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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.61 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
William 'Scotty' Bowman Interview |
Scope & Content |
Scotty Bowman interview, 11 November 2006. Digitized MP4 from Sony Advanced ME 40 DVCAM. Viewing time 00:42:02. 1 of 2: 01:08Childhood: played most sports, gravitated to hockey, played on outdoor rinks, also played baseball, junior football and soccer 02:02Idols: listened to the Boston Bruin games on the radio and like Bill Cowley, this was the first team he followed; then interested in Montreal 03:00When did you start taking hockey seriously: made the Canadiens junior team when 16, dream of everyone to play in the NHL, played for 6 years then injured, continued his schooling, coached midget and juvenile teams for 2 years 04:01On the switch from playing to coaching: big disappointment could not continue to play, at same time got into coaching at a young age, he was 20 when he was coaching 12-14 year olds, coached Junior B team at 22 for a couple of seasons, first break in 1956 when the Junior Canadien team was moved to Ottawa and he was hired to be the General Manager and Assistant Coach under Sam Pollock; knew after a few months wanted to make hockey his full time career, then got his first full-time job in 1958-59 with the Montreal farm team in Peterborough in the Junior league and coached for 3 seasons 05:52Did you learn from the players: had a lot of great players, learned to speak French so became fluently bilingual; stayed in Montreal with the Canadiens in different capacities such as scout, Junior coach until 1966 offered job in the expansion league with St. Louis Blues as Assistant Manager and Assistant Coach, during first year became Head Coach, first NHL experience coaching 07:27On Sam Pollock: while coaching in Peterborough kept in touch with him, knew you were part of the Canadien's organization 08:40On coaching in St. Louis: had veteran players, as a young coach was able to lean on their past experiences; also developed young players 09:38On coaching in Montreal: in 1971 Montreal was making a coaching change and called him, was an opportunity to get back to an original 6 team, also his home town, planned to coach for a one or two seasons and stayed from 1971 to 1979, historic seasons for himself and the team when they won 5 Stanley Cups 11:05On adjusting from St. Louis to Montreal; different coaching in Montreal, St. Louis they were looking for players, Montreal had superstars, had to find enough ice time and places for all of them, team rich in talent, also got to work with young players, such as Guy Lafleur, first NHL draft in 1969, every year 2 or 3 good picks coming in, scouting strong, those players all grew up together and formed nucleus of dynasty 12:27Winning in 1973: team had an established goal tender in Ken Dryden, Guy Lafleur in his third season, talks about other players, had nucleus of players who had won the Cup before 13:441974-1976 period: knew going into 1976 series that we were on our way to being the best in the league, talks about the team in comparison to the Phillies 15:30On intimidation factor: had depth on the team augmented by some players that could battle, had higher skill levels than most teams, we had so much depth on the team that we could play 4 lines 16:39How did you motivate your team: got them to think as a team not just individuals, great balance with all-star defence and offense, all focused on the Cup, the fans and the whole province was behind the team which was a big advantage and the number one reason they were able to win 18:47How do you motivate a team that wins so often: lost only 8 games in one season, not hard once you have a little bit of success; talks about playing the Russian Army team in 1975 and tieing them, it was a challenge, gave the team confidence how good they could be, each year wanted to do better 20:29On being a coach or a GM: it was a lot of work to do both; as coach in Montreal worked under experienced, successful managers like Sam Pollock; the GM job is a better job with more longevity, coaching was a 24/7 job during the season and the GM was more all year round 22:38Why move to Buffalo: his wife was American and nearer to her family; was a border city, good advantage to go the city with Canadian connections 23:52On being in Pittsburgh: was director of player personnel, could commute to Buffalo, then stepped in as coach when former coached died, team was struggling, took up a challenge, improve the team and had great playoff run, drew on the experience of training same calibre of players in Montreal, helped him establish himself with the players 26:48On being in Detroit: they were a great offensive team but needed more defense; talks about the 5 Russian players, they played a different style, instrumental in the Stanley Cup wins 28:48On the success and longevity of his career: when he first started as a coach you did everything yourself, no assistant, then got good help which went on over time, changed with times and coached differently at the end of his career but some things had stayed the same: discipline, punctuality; the game changed and he kept up with it 31:34On player rules: hockey has changed, talks about the labour agreement between the players and the owners, contracts and free agency and how that has changed the game; "one fact that stays the same is that players want to be on a winning programme" 33:19On Montreal players becoming coaches: the success of the team made the players stay in the game, it was not an individual like a player or a coach that won but a team, knowledge of being a team player makes them successful now 35:06On coaching today: every qualified coaches who have come up through different ways, now have more information to process; when he started he coached by "the seat of his pants", ran his own team and did not know much about the other team; today more intense and need more help, you direct people under you, still have to be a 24/7 coach to succeed 36:52The preparation is more intense because so much information is available, very sophisticated now but have more help; more parity in the league 37:46Is there a tendency to over coach today: have to get them prepared but at the same time give them some room for creativity on the ice; can structure things like power plays and face offs 38:33Talks about Steve Yzerman, Gainey and Bobby Clarke as players and team leaders 40:55Talks about Bobby Orr: such a great skater, could outskate anybody, ahead of the league 2 of 2: 00:01Shows Stanley Cup ring from last Cup with Detroit in 2002 |
Date |
2006/11/11 |
People |
Pollock, Sam Yzerman, Steve Clarke, Bobby Orr, Bobby Bowman, Scotty |
Search Terms |
Interview Ice hockey NHL National Hockey League St. Louis Blues Montreal Canadiens Pittsburgh Penguins Detroit Red Wings Scotty Bowman Interview Stanley Cup Coach |