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Jay Random · 04-16-2025, 08:44 PM

Out of thanks, Calgary4Life, so… thanks!

The value of practising at game speed and (as far as possible) game intensity is hard to overstate. Likewise the value of players who bring everything to practice as well as games.

I think I learned this lesson when Dave King started coaching the Flames. They just came out of a terrible season under Risebrough, punctuated by the awful Gilmour trade that gutted the team. King had to rebuild them, and had less talent to work with.

At first the players didn't seem to be getting his message. They particularly hated to block shots. One day Kevin Dahl, who was a tweener at best, blocked a shot in practice. King rewarded him by putting him in the lineup for 61 games that season… and soon the whole team was blocking shots. If you wanted to keep your job on that team, you had to follow the coach's instructions as much as Dahl did. That buy-in helped the team maintain a winning record, despite bleeding talent every year, until King was inexplicably fired in '95. Then they went straight into the crapper until Darryl Sutter fished them out.

04-16-2025, 08:44 PM	#288
Jay Random Franchise Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Exp:	Out of thanks, Calgary4Life, so… thanks! The value of practising at game speed and (as far as possible) game intensity is hard to overstate. Likewise the value of players who bring everything to practice as well as games. I think I learned this lesson when Dave King started coaching the Flames. They just came out of a terrible season under Risebrough, punctuated by the awful Gilmour trade that gutted the team. King had to rebuild them, and had less talent to work with. At first the players didn't seem to be getting his message. They particularly hated to block shots. One day Kevin Dahl, who was a tweener at best, blocked a shot in practice. King rewarded him by putting him in the lineup for 61 games that season… and soon the whole team was blocking shots. If you wanted to keep your job on that team, you had to follow the coach's instructions as much as Dahl did. That buy-in helped the team maintain a winning record, despite bleeding talent every year, until King was inexplicably fired in '95. Then they went straight into the crapper until Darryl Sutter fished them out. __________________ WARNING: The preceding message may not have been processed in a sarcasm-free facility.