New England Hockey Journal caught up recently with Wilbraham, Mass., native Bill Guerin, assistant general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins and a two-time Stanley Cup champ as a player with the Devils and Penguins. He also hoisted the Cup with Pittsburgh as an executive in 2016 and 2017.
Billy Jaffe: Growing up in Springfield, what’s your best youth hockey moment?
Bill Guerin: Honestly, I could write a book on them. There are so many great memories with guys that I’m still friends with today, guys in their late 40s. One of them I was 10 years old, playing for Wilbraham in the state championship, in Fitchburg. It was unbelievable. We thought we were the greatest team in the world. For a couple of minutes I guess we were. A little team from Wilbraham, Mass., we won the state championship. It was pretty cool.
Jaffe: Besides your family, who had the biggest influence?
Guerin: Gary Dineen. Unfortunately we lost him about 12 years ago. But Gary was way ahead of his time for coaching. He was more concerned about the development of player skills — quick hands, quick feet. Thats what he encouraged. I never worked on a power play until I got to college. Gary was like, “You know what? You guys have one more player than the other team. You’ll figure it out. Just play hockey.” I think that’s something that’s really missed in today’s game. A lot of coaches — and a lot of parents encourage this — they waste a lot of ice time working on systems and power plays, rather than just have kids play and create. I think it really does affect the players, because you can see the guys who just have hockey sense and you can see the kids who had private lessons but they can’t think the game as well.
Jaffe: How hard was it as a parent, with a child/children in hockey, when the coaching focused on the wrong thing? Was it difficult for you?
Guerin: Absolutely. Absolutely. Even when I did coach my son, for the two years that I did — you would have thought playing 18 years in the NHL would get you somewhere — but there were some parents who knew better than I did. All kidding aside, to see 8-, 9-year-old kids working on a power play, it infuriated me, because half the kids were playing, half the kids were standing around. It’s a waste of time and they’re not developing all the kids when they do things like that. I think it’s important for a youth hockey coaches to develop all the players, keep the practices moving. I like what USA Hockey is doing with the small-area games — kids get tons more puck touches, things like that. I think there’s going to be ton of improvement. I think USA Hockey has done a good job of pushing that and helping youth coaches out. If you look at our recent track record of USA Hockey, we’re producing some really, really good players.
Jaffe: What did you think of management as a player, and now that you are in management, how do you use that to perhaps make yourself not that perception?
Guerin: You view management on a contract by contract basis (laughs). I always had respect for the management side. I always knew that they had a job to do. They do their best to not just treat players like an asset, but in actuality, we were assets. Now, as a manager, I really try to hold on to the feelings I had as a player during contract talks, during a tough time for player, to just remember how emotional it was, because when you are a manager, you’re worrying about a bunch of players. When you are a player, you’re worrying about one guy, and that’s yourself: ‘Why aren’t they calling? Why aren’t they getting my contract done?’ All those things. So I try to remember the emotional state of being a player as best I can and kind of use that to keep conversations and situations positive.
Jaffe: When you began in management, did you think it was going to be different than what it is, and how enjoyable, how difficult, how challenging has the last few years been for you?
Guerin: I love my job, and it’s extremely gratifying. When you see guys that you helped put together on the ice and they accomplish the ultimate goal, it’s incredible. When we have these young guys coming up through Wilkes-Barre and they play their first NHL game or score their first goal, you take a lot of pride in that.
Jaffe: One of the things you guys have been very good at it getting undrafted players, cultivating them into pro players, because you don’t have a lot of high draft picks when you’re always winning. Why has Pittsburgh been successful not just identifying talent, but being able to make them into regular NHLers the past six years or so?
Guerin: I really think we help steer these kids in the right direction not just letting them figure out things on their own, but helping them earn their opportunity to play, We try to put them into a position to succeed, and we believe that all the guys that we have in our system can play. If they can help us win one game or one playoff round, then we’re ahead of the game. And we are fortunate — our coach in the NHL, Mike Sullivan, is not afraid to put kids in the lineup and play them, and play them regardless of their age or their draft status. We’re playing to win, and we’re fortunate that he’s got the courage and the confidence to put those guys in the lineup.
Jaffe: One day at a time — it’s the ultimate saying in sports. But is the end game for you now to be a general manager in the National Hockey League, and if it is, did you ever think that you’d be saying that’s what you wanted to be doing when you were done playing?
Guerin: Believe it or not, I did. I thought about it before I stopped playing. I can’t say that I mapped it out, but I knew what I wanted to do. And I was willing to grind it out, I was willing to go to far-off places, scouting games, get my hands dirty. My ultimate goal is to be a general manager. We’ll see if it happens, but until then I’m working hard and enjoying every day that I get to work in this game.
Jaffe: The game, when you played it, you had a lot of old-school in your game. Part of that was the era you played in and also part was the teams that you played with. It doesn’t mean just fighting. There’s other things, too. Does the game need some of that still?
Guerin: Yes it can. I agree with you. It means sticking together as a team. I played on some extremely close teams, and that was part of being old school. It’s not just fighting or drinking beer or anything like that. I also think the game is in a great place. We just want to make sure the players are safe, they are being well taken care of and have long careers. We don’t want to lose the personalities in the game also. I think that’s one thing that has really come out are the game’s personalities. Social media, I’m learning to accept it as much as I can. It’s a little foreign to me, but I like seeing the guys and their personalities and who they are. If you would have dome some of this stuff back in the day, you would have gotten beaten by your own team.
