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Anastas: Chalk Talk #1 – What Does a Hockey Coach Really Look For? · stormTRacker Podcast | Carolina Hurricanes & NHL Hockey

• 0:32
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome to the first edition of Anastas Chalk Talk, a new monthly feature here on Storm Tracker.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: Each month, Andrew Rinaldi and I will sit down with Chicago Wolves' head coach, Spiros Anastas, to explore the game from a coach's perspective, the decisions, details, and teaching moments fans don't always get to see.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_03: For our first conversation, we're asking, what does a coach really look for?
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_03: We see the goals, saves, and highlights, but what does Spiro see that the rest of us might miss?
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_03: I'm Tom Ray, alongside Andrew Rinaldi and the coach, Spiro Synastis, and welcome to our first Chalk Talk.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: Gentlemen, how are we?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: Doing well, Tom.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, well, this is fun.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_03: This is our first one, our inaugural on uh on Chalk Talk.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, we're gonna have a chance to talk a lot about how you make decisions, Sparrows, the kind of things that are happening during games, after games, in between games, whatever it is, and maybe shed some light on uh some very interesting topics that I hope the folks that are listening and watching can uh can really enjoy.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_03: And so the first part of our discussions will be pretty similar each time we're on, and that's uh to talk a little bit about the wolves.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so obviously uh we want to make sure that folks are up to date on what's happening in Chicago with the Wolves.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_03: And so you just came up, actually, the last four games have been pretty good for you.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_03: You knocked off Iowa twice uh last week, and then this week did a nice job against Milwaukee.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_03: So looking back at those last few weeks, how do you feel about the team's progress?
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: And what has pleased you the most?
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, I mean, we're happy with the last four games, you know, taking seven out of a possible eight points over the course of two weekends is real solid, more like you know, what we are looking for on the results side.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: Our first four games, you know, they weren't the best.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: We weren't playing our style of hockey.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we were a little bit thin on our roster front, but at the same time, I think there was a lot of storylines that were kind of creeping into our locker room in terms of hangover from a long, you know, playoff run last year, short summer, guys ramping up with you know with their training because they felt like they had a real opportunity to crack the Carolina Hurricanes roster, the disappointment of not you know fulfilling that goal, and then just jumping right into an American Hockey League season without any exhibition games at the American League level.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: It's not to make excuses, but those are all very real storylines and factors that played a part in how we started.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: You know, obviously you start the week the first weekend without your number one goalie as well, and that you know could make a difference.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just what I'm pleased with, though, is the the grit and perseverance that's this team has shown already, the same kind that I saw late in the season last year, uh, early in the year.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_02: Because when you start a season 0-4, it's much different than losing four in the middle of the year when you've got a little bit of a cushion or you've had some ebbs and flows already.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: It can really creep in some negativity to your locker room that can really dictate the vibe for the rest of the season.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: So that's the thing I'm most pleased at is that our leadership group didn't let that happen, our core returners didn't let that happen.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_02: And we were able to reset, have a couple great weeks of practice, and take on even more adversity when we lost, you know, two, three of our top players, and then come with the process that we needed to get the results that we've we've gotten in the last four games.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: So really pleased that that is still part of the fabric of our identity, but we're continuing to build it because we do have a different team, in spite of the fact that we have some returniers as well.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: So just really pleased to coach these guys on a daily basis because they make it easy and that they're in it for the right reasons.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and and you know, we were delighted to see uh the Wolves up with up with Carolina, of course.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: Very impressed with the work of all the young people.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_03: And most recently, of course, Skylar Brindemore did, I think, a great job during his call-up, and we've been watching Juice, as you would call him, Yusso Balomaki really taking advantage of his opportunity as well.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_03: So you're probably in a situation where you're gonna see some players coming back.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_03: You've obviously started to receive some of those folks, and you'll probably get another D-Man, I suspect, right?
