McCudden brings the
unconventional to the conventional game of hockey. Using techniques he
invented and teaching tools such as the shooter tutor and the deflection
board, McCudden is back for his second tour of duty with the Wolves.
The 41-year-old Crystal Lake resident
works two or three times a week before practices with young players who
dream of making it to the NHL, players who know to expect the
unexpected.
"Some days you work on skating, other
days it's puck-handling. It's not the same thing every day," defenseman
Kurtis Foster said. "It's not a chore working with Kenny."
That's how McCudden likes it.
"Every day must be different," he said.
"I love keeping guys on edge where they have no idea what they're
working on.
"When you put a player through that, I
think they take a step back and say to the guy who is not doing that
work, 'My gosh I really enjoyed that. I've never done that before.'æ"
McCudden joined the Wolves in 1994 as
their skills coach and also as the team's analyst on TV broadcasts. He
worked for the team through 1997, and he also continued extensive work
with local youth hockey programs.
Three years ago, he hooked up with the
Colorado Avalanche and its AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. Since then,
it has been nonstop for the high-energy McCudden, who works 11 months
straight before relaxing in June by golfing in Scotland.
This season, McCudden has worked with 13
players chosen by Wolves head coach John Anderson and assistant Marty
Howe, with input from McCudden.
"My job is not to burn these guys out
because I respect that they have a practice afterwards," he said. "My
job is to get the timing, add skill, maybe take away some flaws, but
never to strip down and rebuild a player."
Anderson appreciates having McCudden
spend the extra time with his young players.
"First of all, he's a terrific person
outside of hockey," Anderson said. "He makes things interesting for the
guys. It helps Marty and I because we already have 200 things to do."
Said McCudden: "John and Marty trust what
I'm doing. I think I'm that liaison between the coach and the players."
Now, about those drills ...
"I make them all up myself," McCudden
said. "They're made up just through the process of what I see as far as
a game, situation-wise. I try to turn it into a game situation."
In one recent session, forwards J.P.
Vigier, Dan Snyder and Simon Gamache worked with McCudden and his
deflection board to improve their reflexes.
The half-hour session included a drill in
which the board was set up at an angle between the circles. McCudden
would shoot the puck at the board, which would then deflect it to a
waiting player for a shot on net.
"That puck was coming off the board
quicker than any player could give a one-time pass," he said. "The
reaction time of the player receiving the puck off that board has got to
be twice as fast. Now when the puck comes over to him from a player,
it's going to be slow-motion. He'll be able to jam it home."
The deflection board is one of a
half-dozen teaching aids McCudden has in his bag.
"If I didn't use those things, I'd
probably have two or three guys with me doing the work," he said. "So I
need to bring out certain things to make it very interesting. I'm not
here to reinvent the game. I'm here to do things coaches don't
necessarily have the time or expertise to work on."
McCudden's big break in the business came
a few years back when he was asked to work with a youngster on
Colorado's roster - Alex Tanguay.
"Alex came off a rookie campaign where he
had 17 goals. (Colorado) wasn't happy with his skating, so they sent him
to live with my wife and I," McCudden said.
"I saw within two days what they could
not correct. They were so pleased when he returned - he scored 27 goals
in his second year - and that got me really in the door with the
Avalanche.
"One guy got me 12 guys. Twelve guys got
me 28 this year. Right now, I'm looking to keep that relationship going
as more or less a private contractor for the Avalanche.
"Working for Colorado is a treat. I feel
privileged as a Chicago guy to be able to work with such a squad and a
class organization. I get treated unbelievably - no different from here
with the Wolves."
Technically, McCudden works for four
teams: Colorado and Hershey, and the Wolves and their affiliate, the
Atlanta Thrashers.
Though he has worked with some of the
biggest names in the game, McCudden said he derives just as much
pleasure helping the smallest of skaters.
"On Saturday mornings, you'll find me
working with 3- or 4-year-old kids," he said. "My youth levels mean as
much to me as the pro level. I say it this way: my little guys are my
Rings, and my big guys are my Cups.
"I just love the variation of all levels
- it keeps you fresh."
McCudden estimates he works with 9,500
kids a year, including youngsters from the Crystal Lake Leafs, the Glen
Ellyn-based Flames and the Northwest Chargers of Rolling Meadows.
"I believe I'm the only guy in North
America right now working at the National Hockey League level, the
American Hockey level, East Coast Hockey, college, junior all the way
down to your learn-to-skate programs," he said. "I'm 41 years old and I
still feel like I'm 18 or 19, and I believe the players can read that
too."
While working with the Wolves players,
McCudden's focus is on doing whatever he can to help them make the
Thrashers' roster.
"The young men here all have a goal: they
want to get to the next level," he said. "Because if they don't have
that in mind at the American Hockey League level to get to the NHL,
there's one step down and that's the East Coast Hockey League, and they
don't want to go there."
