nivek_wahs
08-21-2008, 06:58 AM
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=a647cc0c-9a03-420a-8734-add47d5ea6e5
Derkatch hopes to build on Pats' recent success
Greg Harder
The Leader-Post
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Dale Derkatch doesn't want to mess with success, but he does hope to build on it.
The new head coach of the Regina Pats won't be making wholesale changes to the way the WHL club conducts training camp, which opens today at Lumsden Arena. That said, his fingerprints will certainly become more visible as time goes on.
"A lot of the structure is set up already by management, so I'll work within that," explained Derkatch, who was hired July 26 after Curtis Hunt resigned to become an assistant with the Ottawa Senators. "I'm not coming in to change everything that has been going on because they've had success here. I want to build on whatever that is. It's like anything, you don't want to give young men too much (to absorb). I'm not going to come in and start telling them, 'OK, we have a whole new way we're going to do penalty kill, power play.' I don't even know if it would all be new because this is hockey. Hockey is hockey. So why not see what there is and then we'll look at that and build from there."
Derkatch has endured a crash course since his hiring, fully immersing himself in the team and its personnel. Throughout that learning process, Derkatch has been working closely with assistant Terry Perkins, who was Hunt's trusted right-hand man for three seasons and has previous experience in the BCHL as a head coach and GM.
Perkins, who was a finalist for Hunt's job, has been "very accommodating and very professional," according to the new head coach.
"It has been awesome," Derkatch said of working with Perkins. "He has a lot of the structure down, which has helped me, whether it's billets or talking about practice. But now we're getting into the actual hockey. We've looked at things. We've talked about the practices and how they're going to go. There's obviously some meetings involved with me laying down some of my guidelines and rules for how the team will operate in terms of off-ice and on-ice. From there, Terry and myself will set things up just to see what guys can do. That's what I want to see."
The whole experience has been somewhat of a whirlwind for Derkatch, who is also getting his family settled into their new home in Regina. The Pats' all-time leading scorer said it hasn't totally sunk in that he's the head coach of his old team, but it will.
"I don't think it really will until the first game," he said. "It could be an exhibition game or a league game. I'm not sure. It's an experience you have to go through for it to actually be real."
Derkatch, who thrives on "structure" and being organized, will have his hands on all aspects of training camp, but he may not be overly visible at the start. He plans on being more of an "observer" until Tuesday's Blue & White intrasquad game, after which the team will trim its roster to more manageable numbers.
"I'll be pretty quiet," he said. "I just want to see what guys can do and assess. Don't get me wrong, I always say I'm going to be quiet and five minutes later I'm getting into it. But there will be a process where I'm watching to see what they can do."
Much has been made of the fact that Derkatch is a rookie head coach in the WHL, but he's quick to point out that the basic principles of the game don't vary a great deal. Derkatch has been a part of more than 25 training camps as a player, NHL scout and coach/administrator at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame.
"It is a different level," he admitted. "The players are older, I have more time with them, the players are going to be more elite, but the general concept is going to be the same."
As will his basic philosophy.
"I take things from every coach I've had and I take things from myself as a player," he added. "I really feel a big part of how I am as a coach comes from knowing what I liked as a player and what I thought was fun and what coaches brought each day to practice. I try to have those things incorporated. Don't get me wrong, fun is usually when you work hard at something, you do it well and you see your success on the ice. All that together is what I want, but the fun doesn't come before the hard work."
Training camp roster and schedule appear in Local ScoreBoard.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008
Derkatch hopes to build on Pats' recent success
Greg Harder
The Leader-Post
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Dale Derkatch doesn't want to mess with success, but he does hope to build on it.
The new head coach of the Regina Pats won't be making wholesale changes to the way the WHL club conducts training camp, which opens today at Lumsden Arena. That said, his fingerprints will certainly become more visible as time goes on.
"A lot of the structure is set up already by management, so I'll work within that," explained Derkatch, who was hired July 26 after Curtis Hunt resigned to become an assistant with the Ottawa Senators. "I'm not coming in to change everything that has been going on because they've had success here. I want to build on whatever that is. It's like anything, you don't want to give young men too much (to absorb). I'm not going to come in and start telling them, 'OK, we have a whole new way we're going to do penalty kill, power play.' I don't even know if it would all be new because this is hockey. Hockey is hockey. So why not see what there is and then we'll look at that and build from there."
Derkatch has endured a crash course since his hiring, fully immersing himself in the team and its personnel. Throughout that learning process, Derkatch has been working closely with assistant Terry Perkins, who was Hunt's trusted right-hand man for three seasons and has previous experience in the BCHL as a head coach and GM.
Perkins, who was a finalist for Hunt's job, has been "very accommodating and very professional," according to the new head coach.
"It has been awesome," Derkatch said of working with Perkins. "He has a lot of the structure down, which has helped me, whether it's billets or talking about practice. But now we're getting into the actual hockey. We've looked at things. We've talked about the practices and how they're going to go. There's obviously some meetings involved with me laying down some of my guidelines and rules for how the team will operate in terms of off-ice and on-ice. From there, Terry and myself will set things up just to see what guys can do. That's what I want to see."
The whole experience has been somewhat of a whirlwind for Derkatch, who is also getting his family settled into their new home in Regina. The Pats' all-time leading scorer said it hasn't totally sunk in that he's the head coach of his old team, but it will.
"I don't think it really will until the first game," he said. "It could be an exhibition game or a league game. I'm not sure. It's an experience you have to go through for it to actually be real."
Derkatch, who thrives on "structure" and being organized, will have his hands on all aspects of training camp, but he may not be overly visible at the start. He plans on being more of an "observer" until Tuesday's Blue & White intrasquad game, after which the team will trim its roster to more manageable numbers.
"I'll be pretty quiet," he said. "I just want to see what guys can do and assess. Don't get me wrong, I always say I'm going to be quiet and five minutes later I'm getting into it. But there will be a process where I'm watching to see what they can do."
Much has been made of the fact that Derkatch is a rookie head coach in the WHL, but he's quick to point out that the basic principles of the game don't vary a great deal. Derkatch has been a part of more than 25 training camps as a player, NHL scout and coach/administrator at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame.
"It is a different level," he admitted. "The players are older, I have more time with them, the players are going to be more elite, but the general concept is going to be the same."
As will his basic philosophy.
"I take things from every coach I've had and I take things from myself as a player," he added. "I really feel a big part of how I am as a coach comes from knowing what I liked as a player and what I thought was fun and what coaches brought each day to practice. I try to have those things incorporated. Don't get me wrong, fun is usually when you work hard at something, you do it well and you see your success on the ice. All that together is what I want, but the fun doesn't come before the hard work."
Training camp roster and schedule appear in Local ScoreBoard.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008