Silver Knights coaches prepared to fill in for Golden Knights again if needed

By Justin Emerson

Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 | 2 a.m.

Silver Knights coach Manny Viveiros isn’t allowed on the ice at his own team’s practice because of the NHL's COVID-19 safety protocols.

Thrown behind the Golden Knights’ bench on Tuesday, Viveiros and Henderson assistants Joel Ward and Jamie Heward are now part of the league's standards and need to limit exposure to people outside the Golden Knights organization in case they are again needed on the NHL bench.

That forced them to the balcony Wednesday for the Henderson practice at Lifeguard Arena. The AHL team opens its season early next month — but first, Viveiros and the Silver Knights staff are expected to help coach the Golden Knights at 6 p.m. tonight against the Blues.

Vegas coach Pete DeBoer and his staff are in isolation after one assistant tested positive for coronavirus.

“It certainly was a day I’ve never experienced in my life or my hockey career,” Viveiros said of being called into emergency coach duty on Tuesday. “Until (Vegas coach) Pete (DeBoer) and their staff are back behind the bench, we’re going to have to stay away from our players right now.”

Coaches were allowed in their offices at Lifeguard Arena, but were not permitted to have any contact with players, holding meetings virtually and over the phone. With their coaches watching from above, players ran their own practice and at one point forward Patrick Brown went to the whiteboard to draw up a play.

Tuesday was a whirlwind for Viveiros and his staff. When the Golden Knights received word in the afternoon that one of their coaches tested positive for COVID-19, the entire staff went into quarantine and was unavailable. Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon assumed the role of head coach, and summoned Viveiros, Ward and Heward to serve as assistants.

They didn’t have much notice, going from a phone call to coaching the game within a few hours. The Golden Knights worked with the NHL to ensure everything fit into the league’s protocols, and administered virus tests to make them eligible. 

Viveiros does have NHL experience as an assistant with the Oilers 2018-19. Though Ward and Heward played in the NHL, they had never coached professionally.

“Honestly, not really surprised with just how everything’s going this year,” Henderson forward Jake Leschyshyn said. “I was happy for them. It was awesome to see them on the bench and they were probably just as excited to get that opportunity.”

As of Wednesday, DeBoer and his staff were still game-planning for the Thursday game against the Blues from home after the Golden Knights facility was closed on Wednesday. They’ll prepare video and game plans, and send it to the Silver Knights coach to show it to the players on Thursday before the game.

The congruity between the Golden Knights and Silver Knights helped make the Henderson coaches’ transition easier. By design the Silver Knights run the same system as their parent club, so the coaches felt prepared to step in. Once the game started, they were another set of eyes on the bench, watching a team run similarly to the one they run in Henderson.

“We’re part of, an extension I guess, of the coaching staff there in the organization,” Viveiros said. “We’re all on the same team. We’re running the same systems, we have the same philosophies, so for us that was pretty easy to go in and understand what was going on.”

There’s also his own team to worry about. Henderson plays its first preseason game Friday against San Jose ahead of its Feb. 6 opener, and Viveiros expects him and his staff to be back coaching Henderson. 

And when they are, the players know they have some experience before the AHL season even begins.

“It was fun to see them on the bench when I watched the game,” Henderson forward Lucas Elvenes said. “I was happy for them.”