Hynes and the Preds still often hold morning skates prior to evening games when applicable, but practices scheduled for those days in between often get turned into off-ice workouts and meetings, or a day off altogether.
The time away from the rink became more frequent as the Preds were in the midst of their franchise-record eight-game, 16-day road trip back in March - a journey that many in the organization point to as the turning point of the season - and the extra moments spent at home don't go unappreciated.
"It's big for us to get that rest right now," Preds Captain Roman Josi, who recently became a father for the first time, said. "There's so many games, and the most important things are the games. We just had two days in between where we didn't skate, and I think it's good for guys to get away from the ice a little bit, be home with our families for a bit and just rest. I think it's huge. It's good and gives us more energy for games, and that's the most important thing right now."
That two-day stretch Josi mentioned came with a day off on Easter Sunday before a Monday on-ice practice was eliminated from the schedule as well, an occurrence that is almost unheard of no matter what point of the season the Predators are in.
Hynes isn't doing it just to be a nice guy either - there's a method to what's going on, and if rest is a weapon, then the Predators have been well equipped to face their opponents as of late, and it shows.
"The way the schedule is worked out, you're almost playing every other night, and you feel like the rest is really important," Hynes said. "We've tried to do a really good job just presenting video and things like that, and the guys have responded well to that. It was nice that we had two days [recently] to stay off the ice, and I thought even as the game went on [Tuesday in Detroit], we had lots of energy and intensity to our game, which helps.
"The last thing is you feel very comfortable giving them the time away, because every time we've given them a day off or we've used the rest day in between games or a couple days, they come back to the rink re-energized and refocused. The morning skates, they're always dialed in, they're fast, they're crisp, they're on target and I think that that's helped us, so that's credit to the players. You want to be able to give your team the rest and recovery, mentally and physically, but when they continue to respond the way that they do from that, I think it's a good blend. We're working together and will hopefully continue that to continue playing winning hockey."
