Senators Articles: Winning formula; Reserved B-Sens coach earns players' respect
October 29, 2004

Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: Scott Lauber of Press Connects.com

Winning formula

Reserved B-Sens coach earns players' respect

BY SCOTT LAUBER

Press & Sun-Bulletin

BINGHAMTON -- It was a frigid January day in Winnipeg, and the tall, slender man with the blank look on his pale face knocked at Eddie Olczyk's front door. Unsure of how to greet this particular visitor, Olczyk invited him into his living room.

Never before had Olczyk played for a coach who made house calls.

"As a player, when the coach comes to your door, you're thinking the worst," said Olczyk, then a veteran NHL forward with the Winnipeg Jets. "Like maybe you've been traded or something."

Olczyk hadn't been traded, just benched for that night's game against the San Jose Sharks, which wouldn't have been a big deal except it was the first time in Olczyk's first eight NHL seasons that he was a healthy scratch.

And John Paddock figured he'd at least break the news to Olczyk face-to-face.

"He was a prominent player for us," Paddock recalled, "and I knew if I told him on the ice after the morning skate that he would have to deal with a lot of media attention. I wanted to show him some respect for what he meant to our team."

Said Olczyk, "I was pretty ticked off, but I respected the way he did it. He didn't want to make a big deal of it at the rink, so he came to my door."

Now, 12 years later, Paddock is knocking on another door. He needs two victories to become only the third coach in the 69-year history of the American Hockey League to win 500 regular-season games, a milestone he may reach as early as Saturday night when the Binghamton Senators host the Manitoba Moose.

It's a major accomplishment in hockey's top minor league, and it means a lot to Paddock, although he probably wouldn't admit that to you. Always modest and reserved, he can be thoughtful -- even philosophical -- but he's rarely the most talkative person in a room.

"If you know John, you don't always know the real John," said Senators general manager John Muckler, who promoted Paddock in July to be an NHL assistant coach in Ottawa once the lockout ends. "It takes a while to get to know him. He's very close-mouthed until he gets to trust you, and then he opens up."

When Paddock, 50, opens up, you see a devoted husband and father who drives to Montreal on a day off to watch his daughter, Anna, play in a college volleyball tournament, and to his home in Hartford, Conn., at every chance to visit his wife, Jill, and their 11-year-old daughter, Ali.

You see a coach who's demanding without being confrontational and who's so driven to win that, according to former Winnipeg Jets defenseman Randy Carlyle, "he used to get sore knees from kicking the walls" when things didn't go his team's way.

And you see a master communicator, a straight-shooter who tells his players where they stand even if it's not what they want to hear. In turn, you see a coach for whom players will do almost anything.

"On the bench, he's right there with us. He's always got the players' backs," Senators defenseman Brian Pothier said. "He never alienates his players. He's like an extension of the team, and you want to win for a coach like that."

And Paddock has won plenty over a 30-year career as a hard-nosed forward, a wheeler-dealer NHL general manager, a trusted scout and a wildly successful coach.

He hoisted the Calder Cup twice while playing for the Maine Mariners and as a coach in Maine in 1984, Hershey in '88 and Hartford in 2000. He's the only AHL coach to win the crown with three franchises and the first to have nine straight 40-win seasons.

"He knows how to win, and he's done it year after year," said Senators assistant coach Mike Busniuk, Paddock's friend and former teammate. "I've seen him take teams that weren't very good and still win. It looks easy from the outside, but it's not an easy thing to do."

Said Paddock, "To me, you're always supposed to win. If you're not there to win, then why are you playing?"

LISTEN TO THIS

Rarely does a player pile up 30 goals and 275 penalty minutes in one season. Paddock did that with Maine in 1978-79 and made the Philadelphia Flyers the next season. But he didn't skate well enough to stick in a 21-team NHL.

So Paddock, who played in 85 NHL games for Washington, Philadelphia and Quebec, found himself paying closer attention to his coaches -- Larry Wilson in Richmond, Bob McCammon and Tom McVie in Maine and Fred Shero and Pat Quinn in Philadelphia.

