. It takes time.”
Gretzky agrees. When he heard his old pal had a shot at becoming an executive, he was delighted.
“I was ecstatic for him,” Gretzky says. “I actually talked to him that morning and he said he wasn’t sure what was going to transpire, but the word was he and Les Jackson were going to be brought in to work together. I told Brett, ‘You’ve got nothing to lose. It’s a pretty good hockey club, you’ve got a really good coaching staff, it’s a good organization and you’ve got a perfect right-hand man. You guys will be tremendous together.’ By the end of the conversation Hully was like, ‘You’re right. I want to do it.’
“I think he was a little bit nervous because he had a lot of respect for Doug Armstrong. And for as funny and jovial as he is, Brett is a real compassionate guy. I think deep down he was feeling a lot of sadness for other people in the organization, but I explained this is the business side of the game. I told him everything he said he wanted to see done in the past 15 years he’ll now have a chance to try to get it done. And I told him he’s going to find out real quick it’s a lot harder than you think. When you’re a player you always wonder why can’t the organization do this or do that? Well, it’s easier said than done. Just because you want somebody from another team doesn’t mean you’re going to get him.”
Hull has taken things in stride thus far, prepared to learn the nuances of being a successful GM.
“I imagine people thought Wayne would become a coach long before I would become a manager,” Hull says with a laugh. “I love it…Working with Les Jackson is great. I imagine a lot of GMs are scratching their heads that I have this job. A lot of them had experience as an assistant GM first, but for me to be put in this position and working with Les, who is very experienced, has been great.”
The fact is, these days it is fashionable for ex-stars to be placed in management positions. Steve Yzerman is a vice-president with the Red Wings and many feel he is being groomed to one day be the team’s GM. Al MacInnis is VP of hockey operations for St. Louis; Luc Robitaille is the president of business operations with the Kings; Ron Francis is the director of player development with Carolina; Doug Gilmour is a player development advisor with the Maple Leafs; and, Joe Nieuwendyk is special advisor to the GM in Florida.
Both Gretzky and Hull are best known for their offensive exploits, but winning in the NHL is spelled D-E-F-E-N-S-E. And both men know they have to acknowledge that fact.
“Changes in the philosophy had to come, but they aren’t drastic changes,” Hull says. “I’m a guy who loves games to be played with puck control and give-and-go and passing. I like the game played with speed, intelligence and skill, but also knowing there is a part of the game you need to play in order to win that isn’t that glamorous. I like offense, but coaches have to play the hand they are dealt. They have to coach whatever style suits the players they have.”
Adds Gretzky: “The system we play is geared to the forecheck with defensemen pinching to create turnovers in the offensive zone. From that point of view, we are an offensive team. The defense comes from us stressing the third guy always has to be high, don’t leave your zone early. We don’t trap. We built this team to be a fast, forechecking team similar to Calgary and San Jose and Colorado. Where I am a stickler is, team defense wins championships. I stress to my guys, ‘I’m not going to stand here and teach you guys how to trap because I don’t know how to trap.’ Going forward as an organization we are going to look for guys who are big, fast, strong and have skill. Our defense is going on offense…I tell our guys the less time we spend in our zone the fewer goals we’re going to give up.”
It has been a pretty easy ride for Hull thus far.
“I think I stepped into a very good situation with a team that was already built,” Hull says. “I’m learning on the job, learning new things every day. Well, maybe not every day. I still play golf. Never thinking I would ever do this job and to now have the opportunity to see how this side of the business works is fascinating. Being at the GMs’ meetings (was) invaluable.”
Is there any valuable lesson that stands out over all the others?
“You have to have the patience of Job to sit back and watch your kids develop,” Hull says. “You have to be patient when your team is going through a down time. You can’t hit the panic switch. You have to understand it isn’t just about now, it’s about next year and the year after that, too.”
Gretzky has had a few speed bumps coaching the Coyotes. Losing takes a toll on a superstar who is used to being able to do more individually to control the destiny of his team. Gretzky, who often looked so cerebral as a player while others around him succumbed to pressure, is decidedly more emotional as a coach. He has been known to blow the odd gasket.
“It’s kind of funny,” says Coyotes defenseman Derek Morris, “I only had the experience of playing against him for one year and he was so calm out there. If he made a play that wasn’t up to par he just brushed it off and made that play the next time. Now maybe he thinks he can’t control that part of it so he gets emotional to let us know he’s involved in the game. He’s not just standing back there killing time, he cares about what we’re doing out there. Maybe that’s why he’s so animated…because he cares so much.”
Gretzky admits losing has cost him some sleepless nights.
“As a player, when you win everything is great,” he says. “When you lose, you’re down about the loss, but you know tomorrow you’ll be back at practice and things will be OK. As a coach, when we win I get so high. It’s so exciting. When you lose, it’s so strenuous you can’t sleep at night. I meet in the morning with Grant and Rick and it’s like, ‘Did you guys sleep last night?’ You take the losses harder than you did as a player because as coach, that’s one less game your team has a chance to win.”
And what about his players? What’s it like to be skating back to the bench after a shift seeing Wayne Gretzky standing there as your coach?
“It’s amazing,” Morris says. “Except for when he’s yelling at me, then it’s not much fun.”
Nobody knows what the future holds, but it’s clear Gretzky and Hull are in it for the long haul.
“People congratulated me on my 100th victory as a coach and to me it was like, ‘Wow, 100 wins is nothing,’ ” Gretzky says. “Let’s talk when I get to 400, 500 or 600 wins.’ People say, ‘Are you going to coach that long?’ I say, ‘I’ve been here three years now and I still can’t convince people that I am going to be here for the long run.’ Well, I am.”