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I haven't been given the instruction on the D-Man yet, but people can do math and know that there's limited roster spots.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: Now there's still some guys on the IR, and you know, they also have a a trip to Finland coming up where they'll be allowed to expand their rosters for.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: So it may be a couple weeks yet before that shakes out.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_02: But yes, we you know we received Nadeau and then Unger Sorum back, and then Brenda Moore was reassigned today.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: And then the exciting debut of uh Charlie Serato tomorrow.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um wow.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so so we're excited that uh that our roster's starting to take shape, and we're our game is coming back at the right moment as well.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, it could be a real critical couple weeks for the the Wolves.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I noticed that Ivan Rabkin was taking advantage of his opportunity while some of these centers were away, so that was kind of fun too.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_03: So that brings us right to today's question.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_03: Fans often judge performance by goals and assists.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_03: We do, of course.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_03: But a coach is is looking at the bigger picture, right?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_03: And Andrew, why don't you take us into that?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, uh obviously there's you know so much attention on the goals and the point totals and all that, you know.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like when the media is coming up and asking you questions like us, it's like the first thing on your mind, and and you know, but I know obviously there's so much more to playing the game, especially at an elite level.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: So what do you find kind of are some aspects of the game that kind of fall through the cracks in our eyes as fans and as media and everything, but are some of the most important factors in in playing winning hockey?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so the broad answer there is just habits.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: That is the biggest thing that as a coach, or at least from my philosophy, that I look at in every individual player on a daily basis, not just in games, but in practice, in how they approach the locker room, their workouts, they you know, how they take care of their bodies, their treatments.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's all about habits.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: And great habits make great competitors.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, again, same way that we talk about process with our team as a whole, but with great habits, the results will come over a period of time.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: So when we're watching and evaluating games, whether it's in real time or watching through video, it's looking for those, you know, game-breaking habits.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you can have a productive shift full of poor habits.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, and you'll take them because results matter, but if you don't teach off those teachable moments, that's gonna end up hurting you down the road.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so there's you know, there's a balance of you know, taking the the results and the outcome and being happy with it versus just letting things fly because the result and the outcome came in that moment.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, that's you know, the tricky part of our jobs as as hockey coaches or any coach in any sport in general.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: So that's the biggest thing on a broad spectrum is just looking at habits.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_02: Now, some of those habits, you know, we we could probably sit here for three hours to talk about every single one of them.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um but there's you know, I'll just give a little insight just from from my perspective.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: We I talk about uh accelerators, and I have three key accelerators that I you know specify with our team.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: Change of possession, you you you gotta you gotta get those feet going.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: And accelerators for me is first three steps.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh puck puck on your stick, first three steps.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_02: You scan, and then you you gotta get moving before you make plays, no static plays.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_02: And then the blue lines offensively, you cross that blue line, you don't want to slow down, first three steps, accelerator, and then on the on the back check, you're you're taking those accelerators right to our blue line.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and again, there's little nuances to each one of those in a little bit more detail, but that's one of the habits that I look at in real time and through video.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like, are we turning on our accelerators at the right time?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: And that helps me typically gauge how a player is playing and what kind of buy-in he's had into what we're trying to do as a team.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: All right, I love the insight.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: It kind of helps lean into in a bit this next question because you know, when when uh Darren or Eric are kind of calling in asking about, you know, let's say you all niche from or something and asking, you know, about about a potential call-up or something, what are kind of like the qualities of an individual player that you that they're looking for and they're asking for your opinion on an evaluation of kind of when it comes to NHL readiness?
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so it's really great.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like we have a lot of checks and balances and guardrails to you know help us to make the most informed decision, and there's a lot of people that are involved in that decision making.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_02: So we have a process where you know all things equal, you know, all intangible factors erased.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we give our opinion on a weekly basis on what the call-up list looks like, you know, whether it's ranked one through ten or who's the priority guy.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: And that is just to give us give our management an idea of who we think deserves it, just on merit alone.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_02: Now, obviously, there's development mandates and and guardrails for every single player and little development keys that each one needs to work on.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_02: So we have a process where we review that through video, you know, we grade the players on two or three development keys that they they need to continue to get better at to become better hockey players, and then we have individualized reports and discussions on where each player is getting in terms of that specific detail.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: So that you know, for Joel Nstrom is completely different than Charles Lego.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: So it's all about you know checking all those boxes from an individual level, a broad level, and then it goes even deeper.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_02: What are we talking about?
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: What kind of call-up do we need?
