Going into his 20th season behind the bench, Vancouver Canucks defensive coach Kevin Dean joins Canucks Insider podcast host Chris Faber to talk about his playing career, his excitement to coach the defensive corps, and how he hopes to bring the best out of the players.
Dean won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1995 and felt fortunate to experience that in his first foray into the NHL. He spent the 1994-95 season between the AHL and NHL and won the Calder Cup with the Devils’ affiliate Albany River Rats before joining the Devils in the conference finals.
“My mentality was just don't screw this up for the guys that have been here, because they almost won it the year before. They lost in game seven in double overtime to the Rangers, who won. So, my mentality was just to go out and do my job and don’t screw it up for the guys that had been here,” Dean said.
He talks about learning the fundamentals and habits that players need to be everyday NHL defenceman from Hockey Hall of Famer Larry Robinson. Dean’s philosophy is employing the fundamentals and encouraging players to lean into their unique talents and instincts on the ice.
Coming to a team with a back end that has a mix of experience and youth is an exciting opportunity for Dean.
“You're looking at Tyler Myers, Quinn Hughes is an elite defenseman, [Derek] Forbort’s been around a long time, Marcus Pettersson has been around a while now. So that experience, it's going to be a totally different ball game for me,” Dean said. “From what I've heard, they're great people. Every one of these guys is just an awesome person, so I'm excited to dig in and work.”
Dean says knowing how you want to play as a team is half the battle and is impressed by how precise and certain Adam Foote is about their game plan for next season.
Known for being a great communicator, Dean tailors his coaching style to individuals to help them take their game to another level.
“Everyone's a little bit different, how they want to be approached, and how they want to be coached. I want to convey to them that if you want a lot of video, I'll give you a lot of video. If you don't want a lot of video, but you want me to be hard on you, I'll be hard on you,” Dean said.
“I want them to feel comfortable and say, ‘Hey, Kevin, can we do more of this? Let's do less of this,’ and try to have good, open communication so that I know where they stand, they know where I stand.”
Dean is looking forward to experiencing all the outdoor beauty and adventure that awaits in British Columbia as well. Outside of travelling to Vancouver as a player, he shares a fishing story on one of his trips to B.C. to visit his Devils teammates Scott Neidermayer when he met Jason Krog for the first time.
Watch the latest episode link here:
