It took the Hershey Bears all summer to find their next head coach, well after the rest of the American Hockey League (AHL) teams that had openings. Replacing Todd Nelson requires a lot of work and research, as he’s a tough act to follow. It’s not just being Nelson’s successor, a head coach who won two Calder Cup titles in his three seasons with the team, but it’s living up to the standard and legacy of the Bears.
They’ve won 13 Calder Cup titles, and anything short of a championship is a disappointment for this franchise. It’s a lot of pressure to coach in Hershey, even if the next in line wasn’t tasked with replacing Nelson.
Related: Lehigh Valley Phantoms Have Plenty of Optimism Following John Snowden Hire
Derek King is the head coach capable of doing just that. Most people know him as an interim who had to put out a Chicago fire in the middle of the 2021-22 season. King established himself as a player’s coach with the Chicago Blackhawks as they entered a rebuild, yet he brings more than that to the AHL. It’s why the Bears are betting on him to pick up where this team left off and chase a 14th Calder Cup.
King Mirroring Nelson’s Style & Vision
“There are arts and sciences of coaching, the science is the technical package and all the system work, the arts are to buy in and how to get them to be a family,” Nelson noted at the end of last season when discussing his philosophy as a coach. The arts and sciences are a cliché in coaching that was embodied by Nelson and how the Bears played. The Bears would push the pace when needed, and at the same time, they’d play with discipline and win that way as well.
“What I like about Derek is he’s a lot like Todd, where he can adjust midgame,” Bears vice president of hockey operations, Bryan Helmer, noted after King’s introductory press conference. Both coaches have the same message and have their teams play with an identity. At the same time, they are capable of pivoting. King will have the Bears playing the right way in all situations to win, just like Nelson did in the previous three seasons.
It’s not just the systems on the ice, but how both coaches are off the ice as well. What made Nelson stand out was his ability to connect with the players, something many of the Bears noted during the exit interviews last season. He got to know his team, and it helped him get the most out of it. King is also a player-friendly coach and approachable, something Helmer liked in the hiring process. “Players can see a phony and they can see a guy that cares, and Derek is a guy that cares,” Helmer added.
The big question is how King will get to know the players. It’s hard to find a way to hit the ground running and have the team buy in from day one. King will try, especially since there’s more time in the AHL to bond with the long bus rides and time spent together, but less time with each player, considering they get called up and down all the time.
King’s Tenure With Blackhawks Prepares Him For Success in Hershey
King was thrown into a mess when he became the interim head coach of the Blackhawks. This was a team that came under fire early on in the 2021-22 season for their cover-up of the 2010 scandal, and they fired their general manager (GM) and head coach at the time. King calmed things down for the remainder of the season and went 27-33-11, which is a respectable record all things considered.
It’s easy to see how an even-keeled head coach found his identity with the Blackhawks at that time. However, King’s vision came beforehand when he was coaching the Rockford IceHogs. He worked with the young skaters in the Blackhawks’ farm system and had experience with a roster that went through a lot of turnover, something the NHL subsequently endured.
The Blackhawks’ rebuild fueled his style behind the bench. “The big thing I learned is to be patient, to be calm, and not blow too many gaskets when guys make mistakes,” King noted following his introductory press conference in a post-media scrum. They were a younger team, and he related to the players. It’s why in a league where teams are hiring younger coaches with the hope that they’ll work well with the younger players, a 58-year-old King is still a great hire.
The Obstacles King Faces
The Atlantic Division and AHL altogether caught up to the Bears. The Charlotte Checkers, who won the Eastern Conference last season, are the new standard in the division, and everyone is chasing them. The Bridgeport Islanders, who were a historically bad team last season, overhauled the roster thanks in part to the New York Islanders hiring Mathieu Darche. The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have a team filled with prospects and hired an up-and-coming coach who could be in the NHL in a few years in John Snowden. In the Nelson years, the Bears could steamroll the competition. King will be tested every night.
The Bears are also a younger team and are losing many veterans who led them to the back-to-back titles. They won’t be the most talented team in the division, even with the Louie Belpedio and Isak Rosen additions. “We’re going to have a little bit of a younger squad this year so the big thing is to create good habits,” King noted during the introductory press conference. He’s willing to be patient, and he hopes Hershey is as well.
This is a team that might struggle out of the gate. The Bears are usually at the top of the division by the time American Thanksgiving rolls around, and this season, they might be in the middle of the division or even at the bottom of it. However, if they stick to King’s process, they’ll end up once again competing in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
