As the latest coach of the Vancouver Giants, Troy Ward takes over a team on the rebound.
Two seasons ago, the Vancouver Giants were the worst team in the Western Hockey League with 44 points. In the 2013-14 season, they unexpectedly reached the playoffs to cap a strong rebuilding year.
Ward was hired in July after former coach Don Hay returned to the Kamloops Blazers after 10 years in Vancouver. Ward, an offensive-minded coach who can talk about “the art of hockey” and asked this reporter her age to make a good rhetorical point, comes to the Giants after three seasons with the Abbotsford Heat, the Calgary Flames AHL affiliate, where he went 119-83-26 with two trips to the post-season. From 1997 to 2000, he was the assistant coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The season begins at home Saturday against the Victoria Royals. The puck drops 7 p.m. Sept. 20 at Pacific Coliseum. For tickets, call the box office at 604-444-2687 or visit their website.
The Giants finished the preseason with three wins and three losses. What did you like about what you saw?
TW: The kids worked really hard. I think their work ethic is good. Their learning a whole different style than what they played last year and that’s a slow process. They don’t get frustrated.
What kind of hockey will the Giants play?
TW: It’s a style of play where I let them manage the puck. I let them make the hockey decisions that are out there. I can’t tell a player where another player is going to be… I give them a foundation and they understand that the goal is to have the puck as much as we can. They get that mentality. It’s all about the puck. There’s no sense in chasing that darn thing around. You’ve worked your entire life to get the puck and score goals. [A person] could say, I like some physicality and brutality because I like anger and fights, but the art of hockey is that it’s supposed to be the fastest game in the world. And it is the most exciting and dynamic.
In play for puck possession, will you use advanced statistical analysis?
TW: Analytics is a hot topic right now in the game. But I have my own analytics I’ve done my way for years. I think it’s most important that, if you have a thought process and deftness, you should already be depending on your own. I don’t know why it would be such a hot-button issue now. It’s always been a hot button with me.
How do you gather and assess data?
TW: Just being very detailed. Hours upon hours of watching the game and coming up with true analytics — and it isn’t some arbitrary analytics guy punching information who doesn’t know my brain. For me, analytics is based on the coach or coaching staff who know the team.
Have you picked a starting goalie?
TW: Not yet, nope. We’re just going through it every day. Eli, goalie coach, kids are working through it really hard. All three are doing really well. All have three have kept us in the game or given us a chance to win. That’s why all three are still here.
What’s the difference between coaching an AHL team and one in the WHL?
TW: The teaching is the same, the difference is the amount of reps it takes for it to set in. If you were cooking with your grandma, and grandma says you’ve got to learn to cook this dish, you — at 21 —might have to make it four or five times. At 31, it’ll take you one time to learn it and you’re cooking like grandma. More reps, and obviously as a coach, you have to be patient with that.
You played hockey in college and since some of the younger Giants are also student-athletes, is your experience an advantage to them?
TW: I think so. Your experience lends you to be a better teacher. To be a really effective teacher at this level, you have to have empathy. You have to be able to see it through their lens, understand where they are in their maturation process. If, at 52, I just thought everything was easy, I wouldn’t have very much patience.
The Canucks haven’t made a habit of drafting from this region. Do you think this should change?
TW: I think time will tell. Obviously, there is a whole new management team in there, [general manager] Jim Benning is an excellent talent scout. I think the method to his madness will make the Vancouver area proud of the athletes they pick and should it be guys who are local, bonus. Their job is to get the best players they can to make the Canucks winners.
This interview has been condensed.
