Drew Bannister built a garage.
A big one.
“I became a carpenter this summer,†he said this week. “So that’s new.â€
“Here, check out the pictures,†he said as he pulled out his cellphone.
It’s where boats will be stored at the family cottage at Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron. Up top is the space where a guest suite will go. Swipe by swipe, pictures showed a flat spot becoming a 38-by-40-foot framed-in structure.
Impressive.
Give Bannister’s brother-in-law an assist for planning the project, but the Blues coach was muscle and elbow grease.
“That was my July,†Bannister said. “I refined my carpentry skills, which were nonexistent before then.â€
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It’s pretty amazing what one can do with a solid plan and enough time and skill to execute it. Maybe there’s a Blues analogy here.
Bannister isn’t new to the Blues, but he is about to enter his first full season as their head coach. Last season? It was a white-knuckle interim ride from December through the season’s end.
A disappointing season for the Blues was an encouraging one for Bannister, and a 30-19-5 record despite trying circumstances helped him secure a contract to lead the team’s planned exit from a retool.
“The years of work you did to build up, you finally got to this place in your career where now you have that opportunity,†Bannister said. “It gives you time to reflect on everything you’ve done in the past and the sacrifices that were made from family members and from yourself. It gives you a little time to dwell on everything you did to get there. A lot of excitement. But then, you get yourself dialed back in.â€
A well-deserved celebration for the rising coach in the Blues system came and went. What Bannister is fired up about now is the chance to continue to shape his team. Training camp can be a grind for some. Not to a coach who didn’t get the benefit of one last season. For Bannister, the grind is a gift.
Bannister was able to change some things to his liking during his 54-game interim sprint. Some were noticeable on-ice adjustments. Others were behind the scenes, such as tweaks to how meetings were structured. But he was mindful of not wanting to throw players off too much, especially veterans who were not as familiar with him as some of the Blues’ youngest players, who got to know Bannister previously during their climb through the organization.
“I didn’t want to blow things up,†he said. “I wanted to take a step back at times and kind of evaluate what was going on, decide what was important to me, decide what I felt would give our team success in the future.â€
You have heard and read a lot by now about the Blues believing they are a faster and better-skating team. What you are likely going to hear a lot about as the Blues begin their first Bannister-led training camp are specific characteristics he believes the team must continue to develop.
“The identity of our team is becoming a team,†he said. “Becoming a playoff team. What it takes, daily, to become a playoff team are the standards we have to meet and exceed.â€
The standards? Glad you asked. Call them a blueprint.
Courage. Resiliency. Unity. Positivity. Competitiveness.
Strong words, sure. But what do they really mean? Again, glad you asked.
“What does it look like on the ice?†Bannister said. “It can be as simple as going in first on the forecheck, knowing you are going to have to take a hit to make a play. You have to have courage to get to the net, to create offense. You have to have courage to block shots.â€
Bannister walked through each one. After getting to know the players who were new to him last season and building relationships through visits and phone calls this offseason, he’s going to push these guys. Especially early.
“It’s the values and the standards that you really try to hammer down on when you go into a season to mold the team into the vision you see,†Bannister said. “A lot of the things we are going to be talking about at training camp will be values we as a staff expect and the standards of how we want to approach our day-to-day work, whether it’s in the gym, on the ice, their prep and what they do away from the rink, whether it’s rest or how they’re eating.â€
I know some roll their eyes when a coach talks about core values. But it seems to me that teams that have no sense of what they stand for tend to fall apart faster than focused foes. And I’ve watched it happen where enough buy-in on a coach’s ask can produce amazing results.
Blues players proved it not too long ago when they found lockstep with Craig Berube before that synchrony fizzled. Chief’s gone now.
This is Bannister’s team, and this is his first legitimate chance to mold it to his liking from a season’s start.
If players buy in on what he’s selling, a season that lacks much outside hype could get compelling quickly.
Bannister’s garage is still standing, by the way.
“Surprisingly,†he said, “it’s actually looking really good.â€
Don’t be too surprised if we can say the same thing about Bannister’s Blues by the time the playoffs roll around.