Trust me

'Canes prove importance of player-coach relationship

Coaches coach and players play. Sounds simple, but that balance is often skewed, especially in this day and age of personal stats equating to mega-dollar, multi-year contracts. Consequently, a move down to the third or fourth line typically elicits more than a player's displeasure.

Nowadays, the likely repercussions of taking a forward out of the top-six mix ranges from strained relations between player and coach to a forced trade. In between, banter back and forth in the press by the coach and player in question serves as the drama of the moment in said locale.

Nowhere was that more evident than in New York early this season when rookie Rangers coach Bryan Trottier demoted slumping center Eric Lindros. The local scribes duly chronicled the rather immediate conciliatory moments between player and coach. Trottier summarily reunited Lindros with Pavel Bure on what was ostensibly the Rangers' top line, only to split the pair again this past weekend. The shift from first to fourth was all for naught. The hope was to inspire Lindros. Instead, he mostly brooded, and Trottier relented.

On a much smaller stage in Calgary, coach Greg Gilbert refused to play center Marc Savard -- a guy who has posted respectable offensive numbers over the past few seasons -- despite the Flames losing six of seven at the time, scoring three goals, and being shut out four times in the process. GM Craig Button finally dealt Savard to Atlanta for a prospect, with Gilbert's stubbornness and Calgary's losing predicament diminishing Savard's market value.

The two examples are exact opposites -- a coach giving in before his message can resonate, and a coach who possibly let personal conviction get in the way of what's best for the team. Neither situation was all that attractive -- even in resolution. That's why coach Paul Maurice's decision and Jeff O'Neill's response over the last three games for the Carolina Hurricanes were so refreshing.

Maurice wanted better balance on his top three lines, and he wanted more offensive presence from O'Neill. To accomplish both, Maurice took O'Neill off the top line and moved him to the third line. On the surface, it might be hard to understand how such a move would get a guy going offensively, but that is precisely what happened.

In part, the plan worked because Maurice spreads the ice time around among his four lines. Also, O'Neill still gets significant minutes on the power play with usual linemates Ron Francis and Sami Kapanen, so his time as a third-liner was confined to even-strength action.

Yet O'Neill's reaction to the move is noteworthy. He did not pout, spout, or play with doubt. On the contrary, he came out and had a season-high 11 shots on goal and then followed it up with the game-winning goal in a thrilling come-from-behind victory over the Detroit Red Wings -- the only regular-season rematch of last spring's Stanley Cup Finals on the schedule.

Maurice commented that the 11-shot performance was O'Neill's best of the season. His subsequent play against Detroit and the following night in Columbus proves the comment was far from self-serving. Maurice's motives were team-based and O'Neill's positive play is that of a player in tune with his responsibility to his teammates.

That is why this regular-season adjustment -- one of countless maneuvers forthcoming during a long and arduous regular season -- stands out. The coach pushed the right button at the right time for the right player. The player acted out of trust -- both in the coach and himself.

This seemingly inconsequential saga underscores why the 'Canes are the NHL's definitive "the whole being greater than the sum of its parts" outfit. No one is bigger than team -- not the coach or any one player. There is a unified sense of purpose and a leadership capacity that extends throughout the lineup. There is a maturity about them -- a lead-by-example aura -- that sets the 'Canes apart in the East. Maybe it's that certain sense of knowing that comes from growing together and reaching new heights as the 'Canes did last spring.

Jeff O'Neill was back on a line with Francis and Kapanen in the waning moments of Saturday night's victory at Columbus -- the trio on the ice to try to close out yet another close victory for the Hurricanes. But his dignified and competitive response to a challenge posed by coach Maurice earlier in the week clearly demonstrated that he was -- and Carolina is -- up to the task.

 

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