Papaioannou’s approach has been to give his coaching staff autonomy, allowing the assistant coaches to lead the first few days of camp, teach skill work and build relationships with the players.
“It’s been nice to meet them all obviously as coaches and see them work, and present. The day-to-day, going to Penticton, getting to know them as people and having dinners, and I think we've got a good staff, I think that everybody is passionate about their piece of what they do.”
Papaioannou will lean on Assistant Coaches Harry Mahesh and Mark O’Leary, Goaltending Coach Justin Pogge, and Video Coach Lucas Bourdon for their individual strengths.
Mahesh will focus on the offence, running lines and the power play; O’Leary will work with the defence and penalty kill; Pogge will continue working with the goaltenders, and Bourdon will provide the coaching staff with the video footage they need.
Beyond their specific responsibilities, Papaioannou said each coach brings qualities that complement the staff as a whole. Mahesh and Pogge have already established relationships with the players, O’Leary brings seven years of head coaching experience, along with an appetite to get the defence involved in the offence, and Bourdon has made life a lot easier for the coaching staff with his work ethic.
Mahesh has enjoyed getting to know the newcomers to the coaching staff and has a lot of respect for their experience.
“It's been awesome. I was saying we lost great people and we replaced them with great people,” Mahesh said. “I'm really happy to work with two guys who have spent a long time in their spots, both of them had success with those teams. So, the way I see it we have three coaches on the bench who've won at three different levels.”
The sky is the limit for their combined experience and excitement for what’s ahead. Mahesh says change is good because it keeps coaches on their toes and encourages new ideas. Communication has been strong amongst the staff, and his familiarity with Malhotra’s system has allowed him to help provide relevant information to the new coaches while also bringing new ideas to the table.
“I'm excited to see what we can do because I can already see the ideas and communication flowing like it did two years ago, so when everybody's eager to get going, usually good things happen. I'm excited for that part of it,” Mahesh said.
The Abbotsford and Kalamazoo coaching staffs were also in Penticton for Vancouver’s training camp, which Mahesh feels strengthens everyone’s ability to teach the club’s values and get the players as ready as possible. The Wings staff is also helping coach at Abbotsford’s camp.
“For the first time all three teams feel very much intertwined, and having the Kalamazoo staff on the ice with us gives them a chance to look at guys that they're potentially going to work with this year too. So, for everybody to have their hands in a little bit of everything is really beneficial,” Mahesh said.
As the coaching staff develops players, they’re also continuing to develop their own skills and responsibilities. Mahesh is looking forward to taking on more responsibility running lines during games and putting his own twist on the power play.
A shortened NHL camp means a longer AHL camp, giving Mahesh more time to emphasize the importance of being crisp and detailed with and without the puck. With just over a week before the regular season, he wants every rep to have purpose – getting to the corners, in front of the net, and creating good habits.
“Prioritize finishing everything at the net, making sure you're holding your areas where you're supposed to, and not playing like we say ‘summer hockey’, and being on the outside,” Mahesh said.
For O’Leary, the move to Abbotsford has been an opportunity to challenge himself and continue developing as a coach.
He spent 14 seasons with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors, seven as an assistant coach and seven years as the head coach, and when the opportunity to work with General Manager Richard Seeley and Papaioannou presented itself, he knew he wanted to take it.
He’s getting settled in Vancouver, but everything he had heard about Abbotsford over the years has lived up to the hype.
“I hear a lot of stories about different teams and what it's like in the American League, and everybody raves about Abbotsford, and it's been as advertised,” O’Leary said. “So, whether it's the players themselves and the culture they've developed here, or just the communication from the whole staff and how tight they are as a group, it's fun to be a part of.”
The coaching staff has also spent time discussing concepts around different systems and says Papaioannou sees the game in an interesting way.
“He's a really smart hockey guy, and he's had great success, not by accident, but his mind for the game and the way that he sees it. It's been a lot of fun just to talk on a daily basis about different concepts that he has in all three zones. Those are the things that I'm looking forward to more as the season goes on,” he said.
On the blue line, O’Leary is stressing the importance of early possession and putting players in the best possible position to make the next play.
Going into the season, he wants the group to understand the coaching staff’s expectations of defending with purpose and supporting each other on the ice.
“Organizationally, it's got to start with being a good teammate and the compete side of things, those will always be first and foremost. For me, I want them to be excited about not just defending, but defending for a reason. We want to get the puck back fast so we can play on offence,” O’Leary said.
The new coaching staff is shaping their group while staying connected to the structure being established throughout the organization. Papaioannou and his staff are teaching those shared principles to help the players create habits as the season approaches.
