MIKE JOHNSTON TALKS NHL AND WHL

MIKE JOHNSTON TALKS NHL AND WHL

By: Matthew Blittner

With the WHL playoffs underway, the Portland Winterhawks are hoping to get past Round One.

With the return of g.m./ coach Mike Johnston, after a stint as head coach of the NHL’s  Penguins, the rebuilding Winterhawks have increased their timetable and are looking to regain their elite status in the WHL.

Coach Johnston was gracious enough to chat with yours truly about his thoughts on:

   1.           Transitioning from the NHL back to Juniors

2.           How their season went as compared to how they thought it would go

3.       His current and former players

THOUGHTS ON THE SEASON: “We had a very young group returning, and I wasn’t familiar with a lot of the players. There were a few holdovers from before I went to Pittsburgh, such as 20-year old, Keegan Iverson. Coming into the season, a big thing that concerned me was the ability to score. Our leading scorer from last year had 11 goals and in total we only had 86 goals returning. I believe at this level to have a top team your goal projections for the season need to be in the 270 range.

“We lost a lot of players to the AHL and the NHL. Our ability to play a fast-paced attacking-style had to be developed over the year. Right now we’re fourth in the league in scoring. That’s a big plus. But I also knew, coming into the season without any goaltenders with WHL experience, that it was going to be a challenge from that perspective. It has been a challenge throughout the year. Our defensive play has improved and our goaltenders have been more consistent, but it has been a work in progress. Our focus is to move our goals against number down while maintaining    our    tempo    and     attacking     style.”  

BIGGEST  CHALLENGE  MOVING  FROM  NHL  TO   JUNIORS: “Well the transition was easy; it’s still a head coaching position. I’m familiar with the organization. A lot of the staff  was here. I hired one assistant, Coach Oliver David from Dubuque. Along with Kyle Gustafson now we have two very good young coaches who have a strong teaching and development background. The transition was quite easy on the g.m. and coaching front.

“My focus was getting to know both the players on our protected list and the players around the league who had changed over the time I had been away. Our organization was in more of a rebuild- ing phase after six years of being a top team in the Conference. We decided at the beginning of the year that we were going to make a commitment to our youth, and started the season with ten 16 and 17-year old players. Almost half our team was in that age

bracket, and that’s a commitment we’ve stuck with throughout the year. We were going to build around the 1999, 2000 born players and hopefully by Christmas that group would have matured and we’d be a playoff threat.”

EVOLUTION   OF   PORTLAND   INTO   LEADING JUNIOR LEAGUE CITY: “Well it’s a combination of a couple things. It starts with a committed owner, Bill Gallacher, who allowed Travis Green and myself when we first came to Portland in 2008 to shape the organization with one philosophy. Everyone from the scouts to the hockey staff clearly understands how we want  to be and what our organization stands for. All our players go to high school or take College courses daily. We are firmly committed to schooling. On the ice, we focus on development with a lot of extra work for our defense and forwards. Rich Campbell, our athletic therapist and strength and conditioning coach, works on the player’s physical development and nutrition daily. We even work out at home after every game.

“Because of our focus on development we’ve been very fortunate to produce quite a few professional hockey players. This year we are up to 34 players who have graduated in the last eight years and signed NHL deals. A big reason players come here, or parents want to send their kids here, is because of the success of the players of the past that have gone on to live their dream to be drafted, and play professionally.

“On the business side, our President Doug Piper has done a phenomenal job to create a unique niche. We’re not the NBA team the Trailblazers. We’re not the Timbers - the soccer team. We’re a hockey organization that has young kids between 16-20  and it’s a very entertaining product. We’ve been able to get a lot of fans to attend our games and there’s been a great interest in our program. Those are our key things: our development model is to help players move on and because of that we’ve had continued success and been able to produce winning teams.”

WINTERHAWKS GRADUATES: “We’ve been very fortunate with several European players, whether it’s Nino Niederreiter, Sven Baertschi, or Oliver Bjorkstrand. Those players have come to get their first taste of hockey in North America in Portland, and it’s exciting to see how they’ve developed into very good NHL players. I think that process is going to continue this season with our young Finnish defenseman Henri Jokiharju, whom I believe will go in the top two rounds of the NHL draft for sure.

