Through a media event on Wednesday at the Scotiabank Saddledome, Western Hockey League commissioner Rob Robson ushered in the 49
th
WHL playoffs, the first for Calgary Hitmen bench boss Mark French.
Wrapping up his first WHL campaign with a 3-2 triumph over the Kootenay Ice on Sunday at the Saddledome, the former AHL and KHL coach is amped up and revving to go as his playoff debut looms against the fierce rival on Friday.
“I’m excited to get it going,” French said as the Hitmen prepare to take on the Ice in Game 1 of their Round 1 series on home ice. “Our series is going to carry a lot of passion. We’ve played some great hockey in both ends and we are really looking forward to get started.”
French carries a wealth of post-season experience that he’s picked while trotting the global hockey landscape.
Last season, French was in Croatia coaching the KHL’s Zagreb Medvescak to a regular season record of 28-14-0 before falling in the first round of that league’s playoffs.
In his first season as head coach of the AHL’s Hershey Bears in 2010, French won the Calder Cup and from there, never missed the playoffs throughout his four-year tenure with the team.
Throughout his entire head coaching career in the AHL and KHL, French posts a playoff record of 22-19.
He expressed that the post-season, in any league, is a key time for coaches as far as developing their players is concerned.
“When you add the stress level and the excitement of playoff hockey, it breeds a real good opportunity to not only develop them as players, but also develop some skill to carry forward throughout their lives,” he said.
French’s first WHL playoff opponent, the Ice, is one of the Hitmen most intense rivals.
According to Robson, the WHL’s new playoff format, which mirrors that of the NHL, was implement to highlight such matchups.
“We wanted to emphasise those rivalries,” Robson said. “The way to get there was a hybrid between our traditional conference playoffs and our division playoffs. The NHL format fit that bill. We talk about rivalries in our league, the Kootenay Ice and Calgary Hitmen, it will be a long series by all accounts.”
No stranger to major-junior hockey, French has also served as an assistant coach in the Ontario Hockey League.
For two seasons from 1999 to 2001, French was behind the bench of the North Bay Centennials, a franchise that has since moved south of the border to become the Saginaw Spirit.
The first-year WHL coach said that although the WHL playoffs may present some subtle differences compared to the OHL, he said “playoffs are playoffs” for the most part.
“You expect a heightened intensity level, more energy and more emotion,” French said. “It’s your ability to govern those as a coach and to set a good example for your players. I’m sure there will be some things that come up that are specific to this age-group and this league.”