DeBoer on the Islanders' coaching experience, Schaefer's excellence and the team's roster

0:00Hey sports fans, Dennis Robbins here talking about my boys at betus.com, my only sportsbook in Casino. It's big time baby get rewards, same-game parlories, live in-game betting, and a 200% welcome bonus up to 3,000 bucks. Play hard and live large. This is the industry's largest bonus. Plus even pull a 200% casino welcome bonus. I played really fast. You want to bet fast and get paid fast? You can. Betus takes crypto. Join me today at betus.com. Tell them Dennis Robbins, thank you. One of the 32 coaches in the NHL joining us. There he is. Down in Long Island. Big Hamptons guy now. I would think Peter DeBore. How you do a beat? Doesn't compare to Muscoca boys. Doesn't compare. That's very true. That's very true. How's life down in Long Island though? I mean you got in late last year, right? You got a few games under your belt. Do you feel like you're veteran down there now or what? I don't know. I don't I've never coached a team for four games. So that was the first time ever. And you know it's hard to feel comfortable

1:04after that. But I will tell you and I don't want to set a precedent here for late season coaching firings. But it was helpful for me to have spent two weeks there at the end of the season. Coach four games run the exit meetings. Kind of get set up for this year. I feel like I'm definitely ahead of where I had been you know when I'd gone into other places over the summer. Pete we were talking about drafting drafting a high profile player. You guys obviously had one last year in Schaefer who's just a mega star already. When something we were just talking about Gavin McKenna here in Toronto. Like to you, would it make does it make sense for them to go to like the rookie camp and do all that stuff? I always said because I was a high profile junior player myself. Pete you know that that it would be better. I remember it would be better to be around NHL guys and just forget about the Mickey Mouse stuff. Or is that just part of the dude you

2:08got to pay? The Mickey Mouse stuff that that's a true high first round pickstake right? There's been a lot of those Mickey Mouse guys end up being pretty big contributors on your teams. I think I had one in Jo Pavellski. You know in Dallas that was a six or seven-throw pick. So no, but you know what? Oh, it's a good point. Actually met with Schaefer this morning. I was at the Rinker Rookie Camp started today and we were just talking about it was it's hard to believe but this guy was in Rookie Camp a year ago this time which is crazy to think about when you're out there watching the the rookie camp going on after the season he just had where he probably would have been a contributor on the Canadian Olympic team never mind winning the the the rookie of the year. So you know what?

3:12I think I think those experience are always good and you know how I would look at it is you know maybe he's not getting anything out of it because of where he's at and his level of play but he is giving back to the organization from a leadership point of view and learning to lead now he's not in our Rookie Camp but I think there's always benefits to participating in those camp. Maybe not from a learning end but but definitely from a leadership end if you're on the other end of that. Are you and Boogie gonna go out there and training camp and try to help Schaefer out with his edgework? Peter what's your plan with it? Boogie Boogie's got a bad back right now he's not in good shape he pulled he pulled something with a swing and a five iron I think late in the summer and one of those Windsor money games on Fridays they have down there and it's nothing worse than the assistant coach can't hit the ice because he was

4:14nothing in a money game. That's where we're at that's where we're at. We were talking about you know the game is so different now and you know skating everybody you know it's it's about pace it's about speed you know Schaefer style you know you look at it he's a defenseman but he's a guy who's up in the play all the time. I all I can remember in in my era was Sanders Ozilinche was a guy who was a rover it wasn't an offenseman he was a rover because he would just he played every position you know do you see Schaefer or something like that who just basically stays in the play in the offense but also gets back on D when he has to because he's such an elite skater. Yeah you know what you're exactly right I remember in this I'm going way back but I was coaching Junior hockey. He always in wealth probably at the time and we had Brian Barard and he was a first overall pick was gonna be the first

5:15overall pick that year out of junior hockey to Troy junior Redwings and he was he was a phenom at the time you know a similar type of characteristics up the ice all the time and I remember we were playing on the Joloess Arena and the Redwings would practice after us and it was Scotty Bowman and Paul he had Paul coffee at the time that type of player and I remember I thought you know what I was running the D for Detroit Palm Reese was the head coach I said I'm gonna ask Scotty about you know how he handles Paul coffee and you know I got this young stud defenseman that's up the ice all the time I remember grabbing Scotty after practice and can I ask you a question I got this young stud defenseman that you know it's up the ice all the time and you know I'm trying to think how I should be coaching them and I remember Scotty looked at me point blank and he said does he get back and I said yeah he goes what's the problem then and you know what it really it really it sounds simple it sounds

6:18stupid simple but it is really that simple like he has that those guys have that ability to get up and make those decisions aggressively because of that world-class skating and they can recover and get back and you know there's very few of those guys in the world I mean their generational type players when I mention those type of guys and he's one of those guys you know somebody with feet that they don't have feet like that they make a decision on the wrong side of the puck and their foot are too off you know they're done they're they're toast so you know he has that ability to recover so we're not going to take that away the other part of that is he is such a rover like you know we've been talking about me me playing him on the right side this year he's a left shot and I was watching the video he ended up on the right side you know probably 30% of the time last year starting on the left just just because of how he was playing

