Two FYI items from The Athletic’s ever-industrious Max Bultman:
Red Wings have added Dan Kosinski to their hockey ops directory as hockey operations data analyst, as well as Dwayne Blais as a player development consultant— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) September 4, 2021
For more on Blais, you can read this from @Tarik_ElBashir dating back to Blais’ work with the Capitals in 2019: https://t.co/nLhcASvx52 https://t.co/BcJQL5WIiL— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) September 4, 2021
The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir explains:
One might think the Caps feel they’re in a good space skills-wise. After all, they own the NHL’s best record through 25 games. They’ve scored the most goals and are the only team with four players to hit double digits in that category.
But you’d be wrong.
Capitals coach Todd Reirden considers skill development – and maintenance – vital to the organization’s short-term and long-term success, and that’s why the club brings Blais to Washington once a month to help Alex Ovechkin and Co. sharpen their skills.
“For the players, it’s just a different voice sometimes, or maybe some different ideas,” Blais said. “Maybe it’s just a different look at their game. Like I’ll tell a guy, ‘Hey, when you move your feet, you’re really hard to catch going around the net. So keep moving your feet.’ It’s a simple thing, but just hearing a different voice sometimes reinforces it.”
Update: Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff has more on the Wings’ hires:
Blais, 44, is a Hockey Canada Certified Skills Coach. He’s been working as the skill development coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights. Blais also spent five years serving as a skills coach with the Washington Capitals. He performed similar duties with the Hershey Bears, the Capitals’ AHL farm club. Blais is also the owner of Total Package Hockey (TPH), a player development company. He also owns National Skill Development Association (NSDA), an online video resource helping coaches break down and teach hockey skills.
From Sterling Heights, Michigan, Kosinski has worked since 2006 as a reliability engineer for the U.S. Army. He has a Master’s degree in industrial and manufacturing system engineering from the University of Michigan-Dearborn. As well, Kosinski holds a Bachelors degree in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Michigan.