For the Culture
The word “culture” gets thrown around a lot in hockey vernacular. But what exactly does that mean?
“For me, culture is not a word that you can decide (its meaning). You can’t sit here and say, ‘this is the culture,’” new Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom said. “For me, it’s got to be created in the room or in the organization. And that’s why it’s a big word and it’s an important one. It has to come organically.”
Some players, such as defenseman Brett Pesce, have seen that culture is more than just a word. He watched how the entire culture for the Carolina Hurricanes, his home for the first nine years of his NHL career, shift under head coach Rod Brind’Amour in 2018.
“Every team and every training camp you go into and it’s, ‘we need culture,” Pesce said. “But before (Brind’Amour) came in, I was like, ‘OK, culture, fine, whatever.’ But then to know what it actually means and see how it changed the whole organization around, that was pretty cool for me to see. It opened my eyes. It gave meaning behind the word.
“And now, that word (culture), I don’t say that lightly anymore because I know it could legitimately effect the team, it could turn a team 180 (degrees).”
Forward Stefan Noesen also experienced that culture in Carolina, having played for the Hurricanes in the past two-plus seasons. He’s also been inside six different locker rooms in his career, including New Jersey’s from 2016-19.
“Bringing in the right people is the hardest part. You’ve got to bring in the right personnel,” Noesen said. “The other end is allowing the culture to be bred. It comes from the staff. It comes from the veterans. And with good teams, a coach leads.”
