What does it take to battle through adversity? Jay Woodcroft has a few pointers.
The 2019-2020 AHL season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hopes were high the 2020-21 season would take place, but there was a lot of uncertainty.
Bakersfield Condors head coach Jay Woodcroft said it was a very difficult time for him and his staff. Ultimately the season was given the green light, and after a truncated training camp, the Condors, coming off a disappointing 2019-2020 season, stumbled out of the gates losing their first five games of the year.
Uh oh.
Fast-forward four months, and the Condors were celebrating a Pacific Division best-of-three playoff win over the Henderson Silver Knights. It wasn’t a Calder Cup win (for the second consecutive season there were no Calder Cup playoffs), but it was a championship to Woodcroft and the Condors.
Woodcroft spent 13 seasons in the NHL with San Jose, Edmonton and Detroit, where he won a Stanley Cup. He presented during the Virtual Hockey Summit on what it takes to battle through adversity and how his team navigated such a wild season.
Hosted by Ryan Holt, voice for the Condors, this 27-minute presentation is one with many takeaways, including the importance of keeping a journal. While being in the moment is important, Woodcroft swears by writing down anything and everything, the good and the bad, to reference later on.
“For all the young coaches out there, I think it’s great to keep a journal and detail your thoughts and meetings,” said Woodcroft. “I can tell you that I began doing it when I started in the National Hockey League, and it’s habit that I picked up from some great coaches in Detroit. It’s one that I’ve continued through to this day.
“For me, as a young coach, I quite often go back and reference no only the jams I was in during different parts of my career and how we worked our way out of it, but I go back to look at the good times and reminisce. That helps make me a better coach.”
This presentation includes actual pages from Woodcroft’s journal, as well as pre-scout videos he shared with the Condors.
