When Steve Spott spoke at TCS Live last June in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he was between jobs.
The veteran coach, who had spent the previous three seasons as an Assistant Coach with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, was a coaching free agent for the first time in a long time. Because of his vast experience and knowledge of the game, Spott didn’t have to wait a long time to find a new team.
Peter DeBoer, who had been Head Coach of the Golden Knights and was also relieved of his role, was named Head Coach of the Dallas Stars. You’ll never guess who he hired as his Assistant Coach in Dallas: Spott. The pair had also worked together with the San Jose Sharks and in the OHL.
With the Stars, Spott runs the power play. Last season Dallas finished 11th with a PP% of 22.5. Through 18 games to begin the 2022-23 season with Spott in charge, the Stars have a 30.2% success rate, good for third in the NHL.
Having Spott is a man advantage, on the man advantage.
At the beginning of his TCS Live presentation, the 54-year-old from Toronto, Ontario, said he gets asked quite a bit about game day meetings, topics, times and schedules. He responds by walking through an actual day of meetings before presenting the exact same slides and information he did to the Golden Knights before their game against the Colorado Avalanche on February 16, 2022.
On a game day players have up to five meetings to attend when scouting the opposition, so Spott has one rule regarding meetings: they should be quick, concise and to the point.
In total the meeting he presents scouting the Avalanche takes two minutes and 18 seconds.
“They now know the calls, they know the plays, they know how to defend and how to attack.”
The question then becomes how does a coach prepare the right information, in the right format, so they too can present a tight meeting educating players about the opposition? Spott uses his the remainder of his 24-minute presentation to explain just that.
This video is available exclusively to members of The Coaches Site.
Want to find out more about Spott’s coaching journey? Listen below as Spott joined TCS Founder Aaron Wilbur for a live Glass and Out podcast recording, where Spott discussed working his way up the coaching ladder.
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Steve Spott
Steve Spott is the Assistant Coach of the Dallas Stars. Prior to that, he spent three seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights, which he joined in 2019 alongside long-time coaching partner Pete DeBoer. Spott also coached with DeBoer the four previous seasons with the San Jose Sharks.
A native to Toronto, Canada, Spott began his coaching career with Seneca College of the CCAA where he quickly moved through the junior hockey ranks. Spott spent a few years with the Markham Waxers and Plymouth Whalers before solidifying a role with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers as an Assistant General Manager/Assistant Coach. Throughout a 12 year run with the Rangers, Spott was promoted to GM and Head Coach and also spent time at the International level, winning a World Junior Championship Gold Medal in 2010 as an Assistant Coach with Team Canada.
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