#he's also won the swiss league and the CHL

[theflyingfeeling]

the love of my entire life

[ledenews]

Nailers Name New Coach

The Wheeling Nailers are mired in the second-longest playoff drought in organization history. Only the five-season absence from 1998-99 through 2002-03 spans longer. The team needed to hire a new coach with a winning pedigree. Safe to say Nailers’ Governor Don Rigby can cross that off his to-do list. Wheeling announced Monday that veteran coach Mark French has been named the team’s new leader. “After a long search, I’m excited to announce Mark French as your new head coach and director of hockey operations,” Rigby said. “He’s had tremendous success as a head coach throughout his career, both in putting winnings teams on the ice and developing NHL Talent. “We believe he will be instrumental in leading the team back to the playoffs while working to get our younger players ready for the next level.” No pressure, right? But French has won everywhere he’s been.

Wheeling Nailers Governor Don Rigby announced French's hiring during a Zoom press conference Monday afternoon.

Coaching History

French’s first head coach position was as Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. His Golden Hawks finished above .500 for two seasons, improving total goal and win outputs. He stopped in the ECHL for a season to assist Atlantic City before taking a CHL head job with Wichita. The Thunder made the postseason two of his three years. French then joined the AHL’s Hershey Bears as an assistant in 2008 and then as head coach in 2009. Both teams were Calder Cup champions, with the 2009 team winning an AHL record 60 games. Hershey’s record stood at 182-100-32 under French’s direction with one Calder trophy and four postseason appearances. His .627 winning percentage is third in AHL history among coaches with at least 300 games. Most recently, French coached HC Fribourg Gottéron in Switzerland’s NLA, the ‘A’ division of the Swiss National League. Ready to return to North America, French felt the Wheeling organization, the Class AA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, was a great fit. “You always look at your career as a coach in stages, and, going into the future, I wanted to return to North America and coach,” French said. “It’s been a dream of mine to come back and coach in the North American game, and I was looking for opportunities where I could challenge myself and work for an organization that allowed me to be successful. “The relationship between Wheeling and Pittsburgh was a big determining factor.”

New Nailers head coach Mark French answers a question during the Zoom press conference Monday.

Style of Play

French believes a key component for winning hockey is team identity. He’s worked to establish that at every stop along the way, and Wheeling will be no different. “The players and fans will have an understanding of how the team will perform any given night,” French said. “Competitiveness and speed are two things that are important to me. “I think they are representative of the current Pittsburgh Penguins and some of their philosophies.” The Penguins utilize their speed to play hard on the puck and force teams into making mistakes. Ideally, that is a similar brand of hockey to what French will implement in Wheeling. The coach knows, however, that a good coach also adapts his system to the skillset of his players. “You have to be adaptable,” French said. “Some of that is dictated by the players that you have and the ability of the coach to see what the groups strengths are and how to best utilize that in terms of system and structure. “You want a set of values for your team to play with, but it’s also important to pick the right style of the players that you have.”

Speaking of Playing

Rigby was asked the situation surrounding the 2020-21 ECHL season. The League is in a similar boat as other professional sports leagues. The current season was shortened and ultimately canceled by COVID-19. The status of the next season is still a topic of discussion. “We are trying to get that figured out,” Rigby said. “The executive committee talks on a regular basis, about two meetings a week. “We are working toward coming to a decision and hopefully get started pretty close to right on time, or even right on time.” On-time would mean Nailers’ hockey in October, a welcome sight for fans thirsty for game action and hoping, with the winning pedigree infused into the organization, that playoff hockey will return to WesBanco Arena next season. Read the full article

[junker-town]

2017 NHL Draft Profile: Nico Hischier is the most explosive player in the class

Meet Switzerland’s greatest prospect ever and the most gifted player in the 2017 NHL Draft.

If Nolan Patrick is the most well-rounded prospect in the 2017 NHL Draft, then Swiss megastar Nico Hischier is its most exciting raw talent.

After making his World Juniors debut and torching Switzerland’s top under-20 junior league (where he won the championship and led the playoffs in assists) in 2015-2016 with 37 points in 27 combined regular season and playoff games as a 16-year-old, Hischier made the move to North America this season.