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: Did Ghost Despair go down or did Chatfield go down?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and that may also make a difference.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, you can categorize players into different roles, and that's what's so great of the American League.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we we put them in roles that to stretch them and continue to develop them and hopefully add tools to their kit, but at the same time, we try and deploy them the way that they would probably be deployed at the National Hockey League level as well.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: So there's so many layers to it.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: And it's, you know, I think Eric and Darren and the whole staff up there have done a really good job to make sure that no stone is unturned when we have those discussions.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: But there is that there is that broad level of of ranking just off of this weekend.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: Who do I think deserves the call-up?
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_02: But then when you get into the details of it, there's a more individualized approach.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_02: Has this player taken steps forward in the areas that he needs to improve on from a development side to become an NHLer?
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_02: Does this player fill this specific role or that one?
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: There's metrics, there's conversations, there's video, and there's development sessions.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we have either Peter Harold or Daniel Bachner here every week, especially early on in the season.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: So there's so many moments and teaching moments that are taking place that kind of give us all the information necessary to make those kinds of decisions.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: Coach, I love your attention to detail because you kind of answered my next question with already with this answer, too.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's it was going to be uh, you know, kind of asking about your your organizational benchmarks or whether it's kind of a broad stroke or individually applied, and and you knock that one out too.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: So uh he's got me covered.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, Tom.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_03: No, I think I think that's good.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_03: And and I think we can we can move on to the next one, which I think kind of fits in with a lot of this, and and it's in the area of hockey IQ.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, we you know, as fans, we we kind of wonder, hey, that's a bit of a black art.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_03: What's this hockey IQ stuff where they have great vision on the ice, or they can, you know, we talk about players like uh Felix Hunger Storm and others that you know they just they they can really control the game when they're on the ice.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_03: And so, you know, we talk about things that don't necessarily show up in numbers, right?
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of different details.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_03: You're you're looking at things that we don't even dream of, and you know, we're just busy saying, can he score a goal or he just got an assist, or who cares, right?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_03: Andrew, why don't you talk about how players read the game and bring bring Spiros into that?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: I've actually kind of hit a had a bit of a uh viral quote that's been on my mind for the last little over a month now.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: You probably heard it as well as Nikita Kucherov when kind of being asked about the game and kind of how it's changed and how it's you know it's so much faster, but it's almost like it's not in his words, he called it dumber.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, Nikita's a little more uh a little more brazen than I am.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: I but I do when as I've watched over the years, I definitely see a lot where there's this emphasis on just north-south play.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, you know, I grew up in the era of the Russian 5 where it was all slow it down and wait for the space to open up.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's a completely different game now, but I kind of want to know your take on that and kind of like leaning on speed, and and does it really seem dumber to you?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so it was it was an interesting quote, and it made for a lot of conversations in coaches' rooms and locker rooms.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's some truth behind it.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if the word dumber would be one that I would use, but obviously there might be a language barrier there as well.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: There's less time and space and room for creativity, and that may be what Nick, you know, Nikita meant by dumber.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, you referenced the Russian five, which I'm pleased that you did.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: But in a sense, the Russian five was kind of the first time that you saw the five work as a unit.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_02: When you think of highlights before the Russian Five, you're thinking of just Wayne Gretzky highlights, just Mary Lemieux highlights, and before that, just Bobby Orr highlights.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_02: Bobby Orr, yeah.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: The one man, the one-man show.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: Then the Russian Five enlightened us into like, wow, look at how f all five of them can can move in sync and become, you know, a a a one-unit attack.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: Now, the predecessor to that was probably the you know the Soviet Union.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_02: And if you watch some of the 1972 uh documentaries, that that's what was giving the Canadians a a fit, just because how fluid and positionless they were playing.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: But now I think all that's happened in the game is that's continued to grow.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_02: So now where it's just come from five individuals who work so well together, and then you know, I don't think there's any better team in the NHL than the Carolina Hurricanes, it's just now it just becomes a team identity where they're so predictable to each other because they're running the system to a T, and this is just the way it's done to find success.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_02: And because now the game feels like there's less room for creativity because every team is trying to do that same thing.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: So it's it's just predictable play after predictable play, and you know, they're trying to to work in a cohesive unit, but what that's causing is you know, some of that creativity is is leaving our game, you know.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, you you look at the Carolina Hurricanes, and it's like you can almost t tell exactly how they're gonna play a game and what their game plan is, but the challenge to other teams is like how do we stop it?
