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SPEAK OF THE DEVILS PODCAST
Recchi Joins the Devils Organization
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Recchi joins the Devils after most recently serving behind the bench with the Penguins, where his club was top-five in power play in two of his three seasons as an assistant. But he now turns his sights on joining a Devils club with plenty of young talent and plenty of room to grow.
"I'm very excited," he said. "It's been a little process here meeting with Lindy (Ruff) and just looking at the young players they have and the future they have. And I'm just extremely excited about working with this team and working with the Devils organization and turning it into a championship team."
Recchi actually drove to Buffalo to meet with Ruff recently as part of the interview process.
"It was better in person," he said. "We just talked hockey and I showed him some of my thoughts on the power play and 5-on-5 forwards. How to work with young guys and we just kinda hit it off and it felt right. It felt comfortable."
One great fit for Recchi and the Devils is the fact that he enjoys working with younger players and emphasizes the development of talents. It's one of the areas of his coaching he has always enjoyed, even back before he was a coach.
"I love working with young guys," he said. "I even loved it when I played. As a player you're not intimidating. You're his teammate. As a coach, sometimes you have to break that barrier down a little bit and you have to make sure that he knows I'm on his side. And there might be conversations I have with them that just might have to stay with us. And the player has to trust you. And he has to trust that you have the right intentions for him and that's very important and it's important to me because I want to build those relationships. I want to build that trust and I've been pretty good at it for a long time, and I hope to continue that."
Recchi was a Development Coach for Pittsburgh for three seasons before becoming an Assistant. His philosophy seems to mesh well with Lindy Ruff, the Devils Head Coach, who has a history of getting the most out of young players and developing talent with an emphasis on building relationships with the players.
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