With all the new emphasis on International Hockey, we thought it would be best to chat with a former celebrated NHLer who has been as involved with the international and youth game as anyone. 

His name is Bobby Holik and during his playing days, Holik won two Stanley Cups with the New Jersey Devils. And since his playing days ended, he’s been taking what he learned on the ice and is passing it on to the next generation. 

So, without any further ado, let’s hear what Holik has to say.

*Editor’s Note: Questions and Answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

Question: What was your experience like helping grow the game of hockey in Israel as part of their national ice hockey program?

Holik: “It was actually before COVID and all that. It was unusual that I volunteered to do that, but it started as (a favor to) Stan Fischler. We were good friends when I played and I retired and we always talked about Israel, the amazing place it is, the people and all that. Then, one year, I got an email from him asking if I would be interested in helping out with the hockey program (in Israel). 

“So, he put me in touch with people there. I did a hockey school there one summer and I was volunteering at the hockey camp there, up in Metula. It went really well. I had the most amazing experience. We toured the country before and it was just awesome. So they invited me back. I guess I was good enough. So I went back the next year, I think it was 2018, to do the hockey school again. And then, I believe it was at the end of it, at the time, the hockey program was up north in Metula at the Canada Centre. 

“There was not much else going on as far as hockey goes and they asked me if I would coach the national teams. I was like, ‘give me a couple days and I’ll talk to my wife.’ (Then) I said, ‘It would be an honor.’ So, for a year plus, I coached the U18, U20s and Men’s teams. That was the most incredible experience. It was truly something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. But then COVID-19 came. 

“Actually, I was taking a year off. I said I can’t do next year because our daughter was between college and medical school. She had a year where she applied, so I wanted to dedicate it to the family. And I said, ‘I’ll be back when she goes back to medical school.’ Then, when I wanted to go back, COVID hit. And then, after COVID, other people took over the hockey program. 

“Unfortunately, I’ll be honest, they were not showing the interest that I thought they would, because I had a lot of success with the team. So, I can’t force anybody. I can only show them how good I am. And unfortunately, other people took over the program, other than my friends and saw that they had better people to contribute. 

“I talk to my friends in Israel all the time and I’m hoping Israel, or here, in North America, I’m hoping another opportunity comes. It doesn’t have to be national teams. It can be on any level. I would love to contribute to Israeli hockey because I absolutely love the country a lot. I love the people. I love the kids. I love working with the kids. 

“So that’s kind of the quick story of my engagement there. As I said, I brought my family there a couple of times. We just love Israel and the people there. And as I said, I was very fortunate to be able to work with their youth and obviously all based on volunteering. So that’s my story.”

Question: How does your experience with the Czech National Team compare to your time with the Israeli National Team?

Holik: “You cannot compare it, because when I started with Israeli hockey, I was coaching. I was retired and I was coaching high school here in Wyoming where we live, high school hockey. And also helping out with some friends at the Junior level. So it was more like my most recent experience was with USA Hockey compared to Czech Hockey. 

“But, Czechoslovakian Hockey helped me become who I am as a hockey person, not necessarily a player, but a hockey person. So, all these experiences, it’s not just Czechoslovakian Hockey or USA Hockey or NHL. I put it all together and when I returned from the first couple of experiences in Israel and I was talking to another head coach and other people in USA Hockey, I realized what USA Hockey has become. 

“The experience in Israel and the enthusiasm of the youth of the kids and their ability to improvise in a game, which is necessary, was amazing. It was obviously out of necessity, because they didn’t have the program USA Hockey has. 

“But when I returned here after coaching the Israeli teams, I’m like, ‘something’s not right here.’ And it was the overstructuring of the game for the youth in the United States and probably Canada and everywhere else. So, I was looking for the right balance between having structure and direction and a path for USA Hockey youth in the United States and then the lack of it in Israel. 

“But in Israel, the kids show a lot more enthusiasm and ability to improvise that the kids in USA Hockey have completely lost, because everything is drawn out for them. The experience in Israel helped me coach youth here because I realized that we, not necessarily I, but USA Hockey or the coaches here, they are not allowing the players to improvise on their own because everybody just wants to win. 

“They think by drawing it up, drawing up a game plan and sticking to it, is always the way to win. But it’s not. The game of hockey is a game of bounces and deflections and bad luck and good luck and referees, officials and all that stuff. 

“More than anything, what helped me with my youth coaching experience here in the United States was seeing the ability to improvise and the enthusiasm that the Israeli kids brought on the ice. But again, of course, playing for Czechoslovakian Hockey and playing in The NHL, it’s all part of my hockey person, hockey knowledge or wisdom.”

Question: To get back that improvisation style, should Ice Hockey at the Olympics go back to being kids and amateurs playing instead of having the professionals play?

Holik: “That’s kind of a little bit of a stretch. Let’s face it, the Olympics are not the Olympics of the past. The Olympics are about money. It’s a business and you can tell how it’s a business because a lot of the International Olympic Committee members have become wealthy by being officials for the Olympic Committee. 

“It’s sponsors. It’s donations. It’s getting people to do what you want them to do by paying them or voting for…I don’t really want to get into how to change the Olympics. I’m looking at strictly youth sports, not only hockey, but I’ve seen soccer, tennis, I’ve seen other sports and it’s a problem across youth sports. 

“The parents, coaches and instructors almost want their players or young athletes to be dependent on their guidance. And there’s times where you just have to be confident in your players, in your athletes and give them room to fly, sort of. Give them room to be themselves, to give them room to improvise. 

“I always say, ‘I’m gonna teach you something, but when you are on the ice, I’m not gonna be in the game. You are in a corner with the puck or trying to forecheck. I’m not there to tell you how to do it. You have to learn the kind of blueprint that I’m giving you and then apply it yourself to the situation that it occurs.’ 

“That’s what coaches, I think, a lot of times, forget. They tell players, ‘you gotta go here and then right and then left, then stop and back-check.’ Well, what about if the puck bounce is the other way? Or what about if the puck lands on my stick or my teammate, who was supposed to pass me the puck, loses the puck? You gotta be able to adapt and quickly. 

“We can only give them so much information. I call it a blueprint, how the game is played. But once you let them play, you have to let them play. Bad coaches don’t usually have confidence in their players. That’s why they micromanage. Good coaches, who there are very few, whether it’s youth hockey or NHL, they let the players do what they’re good at and what they taught them to do.”

Question: What’s your take on the significance of what the two Cup-winning Devils teams you were on did as we now celebrate the 25th and 30th anniversaries, respectively, of the 2000 and 1995 Cups? 

Holik: “So, 1995, it’s simple. That was the best team or best group of players as a group. What I mean, we had some great players, no doubt, but we played better together than any other team that I’ve ever been on. So that’s ’95. Now, 2000, we just had so much talent, so much depth. There was no way we were not gonna win. The credit goes to Lou (Lamoriello) and the coaches because they put together such a combination of skill and size and and depth. 

“But the ’95 team will always stand out because we just played together so well. It was incredible. There’s just no comparison. Even though the second Cup was just as sweet as the first one. You want to win it first, at least once and then, when you win it, you want to let people know that it wasn’t a fluke, that you have more in you. So there’s different reasons, but also a different kind of team. 

“So ’95 was all about the team. I’ll never forget that. That was the best group of players playing together, better than any ever in my career. In 2000, it was just the team was too good to be beaten and we knew it. And we played that way. We came together as a team incredibly, but we just had more talent, more depth, more of everything than ’95. So it was kind of meant to be.”