Of Burnett, Hunter & Nolan

Hockey certainly has undergone considerable change over the years, particularly in recent times. And that especially applies to coaches.

Fighting has all but disappeared from the game. Thus, for example, teams at the Ontario Hockey League and National Hockey League levels no longer feel the need to employ goons.

The emphasis is now on speed. There is again room for the small, fast forwards and the quick, puck-moving defenseman.

Team defense is still a must, though it’s more now about forwards being able to play the 200-foot game than it is the plodding, six-foot-3 defenseman staying home and minding the store.

As the game now emphasizes speed, skill and smarts (hence the term “hockey IQ”), coaches have had to change with the times.

Most coaches who were coaching 20 to 30 years ago who are still coaching now can no longer coach the way they used to.

As well, today’s coach can no longer lead players in an iron-fisted way. Yes, they can instill, preach and demand discipline and accountability — but it needs to be done in a more player-friendly way for a coach to get the most out of his skaters.

Good examples of good, older coaches who have changed and kept up with the times are two of the best in the entire OHL — 57-year old George Burnett of the Guelph Storm and 59-year old Dale Hunter of the London Knights.

Burnett got his first head coaching gig in the OHL back in 1989 at the age of 28. Since then, he has coached in the NHL and returned to coach in the OHL with a number of teams, now Guelph.

In fact, after being fired as coach and general manager of the Hamilton Bulldogs a few seasons back, Burnett took a year off from coaching to focus solely on being the GM of the Flint Firebirds.

After a year in Flint as GM only, Burnett returned to the bench two years ago as coach (and GM) in Guelph. Last season, his second in Guelph, he led the Storm to the OHL championship with a brilliant display of coaching.

This season, in what was supposed to be a rebuilding term, Burnett has the surprising Storm in serious contention in the hotly-contested Western Conference.

Then there is Hunter in London. After an NHL playing career of more than 1,500 games, Hunter turned to coaching in the OHL with London in 2001 at age 41.

Eighteen years later, Hunter has changed with the rules and the style of play in the game and continues to have the Knights as an OHL powerhouse. In fact, Hunter has changed with the game in such a way that at age 59, he will coach Team Canada at this year’s World Junior Championships.

Up in the NHL, Sault Ste. Marie native Paul Maurice has certainly changed with the times.

Now 52 years old, Maurice was a head coach in the OHL at age 26 and a bench boss in the NHL at age 28. Maurice will say that, besides changing with the style of play over the years, he has also become more “player friendly” with his Winnipeg Jets team.

On another note, I wonder if Ted Nolan could still coach effectively. Now I am not sure if Ted still has aspirations of coaching in the OHL or the NHL.

But I am thinking that if the 61-year old Nolan wanted to coach in the OHL or NHL — and if some team would hire him — that he would again have success.

When Nolan was an OHL championship coach with the Soo Greyhounds more than 25 years ago before going on to have overachieving NHL teams with the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders, he already was a “player friendly” coach.

While coaches of his time in the OHL and NHL were hard-asses, Nolan was a supreme motivator who was very well liked by the majority of his players, who worked hard and went to the wall for him.

Simply put, “Teddy”, as many of his players referred to him in fond fashion, had a well-earned reputation for getting the most out of his teams.

Personally, I would love to see Nolan coach again in the OHL, be it with the Greyhounds or some other team.

A positive motivator back when he was coaching the Greyhounds to three straight OHL championships, Nolan could well bring his upbeat ways to a team today.

If Burnett can coach in the OHL with success at age 57 and if Hunter can coach in the OHL with success at age 59, why can’t Nolan do the same at age 61?

PHOTO: Ted Nolan, while coaching in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres. (Photo by Postmedia.)