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From the day John Hynes took over as head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, it was never about winning it all, winning a division or even winning the game.
It was only about winning the moment.
That’s why the Penguins wound up winning more games than anyone else in the AHL and more in one season than any team in franchise history before them.
“It starts with establishing good habits, first and foremost,” Hynes said, diagramming his coaching philosophy the way he’d draw up a power play. “Then you want to be a tough and hard team to play against.”
The Penguins, who skate into the AHL Playoffs at 58-21-0-1, were the most difficult team to beat because they don’t beat themselves.
They play tenacious defense, go non-stop on offense and boast the best goaltending tandem around in Brad Thiessen and John Curry. But effort and skill alone don’t always make a season special. It takes a top coach to put a team over the top.
“All year, the guys have been on the same page,” Penguins center and fan favorite Zach Sill said. “That’s a tribute to the way he (Hynes) coaches and the leadership in the room.”
The leadership for the Penguins starts with the young man standing behind the bench.
At the age of 36, Hynes took over the Penguins this season as a rookie head coach in the AHL only – he had plenty of experience coaching in the United States National Team Developmental Program and in IIHF International play. His Under-18 national teams won gold, silver and bronze medals.
It’s not hard to see why, as Hynes takes tremendous pride in teaching hockey. Whether he’s working with kids or working the Penguins to first place, there’s no kidding around when it comes to proper execution.
No wonder he won the AHL award for this season’s outstanding coach.
“There’s not a day that goes by where he’s not competitive,” Penguins forward Ryan Schnell said. “Every team function, he wants to win.”
Mainly, he wants his players to show winning play, whether or not that means victory at the end of the night.
“He does things to make you better,” Schnell said. “Doesn’t matter if it’s 4-on-4 in practice, an off day or a work day. If you even slip up for a second, he’s on you.”
It’s why the Penguins are on course right now to win the first Calder Cup in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 13-year history, with home-ice advantage locked up throughout the playoffs.
That accomplishment seems amazing, considering the Penguins regularly shuffled their roster throughout the season – and lost their top seven scoring forwards to parent Pittsburgh at one time.
They still kept going, non-stop.
“The regular season is building hits and building a mindset and building a culture that needs to come out in the playoffs,” Hynes said.
It is there where having Hynes, well on his way to being the best coach Wilkes-Barre/Scranton ever had, can pay dividends for the Penguins.
“I think it’s just an ingredient that’s been missing here,” Schnell said of the style Hynes brings to the Penguins. “Teams before us have made cases for themselves in the playoffs, teams that were close.
“I think guys, when they are here, expect to win every night.”
They win the play, win the shift, then win the game. It’s the perfect strategy and mindset to win a Calder Cup.