swflyers25
6-01-06, 12:46 PM
There will be a bunch of these throughout the summer so I will post them all in one thread. Here is the first one:
http://images.comcast-spectacor.com/flyers/PressBox/17033.JPG
Throughout the summer, Flyers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock will be periodically answering questions that you submit. Below is the first edition of "Ask Hitch!" as the head coach dug into his mailbag to answer some of your questions.
June 1, 2006
After seeing Jeff Carter have some success at the World Championships on the penalty kill, is there any chance of working him into our PK this upcoming season?
Ken
Pennsauken, NJ
“I think that’s just the natural evolution of a player like Jeff. This year, we tried to increase his ice time on the special teams side and mostly on the power play. It’s a lot harder to kill penalties in the NHL than it is to play on the power play. It’s much more physically demanding, and it’s hard for a first year player to be on both and then try to keep his competitive focus. We anticipate him getting more and more time, especially because he can take faceoffs on the right side, so that will help.”
My question is, do you have a pre-game ritual? Like listening to a certain song, eating a certain food, or maybe just taking a nap before the game?
David Garvin
Harrisburg, PA
“My pre-game ritual is, I always buy a grande decaf Starbucks coffee on the way to the rink every time.”
I am currently serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and I have always admired you for your education and interest in military history. With your interests and knowledge, do you use any philosophies you have learned or read to motivate or coach the team?
Kevin Boyce
Staff Sergeant, USMC
Washington, DC
“The thing I admire the most about the military is the commitment to each other. I think that’s something that every sports team and every businessperson, if you could ever tap into how that happens and why that happens, there’s a tremendous education that the military can provide. It’s one of those things that is remarkable and I’m constantly trying to keep up to date in the entire goings on in that area. The camaraderie and commitment to each other is something I think that we all can learn from.”
I was just wondering what role you expect Ryan Potulny to play next season being that we're already overloaded with centers?
Jim Garbe
Delran, NJ
“I think our first obligation on Ryan is he’s got to get his feet wet as a professional. I think we’ll evaluate his progress through training camp and exhibition games. We’re obviously going to give him a full shot to make our hockey club. He’s a very unique talent. He’s a person that, for whatever reason, the puck follows him around the rink and that’s a special type of player. The next step is, wherever he plays, he has to play a lot. Whether it’s with us or the Phantoms, we’ll evaluate that as we move along.”
During the 1980s there were very few players in their thirties because of the tempo and energy level of the game. Do you foresee this trend reemerging now? Are thirty-somethings becoming endangered because of the rule changes?
Joe O'Donnell
Albuquerque, NM
“I don’t believe that at all. You look at Carolina and they are in the Conference Finals right now. They have 13 players 31 or over. I think it’s really up to the individual player. I think when you’re talking to players, there are players who keep themselves in remarkable shape and they do a tremendous job as far as their conditioning. I think when they get to be older players they recognize that in order to be good players in the league, they have to work out twice as hard as some of the younger players. I think there’s still lots of over-30 effective players and I think there will be more players that are able to do that because they realize the level of conditioning that they have to get up to in order to perform at a high level.”
How do you get the team back into a series when everything seems to be going wrong?
Mike Brower
Berlin, NJ
“That’s the interesting part of a series, is that it is seven single games and one team has to win four of them. I think the most important thing is to allow your team to detox. In other words, get away from the emotion, realize what has happened, and bring it back up for the following game. You don’t want to play on the emotion or the frustration at times from the previous game. You have to deal with every game as a separate entity and whatever happens, win or lose, you have to be able to move on very quickly. I think that my knowledge of coaches is that the good coaches recognize that and really move their teams forward quickly after a win or a loss in a playoff series.”
I'm wondering what your feeling is on the kind of devastating open ice hit that R.J. Umberger took [in Game One against Buffalo]. Do you think those should legal?
Dan
Wayne, NJ
“I really believe that that’s a hit in hockey. It’s a hit that, for whatever reason, young players seem to get hit in that way more than veteran players. There’s an awareness issue. More important for me is that R.J. is feeling fine now and he feels good. It could have been much more serious, and I’m so grateful that it wasn’t more serious for R.J. He took two big hits in the last six weeks of the season. The hit in New York could have been very dangerous, also. When you’ve got younger players like that you worry as a coach about their safety at times.”
Do you feel it is important to add some speed to your defense?
Rich Garton
Hamilton, NJ
“I think speed is this often used subject, but misunderstood entity. Speed comes from three things. It comes from puck movement, it comes from quick puck support, and it comes from players on the ice acting as a five-man unit. That’s where your speed comes from. It doesn’t come from just skating speed. There are lots of fast-skating players in our league who aren’t able to play with speed, per se. What we want to get better at and get back to is a team that moves the puck very quickly up the ice, follows the attack very aggressively, and has tremendous puck support. Those are the qualities that quick teams have. When you have those types of qualities in your team, you always have numbers on the attack and you are outnumbering people offensively and defensively. That’s what we’re looking for.”
