While it is unknown whether he ever donned a pair of hockey skates, legendary basketball coach Bobby Knight once delivered some truth about sports of all kinds. Knight’s wisdom is still being utilized by coaches everywhere — including Minnesota Wild skipper John Hynes — to their teams’ benefit nearly two years after the notoriously harsh, profane and successful Knight died at age 83.
“The greatest motivator in the world is your (butt) on the bench,” Knight once said.
ADVERTISEMENT
After a “not as close as the score indicated” 5-4 loss to Calgary in his team’s most recent game at home — a place where they have lost more games than they have won in this otherwise successful season — Hynes was unhappy, and he said so. In his postgame remarks, he talked about his team being unwilling to consistently do some of the hard things needed to win games.
The next day, Hynes sat two of his regulars, defenseman Declan Chisholm and forward Yakov Trenin. Not on the bench, but in the press box, where healthy scratches go. The coach made it clear that the demotions could be temporary and due to unmet expectations. While two players got the night off in a win versus a relatively unthreatening Chicago team, Hynes’ message was aimed at everyone putting on a red and green sweater.
In the two games since then, dominant wins in Toronto and Montreal, Hynes has seen some results from the receipt of his message, most notably in the hard-nosed play of the bottom six forwards.
“I think we are really playing connected, and it starts with our work ethic and our competitiveness, and then it comes in our attention to detail and guys playing as a strong five-man unit,” Hynes said following the 4-0 win over the Canadiens on Thursday. “I think the last couple nights in particular we’ve gotten really strong performances throughout the lineup. We’ve been a four-line team, six defensemen have played really well.”
In those back-to-back games in eastern Canada, the emergence of some third- and fourth-liners has been notable. Trenin had a pair of assists in Montreal. Liam Ohgren and Devin Shore both recorded their first goals of the season. In Toronto, Shore had an assist, as did Jakub Lauko. Marat Khusnutdinov scored for just the second time this season in Toronto, and has played an aggressive brand of hockey over the last 120 minutes that has been fleeting since his arrival from the KHL.
“It’s nice that Lauko, Khusnutdinov and Shore have been factors in the game. Just the energy, the competitiveness, the depth scoring that we’re getting. Liam Ohgren scoring tonight, that’s what we need,” Hynes said.
It went without saying, but with star forward Kirill Kaprizov undergoing surgery this week and not expected back for a month, the “all hands on deck” approach to offense is going to be vital for the Wild in the interim.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Those guys are really good players, but the fact that they’re playing to the identity that they’re playing with right now, that’s truly what our team needs, right now and down the stretch,” Hynes said.
If Hynes’ message with the Chicago sit-downs served to light a few fires, mission accomplished.
______________________________________________________
This story was written by one of our partner news agencies. Forum Communications Company uses content from agencies such as Reuters, Kaiser Health News, Tribune News Service and others to provide a wider range of news to our readers. Learn more about the news services FCC uses here.
The Trust Project
