ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – Even before his American Hockey League Coachella Valley Firebirds swept a two-game series against the Abbotsford Canucks this past weekend, head coach Derek Laxdal smiled when asked if he is still having fun.
For context, he is in his 20th year as a head coach with junior teams in the Western Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League plus pro hockey stops in the Central Hockey League, ECHL, and AHL. His playing days as a right-wing started at 16 years old in the WHL in 1982 and spanned through the 2000-01, including 67 NHL games with Toronto and the New York Islanders, hundreds more AHL games, and five seasons playing abroad in Great Britain.
That’s four decades of shifts, games, practices, and rinks. Yet Laxdal was beaming in a service corridor at the Abbotsford Centre after the AHL affiliate Firebirds morning skate last Friday. These days, his hockey life includes frequent individual film sessions with every player on the roster.
“That's the exciting part,” said Laxdal, “The growth you get to see every day you come to the rink and your work with players, you're working with veterans, you're working with young rookies, you're working with second-year players. For me, it's all about the teaching and seeing the rewards and the results of the games, but most of all seeing players grow.”
Deciding on Laxdal
The player improvement, of course, is exactly why Kraken GM Ron Francis and the hockey operations group conducted a deep search for Dan Bylsma’s successor at Coachella Valley. What stood out was Laxdal’s work with the Dallas Stars organization from 2014 to 2022. He served first as head coach of the AHL Texas Stars and then three seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL club. In 2018, Laxdal led the Austin-based Texas Stars to the Calder Cup Final, losing in seven games to the Toronto Marlies. In the 2020 pandemic-induced NHL bubble, Laxdal was part of Dallas reaching the Stanley Cup Final.
Some elite NHL players on Laxdal’s AHL teams include such Dallas standouts as forward Roope Hintz and defenseman Esa Lindell, along with another young defenseman-now- Kraken-stalwart, Jamie Oleksiak. On Friday, Laxdal mentioned his working with high-scoring forward Jason Robertson and No. 1 goalie Jake Oettinger among other Stars.
“I put as much emphasis on our veterans as with the young players,” said Laxdal. “I’ll sit down with Ben Meyers [just called up to the Kraken], sit down with John Hayden and Max McCormick. We'll go over the video. We'll go over shifts. If I see something that can help a player improve and help a player get to the level that he wants to play, that's the rewarding part for me in coaching.
“I love the development level. Obviously, I love being in the NHL too. But this is the next best thing, working with players who are going to be in the next Seattle Kraken lineups. Any time you see a player get called up or graduate to the National Hockey League, it's not only rewarding as a head coach but for your staff. Everybody plays a part.”
Getting the Players’ Perspective
One of the top prospects at Coachella Valley, 2022 second-rounder Jagger Firkus, confirmed his head coach’s diligence.
“He’s open-door; you can talk to him,” said Firkus. “He's giving you feedback every single day, which is super important for a younger guy. He makes sure you know what you need to do and improve on it.’
Hayden, a veteran who has played for nine different coaches across five NHL teams and two AHL franchises, concurs: “Before our last game [a 4-2 home win over Ontario Nov. 10], he pulled me out of the locker to do some video from the game before, just to go over some clips, nuances of the game or even small details that could possibly help the team win if we're on the same page.”
So, nine different coaches ... What’s Hayden’s take on his newest leader?
“It’s been great,” said Hayden. “Lax has the confidence to implement some of his own dynamics and also the humility to understand that a team that went to the finals twice in a row, a lot of stuff has probably worked well already. He balances that, and he emphasizes team dynamics and family. He’s big on playing for each other.”
Bonding on the Road
The togetherness dynamic appears to be working. Observing the team at the rink and hotel over the weekend, the veterans are clearly making time to support and befriend younger teammates no matter which players are most likely bound for NHL games.
The team’s recent six-game, 10-day road trip, er, make that odyssey validated Laxdal’s one-for-all team dynamic. The trip started in San Jose on Oct. 30, then moved to Bakersfield, CA, for two games, onto Loveland, CO (46 miles north of Denver) for two more, and finally, why not, one more road contest at Ontario, CA. The journey started with three losses in the first four games, dropping CVF’s record to 3-5-0, with the last of those losses a 5-0 shutout at Colorado. But the next night in Loveland, the Firebirds put three goals on the scoreboard in the second period (from Hayden, Firkus, and rookie Llyeton Roed) to construct a 3-2 victory behind rookie Nikke Kokkoin net.
Coachella Valley won at Ontario to finish the trip 2-4-0 and even the season record to 5-5-0. The Firebirds hosted division rival Ontario on Nov. 10 and won the Sunday matinee. After getting much-needed sleep and practice time at home, the Firebirds were back on the road in B.C., winning twice in less than 30 hours to extend the winning streak to five games. Next up is Wednesday’s home game versus familiar foe Colorado.
‘Galvanized’ and Back at Higher Region of AHL Standings
“If you look at our 11 games [before the Abbotsford weekend sweep], we very easily could have been eight and three,” said Laxdal, referring to close losses. “The first three or four games, we had a lot of bodies. Now, with call-ups [including Hayden and Ryan Winterton at times] and injuries, all of our guys really stepped up and galvanized their team ... They’ve done a really good job of buying into what we're teaching to get better game by game.”
Hayden, a big part of the two Western Conference championship teams in CVF’s first two AHL seasons, likes what he sees – a lot: “What's promising is the winning record despite injuries and new faces. It shows that we're capable of. I think this could be another Firebirds team that goes on a deep run. It's a pretty cool combination of guys that have been in the organization and first- and second-year guys. These [young] guys are legit players. It's fun to play with them.”
