Hutchins eager to develop Flyers further

Fife Flyers’ Assistant Coach Jeff Hutchins says he’s looking forward to continuing his additional role as Director of Player Development next season.

Hutchins will embark on his second year with the Flyers next term and he is eagerly anticipating the challenges that lie ahead.

“Todd (Dutiaume) and I have had lengthy meetings and dissected last season both on and off the ice performance,” said Hutchins.

“Without going into too much detail we have identified a number of areas that we intend to improve. We agree and feel strongly that we need to improve on and off the ice year on year.

“I think we made strides last year, but we know by making a couple adjustments to the way we approach things will add value and translate into further success. I’m excited to be part of the process.

“As I have said before, the player development role is more about working with the current team members both collectively and individually.

“This past year I watched a lot of video of the players and I looked for things in their game that I could help them improve by making subtle changes that would ultimately help the team performance.

“There is an element of junior development involved as well. Steven Lynch and I have developed a process to identify the talent coming up and scheduling training sessions for those identified to train up with us.

“I think Chad Smith, Reece Cochrane and Andrew Little are examples of that process in motion.”

“Chad is going to be with us this year and will continue to work with him and help him adjust to being a full-time pro.

“Also I think it important to note that Chris Wands benefited a lot this year from video and I really challenged him to be better and take minutes off other guys – I think he did a great job rising to the challenge.”

(Image permission: Fife Flyers)