With the U20 World Championships going on in Dunaújváros this past December and most of his squad on the national team roster Tyler Dietrich, coach of the U20 team for Fehérvár AV19 had an opportunity to learn new aspects of coaching hockey during this time.
As a student or when you are trying to get a better understanding or knowledge in a particular field that you work in or are interested in you turn to the experts or people who you think have a better knowledge of that subject. With regards to hockey the general consensus is that the best hockey players are in the NHL and therefore the most knowledgeable hockey coaches are also found in the NHL. Considering all of this Tyler Dietrich had a rare opportunity to learn from the these coaches during his “study abroad” week in Pittsburgh this past December.
Tyler Dietrich first came to Hungary at the start of the 2011-12 when Kevin Primeau, who was the head coach of the Alba Volán senior team, brought him in to be the coach of the clubs U18 team, a year later was was coaching the U20 team where he has been ever since. Tyler played his junior year in the same league where Tamás Láday is playing, the WHL, where he was teammates with current NHL players such as Deryk Engelland, and Joffrey Lupul as well as Hungarian national team nemesis, former Italian international Pat Iannone.
As a true student of the game Tyler has a natural thirst for knowledge, as a player he was coached by NHL coaches such as Kevin Constantine and Willie Desjardins and former Miskolc coach Tim Kehler. “I thought its a time to look around and see if there was somewhere I could go to gain some experience, I decided to look at some NHL schedules and saw that the Penguins had three home games, I called up Mike (Kadar), I gave my idea and he said absolutely you should do it.” said Dietrich. Tyler asked Mike if he could actually hang out and watch NHL practices and talk to some coaches, he knew Mike Kadar, the Penguins strength and conditioning coach from the time when Mike visited Budapest in 2012. Next Tyler looked to see who else had games in the tri-state area. The Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL the Wheeling Nailers as well as junior teams the Erie Otters (OHL) and the Youngstown Phantoms (USHL) are all within two hours by car of the Pittsburgh area. After talking to Mike as well as Dean Chynoweth about being able to attend their respective teams and practices, purchasing his airplane tickets and a good notebook he said goodbye to his wife and kid it was Pittsburgh or bust.
With no time to waste Tyler took a taxi straight from the airport to the ice rink, “walking into the Consol Energy Center on a fresh sheet of ice, just that feeling you get there with the sights and sounds just blows you away, I had a chance to see the Penguins gameday morning skate as well as the Tampa Bay Lightning skate as well” almost like being a player or a coach Mike was back early for the Penguins-Lightning game to watch the pregame skate and after the game he was able to talk to Penguins assistants Rick Tocchet and Gary Agnew who said right away that they would have no problem sitting down with a young coach and letting him pick their brains as well as them passing on any knowledge. Despite in a recent interview a Hungarian coach said that he didn't believe a good coach shares his secrets apparently in the NHL they have no problem doing this, in fact good coaches like to teach and help others learn. Just like any hockey fan regardless of their age Tyler had his first “feel like a kid moment” as Mike gave him a tour of the arena and the locker rooms. “I was amazed by the arena but once you get down to the team facilities I was blown away, it is world class, I felt like a kid down there,I was not able to sleep that night”
The hockey world is not only small in Hungary but also everywhere else as Tyler had been in contact with Dean Chynoweth through one of his youth coaches and former Miskolc coach Tim Kehler. After his Christmas like Monday, Tyler was ready for some real note taking and lessons as he made his two hour drive up to Cleveland for an AHL morning skate, his “first lesson” and game. “I was able to watch the morning skate, but also I got a behind the scenes look at the management side, the Lake Erie Monsters had a goalie injury and had to quickly take care of calling up a goalie from the ECHL affiliate for that nights game, I had the opportunity to pick his brain about making the move from the Western League where I had played as well, to the AHL” As this trip was filled with a number of behind the scenes look at pro hockey that only players and coaches get to see, Tyler was able to compare the NHL to the AHL in back to back nights. “What I noticed is that the difference is not necessarily the speed of the game or what they skate at, but at how quickly the play unfolds and how quickly a mistake gets caught, the NHL is more polished but the speed is there.”
After his AHL experience, Tyler was back in the “classroom” with his notebook and taking notes of everything that he was seeing during the NHL practice, “these are some of the best coaches in the world and what I noticed that there was nothing out of the ordinary, they were not reinventing the wheel, there were some drills that were new to me but there was nothing over the top, it was the precision that everything was done, there was purpose with a clear flow of everything, there was nothing complex in the execution of everything” Just a university class with the theory session and the practical Tyler had a chance to see the drills and after the practice he had a theory session with Tocchet and Agnew, since this are the best of the best it could be said that he was taking a masters or a Phd class. “I came out and asked if there was something special or new that they are using that I might be able to implement, they said that the biggest part is repetition and the guys wanting to know the plan, they request the logic behind everything, there is a lot of video work and scouting involved.” Just like in a classroom the two coaches were drawing up plays on the white board and what to do. As a student one of the best ways to be motivated is when a guest speaker comes in and talks to the class, in this private lesson the guest speaker could not have been a bigger name “in the middle of the meeting someone walked in to the meeting and it was Mario Lemieux, I was shocked, my childhood hero was in the room. I have a jersey signed by him and I told him about the time I met him when I was 9 years old, I think I might have been more excited as 30 year old than when I was 9, I talked to him for a bit as well”
WIth the parallels of being in school Tyler had an opportunity to see what he had just learned in the classroom with Tocchet and Agnew in a live game setting as the Penguins took on the Avalanche in a thrilling 1-0 OT win, but this time he had the added benefit of talking about what he had learned and was quizzed on it by Szabolcs Závodszky from the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation who also happened to be in Pittsburgh at that time.
Just like in life what is the point of going to school and getting a degree if you are not able to use what you have learned, luckily for Tyler he was able to use what saw in Pittsburgh and Cleveland with his U20 team. “What I learned the most from was the morning skates and the practices, seeing the drills and especially what they did in small groups, I really liked the extra skill work sessions that Mike was doing with players who are coming back from injury, both Paul Martin and Sidney Crosby told me that they really like doing this and would love to have more of these skills sessions. This was something that I could bring back and tell my boys that NHL stars, Stanley Cup winners, Olympians wanted to do drills to refine their skills, these are things that I do with my team as well and it is nice for them to hear that there is not that much difference between what they are doing at a EBYSL practice and an NHL practice. I was able to implement the drills that I learned and had a good reception from the team” Not only was he able to implement what he learned but the team was has been able to translate this effort around the net in the Volán games as well. “It is added motivation when you know the best players in the world are doing the same drills” says forward Ferenc Kocsis “Tyler is a great coach, he is always looking for new ways to learn and coach”
“This has been a great experience for me and I would love to do it again, I joked with Bill Guerin that the Pens won every game with me and he said that maybe they should bring me on a road trip, but anytime I have a chance to learn is great and I was very fortunate to learn from the elite”
Right now Tyler Dietrich’s team will be facing MAC Budapest in Hungarian U20 final in a best of three and are up 1 game to 0 against Linz in the first round of the EBYSL and finished the regular season with 40 regulation wins 3 OT wins and 1 OT lose.
As followup Tyler was in Vancouver recently right when the penguins were on their west coast road trip and was able to meet up with the Penguins coaching staff and say quick hello and chat.
Photos: Tyler Dietrich