Gretzky ready for new role
Associated Press
10/4/2005 11:52:36 PM
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Wayne Gretzky was lured to coaching by the most basic reason: a love of the game.
Hockey's greatest player knows his Phoenix Coyotes are not blessed with his amazing skills. But, on the eve of his regular-season debut as an NHL coach, he insists he has the patience and drive to build a winner in the desert.
"When you're playing, there's nothing like it," Gretzky said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press. "You know you can go out there and affect the outcome of the game each and every night. Now the effect I can have on the game is very different, but the passion I have to help this team win is still the same I had as a player."
All 30 NHL teams will play Wednesday night, marking a return of a sport that lay dormant during a year of labour strife. The Coyotes play at Vancouver, a fitting location for Gretzky's debut, because in Canada his fame is virtually without limits.
Phoenix captain Shane Doan grew up in Alberta during Gretzky's great years with Edmonton.
"In America, nobody has any idea what Wayne is," Doan said. "If you took Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Derek Jeter, Brett Favre and kind of put them all into one, that type of following would almost be the same as what Wayne has in Canada."
Brett Hull, who at 41 is the NHL's No. 3 career scorer behind Gretzky and Gordie Howe, signed with Phoenix because he knew Gretzky was going to be the coach.
"There's no one more competitive," Hull said. "He's the ultimate champion and competitor. He's going to have to really fight that when things don't go as great as he wants them to. I think it's going to help us players to have that. He's not going to settle for people going through the motions or not executing."
Coyotes general manager Mike Barnett is Gretzky's former agent and has known him for 25 years. When Gretzky was still playing, Barnett said, the two were in Indianapolis for a charity appearance and attended a Pacers game where Larry Bird was coaching.
On the plane ride out of town, Gretzky spoke of how he admired Bird's style.
"He said, `You know I really like the way Larry Bird's team plays and I like the way he's coaching that team. It's playing the game the way he played it,"' Barnett recalled. "He said, `That might be something when I retire I would consider doing."'
Gretzky became a part-owner of the Coyotes, and Barnett reminded him of that conversation when talk turned to finding a new coach following the 2003-04 season. The NHL lockout ensued and months went by before Gretzky told Barnett he would take the job.
"From that day on, I haven't seen him as recharged and excited since he retired," Barnett said.
Gretzky said he simply missed the game.
"I think that everybody has to have a purpose in life," he said. "My enjoyment of so-called working was to be around hockey. The closest thing to being a player is to be able to coach. It has been as enjoyable as I thought it would be. It's an experience that I've relished.
"We've got a lot of work to do and there's a lot of tough days ahead, but everybody's on the same page."
He knows that he can't expect players to perform at the level he set for himself.
"I think every individual athlete is unique, whether it be Larry Bird, John McEnroe or Wayne Gretzky," he said. "There's something unique about each part of their athleticism. I understood the basics of the team concept, how much you have to respect your opposition and how much you have to respect and rely on your teammates. That's what I'm trying to teach my players."
He wants an up-tempo, aggressive style on offence with discipline on defence.
"No matter how exciting your team is, no matter how much fun it is to watch or how many goals you score, if you can't keep the puck out of your goal and your team is not disciplined defensively, then you're not successful," Gretzky said.
"I came from one of the most powerful offensive hockey teams maybe ever, and yet when it came playoff time, we knew we were going to have to win a 2-1 game and we were responsible for it."
Gretzky said he played for all kinds of coaches, ones who shouted and others who were "more mellow and quieter."
"As a player, the one thing you wanted was to be treated like a man," he said. "If you're treated like a man, you react like a man. That's what I told my players. I'm not a guy who has a lot of rules. My rules are pretty simple and basic, something we can all live with.
"But I expect everyone to be on time and show up and prepare and work hard every day."
Barnett said the only time he saw Gretzky get upset with teammates was when he thought they weren't trying.
"Our players, if the effort isn't there, will see a much different side to Wayne Gretzky than the gentleman the public knows," Barnett said. "He'll have no problem doing that."
As a kid, Gretzky skated around bleach bottles filled with ice on the rink his dad built in the backyard. There he nurtured the passion for the sport he later dominated with style and grace, and he wants the young players emerging from a year without hockey to realize how fortunate they are.
"All in all, it should be the best time of their lives to show up at this rink," he said. "I want them to enjoy it, but I want them to understand that the harder they work and the more they win, the more they're going to enjoy it."
Cheers,
Aquaman