The Missouri club hockey team got a new substitute coach for a day.
St. Louis Blues hockey coach and Stanley Cup-winner Ken Hitchcock ran a 90-minute practice last Sunday with the Tigers at the Lindenwood Ice Rink in Wentzville.
“It was fun for all of us,” Hitchcock said in a phone interview. “They were very receptive. We did a lot of the drills that we did here on our level. The guys handled the drills fine. They tried to keep up to the pace. They kind of died a little bit at the end, but that’s to be expected. I think we both got enjoyment out of it.”
Blues assistant coach Ray Bennett and Blues video coach Danny Brooks attended the practice with Hitchcock. Former Chicago Blackhawks goalie and Fox Sports Midwest color analyst Darren Pang also joined the group.
Pang’s son, Tyler, plays for the Missouri club team. Pang set up the practice with Missouri coach John Lamond.
Hitchcock and his team ran the players through drills that he would normally work into a Blues training camp practice.
“We sat down beforehand and talked about where our struggles were and what we were looking to improve on and they tilted the drills towards those aspects,” Lamond said. “The drills were more than enough for our guys to handle.”
Junior forward Danny Walsh said the drills were quite demanding.
“The coaches were intense,” Walsh said. “It wasn’t like a kid’s camp where you’d have fun and do a shootout. These were serious drills and it was a very real experience.”
Lamond said Hitchcocks’ assistants helped keep the players working during the drills.
“I’m not a yeller as far as making points with players at practice,” Lamond said. “But (Hitchcock) has an assistant that definitely takes care of that for him. I would like to have him at one of our practices, because I think that mixture of coaching style helps the guys to stay motivated and learn better.”
The players were also taught game strategy, positioning and timing. Senior center and team captain Alex Roth found these tips to be the most helpful.
“The drills were beneficial,” Roth said. “But what was really helpful was the advice that he was giving during the drills. He would say something if you were doing it wrong or out of position or if he thought there was a better spot that you needed to be.”
Lamond also found Hitchcock’s practice to be very helpful. He learned a variety of motivational tips and said he found Hitchcock’s scrutiny of players as an area he needed to work on as a coach.
“I picked up on a lot,” Lamond said. “Some of the smaller things he noticed— just day-to-day stuff you look past or you don’t see because you know the players — was really incredible and helpful.”
Both Lamond and Hitchcock said more practices could be in store for the future.
“(During the lockout), we haven’t been doing a lot of on-ice instruction,” Hitchcock said. “So that’s why doing the Mizzou hockey practice was good for us. It was fun working with people again, and we really enjoyed ourselves.”
Hitchcock said it was important to get out in the community and spread hockey during the lockout.
“During this time, it’s about our brand,” Hitchcock said. “We don’t want people to forget about us. So anything we can do to make sure people don’t forget about us, that’s our obligation.”