Lou
I’ve certainly watched Patrick, not only as a player but also when he coached in Colorado. His presence is extremely impressive. What he has done recently has always been behind in my mind. When the opportunity was there, after a conversation, I thought he was the right person. When you want to make a decision that you feel is important, you have to have the right person to make that decision. I was extremely impressed with my conversation with Patrick.
Roy
Day and night. The thing that I learned the most was to respect even more the work of the coaching. Coming to the rink early and working hard to help the players with ideas. I really want to establish a bit of what we did in Colorado, which was a partnership with the players. We want the players to buy into what we’ll do as a coaching staff and help them achieve their goals.
I think I was a bit of a dreamer, thinking that I could do both. I think I have plenty on my plate, just worrying about my relationship with the players and the media and trying to use the media as a bridge between us and our fans. Our fan base is extremely important. I want the fans to come to our games and be excited for us. I want our fans to walk in the streets wearing that jersey and be so proud of that team. That’s my objective.
When I left Colorado, I thought the phone would ring faster, but it did not. I understand that the way I left Colorado was probably not the best way to do things, but I’m proud of taking the time to go back to juniors, working with those guys and learning. It’s different than what it was in my time [as a player] and you have to adjust to the younger guys.
The partnership is very important. To me, communicating with the players today is the most important thing. Let’s say a player has a shaky game and comes back the next day, and the coach cannot say hi to him. That’s not who I am. The next day, it’s a fresh day, it’s a new day. I want to make sure that the guys know that. Yesterday was yesterday, today is today and that’s the challenge that’s in front of us.
