All-Star break time to reset for players, coaches, GMs

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2022-23 regular season by former NHL coaches and assistants who will turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher. Phil Housley and Mark Recchi will take turns providing insight.
In this edition, Housley, a Hall of Fame defenseman who coached the Buffalo Sabres and was an assistant with the Nashville Predators and Arizona Coyotes, discusses how coaches approach the break for the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend.

Each team has as mandated five-day break that either precedes or follows the 2023 NHL All-Star Weekend on Friday and Saturday in Sunrise, Florida. I think there are three ways coaches can look at it, depending on how their teams have been playing.
When the team has been playing well, sometimes a coach will worry that the time off will be a detriment. The team has found its stride, it's been clicking and now there is going to be a break and the players will get away from the game for a while. That could take a team out of its rhythm and make it challenging to come back and get geared back up for the stretch run.
For other coaches, the break is well timed because their teams have had a solid season, they're in the mix, but they've been struggling a little bit lately. So, it might be good for the players to get away and for the coaches to regroup and reenergize, target specific areas where they want to improve or areas of concern and get ready for the stretch run.
For coaches whose teams have fallen out of contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the break can be a good time to look at their overall roster and come up with special little assignments coming out of the break to see what they can do better, sort of uncover every stone and find ways to motivate.
Maybe it's something you'll look at to get the guys to buy into something. Maybe it's being a spoiler in the playoff race. Maybe there's a long-term plan of looking at younger players to develop.
So, it depends on the situation the team is in.
If you look at the Tampa Bay Lightning, they've played 71 playoff games the past three seasons, which are the most in the NHL. Now, they've found their stride and they're playing well, but they need the rest. They need the time for all their bumps and bruises to heal.
If you look at the Colorado Avalanche, they've been dealing with injuries all season and this break comes at a perfect time, even though they're playing much better, because they can heal up and get ready for the stretch run. Those are a couple examples.
But all in all, the players want the break, and rightfully so.
Most players will probably go to a warmer climate to get away and take advantage of the time off to rest their bodies. A few might stay in the cities in the north because their kids are in school or what have you, but they'll try to find other ways to get away from the game.
The break can be good for the coaches, too.
It's up to the coach and the general manager, but I think a lot of coaches would agree that it's good to get away from the rink for a few days because of the grind of the season and the day-to-day operations of what it takes to get your team prepared.
A lot of teams are off for seven-days plus. Most coaches will take three or four days off and then start digging into some things.
Maybe it's reviewing the past five games. Maybe it's getting ready for the next five games. It might be tendencies. They might take a hard look at roster structure, 5-on-5 play and special teams.
Each coach has a specific area where they might add something and, perhaps, look at areas analytically where they can improve their team. Maybe it's possession time in the offensive zone. "Why are we lower in this area and higher in some areas?"
It's tough when you have that five-day break before All-Star Weekend because when you come back, you have one practice and you're right into playing games. Those are some of the toughest practices to prepare for because you don't want to push the guys too hard, but you want to wake those muscles up again and get ready for the game.
That's why a lot of teams will practice and have a pre-game skate to get a couple sweats in before they play the game.
The players today are amazing. They're in great shape. They can adjust pretty quickly but, coming off a break like that and having only one practice and playing, there are going to be mistakes. You just need to know as a coach that sometimes you have to bite the bullet because of what the schedule looks like.
The teams that have their five mandatory days off following All-Star Weekend can have two or three practices before playing and be better be prepared. Regardless, there will maybe be one or two games when the players timing could be off, but from that point on, you're into the stretch run.
If you look at the standings, most teams are at around the 50-game mark, so there are 32-34 games left. Every game is going to be crucial unless you have built a big cushion, and you can maybe afford to lose two or three in a row.
But for the teams that are fighting and are at the bottom end of the playoff spectrum, they can't go on a three- or four-game losing streak. You might never recover.
There are so many things to look at and it's difficult to pinpoint one, but I'm sure the GMs and the coaches explore everything they can to improve during the break because, when play resumes, it will be a sprint to the finish line.