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: So the game becomes a lot more about execution than about finding new ways to win on a daily basis.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: So that would be my analysis of it, and I'm just one person in the game, but that's how I took Kucharov's comment and you know, and it's up for debate on whether that's a positive thing for our game or a negative one.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: If you went back and analyzed some of those old highlights that that we used to love to watch, you know, pull out some of those Don Cherry videos, you may actually laugh and be like, well, this game really sucked, right?
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's just you're out.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, it's but that's I think that's where the comments come from, and that's how I view analyze it.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why I'm glad you're here to give us your perspective on it.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's you know, again, it's yeah, I have my opinion.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Tom's, I'm sure, got his.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: And it's I I mean, it's it's great to see the game evolving in this way, and I think it's incredibly true when people say like there's it's never there's never been so much talent in the game that there is here.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's again, maybe he was kind of trying to explain it in a certain way that I didn't I didn't really pick up on, and of course, you know, things any internet that go viral, and you're like, oh man, I can't believe you said that.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: But it in context, I think it makes a lot more sense.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Coach, you know, we talked about what you look for in a player and how important it is for them to read the game, but recognizing what a player needs to improve is one thing.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: Helping them actually make those improvements is another.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, when you identify an area of player's game that needs work, how do you approach kind of developing that skill?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: And how much does that approach vary from player to player?
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so again, there's there's a broad approach and there's an individualized approach.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, typically when there's a skill that one player needs to work on, there's others that probably also need to work on it, or continue to to develop that strength.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: So a lot of time it's actually just leveraging the players together, you know, on using someone who's actually already advanced in it to help the person that's that's not or still developing in it.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: So there's so many ways to do it.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, obviously, video is our number one tool, you know, connecting the why to the player to so they can actually see it and slow it down and see where an improvement in a certain area can help their game and open up opportunities for them, whether it's how they distribute pucks or how they can create some more offense or how they can defend better.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: As soon as they can connect that why, then you can start to apply it.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: And the application side comes in, you know, skill sessions, drills and actual, you know, full practice that that cater to that skill.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: And then he can start connecting piece by piece by piece, like the video session, the development session to the practice drill that that you know that skill is needed in to the game application where now his game starts to take steps forward.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: So there's so many little little methods to it, like taking an individual just by himself and doing a part-to-hole drill that helps that specific area.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: We're taking a couple individuals, but not just all individuals that need to work on that certain skill.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I remember my during the 2024-25 season, we needed to work with Charles Lego a little bit on some blue line mobility.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I did I did a four, I did a four-defensemen skill session, and it it was Charles with Scottie Morrow, Ty Smith, and Alexi Hamelson me, probably three of our best blue line mobility defensemen at the time.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_02: And obviously there was some there were some jokes, like Charles, like I don't belong in this group, but that was done with a purpose, right?
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, because a lot of it is visual learning.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of it sometimes when a more veteran player like a Ty Smith is teaching you, you know, how he does it or how he, you know, how he analyzes the decisions on the blue line, that may land better than me as a coach is telling him what I think.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: So there's lots of methods like that.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_02: And then you record those sessions, and then you show clips from those sessions and compare them to real-time scenarios in a game and where that little skill may have improved the outcome of what he was looking for to do on the ice.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: And then it more than just catching them doing things wrong, for lack of a better term, like catching a clip where this needs to be better and you need to develop it.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: When they start showing that progression, you got to catch them doing it right as well.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: Because there's no better learning tool than when they see themselves getting better at a certain skill or a certain scenario.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: Because now they they're locked in on it, now they know how it feels, and then they know you know the again connecting the why as to why that was a better outcome for them.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: So that's just a few of it.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: There's so many more, you know, just one-on-one conversations, just talking about it, you know, getting them to identify areas they need to be better at.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, those are some of the methods that we use, and different voices help, whether it's teammates, development coaches, or assistant coach or head coach.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's we're all just trying to pull the same rope, but there's lots of ways you can get a player to be better.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: How would you rate Charles mobility now since that session?
