McLellan reflects on philosophy en route to 1,000 games as NHL coach

Todd McLellan coached his 1,000th NHL regular-season game when the Los Angeles Kings hosted the Seattle Kraken on Monday.

A friend recently reminded the Kings coach after exchanging text messages: That number does not reflect the time and energy it took to reach the milestone.
"You know how many games you've been on the bench for?' No, like, I start thinking. And we went down the road. It's over 2,200 games, going all the way back to starting in North Battleford," McLellan said.
It was that small city in Saskatchewan where McLellan's coaching career began 30 years ago and where he quickly learned that standing on the bench was much different than playing the game.
McLellan was selected by the New York Islanders in the fifth round (No. 104) of the 1986 NHL Draft and scored two points (one goal, one assist) in five games in 1987-88, including a goal in his NHL debut against the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 28, 1987.
A recurring shoulder injury ended McLellan's playing career a lot sooner than he wanted, so he had to find a day job. Coaching seemed like a logical transition to stay involved in hockey, a better option than returning home to Melville, Saskatchewan, and becoming a police officer like his father.
"I didn't want to do it," McLellan said. "I wanted to play. Playing is the best job in the game."
There were more demands on McLellan's time as a coach than he realized, a major change having to move beyond the individual perspective he used as a player.
"That's the biggest between coaching and playing," McLellan said. "'I hope I have a good night. You know what, I'm in a little bit of a slump, I [have to] get to the net. I got to do that, I got to do that. I, I, I.'"
Trying to maintain that perspective of the player, their needs and wants, their successes and failures is at the core of McLellan's approach to coaching, which has allowed him to go 520-367-112 in 14 seasons with the San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers and Kings.
"We have to go into their shoes," McLellan said. "They're the ones that are tired, fatigued, stressed on the ice. We sit there after the fact, watch it on video. We can breathe. We can see the whole ice. There's no stress for us. There's no fear going into the corners. There's no intimidation. There's no nothing for coaches. We play a perfect game, so we have to remember what it's like to be a player too."
Kings rookie defenseman Sean Durzi said McLellan's philosophy has been crucial in helping inexperienced players like himself adjust to the NHL and, in turn, put Los Angeles in position to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017-18. The Kings (36-22-9) are second in the Pacific Division, seven points behind the Calgary Flames.
"He's confident in us," said Durzi, who has scored 23 points (three goals, 20 assists) in 49 games. "He's confident in the way we play, and it allows us to be confident as well."
Dealing with young players has long been a strength for McLellan, and it too can be traced back to his start coaching junior hockey in North Battleford. He was 24 years old when he took that job for the 1993-94 season, not much older than the players he was tasked with leading.
Darcy Blair was a 20-year-old defenseman at the time, his playing career about to come to an end. He said he remembers McLellan stressing attention to detail, right down to players wearing a coat and tie to games.
"He came in, he wanted to grow his coaching, so he really wanted to keep that professionalism and stuff like that," Blair said. "A few of us older guys were like, 'Yeah, we know this is the end of the road for us.' But for the most part, he did a really good job managing that."
It was a coincidence that Blair was in Los Angeles attending Kings fantasy camp last week. When Blair told Derek Armstrong, a director of community and hockey development for the Kings, his connection to McLellan, the retired forward who played 14 NHL seasons mentioned it to the coach.
McLellan remembered Blair, and an early 50th birthday present from Blair's wife, Nicole, became more special when the two reconnected, including McLellan giving them a private tour of the Toyota Sports Performance Center complex.
Blair had no expectations McLellan would become the 31st coach in NHL history to reach 1,000 games back when they first met.
"He's earned it," Blair said. "He's an awesome guy, battled through the trenches through Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Western Hockey League, American Hockey League. He's done it all, and he's been successful at it. He's held true to who he is, which I think speaks volumes for a lot of people in today's day and year. Yeah, I'm pretty proud that I was able to be on his team in his first year of coaching."