“There are other players that have developed through our system, like the first player we drafted after I took over in the organization, Derrick Pouliot. He’s one of several good young defense- men we’ve had come through our system, alongside guys like  Joe Morrow, Tyler Wotherspoon, and Seth Jones. Looking at the forward group, we’ve been fortunate to have players like Ryan Johansen, Ty Rattie, Nic Petan, Taylor Leier, Brendan Leipsic and Chase De Leo. There are so many players who have taken that step over the years from Portland to the professional ranks.”

THOUGHTS ON SETH JONES AND RYAN JOHANSEN: “It was interesting to see two players from the same junior team traded for each other, especially as young guys. Not very often do you see two high picks like that be traded for one another, and then for them to have been from the same junior organization was unique. They’re both top players, that both addressed the needs of the teams that they went to. Both are special players that you build your team around. Most elite teams are built around defensemen and centers; that’s what we’ve always done in Portland, we’ve always built our team that way.

“Seth only played one year with us, while Ryan played two, then they both turned pro at an early age. Both of those guys were very driven, focused, and had a lot of natural ability. As with any athlete, it’s just that they must round out their game. Whether it’s the little details in their game that they must round out to play at pro level. Both players, recognized that and took charge of their development.

CURRENT   TEAM   LEADERS   AND   POTENTIAL PROS:

“Caleb Jones, Seth’s brother, has been a real leader for us. He’s an Edmonton draft pick and he’s been outstanding. At Christmas, he represented USA and led them to a World Junior Championship against a tough Canadian team. From watching the  final game, he had the most ice time throughout regulation and overtime. Keegan Iverson, a Ranger draft pick that wasn’t signed, is our captain and has had a phenomenal year. He’s set career highs in every offensive category and I still believe he’s going to garner some pro interest.

“Turning to the younger guys, we have Cody Glass, who’s projected to go in the Top-15 at this summer’s NHL Draft. He’s a big center, like Ryan Johansen, and he’s a real leader for us even at his young age. In Junior hockey, you often see players take a big step in their second year, but to go from 27 pts to 94 was amazing. He’s a leader with our young guys, and his influence alongside Iverson and Jones has really helped carry them along.”

FUTURE PLANS: “That’s always tough to predict. I have en- joyed every experience offered me throughout my coaching career. Having the opportunity to gain additional management experience at the Junior level will help me if I ever  want to move in that direction after I finish coaching. For me right now, I enjoy coaching at the Junior level.

“I enjoy it for the simple reason that you get to impact elite players at a young age. I enjoy being involved in all aspects of coaching. When I started coaching at the University level, at that time, you were the head coach, the recruiter, the strength and conditioning coach, and even the sports psychologist, helping the players in every area of their development. I find at the Junior level, from when they come in at 16 to when they leave at 20, hopefully as a pro player, that they change, and that you can influence that change, both on and off the ice. That’s an exciting thing for me.”

FAVORITE PLAYER: “That’s tough because we had so many great players in Vancouver, L.A. and Pittsburgh where I had the opportunity to work at the NHL level. I often get asked how difficult is it to coach pros after being at the Junior and University levels. Coaching is coaching, and your job is to get the most out of your players. That’s the most rewarding part, and if at times it isn’t working then you try a new strategy. At the NHL level, the leaders I worked with like Markus Naslund and Trevor Linden in Vancouver, Rob Blake and Anze Kopitar in L.A. and Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh, were all special players and people.

“In Junior? That’s a tough one. We’ve had a lot of quality players over the years with our program. I always felt we had great chemistry and solid character. My favorites were the ones who pushed the limits to reach their potential. Some made it as pros while others have become successful in other professions.”

FONDEST MEMORY: “At the Junior level, my fondest memory would be sitting at the NHL draft and seeing some of our players get drafted, with their families there. That’s an exciting moment to see the culmination of all that hard work and sacrifice by the player and their family.

“At the NHL level, probably winning the first Division Championship with Vancouver, when we had so many tough battles with Colorado. Brian Burke and Dave Nonis did a great job building that program. As a recent head coach it would be coaching in Toronto and Montreal, where as a kid growing up in the Maritimes I used to stay up as late as I could to watch the games and dream of  one  day  being  in  the  league.” HOBBIES: “I like to work out. I enjoy golf, though I’m not good at it. Those would be the two things I have time for, be- sides family. I have a daughter Gabrielle in College and my son Adam is now working in Phoenix.”