Watch an NHL bench for any extended time and you’ll almost certainly see players hunched over, watching replays of their last shift on an iPad. It started in 2017, when the NHL made a deal with Apple to deliver video and data to the players with iPads on the bench. The system is called iBench, powered by a company called XOS Digital.
Flyers coach John Tortorella made headlines last week when he decided to remove the iPads from Philadelphia’s bench.
“We want them to just worry about their next shift,” Tortorella said. “I think it’s a major problem with us, understanding momentums of the game. You can’t understand the moments of the game if you’re looking at the iPad all the time. We took them off and aren’t even going to use them, so that they watch the game and see what’s next.”
Tortorella is a lightning rod for strong opinions around the hockey world and this was no different, but he’s not the only NHL coach who had the thought.
“We discussed this last week,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said recently. “It’s funny that Torts comes out so now I’m like the second guy to the dance. I had said to (assistant coach Ryan) Craig that I think we should put them away and only have them in time outs. My reasoning is you can learn a lot by watching the next shift.”
Cassidy said he isn’t making any changes at the moment, but he and his staff are “in the process of evaluating the appropriate time for that right now.”
Cassidy agrees with a lot of Tortorella’s points, and says he believes he won’t be the last coach to remove the iPads from the bench. Having said that, he isn’t sure he wants to completely remove them from the equation.
“Any time you take something from somebody that they’ve already had, that’s the toughest thing to do is to break that habit,” Cassidy said. “It could be an easy thing to do, just say, ‘that’s enough,’ but is it really hurting them? Jack (Eichel) is a pretty good player, so maybe this is helping him.”
Eichel utilizes the iPads as much as any player on the Golden Knights, but even he sees merit in Tortorella’s decision.
“I understand why you would do it,” Eichel said Thursday. “He wants people to stay present in the game. I can see why coaches are more opposed to having them, but I think that they can also be a good resource.”
Eichel said he tries to look at the tablets only during television timeouts, which is his way of maintaining focus on the game while play is happening, but that he sees plenty of benefits from having them on the bench. Hockey is incredibly fast and seeing everything at ice level is impossible even for the best players. In-game video review allows players to adjust on the fly.
“I think it’s just a good opportunity to take a peak,” he said. “Did I have this play, or could I have maybe tried to take that guy wide? Did I have a teammate wide open and miss him? I think it’s a good opportunity to take a look and see if there’s something that you’re missing.”
Eichel also said he regularly reviews game film once he gets home from the arena, which may be a better setting to implement changes in a player’s game. On the other hand, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo doesn’t feel strongly one way or the other.
“Every once in a while I look, but I couldn’t care less,” he said. “If it’s there, it’s there. If it’s not, it’s not.”
Jonathan Marchessault doesn’t use the iPads as often as some, but feels strongly that they should be an option for players to utilize on the bench.
“We’re NHL players,” he said. “I don’t need a coach to tell me to look or not to look. We’re not children, we’re grown men. You’re just trying to control everything. Next time are you going to control what he eats for a pregame meal, or how long he naps? These are all mental things that help us, and the iPad is sometimes useful.
“Everything is so structured now. Everything is based on systems and stuff like that, so to be honest yeah I think it’s important to watch it. I’m a believer that video is good. It’s good to see trends.”
The Golden Knights and Flyers also have very different rosters. Philadelphia is led by a young group of players in Travis Konecny, Joel Farabee, Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost, while Vegas is filled with former captains and players in their 30s. One group may be more capable of using the tablets sparingly than the other. Tortorella did say in his explanation that understanding the flow of the game, and momentum swings, are so important to learn as a young team. Vegas definitely isn’t that.
Cassidy isn’t as dead-set against the iPads as Tortorella, but he’s certainly evaluating their use.
“There is value, I just don’t like it every shift either,” Cassidy said. “(Another) part of it is you can be a good teammate if you’re not looking at the iPad. You’re cheering on the next guy. The hit in front of our bench, on Paul Cotter in Chicago. We did yell, but there’s an opportunity to say, ‘Hey, heads up!’ You’re in the game. You just miss a lot of what’s going on in the game, and the feel and the energy of the game, by having that iPad all the time.”
(Top photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
.