When a few injuries hit the Flyers, how do you know which Phantoms to recall? Are you in any contact with the Phantoms staff and do you have a say in the matter?
John
Jacksonville, NC
“The only say I have in the matter is from a positional standpoint. The communication is between Bob Clarke, Paul Holmgren and the staff with the Phantoms. The only say we have is, if we’ve lost a right winger we want to replace him with a right winger.”
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Caitlyn Ahern
Philadelphia, PA
“All I wanted to do was play sports. I grew up playing five sports in one calendar year for 10 or 12 years. I loved everything about sports and everything about competition. You have the dreams, but no real goals as you’re going through elementary to middle school and even to high school. All I knew is what I loved to do. I was lucky enough to first work in the sports business, which was terrific for me, and then obviously be involved in the National Hockey League and all kinds of minor hockey. I feel like I’m living my dream. I know it’s a tough atmosphere at times, but I feel like I’m living my dream because sports was what my love was from as early as I can remember.”
How do you keep players that have played in your system for a long time continually interested and motivated? Do you find it is harder with these players then it is for a new player?
Nicole Thomas
Malvern, PA
“I find players who play within the system that have been here, me motivating them is not necessary. Most players that play in the National Hockey League are really self-motivated players. I think there are some things coaches can do that help though, by keeping it new and interesting and changing things on a year-to-year basis is important. I think when you get to this level, there are not many differences in systems of play. When you look at an NHL player, especially a veteran NHL player, he is a highly motivated individual and a player that doesn’t need a lot of help in getting himself ready to compete. That’s what makes an NHL player, and that’s the difference between the players in our league and the players that have to play in other leagues.”
Would you consider playing Sami Kapanen full-time on defense?
Nadav Caine
Henderson, NV
“The answer to that is, yes. He is a special player. He can play any position and any situation and be very, very effective. We would not hesitate one bit if we thought it would help our hockey club in putting him back there. If we would have had a little bit more health up front, I think we could have even done it this year and we might even look to do that down the road.”
Ask Hitch a question (http://www.philadelphiaflyers.com/features/AskHitch/216.asp)
Link (http://www.philadelphiaflyers.com/features/AskHitch/306.asp)
http://images.comcast-spectacor.com/flyers/PressBox/17033.JPG
Throughout the summer, Flyers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock will be periodically answering questions that you submit. Below is the first edition of "Ask Hitch!" as the head coach dug into his mailbag to answer some of your questions.
June 1, 2006
After seeing Jeff Carter have some success at the World Championships on the penalty kill, is there any chance of working him into our PK this upcoming season?
Ken
Pennsauken, NJ
“I think that’s just the natural evolution of a player like Jeff. This year, we tried to increase his ice time on the special teams side and mostly on the power play. It’s a lot harder to kill penalties in the NHL than it is to play on the power play. It’s much more physically demanding, and it’s hard for a first year player to be on both and then try to keep his competitive focus. We anticipate him getting more and more time, especially because he can take faceoffs on the right side, so that will help.”
My question is, do you have a pre-game ritual? Like listening to a certain song, eating a certain food, or maybe just taking a nap before the game?
David Garvin
Harrisburg, PA
“My pre-game ritual is, I always buy a grande decaf Starbucks coffee on the way to the rink every time.”
I am currently serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and I have always admired you for your education and interest in military history. With your interests and knowledge, do you use any philosophies you have learned or read to motivate or coach the team?
Kevin Boyce
Staff Sergeant, USMC
Washington, DC
“The thing I admire the most about the military is the commitment to each other. I think that’s something that every sports team and every businessperson, if you could ever tap into how that happens and why that happens, there’s a tremendous education that the military can provide. It’s one of those things that is remarkable and I’m constantly trying to keep up to date in the entire goings on in that area. The camaraderie and commitment to each other is something I think that we all can learn from.”
I was just wondering what role you expect Ryan Potulny to play next season being that we're already overloaded with centers?
Jim Garbe
Delran, NJ
“I think our first obligation on Ryan is he’s got to get his feet wet as a professional. I think we’ll evaluate his progress through training camp and exhibition games. We’re obviously going to give him a full shot to make our hockey club. He’s a very unique talent. He’s a person that, for whatever reason, the puck follows him around the rink and that’s a special type of player. The next step is, wherever he plays, he has to play a lot. Whether it’s with us or the Phantoms, we’ll evaluate that as we move along.”
