The NHL Redux: Adam Oates, tutor for the stars

Adam Oates has unearthed a solution to the cold, unforgiving world that is coaching in the NHL and stepped into one free of players who protest with their performance, and executives that deflect their own missteps.

Entrepreneurship, baby.

Oates has been out of the league for eight months now, but, in many ways, the 19-year veteran and former Washington Capitals coach has never been more involved. He's not-so-secretly available for hire as a specialized skills savant, providing council to a growing list of customers looking to extract optimal performance from their pre-existing talent bases.

His tentacles reach all corners of the NHL. And the time-honored tactics that helped him score 1,420 points in his playing career are being spread throughout the league and ingrained in the minds of many of the biggest stars, using his unique, progressive approach.

"I'm innovative in terms of how I teach it," Oates told theScore, "but it's old school skills."

Like most ideas in sport, this one was stolen. From the couch.

It started when Oates was approached by former players in the playoffs last spring. He declined their requests to assess their performances, as, at the time, he was employed by the New Jersey Devils. But when incoming general manager Ray Shero opted to bring in his own staff, Oates reconnected with former pupils, sharing his notes.

Then, rather oddly - during a Cleveland Cavaliers postseason broadcast - Oates had his light bulb moment. The announcers were going on about LeBron James' side work with a personalized skills coach who, separate from the coaching staff with Cleveland, tutored the mega-star on minute, often inappreciable aspects of basketball and his performance.

This is Oates' nexus.

"We talk about execution and skills and angles and all the stick work," Oates said. "This is all the stuff that when I coached them, they all liked. It's one of the niches that I have."

Oates continued, explaining that the power, speed, and the relative ease to which players generate such great force in the "composite generation" has come at the expense of the finer details.

And in his mind, that's what separates the talented from the remarkable.

"If you look at our league right now, all we talk about is there's no offence, right? We got a guy with a 26-game point streak. (Patrick Kane) doesn't skate fast, isn't big and strong, doesn't shoot it hard. And to me, he's our Wayne Gretzky. This (generation's) Wayne Gretzky.

"What a shock how when you can control the puck at all times how much better a position you're in, and how much better your vision is. Is that old school? Yeah," he laughed.

Oates' job is more complex than that of LeBron's shooting guru, though.

In hockey, it's difficult to isolate a fixed skill, such as the push pattern on a jump shot, which can be broken down at the biomechanical level to resuscitate its rhythm.

It's a highly-unpredictable, system-oriented game in which decisions made with the puck are with the team's unique and practiced schemes in mind. And while Oates isn't working to interfere with systems, (for instance, Teddy Purcell rather innocently cut three inches off his stick by his advice), it would be naive to think that there wouldn't be philosophical discordance between team and tutor, at least to some degree.

Oates says he hasn't received backlash from those that cut cheques to the athletes he handles. But there are coaches wary of third-party counsel perhaps going beyond tweaking of technique, as well as the overall optics associated with having players seek guidance elsewhere.

But Oates maintains, his intent is to build up an asset, not drive a wedge.

"That's the first thing in the mission statement," he said. "I won't talk about his coaches and I won't talk about the systems. I'm trying to make a player better. If he's better on the ice, that helps his coach. That helps his GM. If they become better players, they become more tradeable assets, don't they?"

He added, "The last thing I want any coach to think is that I'm trying to sabotage him. No way."

Oates is thoroughly enjoying his venture into personal business. In fact, he turned down three assistant coaching gigs over the summer, preferring to explore this stage of his career a little further.

And he's seen it boom.

Steven Stamkos, Zach Parise, and Mark Scheifele are among 16 athletes on his roster. He held one-on-one sessions with each this summer, and continues to offer in-season counsel, watching games, monitoring tendencies, exchanging messages, and coaching-up those who invested into his expertise. The communication is catered to the individual, whether they want daily updates, or information just once in a while.

He is willing, though, to jump back onto the NHL coaching carousel for the right lead opportunity.

A decision no doubt made easier by having a successful business venture to fall back on.

THE TEN

10. Nikita Kucherov - It was brutal start to what was intended be a massive season for Kucherov, but the young Bolt has ramped up his performance of late for the injury-ravaged Lightning. He scored three of Tampa Bay's seven goals this week, and has five in as many games.

9. Boston Bruins - Five points in three games is quite good, but it's the pair in Montreal that stands out. Boston snapped a seven-game losing skid versus their arch rivals with three unanswered goals in the third period.

8. Jim Benning - Nope. Not for calling out the Leafs for their handling of Frank Corrado, but for being wise enough to lend Jake Virtanen to Hockey Canada.

7. Jeff Skinner - Now up to 11 goals, Skinner is quietly having a bounce-back season, at least in terms of goal scoring. His four tallies were more than any other player this week.

6. Braden Holtby - In another triple-digit week worth of saves, Holtby is now 11-0-1 in his last 12 starts. The Vezina goes through Washington, right now.

5. New York Islanders - The Isles are creeping up on Holtby's Capitals in the Metro, winning in regulation, overtime, and a shootout this week to improve to 8-0-2 over their last 10.

4. Rasmus Ristolainen - The Sabres' emerging star prolonged the recent run on defensemen with hat tricks, becoming the first Buffalo blue-liner since Phil Housley to net three.

3. Corey Crawford - A brilliant week for Crawford, who helped the Blackhawks chase down the Blues by allowing just one goal in three starts.

2. Patrick Kane - Oates probably said it best.

1. Alberta - It's been a tremendous run for the Oil. Jordan Eberle has come alive and Taylor Hall crept into the top four in NHL scoring during the team's six-game win streak. But don't forget about their southern rivals. The Flames have won five in a row themselves, and have become almost unbeatable both at home and in overtime.

THE TAKES

1. Marian Hossa skated in his 1200th game this week. Impressive, not remarkable. Until you check his postseason log.

He's just 14 games (two seven-game series!!) away from matching Gretzky for his career postseason games total.

2. This week in significant goaltending starts for one's psyche: Cam Talbot made 47 saves in an overtime win over the Bruins.

3. The Maple Leafs are reportedly planning to unveil a new logo and uniform design for their centennial season.

What better way to celebrate 100 years of tradition.

4. Kane needs to score at better than a point-per-game pace to break the 100-point threshold.

He's failed to record a point in 2-of-31 games.

5. Alex Ovechkin might just miss the Capitals-Penguins rivalry.

6. Anton Khudobin was placed on waivers by the Ducks, and then passed over by the Coyotes, who would apparently prefer 8-to-10 weeks of Anders Lindback.

Not a good week for Anton Khudobin.

7. Five points separate the Canadiens and Red Wings in the Atlantic. Thirty points separate them in goal differential.

8. Keep the Auston Matthews highlights coming, please. In case you missed his latest.

9. T.J. Oshie doesn't get nearly enough attention for his level of nasty.

10. The Penguins really nailed it with the Pascal Dupuis tribute.

I wouldn't expect one, Mike Johnston.