Hockey Canada president Tom Renney said the coaching staff was selected because of their work habits and attention to detail.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
As Barry Trotz drove to the rink on Thursday, he called the coach he'd be facing that night, Claude Julien of the Boston Bruins, to talk about working together over the next year.
Trotz is one of three newcomers joining Julien on Mike Babcock's Canadian coaching staff for the World Cup of Hockey. The Washington Capitals coach, Joel Quenneville of the Chicago Blackhawks and Bill Peters of the Carolina Hurricanes bring some fresh blood and new ideas to a tournament that'll be different from the Olympics.
"I also think the turnover in the staff is great for Hockey Canada. There's so many great coaches here," Canadian general manager Doug Armstrong said. "The way that Mike's going to organize his staff, I think everyone's going to have a legitimate role and a strong purpose."
It's an all-star cast with a smaller collective profile than Babcock's group in Sochi that included Julien, Ken Hitchcock and Lindy Ruff, with Ralph Krueger serving as a consultant. Quenneville, of course, brings plenty of heft with his three Stanley Cup rings.
But Trotz and Peters were surprise choices, maybe even to the coaches themselves. Trotz expected Hockey Canada to keep things status quo after Sochi but jumped at the opportunity when Armstrong and Babcock asked.
"I think it'll be a great learning experience for myself, continue to grow," Trotz said by phone. "I think I probably have some things I can offer to the group as well. … There's probably a new voice here and there just to continue to grow and continue to get fresh ideas."
Trotz, who served as an assistant at the world championships four times, is already thinking ahead to how different the World Cup will be from that tournament and the Olympics.
"We're coming into a tournament where you look at the Olympics or even the world championships, where players are coming in having played a whole year or are on top of their game halfway through the year," Trotz said. "Here we're coming into almost a training-camp situation, so it's a sprint out of the gate in terms of if you can have success real quickly, then you'll probably have success throughout the whole tournament because it's very short."
Babcock said he welcomes new ideas and isn't afraid to have other strong coaches working under and with him. He pointed to former assistants-turned-NHL-head-coaches Peters, Paul MacLean, Todd McLellan and Jeff Blashill as examples of that.
"You're trying to evolve each and every year, you're trying to get better," Babcock said. "Whoever has the best idea, we go on with it. It's not the Mike Babcock way, it'll be Team Canada's way."
Babcock got his way on one decision already, bringing Peters onto the staff. He wanted to have someone who worked as an assistant under him be part of this, and Peters's recent experience in that job should help him fill the Krueger role of pre-scouting opponents.
Armstrong wasn't too familiar with the Carolina Hurricanes' coach until he did some research, but Hockey Canada president Tom Renney worked with him on Babcock's staff in Detroit and said Peters and Trotz would bring something special to the World Cup.
"Work habits aren't lost on either of these guys – attention to detail, either," Renney said. "The fact of the matter is, they're head coaches in the National Hockey League for a reason. I think there'll be terrific synergy with this group."
There's a chance to make already good relationships even stronger while preparing for the first World Cup of Hockey since 2004. Peters is coming off a gold medal as an assistant under McLellan at the worlds as Canada went undefeated in Prague.
He still feels he has plenty to learn.
"They're all high-, high-end coaches and it's an opportunity to talk hockey with some of the best coaches in the NHL currently, in my opinion," Peters said by phone. "They've all been at it a long time. They've got years of experience on me, so I'm definitely going to go in there as a coach and be able to leave there as a better coach."
Renney said there was some thought given to looking ahead to the 2018 and 2022 Olympics for the next generation of Canadian coaches but that this group was put together to win this tournament. There is certainly no shortage of choices even counting those left off, including Alain Vigneault and McLellan, who will coach the 23-and-under Team North America.