Abbotsford’s Coaching Staff is Full of Connections and Culture Creators

Staples, structure, standard, habits, and pillars.

You’ve heard it all before by now but there really is something to it.

The Vancouver Canucks have heavily invested in the new brand of Canucks hockey and they are seeing strong results from their efforts.

Down on the farm, another Canucks team is keeping the same pillars and seeing success come from their investment in hard work and structured play.

Abbotsford Canucks head coach Jeremy Colliton began to establish his structured style of play last season in his first year as Abbotsford’s bench boss and with the support of his assistants and development coaches, the group down Highway 1 is looking to support the NHL club by being a trusted space for the development of future Vancouver Canucks.

Just as it is in Vancouver, stats don’t mean much in Abbotsford. Playing the right way matters and it’s helped the Abbotsford Canucks start the season with a 17-9-3 record.

Playing the right way has resulted in wins but the head coach believes that this is more about an organization having success instead of two separate entities. Both Canucks coaching staffs have been on the same page all season and that has resulted in seamless transitions for call-ups and players in Abbotsford understanding what they need to accomplish to be able to play Canucks hockey in the NHL.

“We're on the same team,” said Colliton about the two coaching staffs. “We're all trying to contribute. Nobody sees the game exactly the same way, but we have all come together and we throw things around and kind of agree on what’s important. Then you have to live it every day. That's what's been good. You can see how each Canuck team plays and it's easy to get results if we play our way.”

The two Canucks coaching staffs gathered in Whistler before the season for a coaches summit to share their ideas and establish the pillars that each of these teams wanted to preach to the players.

Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet enjoyed working with the Abbotsford staff and has praised Colliton multiple times this season for the work he is doing with the AHL team.

Colliton has been able to find a groove with his staff in his second season as the coach in Abbotsford.

“When the day starts, you make a plan as far as who's going to talk to who and what the message is going to be but things will come up during the day that you can't necessarily prepare for,” said Colliton with a smirk. “I just think everyone being on the same page is key so that the players feel that there's a common vision for how we want the team to play and individually, how we see them contributing to that and what they can do to help us have success and then they can have individual success through that.”

Work ethic and professionalism are two important traits to have to be successful as a Canuck and we are seeing a new culture emerge as the dominant driving force to how the Canucks can push themselves to be better every day.

“There are certain things we feel are important that lead to winning,” said Colliton. “It's important that both staffs see things similarly so that we can prepare guys to be able to do the job when they get up to the NHL and ultimately, that's why they're here. They want to play in the NHL. They don't want to play for the Abbotsford Canucks for too long. We're trying to give those guys every opportunity to go up play well and then never come back.”

Aside from Colliton, some important names in Abbotsford include development coaches Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin, assistant coach Jeff Ulmer, associate coach Gary Agnew, and goaltending coach Marko Torenius.

Ulmer has some interesting connections to some of the people in the Canucks’ organization. His first NHL job was as a skill development coordinator in the Arizona Coyotes organization in 2018. Ulmer was on Rick Tocchet’s staff and worked on special skill development assignments as well as working with players who were scratched or coming back from injury and needed extra work.

Conor Garland recalled working a lot with Ulmer in his first two years as an NHL player.

“Ulms was really good with us young guys,” said Garland. “Whether it was working with us right after games or doing extra things at practice. He was great for me at that time in my career because he would send me clips out of nowhere and show me something or just give me a call to talk about being a pro. I just really liked what he did for me. You could really tell that he cared about his players.”

Tocchet said that he was happy to reconnect with Ulmer this offseason at the coaches summit in Whistler. Ulmer helped teach Tocchet to think outside of the box on certain skill aspects of the game and how a player can translate that skill from practice into a game.

As a fellow coach who went so quickly from playing to coaching, Tocchet appreciates how Ulmer is learning to be a better coach.

“He's actually learning from the players,” said Tocchet about Ulmer. “I think the key is being able to be vulnerable and know that you can learn from the players too. He's made his own mark and he really invests in what he believes in. It also helps that he's a smart guy too.”

Ulmer typically works with the forwards as well as helping on the power play unit. He’s learned from both Canucks head coaches and sees similarities between Colliton and Tocchet.

“Having been around Toch when I was in Arizona, I know how he likes to play, which also fits with our similar structure here,” said Ulmer. “I feel like with Toch and with JC, most of the stuff they want from me is board play and it’s because Toch and JC know that most of the game is played on the wall.”

Phil Di Giuseppe and Linus Karlsson are two players that Ulmer mentioned when asked about anyone who’s impressed him with their buy-in to improve their board play. Aatu Räty and Tristen Nielsen were two more names that came up when Ulmer was speaking about players who have taken big steps in improving their wall play.

Ulmer feels it’s very important to have similar terminology between the teams. He recalled his time with Tocchet in Arizona and with that being his first NHL job, Ulmer began his coaching career by learning coaching techniques and terminology from Tocchet.

What started with communication and alignment in Whistler, has evolved into culture throughout the organization.

“JC has done a really good job of bringing culture to this group,” said Ulmer. “That's what we expect, and I think that's contagious. Our guys are learning the important things, and they know that it's not all goals and assists. It's a daily grind but it's one that you become stronger from.”

The Abbotsford Canucks are preparing their players to play in the NHL and play the Rick Tocchet way. The connection between staffs is a major piece of how the players can jump from the AHL up to the NHL with a seamless transition.

It all comes back to structure, systems and habits. If you can do these types of things, you will have success with the Canucks in 2023-24.