7:21the game and where he was jumping into and where he the spots he ended up in so I don't think it's a big transition for a guy like that to switch sides either in terms of his partner that's the that's always a curious one because you know guys on the right side he's looking over is like what are you doing here that means I got to be on the other side now like how do you coach the partner that's gonna be out there with shape or if he has that ability and that freedom because I'm assuming they both are not going to have the same green light no no absolutely well I'll tell you that they'll be a they'll be a long line of guys signing up to be his partner that's a that's a big paycheck spot somebody somebody's gonna get rewarded for being on the ice with him you know what and I think I mean listen I think you just have to understand and have that hockey sense and IQ that you know you can slide in and out and around depending on what he's doing but you know I've said this before when you know we always talk about

8:27you know he's obviously a number one defenseman in in in the league and and when you're on the ice with a one really a one can turn a four five six into a two if that makes sense so I think you've got all kinds of options there you know he has that type of ability I don't want to oversell this kid but he really is that special chatting with Peter DeBore head coach of the Islanders big adjustment this year Pete as you know you're going to 84 games and a lot less preseason games you're down to four some split squad games how does that affect your plan for camp your evaluation having you know historically there used to be always stories of a guy who had a great camp and made the team because he plays six times seven times that's not available to players anymore how does that affect your kind of approach to the preseason into camp now it's funny how the games

9:28changed my first year in Florida I believe we played 10 exhibition games and I think we played eight on the road you know we we we went on a cross country tour with two full teams I remember might kitchen and I was my assistant coach we coached two exhibition games in one day we we coached in Calgary in the afternoon drove to coach in Emton in the afternoon coach drove to Calgary and coached at night that night the the other team so I don't think there's anybody complaining about shortened camps and less exhibition games coaches or players it's true that you probably get less looks at guys in NHL games the guys who who are gonna take the hit on this are it's not necessarily the bubble guys you're gonna find room to get those guys games if you think it's gonna be the guy that really is coming out of left field into camp that in the past you

10:32know you would have found a way to get him a game and then he turned that game you know into two or three and and put himself on the radar those are the guys that are that are gonna get are gonna have to do it the other way and you know go down to the miners and and work their way up because there's just not enough games to do it the other part of the 84 games I think is is obviously goal-tending you know you can't you can't play your your your starting goalie you know 60 games you can't you probably can't play him 55 anymore I don't know what the magic number they've done a lot of analytics on this but you're you're back up goalie or your other goalies are gonna have to play at least 30 plus games you know every year for everybody and I think that's a different situation that's been in the past Pete I think this year's the first year where there's no fitness testing the three of us we all support fitness testing I guess is that

11:33is that going down where there's no fitness testing yeah no fitness testing oh you you would have loved it I mean listen this no training camp no fitness testing I'll tell you what you're you're gonna be Hawkeye and some fat ass is walking around to say what are you been eating because that that is a hall pass for a bunch of guys good luck with it's all the coaches yeah yeah it'll be a fun one these guys are so skinny nowadays like you you you run into nobody carries extra weight they're all there even the big guys are really lean nowadays so you there there maybe yeah you know the a goalie here and there although a lot of the goalies are in great shape now but it was the goalies that would get the beyond the the fat farm have to ride the bike after practice and that if you couldn't be under 10% body fat nowadays everybody's at eight eight percent and under everybody's so lean now AP it's unbelievable the

12:37condition these guys come to camp and I was talking to one of our scouts today and in Long Island watching the rookies on the ice and he asked me goes you know do you build any conditioning drills into camp anymore like you know the old bag skates you know down and back or lines things like that you know one with the three hour rule you really can't you don't have time you know it choose up the ice you know and the guys are so big and so heavy now that but but the other part of it is you know you don't really need to they come in phenomenal shape you know they're not playing themselves into shape and and you know in a practice the pace is so high these guys have been on the ice skating you know for months at their homes you know a lot of them in high-end skates you know if you're in in the Toronto area you know you're you're probably six eight weeks into you know almost daily skates here so you know the condition is not an

13:42issue I remember in Hartford our dear friend Glen Featherstone we had like a bike group after practice and at nineteen I was in the bike group and Feather wasn't so I'll talk to him and I'm like Feather how come you're not in a bike group like with all due respect you just don't look like you're a fitness freak he goes come here I want to show you something so he took me into the weight room and he said the like the scale that you step on to and the slats he said instead of putting this little bar all the way into the slat you just put it halfway and he'll lose twenty five pounds that was that was his trick was staying off the bike after practice he had he had it all figured out my my best Feather store he always had a weight problem as old as old as old as looting to and I remember he was way in one year I'd always check on him we were you know we're always trying to take care of him you know and I don't know if it was one of the setters or whatever but he was he was he had a lot of anxiety about

14:44weighing a camp and I called him you know after the day ended and I said you know how the weigh-in go what the scale say he said out the scales the scales that out yeah that's the chase pretty quickly well you don't have to worry about that anymore Pete everyone's gonna show up in great shape right everyone's ready to go yeah and camp right around a corner and it's gonna be a great season so good luck down there we always love having you on and we'll do it again down the road thanks guys see you well we're there I guess our first game leaf second game of the year so look forward to seeing you there you go can't wait there is Peter DeBorris you got it from the New York calendar is one of our favorites hey sports fans Dennis Rodney here talking about my boys at bet us dot com my only sports book in casino it's big time baby get rewards same game parlay's live in game betting and a 200% welcome bonus up to three thousand bucks play hard and live large this is the industry's largest bonus plus even

15:48pull a 200% casino welcome bonus I played really fast you want to bet fast and get paid fast you can bet us takes crypto join me today at bet us dot com tell him Dennis Rodney sent you