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I I mean I still I still wouldn't classify him as our most, you know, you know, I guess dynamic offensive blue line player, but he definitely Makes a lot better decisions like his his ability to to read when a when a forward is climbing up the wall and then he slides right into the right spot, usually in the dot lane.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: His blue line mobility is different than Alexi Han Malsalmi's.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: Where Charles' blue line improvement is reading that scenario I just described of a forward coming up the wall.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: Now I gotta slide a little bit to the dot lane because when he gives it to me, I'm hammering this puck and delivering it through.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I've opened up the lane because I've moved from the board into the dot lane.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_02: Where Alexi Han Mussalmi's blue line mobility might be the same slide, but now when I get it, I'm gonna juke left and juke right and break someone's ankles and then make a seam, a seam pass to Bryce Montgomery, you know, waiting for a one-timer.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh each player, so it's it's the same, yeah, it's the same skill session, but each now that's where their you know their individual uh differences start you know to to apply themselves in the game.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I would say that Charles has improved immensely, and I've seen it at the NHL level with him too.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_02: So he delivers a lot more pucks to hit the net, and that's because he's improved his blue line mobility.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I know you're talking about Alexi Hemosomi, and we talked about him previously.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_03: What do you think has really changed with him?
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_03: Because boy, I look at him now and he looks like a kind of a different player out there.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_03: He's really uh he's really looks like he's on top of his game, he's making great plays, he moves quickly.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_03: What what specifically has changed with him?
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think confidence is a huge thing.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: You know, he showed huge strides and huge improvement last year.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_02: Every time he played, now he you know he was in and out of the lineup at times in the playoffs.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we played 21 games, he didn't play all of them, he was in and out, but he showed huge you know strides of improvement last year.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: I think two things have happened for him.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: One, he got through that that first year wall that a lot of European prospects hit.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: When he started the season in 24-25, which was his first full year in North America, he was actually outstanding in the first couple months.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know, he was real dynamic, was really offensive, was good defensively.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: But then come January, he had a hand injury at the same time, then he came back, but he had reached the 40-game, 42-game mark.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: And for a lot of these players, that's kind of that's the maximum they've ever played.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_02: And then he he went through two really hard months where he was like dash after dash after dash, and he ended up you know in a heavy minus on the season, and that really nicked his confidence a little bit.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: Where last year he came back a little bigger, a little stronger, more physically prepared to play a lot more games, and you saw that in the physicality that he brought.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_02: You know, he's a lot more assertive, he finishes hits, he closes a lot quicker, and I think he's just more confident in his body that now that he his season he can play a long season.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_02: So last year's, even though he was in and out, the increase in games played and the long playoff run just built that confidence, and now he's he comes in just feeling like he can, you know, he can take on any task and for any amount of time.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_02: So part of it is just growth and maturity, you know, getting stronger, but you know, identifying that the game is harder, longer, faster here.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: So now he's got those reps and his skills starting to show a lot more.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, it same thing happened with the Dominic Bedenka last year.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_02: Outstanding start.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_02: Outstanding start, and then he he hit that European wall that I I I call it, you know, like I it's it happens.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: It happens and it's happened for years, but you know, and unfortunately, Dinx is is out with an injury now, but he got off to a great start this year, and I was looking forward to seeing how you know how much further he can push it into the season this year.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_03: Well, interestingly, you had you had mentioned previously that Hemo Salami was your good luck charm in the playoffs last year because uh the games you bring him back in, you were winning.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_03: So I thought that was kind of a great story.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_03: Look, we talked about what you see and how players develop Spiro.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_03: I'd like to finish this part of the discussion with the decisions you make behind the bench.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_03: What helps a player earn your trust, especially when a game's on the line?
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that kind of goes back to my answer in the first question is you know, what habits are they displaying?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: You know, are they playing the right way?
