Few coaches have the experience of building winning teams as Mike Keenan. He has led teams to championships in the AHL, CIAU, NHL, Canada Cup and most recently, the KHL. In this keynote address from TCS Live in 2012, Keenan shares stories from his personal coaching journey and stresses the importance of creating expectations for your team and reinforcing those expectations on a daily basis. Coaches are leaders and have to demonstrate to their players that they are invested in both their individual and the team’s success.

Keenan was one of the most successful and controversial coaches in NHL history. Known for his demanding, confrontational coaching style, he led the Philadelphia Flyers to two Stanley Cup Final appearances in the 1980s before winning the Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994, ending their 54-year championship drought.

His coaching career spanned over 1,300 games across multiple NHL teams including the Flyers, Rangers, Blues, Canucks, Bruins, Panthers, and Flames. Keenan was known for his ability to quickly improve team performance, but also for frequent conflicts with players and management, often leading to relatively short tenures with teams despite his success.

Beyond his NHL success, he also won a Canada Cup with Team Canada and later coached in the KHL. His impact on hockey includes pioneering a more aggressive, demanding coaching style and helping establish higher standards of player conditioning and preparation.

Some of his former players might take a minute to think about exactly what "aggressive, demanding coaching style" entails, but there's no question Keenan has been a polarizing figure in the game for decades.

Noteworthy Timestamps:

• 1:05 Sea captain story
• 2:45 Have a sense of mission
• 4:20 New York Rangers
• 6:50 Darryl Sutter
• 8:10 Yvon Lambert/curfew
• 10:35 Philadelphia Flyers
• 13:50 Brian Leetch
• 16:35 Trading Dennis Savard/Chris Chelios
• 18:35 Canada Cup
• 23:25 Managing challenges
• 27:30 Fourth Cup run in NY
• 29:30 Mastering fear
• 34:20 Sense of trust
• 37:20 Incentives and objectives
• 41:10 Action oriented/ be who you are
• 45:45 Defining roles
• 58:00 Q&A