When former head coach Jeff Blashill was introduced as the new coach of the Detroit Red Wings, he left one tough act to follow. 134 wins in 228 games(three seasons), a .638 winning percentage, and a record of 7-2 in nine playoff series, winning a Calder Cup in his 2012-13 rookie season. Who could take the reigns and aid in the development of Detroit’s deep prospect pool?
Enter Todd Nelson, former head coach of the Oklahoma City Barons and Edmonton Oilers. A former player, Nelson played only three games in the NHL, playing in the WHL, IHL, AHL, DEL, SM-Lliga, and UHL. Quite a lot of miles covered for the now 46-year old. Interestingly enough, Nelson played for the Griffins for three seasons when they were in the IHL and seven games when they moved to the AHL in 2001-02. In 306 AHL games, as a defenseman he totaled 168 points.
He started his coaching trek with the Muskegon Fury of the UHL as a player-assistant that same year when he was sent down. He went back up to the AHL with the team he played for just a year before in 2002-03 as an assistant coach for the Griffins. After serving as an assistant for a year in Grand Rapids, he one-upped Jeff Blashill in a way when he had a similar move from assistant to head coach, just at a different level when he took over as head coach of the Fury. Not only did he win the Coloniel Cup in his rookie season of 2003-04, he did it again the next year in 2004-05. In 232 games coached(three seasons) Nelson posted a 149-58-25 record.
He would serve as an assistant in the AHL for the Chicago Wolves for the next two seasons, the 2nd season being a Calder Cup title team with head coach John Anderson, who won five championships in three different leagues. Making the jump to the NHL in 2008, Anderson brought Nelson with him to the Atlanta Thrashers, serving on a staff that saw two of the last three seasons of the franchise’s existence. They missed the playoffs both seasons and went separate ways, leading Nelson to his current job with the Oklahoma City Barons when he took over as head coach in 2010. Through four seasons plus 25 games this season, he posted a 176-111-46 record and .609 winning percentage. The Calder Cup was elusive for him however, suffering two Conference Final losses and two first round exits. Through his time in OKC, he’s coached names like Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Mark Arcobello, Jeff Petry, and Martin Marincin.
Getting his long-awaited NHL head coaching job this season in Edmonton, the team was literally in shambles. Head coach Dallas Eakins was fired and the team was 7-19-5. Nelson took over and the team played their best hockey of the season. In 51 games, the team went 17-25-9. Not much to write home about, but with the roster of the Oilers and what management gave Nelson to work with, it was pretty remarkable. The players were very approving of Nelson’s coaching style, particularly former number one pick Nail Yakupov and some veterans.
“It’s not a question for me, it’s not my decision, but all I can say is Nellie gave me a second life this year. He gave me a really good chance, a really good opportunity, to be Nail Yakupov. I’m really happy for that. He gave me support. He was really positive to me and to our team. He gave me and the whole team extra life. It was an amazing feeling in the locker room the way we talked to each other, the way we talked to the coach. We changed a couple of things. It seems like we were a better team.”
-Nail Yakupov
“I thought he was awesome, he was great. I’m pretty sure if you ask anyone in the room they would say the same thing – he’s been really positive on us. He really changed the way we approach the game from the beginning of the year until now. It’s just unfortunate he’s been put in a pretty bad situation, a lot of injuries, a lot of guys going down, that’s tough for anyone, but Todd has been great.”
-Benoit Pouliot
“From Day 1 we talked about earning trust. We had to earn his trust and he had to earn our trust. He came in with the mentality that we can be a winning hockey club. Some of the changes I thought really benefitted us were our practice habits, executing in practice, forcing us to keep practice at a higher pace, more of a game pace so that when we got to games execution was a little bit better. And he was very good at managing our team, managing individuals, understanding how one player learns a little bit differently than another player and he was able to utilize strengths and weaknesses up and down the lineup.”
-Matt Hendricks
Sounds like a very personal individual focused on understanding each player on the team from the first liner to the 13th forward, similar to how Blashill was personal with his players developing good relationships throughout his tenure. With a prospect pool that includes players like Anthony Mantha, Dylan Larkin, Xavier Ouellet, and Andreas Athanasiou, having a bench boss that understands the high-level talent that the future Wings possess is critical in their development.
With Nelson’s pedigree and experience throughout all the leagues he played and coached in in addition to his coaching attitude, the organization could not have found a better successor to Blashill for the Griffins and their younger players.
Once training camp rolls around, it will be interesting to see Nelson’s “trust” philosophy put into work.
Quotes courtesy of the Edmonton Sun
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