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_02: Are they playing our system?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_02: You know, but obviously there's historical data too, you know, because because Skylar Brindemore, for instance, is only operating at 42% in a certain game at the at the face-off dot probably doesn't make me not give him that five versus six face-off on his strong side because over a course of two years, he's been the guy we've leaned on to win that draw, and he's one of many of them.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a mix of the habits that are being displayed in real time in that 60-minute hockey game and the historical data that we have.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: You know, sometimes it's gut feel, sometimes it's analytical, but you know, the goal, the end goal for the team is to have any 20 guys on any given night that you trust in any any situation.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: Now, some guys have earned a little bit more than others, but yeah, that's I think that's just it's the vibe of the game and historical performance as well when we when we make those decisions.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_02: And then also on the other side of it, decisions behind the bench.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_02: We are very strict on line matching here with the Chicago Wolves.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, last year Dan Price who ran the forwards and I ran the D because we were operating a man short.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: I think this year, with me moving to the middle of the bench, it's actually even magnified our detail in that area because I have my right-hand man, Dan Price, next to me, and he's like a professor when it comes to that.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_02: Like he he is feeding me information in real time all the time of what the other team is doing, what their their cadence is on their changes, what sequence they roll out, who comes on after power plays, after penalty kills, after TV timeouts.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_02: So now that there's two of us managing that, it's something that we really put a big emphasis on.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_02: And then again, this could be a whole other hour conversation, but then it's like which players match up better against which players, whether it's size or skill or face-off success rate.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: So there's a lot to it.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's not just you know, three guys wearing suits that are just you know calling names at random.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_02: So but I guess that's what prompted you to do these kind of segments and get maybe give some people a little bit more insight.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: So I appreciate that.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_03: No, for sure.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_03: And and you know, or the opportunity we had to speak with with Dan Price, we got a sense of what you're saying.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_03: He definitely he definitely knows what he's doing and was was great fun to have on as well.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_03: Ace Barris, before we wrap up, we just want to give fans something they can take into the next game they watch.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_03: What's one detail fans should watch for in the next game that will help them see a game a little more like you see it?
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_02: That's a great that's a great question.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: So for us, I think one of our biggest strengths and our biggest improvements this year, in spite of the the amount of goals against we gave up in the first four games, is actually how quickly we're killing plays in the defensive zone.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: So while we gave up 22 goals in our first four games, actually I'd say 90% of them were off rush or turnovers.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: Actual ozone play against us has been you know pretty much nonexistent from our opponents, and I think that's because of the huge step we took forward in our defensive zone coverage.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: So there is a misconception out there that the Carolina Hurricane system is man-to-man, but the goal, the the goal is that you don't get into your man-to-man, you get in your man-to-man when the other team has high high possession in your zone.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: So we have something that I I've coined as the kill box, which pretty much, if you were to draw a line from the boards across the tops of the face-off circles, and then down that inside hash to the the end board, that's a kill box.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: And essentially, we're trying to out number five versus three in that box.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: So one thing a fan can look at to see where the Chicago Wolves are are executing the game plan is how quickly we outnumber pucks and kill plays.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and and essentially, if you're executing it properly, the other team should look like they're playing shoulder to shoulder.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_02: And if they have two in there, we have three in there, and we're digging pucks out and we're exiting five together.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_02: So that's been a big emphasis for us as a team this year.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: Because believe it or not, in our playoff run last year and throughout the entirety of the season, that may have been one of our weaknesses.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: You could you'd see us get running around in the D zone because we'd get in too many man-on-man situations too quickly rather than trying to trying to kill plays quicker.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, it's been a big, big point of focus for our coaching staff, and we're pleased with how we've developed that this year so far.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that's definitely something we'll be looking closely at as we watch uh the uh the Wolves games going forward.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_03: Sparos, this has just been incredible.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, uh hearing you know your thoughts from behind the bench, uh it's it's just uh it's fantastic.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_03: And we we can't wait to do more of these.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_03: We're we're gonna have a lot of fun, I'm sure.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_03: And and uh boy, I'll tell you that this is this is gonna be uh really something special.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_03: So so Spiro, thanks so much for that.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, this is this was great.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_02: No, I appreciate it.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's a great opportunity to give people some insight.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you know, believe it or not, I've had people tell me that they can't believe that I get paid full-time just to stand behind the bench.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: So hopefully some people know it's a little bit more than that.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh there's a lot of work that goes into it.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think uh I think for sure that uh some of us know that.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_03: And Andrew, of course, it's always it's always great fun having you uh with your great knowledge of the wolves and and uh the American Hockey League, of course, joining us as our co-host.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_03: Uh to those of you who have watched or listened to our first edition of Anastas Chock Talk, thanks for spending time with us.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_03: And remember, you can now take Storm Tracker with you wherever you go with the new Storm Tracker app.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_03: If there's a coaching question you'd like to uh put to Spiros in a future episode, leave it in the comments or send it our way and we'll pass it on to Spiros for the show.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_03: As always, Andrew Spiros and I are delighted you spent time with us, and we look forward to getting together with you real soon right here on Storm Tracker.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to follow or subscribe and share Storm Tracker with your fellow Kaniacs.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, for everything K needs, you need Storm Tracker.