During the 1980s there were very few players in their thirties because of the tempo and energy level of the game. Do you foresee this trend reemerging now? Are thirty-somethings becoming endangered because of the rule changes?
Joe O'Donnell
Albuquerque, NM
“I don’t believe that at all. You look at Carolina and they are in the Conference Finals right now. They have 13 players 31 or over. I think it’s really up to the individual player. I think when you’re talking to players, there are players who keep themselves in remarkable shape and they do a tremendous job as far as their conditioning. I think when they get to be older players they recognize that in order to be good players in the league, they have to work out twice as hard as some of the younger players. I think there’s still lots of over-30 effective players and I think there will be more players that are able to do that because they realize the level of conditioning that they have to get up to in order to perform at a high level.”
How do you get the team back into a series when everything seems to be going wrong?
Mike Brower
Berlin, NJ
“That’s the interesting part of a series, is that it is seven single games and one team has to win four of them. I think the most important thing is to allow your team to detox. In other words, get away from the emotion, realize what has happened, and bring it back up for the following game. You don’t want to play on the emotion or the frustration at times from the previous game. You have to deal with every game as a separate entity and whatever happens, win or lose, you have to be able to move on very quickly. I think that my knowledge of coaches is that the good coaches recognize that and really move their teams forward quickly after a win or a loss in a playoff series.”
I'm wondering what your feeling is on the kind of devastating open ice hit that R.J. Umberger took [in Game One against Buffalo]. Do you think those should legal?
Dan
Wayne, NJ
“I really believe that that’s a hit in hockey. It’s a hit that, for whatever reason, young players seem to get hit in that way more than veteran players. There’s an awareness issue. More important for me is that R.J. is feeling fine now and he feels good. It could have been much more serious, and I’m so grateful that it wasn’t more serious for R.J. He took two big hits in the last six weeks of the season. The hit in New York could have been very dangerous, also. When you’ve got younger players like that you worry as a coach about their safety at times.”
Do you feel it is important to add some speed to your defense?
Rich Garton
Hamilton, NJ
“I think speed is this often used subject, but misunderstood entity. Speed comes from three things. It comes from puck movement, it comes from quick puck support, and it comes from players on the ice acting as a five-man unit. That’s where your speed comes from. It doesn’t come from just skating speed. There are lots of fast-skating players in our league who aren’t able to play with speed, per se. What we want to get better at and get back to is a team that moves the puck very quickly up the ice, follows the attack very aggressively, and has tremendous puck support. Those are the qualities that quick teams have. When you have those types of qualities in your team, you always have numbers on the attack and you are outnumbering people offensively and defensively. That’s what we’re looking for.”
When a few injuries hit the Flyers, how do you know which Phantoms to recall? Are you in any contact with the Phantoms staff and do you have a say in the matter?
John
Jacksonville, NC
“The only say I have in the matter is from a positional standpoint. The communication is between Bob Clarke, Paul Holmgren and the staff with the Phantoms. The only say we have is, if we’ve lost a right winger we want to replace him with a right winger.”
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Caitlyn Ahern
Philadelphia, PA
“All I wanted to do was play sports. I grew up playing five sports in one calendar year for 10 or 12 years. I loved everything about sports and everything about competition. You have the dreams, but no real goals as you’re going through elementary to middle school and even to high school. All I knew is what I loved to do. I was lucky enough to first work in the sports business, which was terrific for me, and then obviously be involved in the National Hockey League and all kinds of minor hockey. I feel like I’m living my dream. I know it’s a tough atmosphere at times, but I feel like I’m living my dream because sports was what my love was from as early as I can remember.”
How do you keep players that have played in your system for a long time continually interested and motivated? Do you find it is harder with these players then it is for a new player?
Nicole Thomas
Malvern, PA
“I find players who play within the system that have been here, me motivating them is not necessary. Most players that play in the National Hockey League are really self-motivated players. I think there are some things coaches can do that help though, by keeping it new and interesting and changing things on a year-to-year basis is important. I think when you get to this level, there are not many differences in systems of play. When you look at an NHL player, especially a veteran NHL player, he is a highly motivated individual and a player that doesn’t need a lot of help in getting himself ready to compete. That’s what makes an NHL player, and that’s the difference between the players in our league and the players that have to play in other leagues.”
Would you consider playing Sami Kapanen full-time on defense?
Nadav Caine
Henderson, NV
“The answer to that is, yes. He is a special player. He can play any position and any situation and be very, very effective. We would not hesitate one bit if we thought it would help our hockey club in putting him back there. If we would have had a little bit more health up front, I think we could have even done it this year and we might even look to do that down the road.”
Ask Hitch a question (http://www.philadelphiaflyers.com/features/AskHitch/216.asp)
Link (http://www.philadelphiaflyers.com/features/AskHitch/306.asp)