BLOG: Recchi Bringing Mentorship Focus

For Mark Recchi, mentoring young players is a part of hockey that he has always loved, not only as a coach but also as a player. The drive to help was inspired by the two veteran hockey players who helped Recchi out during the start of his professional career.
"Bryan Trottier was terrific for me. And Paul Coffey, obviously that was a player who was really good. We all kind of lived by each other, so I had some great guys to bounce things off of, you know it was awesome for me. I learned to communicate at a young age playing and I kind of took that role that they gave me when I started to get a bit older, I took that with the younger guys and really really enjoyed it. You know, just help them through things as a teammate and it's something I really enjoyed. And then when I was in player development, it was the same thing. I was doing a lot of that - a lot of helping and a lot of teaching and something I really enjoyed."

Recchi is looking forward to bringing that mentorship to the youthful team in New Jersey, and he hopes to help build the next championship team for the franchise.
"I really want to help these young players and the New Jersey Devils, all the players, to build something special here," said Recchi. "You've got [Nikita] Gusev's first year really in the league so now you know he's going to have a [good] second year, I think he's been terrific. Obviously Jack Hughes is the first pick overall that's got loads and loads of talent. You've got Nico [Hischier] who is a heck of a 200 foot hockey player already at a young age, and he just seems like he's a really good leader and just keep growing as a player."
When it comes to how he plans on helping these young players, Recchi's wisdom and knowledge from playing 22 seasons in the NHL will greatly benefit these players.
"I can help these younger players with the mental preparation," said Recchi. "You got to learn there are some nights you just don't have it. It's an 82 game schedule and it's hard. You have to figure out how to help your team even when you don't have it."

"That's some of the aspects that I will help our younger guys with, mentally and obviously in playing as well."
The Devils Assistant Coach is eager to teach them the tricks of the trade on the ice and the skills he picked up during his Hall of Fame career.
"I can teach them things, how to position yourself, how to get into people's hands," said Recchi. "Be strong on pucks, you can be strong on pucks in different ways at different times. I think that's going to be a big part of it, is helping our young players."
Recchi is excited and ready for the next part of his coaching career, this time with a young Devils team.
"I'm a very patient person so I'm going to be able to keep working with these guys on a daily basis, and as I said, get a feel for what they see and then help them through it."