Forward Alex Galchenyuk makes the Montreal Canadiens out of camp in the lockout-shortened 2013 NHL season as an 18 year old.
Eight years later he clears waivers.
The 3rd overall pick of the 2012 entry draft, Galchenyuk has a fine rookie season, scoring 27 points in 48 games and living up to his potential of future franchise player.
Six months we become teammates, sort of. In the summer of 2013 I am hired to work as a Digital Contents Coordinator for the Canadiens. The position entails a mix of web editorial and social media work and is my first full-time job in professional sports.
Throughout the 2013-14 season I watch most of MTL’s practices, take in almost all of its home games and occasionally go on the road, flying on the team charter. The experience gives me an intimate look at trials and tribulations of NHL athletes.
Within five seasons Galchenyuk goes from savior to pariah.
MTL27 enjoys some good times (30 goals in 2015-16) but mostly suffers through bad ones.
There is the much-publicized off-ice incident involving his ex, a 2017 knee injury that sets him back months and finally, the initially-panned trade to ARZ for Max Domi, which works out much better for MTL than I expect.
Eventually the Toronto Maple Leafs acquire him for AHL D-man David Warsofsky and long-shot prospect Yegor Korshkov, who I coached with the AHL Toronto Marlies in 2019-20.
What happened?
As I discuss in the Hockey Tactics 2020 ebook, the defining feature of Galchenyuk’s game is his disastrous dynamic posture.
Galchenyuk’s postural issue isn’t new, though it has been exacerbated by recurring knee injuries (first in his draft year, then in 2017).
Even at 19 he is one of the few Canadiens to wear a knee brace full-time. Aside from addressing first-level physical symptoms, MTL doesn’t do much over the years to help Galchenyuk prevent future problems.
In search of stability and power, he widens his base, leans away from his turn and falls back onto his heels (A-Frame).
In contrast a player such as Brayden Point rotates his upper body into the turn and shifts his weight onto his front foot. He is in a much better position to shield the puck and to make a follow-up play.
During a 2015 game, MTL27 gets off the wall and attacks the middle of the ice. But his feet are stuck and he is easily checked.
MTL27 largely prefers to catch pucks in the A-Frame position. It is effective when he wants to shoot a one-timer from the right flank, but not if he is looking to catch a pass and hold onto the puck.
In 2015 MTL27 is on his way to 30 goals and plays with confidence. But confidence ebbs and flows while fundamentals remain.
Galchenyuk has built his fancy beach house of an offensive game atop sandy grounds.
Since 2017 the tides are unrelenting.
His stops in ARZ, PIT, MIN and OTT illustrate the worst-case scenario.
He can’t win races, he can’t forecheck, he can’t catch passes and he can’t contribute on the scoresheet. The underlying statistical impacts are a tire fire.
My former colleagues in TOR know what to do with this guy. They’ll be going all the way back to the basics.
Below are some of the drills they'll be working on, as demonstrated by my 13 & 14 year-old students last year:
Weight shift & opposite weight shift (to find their outside edges)
Crossovers through hands (to initial contact & create separation against a backchecker)
Blended catch (to receive the puck smoothly inside movement)
Weight-shift shot (to release the puck off either foot, inside movement)
Blended retrieval (to corral pucks cleanly off rims and attack the middle)
Backhand retrieval (to engage upper-body rotation)
Try these building-block exercises at the rink or on the pond. They might come too late for Galchenyuk, but they’ll help you and your players get the most out of hockey.
The First Principles of Hockey
After leaving a coaching position in professional hockey 10 months ago, the first thing I want to do is to write an ebook.
Hockey Tactics 2020 is the ebook I had always wanted to write.
It distills my NHL and AHL experience into 120 pages.
It tells the story of what makes players and teams good.
Hockey Tactics: Retrospectiveis the ebook I had always wanted to read.
Nine-year-old me never came across a hockey book which combined historical story-telling, detailed diagrams and in-depth analysis.
So 31-year-old me decided to write it for myself and others.
Is this what you’ve always wanted to read as well?