WINNIPEG – Matt Larke knows his new job comes with a little bit of explaining.
After all, the Winnipeg Jets haven’t had a full-time skills coach before.
Larke has joined the Jets full-time after previously working as a consultant with the Seattle Kraken, where his responsibilities included working with NHL players, prospects and players in the American Hockey League.
The biggest change in Winnipeg is pretty simple: He can focus on one group.
“Seattle gave me a great opportunity to be able to work with the American League and all the prospects,” Larke said.
“It was a challenge, but it was hard to sometimes focus on prioritization of the players and who needs it the most. So I’m really excited about this opportunity here, so I can work with the main group.”
Larke will have plenty of freedom to figure out exactly what that means.
He will have the opportunity to shape the role while working alongside head coach Scott Arniel and the rest of the coaching staff.
“They’re giving me this opportunity because they haven’t had this role yet in Winnipeg, and so it’s kind of mine to take and mold and show them what I can do to help the coaches do their job,” Larke said.
And that’s really what Larke sees as one of his biggest responsibilities — taking some of the extra work off the coaching staff’s plate so they can concentrate on the bigger picture.
“I can take my responsibilities and whatever extra work they have, I can take it off their plate so they can focus on winning,” he said.
There’s also a familiar face waiting for him in the Jets dressing room.
Larke already has a relationship with Kyle Connor that dates back to Connor’s time at the University of Michigan, giving him someone inside the room who already knows what he can bring.
“That definitely helps out a lot,” Larke said. “He knows what I do on the ice and what I can bring to the team.”
Larke joked that Connor can help spread the word to his teammates.
“If there’s little things that can help players out, he can help spread that word a little bit,” Larke said. “Like, ‘This guy kind of knows what he’s doing.’”
Larke’s background is heavily rooted in skating. He initially considered becoming a power-skating instructor before becoming interested in all aspects of how players move and perform on the ice.
That expertise in edge work and stride mechanics will certainly be part of his job, but Larke isn’t planning to spend the season rebuilding everyone’s skating stride.
During the season, the focus will be more on making good players even better.
“You really want to work on all their positive attributes,” he said.
There will be more opportunity to work on skating mechanics when players are coming back from injuries, but during the season Larke wants to help players blend their skating with the rest of their game.
That could mean working on everything from upper- and lower-body movement to how those movements come together in actual game situations.
And while working with NHL players is obviously different from working with younger players, Larke doesn’t believe the basic approach needs to change.
Sure, he’s now working with multi-million-dollar players.
But his message to them is pretty simple.
“I’m here to help you,” Larke said. “I’m not here to take your ice time away. I want to help you get more ice time.”
That’s the pitch.
For Larke, the excitement goes beyond the actual skills work. He’s back in a locker room every day, around players and coaches and the game he loves.
“It’s really like I’m still playing,” he said.
That might be the best part of the new job.
“You’re able to do what you love, but you also get the atmosphere of being in the locker room still,” Larke said.
“So it’s the best of both worlds.”
And if being the new skills coach also means becoming the good cop around the dressing room?
Larke is perfectly comfortable with that.
“I’m the good cop for sure.”
