Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Gallant, who inspired Golden Knights to first-year greatness, is named NHL coach of year

Gallant

John Locher / AP

Gerard Gallant, head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights, poses on the red carpet before the NHL Awards, Wednesday, June 20, 2018, in Las Vegas.

NHL Awards

Vegas Golden Knights' Deryk Engelland poses on the red carpet before the NHL Awards, Wednesday, June 20, 2018, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) Launch slideshow »

2018 NHL Awards Red Carpet

Duggie Scott Walker, left, and entertainer Terry Fator arrive for the 2018 NHL Awards show at the Hard Rock Wednesday, June 20, 2018. Launch slideshow »

Just north of Nova Scotia, Canada, nearly 3,000 miles from Las Vegas, lies Prince Edward Island.

The small Maritime province rallied together the past two months in support of its adopted hockey team. Schools held “black and gold days,” cars lined the streets with “Go Knights Go” inscribed on the windows and local pubs poured free beers every time the Golden Knights scored during the Stanley Cup Final.

Geographically, there are only a few NHL teams further from the island than the Golden Knights, but none were closer to the hearts of the Prince Edward Islanders because of one man — Gerard Gallant.

Gallant grew up in Summerside — a small city on the southwest face of the island with a population of only 14,829. As a child he would sweep the bleachers at the local ice rink to earn time on the ice, which he eventually parlayed into a long NHL career as a player, and now as a coach.

The motto of Summerside is “Small city. Big opportunity.”

Gallant took his opportunity as the first coach in Golden Knights franchise history, galvanized a team of thrown-together misfits, and led them to the pinnacle of the sport in their first season.

Tonight at the NHL Awards at the Joint inside the Hard Rock, Gallant accepted the Jack Adams Award — given to the coach of the year in the NHL. And while his hockey smarts and strategy certainly played a large role in the Golden Knights’ success, his ability to build relationships with the players is the overwhelming reason he is such a fantastic leader of men.

As good of a coach as Gallant is, those closest to him say he is even a better person.

He’s the type of person who spent a large portion of his only time off during the Golden Knights’ bye week in January helping a junior hockey team in his hometown. Gallant made the drive across the island to meet with the Charlottetown Islanders major midget hockey club.

“It tells you everything you need to know about the man,” said Luke Beck, who coaches the team. “He’s a genuine person. If you talk to anyone on Prince Edward Island, people will do anything for him because he’ll do anything for you.”

The first time Beck met Gallant he was only a child, sick in the hospital with pneumonia. Gallant went there to meet with other children at the hospital but somehow missed Beck. When he found out, Gallant drove back to the hospital.

Years later, during the NHL lockout in 2012, Beck was invited to golf with Gallant and a few longtime friends at Myrtle Beach, S.C.

“I barely knew any of the guys and they were all life-long friends,” Beck said. “I felt really out of place but Gallant instantly started cracking jokes on me and immediately made me feel part of the group. He’s such a good person in so many ways, and success follows people like that. There’s no doubt in my mind that his ability to relate to people is special, and he doesn’t do it in a phony way.”

Those skills helped Gallant mold the Golden Knights into a team almost instantaneously.

“I think he is everything about this situation here,” forward David Perron said. “You see guys with great, great years and not much experience in the roles that they had, and I think (Gallant) is the biggest key for that success in my opinion.”

Like the players — who were all left exposed by their previous teams during the expansion draft — Gallant was kicked to the curb by his former employer, and in his case the term was literal. After leading the Florida Panthers to the winningest season in team history, he was let go 22 games into the following year.

Gallant was left curbside at PNC Arena following a road game against the Hurricanes, stunned and holding his bags before hailing a taxi ride home.

His ability to relate to the players is one of his best attributes as a coach.

When a player struggles on a shift after playing 60-straight games in the regular season, hasn’t slept in his own bed or seen his family in weeks, has blisters on his feet from the skates and bruises on his body from laying in front of slap shots, Gallant understands.

“He played the game,” forward William Carrier said. “He knows exactly what to expect. He knows that some nights guys probably aren’t playing their best and he knows that. He knows that practices are tough. He understands those little details on and off the ice, so there’s a big difference.”

Gallant was handed a locker room full of players who had never played together, and many who had never even met, with only a few weeks to get them ready for the season.

“It was a stressful first few days where you didn’t know what to expect,” forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said. “You were stressed to meet the guys because you don’t know anybody and suddenly we are one of the tightest groups that I’ve ever played for.”

Gallant was able to inspire confidence in players who had never played major roles in the NHL — the type of confidence that inspired William Karlsson to score 43 goals, including a between-the-legs division clincher despite never playing on a top line. That type of confidence allowed Vegas go to the entire 82-game regular season without losing four straight.

“I remember a game against New York at home where I played quite a lot the last few minutes of the game and there were a lot of icings,” Bellemare recalled. “I iced the puck and (Gallant) cursed me out. I thought I deserved it because it was a bad play.”

Minutes later following the game, an exhausted Bellemare staggered down the tunnel leading to the locker room when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“He comes up to me grabs my shoulder and says, “Hell of a game, Belly, you played great tonight!” and I’m wondering what just happened here? He taught me that you can’t win every game and you have to forget about the losses quickly,” Bellemare said. “You know that he’s going to be hard on you, but he wants the best for you.”

Gallant can be a fiery leader with a stare that can burn through the plexiglass boards, but also a voice of encouragement to maintain a player's confidence in himself.

“There were times during the year when he was able to challenge me,” rookie Alex Tuch said. “One of the shifts I came off the ice and he ripped me a new one and told me to start playing like a man. I went out there and scored a nice, gritty goal and when I came back to the bench he just gave me a head nod and I knew.”

Gallant isn’t one for bombastic, emotional speeches. His communication style is more austere.

“Honestly he’s been unbelievable,” Tuch said. “He’s a phenomenal coach and honestly I wouldn’t be here without him and the opportunities he gave me.”

Beck said his junior hockey team was beyond nervous to meet Gallant when he showed up at practice, but that didn’t last long.

Gallant’s charm turned a nervous group of 15- to 17-year-olds into an inquisitive bunch eager to learn about the game of hockey. He turned a small island in eastern Canada into Vegas Golden Knights fans, and he turned a first-year franchise into Stanley Cup contenders.

“He will always have our back, no matter what,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “I couldn’t be happier then to go to war for a guy like that.”

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