The broadcaster and former NHL coach, general manager and team president Doug MacLean discusses his new book Draft Day: How Hockey Teams Pick Winners or Get Left Behind (Simon & Schuster, 2023), with Joseph Planta.

Draft Day: How Hockey Teams Pick Winners or Get Left Behind by Doug MacLean (Simon & Schuster, 2023). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Draft Day

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Doug MacLean joins me now. The former NHL coach, general manager, team president, and broadcaster has just published a highly readable, insightful, and fun book Draft Day: How Hockey Teams Pick Winners or Get Left Behind. He provides marvelous insight about the draft process in hockey, and how critical it is for the foundation of a championship team. It’s a roll of the dice at times, so a lot of thought and preparation goes into the scouting, as well as interviews. There’s the metrics angle to all of this too, and I’ll ask Mr. MacLean about the relationship between the scouts and the analytics folks. The book is replete with anecdotes that will be fun for a hockey fan, and will be interesting for non-hockey fans alike, because they’re all great lessons in leadership. Doug MacLean was the president and general manager of the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets, and was head coach of the Florida Panthers. He also served in the Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, and Washington Capitals organisations. He then went on to a broadcasting career for Sportsnet, cohosting the popular Hockey Central at Noon on the radio, and the Hockey Central television broadcast. He divides his time between his native Prince Edward Island and Florida. The book is written with Scott Morrison, and is published by Simon and Schuster. We talked yesterday, with Doug joining me from Delray Beach, Florida. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Doug MacLean; Mr. MacLean, good morning.

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