More on the Right Approach

Glancing at the way the Pens have handled a couple of young players this year, well, at least on the surface it seems like there is better communication than used to exist in recent years.

Example A: Jordan Staal was made a healthy scratch and the coach explained to the press why—and told the kid why, too. You’d think a one-on-one meeting with a young player where honest communication occurs should be par for the course, but I don’t think it always has been in recent years. Open communication bodes well for the development of the kids.

Example B: Despite the fact that English is neither Therrien nor Malkin’s first language, the coach and a player had their first meeting. If Malkin’s performance in last night’s game against the Thrashers is examined, well, it appeared the message got through, despite any language problems. According to reports, Therrien told Malkin that he could be a dominant player every game and he wanted him to be that player every game. Malkin played like a dominant player last night.

Such open communication with the kids has to help. Telling the kids what’s expected of them has to help. Also, telling the kids these things in such a way that isn’t demeaning but that points to the fact that what is happening is for their benefit, to help to accelerate their development and to help their team win games—that has to help, too.

Further examples of this apparently open communication abound. The Pens told Noah Welch why they were returning him to the minor leagues and told him exactly what they wanted him to do in the minor leagues. And while the last example involves a veteran nearly old enough to have fathered some of the kids, open communication still exists.

When it’s come to handling veteran forward John Leclair, Ray Shero opened lines of communication with Leclair to ask what he wanted. By the general manager, anyhow, Leclair’s situation, at least to this point, has been handled with professionalism, class, and tact.

In the past, people worried about Therrien’s approach with players (rough on them, etc, not necessarily communicating with them). While the Pens’ sending Fleury to and from the minors probably had far more to do with money and salary than with what was best for the team or the kid, communication lines haven’t seemed this open in awhile.

And one thing about young players, and really any organization—communication needs to be open, at least within the organization itself. And young players, especially, who are just learning how to navigate the highest level of professional hockey, need to know clearly exactly what is expected of them.

Clear and open communication can only help development. As a fan, I appreciate Therrien’s candor when it comes to sharing a little of what he’s told the players. But even if Therrien didn’t necessarily share all of that with the media, I’m still glad he and Shero are having these one-on-one meetings with the players. I’m glad the kids know what’s expected and what they’re being asked to do. Seriously—until the kids know that—they can’t really do it purposefully, can they?

Keep the lines of communication open, even when things get rough, perhaps rougher than they have been—and seriously, I really do believe good things will happen.
In most cases, open, honest, and frank communication that’s intended to make a player better benefits and accelerates the development of young players.

(Aside: I realize some players respond to screaming tirades like those of "Iron" Mike Keenan. However, I will still state firmly that even for those players who respond best to screaming tirades, the coach still has to be clear about exactly what he expects from a player in the midst of that screaming tirade in order for the verbal beat down to make any real, tangible difference in the play of a particular player.)

(Another aside: I am of the same generation as most of the Pens’ young players. Most of the players and I share generational values. Honestly speaking, being screamed at and yelled at—the old-school way of doing things—might work with a few of us, but the majority of my generation just doesn’t respond. The world in which we were raised—and I’m not just talking about the U.S. but the globe—wasn’t one in which we learned to respond to those kind of methods. We were raised in a different era, and in dealing with today’s young players, you have to acknowledge that young players today often rightfully anticipate open, honest, and direct lines of communication.)