Page 51 of An Irresistible Force (Vancouver Vice)

“Proper grooming is the final touch that so many women ignore. It doesn’t matter how good your dress looks, you have to have the right hair and makeup. Accessories too.” She began making notes. “We’ve seen some very nice dresses today, but I’d like to shop around a little more. I have a few secret places I like. Do you want me to look for work clothes for you too?”

“Yes, please.” In only a few hours, April had made me see the possibilities of a wardrobe that suited me in colour and fit. I hated pulling my old clothes back each time. “I’m ready for a big change.”

22

Papa’s Got a Brand New Plan

Chris

My planfor improving hockey operations at the Vice was finally done. It would be the first time I’d ever done a PowerPoint presentation in my entire life. But Amanda had suggested it, and then Nancy had been more than happy to help me set everything up. Usually I didn’t want to have to fiddle on a computer, but watching Amanda go over her financial forecasts made me realize that a picture was a really easy way to show stuff. I drew charts that were the equivalent of stick men drawings and Nancy converted them into something slick and colourful.

It wasn’t really a big deal: only me, Greg, and Amanda in the boardroom. But it was important for two reasons. First of all, it was the first time I’d done something like this all on my own. I figured out what had to be done and then did it. I’d gotten help from everyone here, as well as Swanny back at the Millionaires, but it was all my ideas. And secondly, whether they sold the team or not, the Richardsons needed to do something if they didn’t want to risk the team going bankrupt. And given the way things were going, that was something that might actually happen.

“Okay, here’s my plan for what needs to be done here. First of all, I’m not going to keep repeating myself, but you need to have a stronger affiliation with an NHL team. Every AHL team in the league counts on its parent for players and salary relief. The Vice need money, and that’s the best way to get it. You guys know that stuff already.”

Greg nodded. He had hinted that he wouldn’t mind doing something else and Amanda wanted to be in Toronto, but Jeannie and Thomas had different ideas.

“But if you sell or not, you’re gonna need a plan. Until you get more butts in seats, you’re operating at a loss, and you need to do some smart things to get a better team on the ice. I have found three areas that we can improve on.

“Number one: Style of play.”

Shit, I had forgotten to start the visuals. I clicked them on.

“Amanda and I talked about this at the game the other night. The Vice play a boring, grinding style of hockey. I don’t know if it’s chicken or egg, but Coach Panner clearly thinks that this is his only chance to win. But it ain’t workin’! And fans hate watching the game get slowed down. You play to a 5-4 loss, but at least you gave the fans four times to get out of their seats. But a 1-0 loss is not as pretty. And the team has lost its best d-man twice to injuries from blocking shots. It’s a philosophy, but I’d rather see the kind of fast game the Millionaires prefer. It’s a style that got us the Cup, but it takes speedy players that are committed to puck movement.”

I remembered to click to the next slide. “Number two: Analytics.”

Amanda coughed after I said this.

“Yeah, Miss Smarty-Pants, I know you were the one that told me we should be using analytics. Since we don’t have money, we’re going to have to beat the bushes to find people. Luckily, I found out that the Vice play-by-play guy, Larry, is a real numbers guy. He’s already doing a ton of numbers for the team, but if he got some help you could start to search the ECHL, the colleges, and the other minor leagues to maybe find some hidden gems. I don’t totally get all the numbers stuff yet, but I’m learning a lot about puck possession and shot suppression.”

Greg looked skeptical. “But doesn’t everyone want the same players? I don’t see how analyzing gives us an advantage.”

“Well, that goes hand-in-hand with the style you want to play. If you’re playing a crash and bang game, you want big bodies. In fact, most teams take the big guy over the smaller guy, period. But a while ago, a few G.M.s realized that maybe a smaller guy could thrive if he was speedy enough to avoid hits. So, that’s the kind of thing you look for. You want a certain kind of player, and you have to figure out which stats will lead you to him. And the other way you can use analytics is to look at your own team. You can use it for in-game deployment. But you can also use it to pinpoint guys that you might want to trade at the peak of their value. Some guys you can’t trade because you’re developing them, but it’s the supporting cast that make the difference between winning and losing.

“Are we good so far?” I asked, and they nodded. The smile on Amanda’s face kept getting wider and wider.

“The third thing is: Training and Conditioning. I’ll be honest. You guys have the worst training and conditioning program I’ve ever seen. There’s only a part-time coach and the facility sucks.”

I pulled up my favourite slide. “This shows the performance of each player during this season. Pretty much everyone is getting worse as the season goes on. Now there could be other reasons, but proper strength and conditioning coaching will help players at least maintain their performances as the season goes on. If you were to make the playoffs, you’d want to be peaking then.”

“Who are those two players?” Amanda pointed to the only lines that were going up.

“Rico Aleppo and Eric Fairburn.”

She smiled. Aleppo was the guy she had picked up on during the game in the box. “And why are they bucking the trend?”

“Well, Aleppo is finally getting some minutes on the second and third lines, and he’s been thriving there. His assist numbers are way up. And I talked to Fairburn. He’s been getting private conditioning training from a local guru. And he’s also a freak about eating clean.” I felt a twinge of guilt about all those doughnuts. Even if I wasn’t playing, I needed to fuel myself properly.

“You know, the top AHL teams actually provide meals, like in the NHL. It’s a way of making sure your players eat right, especially the younger guys who can’t cook and don’t know dick about nutrition. Otherwise, they’re going out and eating fast food because they don’t have the time or the money to do the right thing. But programs like that cost a lot of dough.”

I turned off the slide show. “Okay, that’s pretty much it. I know you wanted me to cost out these options, but a lot of it’s guessing so I think we’d be better off doing it together.”

Amanda sat back. “Well, that was excellent, Chris. I was hoping you’d also have specifics, like are there people in the organization you’d change?”

I sighed. I hated throwing people under the bus, but Greg and Amanda would never figure this stuff out on their own. “Well, the coach’s contract is up this summer, and I wouldn’t be renewing him. From what I can see, he’s overworked but he can’t delegate. And he’s not putting his players in a position to succeed.”

Amanda’s pinched her lips in that familiar irritated way. “Yeah, and I don’t appreciate that he walked me right into a room of undressed players. He’s sexist and that was his way of showing me that women don’t belong in hockey.”

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