Jim Playfair is calm, approachable, soft-spoken and reflective, which means this is not game day. On game day, he is to intensity what a microwave oven is to a bowl of soup.
His body tenses and his eyes widen. He answers reporters' questions with a just-under-the-surface edginess. You get the impression waiting another seven hours for the puck to drop is the worst torture imaginable for a guy whose playing career had two torturous moments of its own.
But in the quiet leading up to Thursday's opening game of the Calgary Flames-Detroit Red Wings playoff series, Playfair is relaxed enough to address what the hockey world is thinking: This is his first playoff series as a National Hockey League head coach; he is the man who succeeded the highly respected Darryl Sutter; and his worth as a coach will be determined by how well the Flames do this postseason.
Is it a pressure scenario for Playfair? Absolutely. Is he eager to get started? You bet.
"Darryl was really, really good with his guidance," said Playfair, whose relationship with Sutter dates back to 1990, when Playfair captained the Indianapolis Ice to the International Hockey League championship and served as coach. "Darryl's ability to teach with clarity was really helpful in my first year [coaching the Flames]," Playfair added. "I don't think anything happened that surprised me. Darryl and I talked during the course of the season and he made me aware of a lot of situations and prepared me for them."
When Sutter gave up coaching to concentrate on his general manager duties with the Flames, it was assumed Playfair would be the anti-Darryl; the kinder, gentler coach who willingly handled the media chores and was liked by all.
But early on, captain Jarome Iginla dropped a word of caution when asked to compare the new boss with the old boss: "They're a lot more alike than you think."
Sutter was tough and demanding on his players and was able to milk as much as he could from them. He had the credibility of his surname and as a veteran NHL head coach to hold his players' attention. In the end, after the Flames lost to the Anaheim Ducks in last year's playoffs, Sutter reasoned it was time for Playfair to try his voice.
Playfair's critics have argued he doesn't have anywhere near the NHL experience as Sutter and therefore doesn't resonate as well with the players. If so, then here are a couple of things to consider about 42-year-old Playfair and his passion for the game. In 1981, while playing defence for the Edmonton Oilers' Nova Scotia farm team, Playfair was hit during a game in Quebec. His side was rammed into the dasher on top of the boards and the impact lacerated his liver.
Taken to a Sherbrooke hospital on Friday night, Playfair was in so much difficulty that on Sunday morning he was visited by a priest.
"It was a French priest in a French hospital and he read me my last rites," Playfair said. "I didn't understand a word he was saying. If I knew, I would have been petrified."
Two weeks later, Playfair's younger brother was killed in a car crash. Playfair went back to training.
Then in 1992, the end came. He was hit again and banged his head against the boards. The impact detached a retina, and while Playfair's playing days were done, his coaching career was just beginning.
From the ECHL to the IHL to the American Hockey League, Playfair rose through the ranks and guided the Saint John Flames to the 2001 AHL championship. Five years later, he made his NHL head-coaching debut in a season that, at one point, had hostile fans suggesting Playfair be dumped and replaced with Sutter.
"First of all, it was a busy year," he said. "The preparation of being responsible for a lot more activity and goings on was good," said Playfair, who has always received public support from the one person who matters, Sutter.
"I think the players trade off your identity, your personality. I played and understood what the responsibility of the head coach is, and that's to make sure the team is prepared to play."
So, yes, Playfair will have his players prepared because he will be ready to go as soon as his hotel alarm clock sounds tomorrow morning. He has said this isn't about him, it's about the team and playing well. And yet, he knows that come the playoffs, the head coach is always held to a higher degree of accountability.
All he wants now is for the puck to drop and the Flames to win.
He wants the winning most of all.