After being taken sixth overall in the CHL Import Draft, Hischier joined the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League where he was the league’s best young player by a wide margin, finishing first among rookies in all of points (86), goals (38), and assists (48) in just 57 games on route to winning Rookie of the Year and the Mike Bossy Trophy as the league’s best professional prospect. Hischier’s 86 points were 12 more than the next closest under-18 player in the QMJHL (Antoine Morand) despite playing 10 fewer games). His 1.51 points per game was good for fourth in the QMJHL behind Daniel Sprong (Penguins, 46th overall in 2015), Vitalii Abramov (Blue Jackets, 66th overall in 2016) and Filip Chlapik (Senators, 48th overall in 2015).

Internationally, he rejoined Team Switzerland at the World Juniors for the second time, nearly dragging them into the semis with a sensational performance against Team USA in the quarters. At the tournament, he picked up four goals and three assists for seven points in five games before he was named one of Switzerland’s three best players. After a two-goal effort against the Americans, Team USA head coach Bob Motzko called Hischier the best player they’d seen all tournament — high praise for a draft-eligible player in a tournament normally dominated by its eldest.

Along the way, he picked up 4.1 shots per game and developed at a startling pace, quickly emerging as one of the most gifted players in the class.

The Player

The crux of Hischier’s game rests in his ability as a skater and handler — those two traits open up the space and scoring chances for the rest of his skills to take over.

As a skater, Hischier is among the most dynamic forwards in the class. Not only is he explosive on a linear standstill, he’s also explosive laterally. When you match this with high-end pace, the ability to change directions and an elite top speed, and you’ve got a near perfect combo-skater. His stride is effortless and fluid, allowing him to quickly adjust in traffic.

While Hischier lacks the strength and size of a player like Patrick, his footwork and edgework allow him to shield himself from being overpowered — or avoid contact altogether. While his lack of strength can limit him in puck battles, Hischier takes a great deal of pride in his defensive game and works hard to come away with possession with his movement and stick work.

As a handler, Hischier excels on his forehand and backhand as one of the best puck carriers in the 2017 NHL Draft and someone who thrives with possession, cleanly beating good defenders — and often making them look foolish — in transition. With the puck, he’s an incredibly poised, sometimes too cerebral handler. But with time and space, which he often creates for himself by pushing back defenders or gaining separation with his skating, Hischier’s extremely dangerous (especially on the powerplay, where he can man the wall and the point).

His game isn’t limited to his ability as a high-end skater or carrier though. Hischier’s movement away from the puck draws attention with its aggression, opening up space for teammates. At his best, when he’s making quick, decisive moves away from the puck, Hischier can torment teams in the offensive zone. And because he’s such a strong skater, and he’s committed to the defensive end, Hischier does a wonderful job getting back in transition to apply pressure and force turnovers through the neutral zone.

Hischier’s also a lethal shooter, who can score from distance with his one-timer (which is both hard and accurate) and in the heart of the slot with a quick, release that he likes to use high glove side.

Watch below as Hischier finishes off his back heel in transition:

Here’s the first of Hischier’s two goals last night. Noted NHL Draft snub Fortier with the drop pass: http://pic.twitter.com/dS9ny6ynSo

— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) January 12, 2017

And again, in the same game, extending through his body (from a standstill rather than in transition this time):

Here’s Hischier’s second goal, also on a one-timer. His shot has improved a lot, even just this year. http://pic.twitter.com/sorfnMyfeW

— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) January 12, 2017

The Result

Ultimately, Hischier has proven himself to be one of if not the most dynamic offensive player in the 2017 class (followed closely by Kailer Yamamoto and Eeli Tolvanen in that regard).

While he lacks the strength and size and possession-carrying ability of Patrick, Hischier has the skill necessary to be a first line player in the NHL, and someone who has established himself as the clearcut second best prospect in this year’s draft.

In Hischier, you have a player who is a lock to become the highest drafted Swiss-born player in NHL history, surpassing countryman Nino Niederreiter (fifth overall).

Note: Scott Wheeler is a senior scout with scouting service Future Considerations. He also formerly scouted the NHL draft for McKeen’s Hockey. This is part of a series of 2017 NHL Draft profiles he’ll be writing for SB Nation. You can follow him at @scottcwheeler.