Green's Goal is Improvement | FEATURE

For those trivia buffs, remember the name Travis Green.

The former head coach of the Vancouver Canucks and now associate coach of the New Jersey Devils has quite the unique distinction. He’s the first coach to work with all three Hughes brothers, Quinn in Vancouver and now Jack and Luke in Jersey.

“All three are phenomenal players. Not just great players on the ice but great people off the ice,” Green told NJD.tv’s Amanda Stein in an exclusive 1-on-1. “For me that’s the first step in a player being a winning player is being a good person off the ice as well.”

Green, who was hired by the Devils over the summer, has coaching experience at the junior, AHL and NHL levels. And he’s eager to start working with his newest NHL club.

“You spend all summer watching video talking about training camp. When it finally gets here it’s great to not only get back on the ice and start coaching again,” Green said, “but being able to meet everyone and seeing everyone for the first time is eye opening to me. It’s one thing to watch a player on video but it’s another thing to actually see everyone live and in person.”

Green, who was Utica’s head coach from 2013-17, believes the biggest aspect of coaching isn’t the X’s and O’s, but rather the interpersonal connections you have with players.

“The first four days here for me is not just about coaching but creating relationships, starting to understand players,” Green said. “Get to know them before you start teaching them. I think the best way to teach and coach is getting to know the people that you are coaching. That’s been a big part of the first four days for me.”

One aspect of the Devils’ game that Green, a veteran player of 15 years in the NHL, has been tact with helping will be on the power play. The club yields a lot of high-end talent with players like Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier and Timo Meier. The Devils converted 21.9 percent on the man-advantage last season. But more important than the percentage, is the timeliness of power-play goals.

“There are little tweaks we can do to improve it. I thought they took a jump last year,” Green said. “Being able to score when it really matters is a big part of the power play. With the youth of our group, it’s continuing to work and teach. Power play is something, as you’re in the league longer, you learn more about the power play. And we’ve added some players that will help, not just the first unit, but the second unit as well.”

The Devils power play will improve as the young players gain more and more experience. The best power plays in the NHL feature players that have a long history of playing together. It takes time and constant improvement.

“That’s the big part of a young team is improving,” Green said. “They took a big step last season but there are still more to go. I truly believe this team has a chance to be a good team for a long time. But it still needs to improve. That’s our job, continuing to improve players not only on-ice performance, but how they think the game and how they’re going to win.”