Culture. You often hear that word when a discussion is focused on a team’s success or lack thereof.
But what is it?
Most have their own definition of it when it is applied to sports teams. Yes, there will be various ways to describe what it means exactly but at its core culture does have some basic tenets that transcend across any definition.
It’s a word that you are going to hear a lot more of with the Vancouver Canucks as they begin their ‘hybrid’ rebuild.
Chatting with Patrick Johnston of The Province at Rogers Arena during Friday’s 4-3 shootout win by the Seattle Kraken, I questioned the validity of doing a story on just what the Canucks hope to accomplish during the second half of the season.
You’d get the standard answers of how the team is trying to win, how its only eight points out of a playoff spot and that a hot streak will get them right back in the race.
And there is nothing wrong with that. That’s how professional athletes and coaches are wired.
The fact of the matter is that the remainder of the season should be judged to evaluate who you can go forward with and who you can win with in developing a winning culture.
Canucks head coach Adam Foote is in a precarious position. He wants to develop some of the younger talent on his club but he’s being paid to do one thing and that’s win. Foote and his staff want younger players to gain some experience in critical situations but that ice time just can’t be gifted. That ice time has to be earned.
Youngsters such as Max Sasson, Aatu Raty, Linus Karlsson, Tom Willander, Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium and Elias ‘D-Petey’ Pettersson all have one thing in common and that is that not one of them has played more than 100 games in the National Hockey League.
So what are Foote and his staff looking for from this group?
First off, work ethic that is above and beyond. Are any of these players putting in extra time at improving their game? Do they have the passion for the game that pushes them to excel?
I’ve had many athletes tell me the games are the fun part of being a pro. The hard part is the dedication that you put in to be the best pro you can be.
Never mind what you do on the ice. Being a pro starts with developing the right habits off of it. Do you get enough sleep? Do you eat properly? Do you manage your time efficiently? Are you putting in your time watching video of the opposition or are you more apt to put in a shift playing Call of Duty HQ on your Xbox?
That’s just the start.
Then there’s the physical component to it. Do you try to exceed your limits in the weight room or off-ice workouts or do you just do the minimum to get by? Do you try to push yourself in practice or do you have a tendency to just go through the motions?
The performance you see in games is the direct result of all of the aforementioned factors.
Then there’s another factor that Foote and his staff are looking at with their young players. How coachable are they? Do they listen to instruction, correct their mistakes and develop as players? Or do they continue to make the same mistakes over and over again?
Mistakes will happen with young players as they learn what they can and can’t do at the National Hockey League level. As one player told me once, you find out pretty quick what might work in the NCAA doesn’t work in the NHL.
The key to it all is learning and developing. Coaches will learn to trust you with more responsibility when you have shown that you can handle what has already been given to you.
So if that’s the objective when looking at the youngsters, what is the organization looking for from their older players? The seven young players we mentioned previously have combined for a grand total of 405 NHL games prior to the current road trip which starts Tuesday in Buffalo.
Tyler Myers, by contrast, has played in 1,107 NHL contests. Veterans like Myers, Brock Boeser and Filip Hronek have learned what it takes to be a pro but don’t kid yourself – there will still be veteran players on this team that will be evaluated as the season progresses.
Part of establishing a winning culture is developing those habits we talked about earlier but it’s also about having a great leadership core that sets the standards for the group and holds remaining players accountable.
Do you set an example by competing at a high level in practice? Do you do the same in off-ice workouts? How do you handle adversity? What type of leadership skills do you have? How do you conduct yourself?
They’re all factors in determining which veterans you move forward with to develop your culture and it’s something that the club will be focusing on as the season progresses.
OVERTIME
* The Canucks embark on a six-game road trip beginning Tuesday in Buffalo. After that, it’s stops in Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Columbus before returning for an eight game homestand at Rogers Arena that begins on Saturday, Jan.17 when Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers pay a visit.
* Had a chance to catch up with former Canuck Brendan Morrison, who took in the game against the Kraken on Friday. Morrison, who now lives in Michigan, was invited to attend the game in a suite which was won as a prize in a fishing derby he partook in Tofino. Morrison says that Michigan is a good hub tokeep tabs on everyone with three of his children participating in sports at the university level. Son Brayden is playing hockey at Miami of Ohio while daughters Makeena and Kailyn play soccer for the university as well.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob “the Moj” Marjanovich writes about the B.C. sporting scene for Black Press Media. This column is brought to you by:
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