"We had to listen because we weren't great players," Busniuk said. "We learned lots about coaches, players and systems."

From McCammon, Paddock learned how to communicate well with players -- "He had a unique way of getting you to want to play for him" -- and from McVie, he learned discipline and "how to carry yourself as a professional."

But it was Quinn's innovation that piqued Paddock's interest in coaching.

"I don't think you ever know it's something you're going to be good at," Paddock said. "Pat Quinn was a student of the game, and I hadn't really seen that before. He was ahead of his time a little bit."

After nearly 500 AHL victories, others have said the same about Paddock.

Olczyk, now coaching the Pittsburgh Penguins, lists Paddock among his mentors and even tried to recruit him two years ago as an assistant coach, and first-year Binghamton coach Dave Cameron has found working with Paddock as his co-coach during the lockout to be invaluable.

"He's very methodical," Cameron said. "He doesn't do or speak without thinking. And he's a good listener whenever we're discussing or debating something."

Said Paddock, "You don't win without good players and good teams. I'll probably think more about (500) down the road. I just feel fortunate to have a chance to do it."

WINNING IN WINNIPEG

Victory No. 1 came March 24, 1982, when, still playing for Maine, he filled in after McCammon was called to Philadelphia. Nine seasons and two Calder Cups later, he got the chance of a lifetime:To coach in the NHL near his hometown.

Paddock was raised on a 480-acre farm in tiny Oak River, Manitoba, about three hours northwest of Winnipeg. So it was a dream in 1991 when he was hired to coach the Jets, a small-market club transforming its hard-nosed style to finesse with young Europeans.

"He came with an old-school approach," said Carlyle, now coaching AHL Manitoba. "He understood the players' attitudes, and he demanded a good work ethic from every guy."

Said Olczyk, "Ninety-nine percent of the players thought the world of him."

Paddock's Jets were nothing if not worldly. By 1992, they had Swedish winger Tomas Steen and defenseman Frederik Olausson, Finnish defenseman Teppo Numminen and Russian rookies Alexei Zhamnov and Evgeny Davydov.

But the star was "The Finnish Flash," 22-year-old winger Teemu Selanne, who shattered an NHL rookie record with 76 goals.

The Jets made back-to-back playoff appearances from 1991-93, and Paddock took over as GM in the 1993-94 season. But he felt he couldn't still pay enough attention to coaching, so he removed himself from the bench and hired Terry Simpson during the 1994-95 season.

"I regret in a way trying to do both jobs for a while," Paddock said. "You can't do justice to either of them that way."

There have been other disappointments. Paddock was twice passed over for the Rangers' coaching job and criticized by New York general manager Glen Sather for not developing enough young players in Hartford.

And last season, malcontented enforcer Dennis Bonvie became a distraction to the Senators until Paddock requested he be suspended and ultimately traded. But even Bonvie raves about the coach with whom he clashed.

"John's the reason I came to play there, and he knows that," Bonvie said. "He always treated me great. Having to do it again, my communication skills with John could've been better. But that's my fault."

THE FAMILY GUY

Two hours before a Jan. 18 game against Norfolk, Paddock learned his father, John, died of heart problems related to complications from hip surgery. Three hours and a 6-3 victory later, his players, many of whom were shocked he even coached the game, presented him with the puck before he returned to Manitoba for the funeral.

"I don't know if I've still dealt completely with the death of a man who was very important to me," Paddock said. "My dad supported us and got us to things, whether it was sports or whatever. He lived for his children."

Paddock has tried to do the same with his four daughters. And while almost nothing means more to Paddock than coaching hockey games, family takes precedence over everything.

Even his team's next victory as he climbs the ladder toward No. 500.

"The way he talks about his family and the way he always makes time for them, just seeing how he handles himself, he's taught me a lot," Olczyk said. "He's a special individual."