Ramsay's teachings get their first test tonight
Craig Ramsay could easily pass for a schoolteacher.
The Thrashers coach looks like someone who could have spent the past 40 years on a campus rather than an ice hockey rink. Ramsay's ability to pass on knowledge has kept him in the game long after his 14-year NHL playing career ended. It's precisely the trait that made him the fifth head coach in Thrashers history, a tenure that officially will begin tonight in the season opener against Washington.
"He is widely regarded as an excellent teacher, and he is the right choice to help further develop our team and lead us to our ultimate goal," Thrashers general manager Rick Dudley said upon announcing the hire in June.
From the moment he was hired, Ramsay began teaching --- and more than just his up-tempo brand of hockey. He is a practitioner of the game, working with his charges on the smallest of details.
Zach Bogosian sat in the dressing room after a recent practice. The defenseman had not even finished undressing when Ramsay summoned him to a private meeting. Waiting for a Bogosian was a private film session from a recent exhibition game. It was complete with specific clips of his play, cut and assembled by the coach himself. There was documentation of gap control, stick work, even how to skate up ice.
"He says a lot of things that I have never been told before," Bogosian said, "things I've never even thought of or crossed my mind. . . . It's pretty simple stuff that you never really think about. He's making it aware to me, and that's what I have to work on."
Ramsay, 59, has spent nearly 40 years as a player, coach and talent evaluator for seven NHL teams --- Buffalo, Florida, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Boston and Atlanta. He has spent the past three weeks of training camp running up-tempo practices. However, he and his coaching staff of John Torchetti and Mike Stothers rarely miss a coaching moment. Defenseman Boris Valabik has raved about the time spent with the coaches and the hands-on knowledge they have imparted in a short time. Give the coach some raw video footage, and he can turn it into a lesson plan.
"One of the hardest things a coach will ever do is deprogram someone," Ramsay said. "That terminology covers a lot of things . . . if you are trying to take somebody who has done certain things for a period of time, and I say, 'I don't want you to do that anymore. I want you to do something else.' Every coach has to make his adjustments. The hardest part is to deprogram somebody and get them back together so they are on the same page and they don't have to think about what they are doing, they can just do it."
Ramsay's teaching ability was enough to persuade 14-year NHL veteran Fredrik Modin to sign with the Thrashers as a free agent in the offseason. The Thrashers wanted Modin's experience and leadership. Modin wanted to re-join Ramsay, as the two won a Stanley Cup together in Tampa Bay in 2004.
"It did," said Modin on Ramsay being a factor in his decision to join the Thrashers. "I'm not going to lie and say it didn't. I have great respect for this man. I've played for him in Tampa. Great hockey man. Very knowledgeable. Very good at teaching the way he wants the game to be played."
Bogosian also is quick to point out that Ramsay does not always harp on the negative for the need for improvement. He is just as quick with a compliment for a job well done.
Three weeks of training camp was not a long time for Ramsay to install a new system. He acknowledges it still is a work in progress.
"I love to teach them tomorrow, but habits [have] extended years, whether it's in juniors, the minors or the NHL, of doing particular things that I don't care for," Ramsay said. "I teach particular things that are a little bit different.
"The system I run, I think, is fairly simple, but it does require you to break down old habits and that's the hardest thing. ... I teach them to think [differently]."
Next for Thrashers
Who: vs. Capitals
When: 7:30 p.m. today
TV; radio: SPSO; 1230
The Thrashers open the season against a Southeast Division rival that has won the past eight meetings, including all six last season. The Capitals outscored the Thrashers 29-13 last season.
Ondrej Pavelec likely will start in goal for the Thrashers.
The new-look Thrashers open with a new head coach in Craig Ramsay and new players Dustin Byfuglien, Alexander Burmistrov, Nigel Dawes, Ben Eager, Andrew Ladd, Chris Mason, Freddy Meyer, Fredrik Modin, Brent Sopel and Anthony Stewart.
The Thrashers have won their past two season openers and are 4-5-1 in their 10 seasons.
