Edmonton Oilers Hire Jeremy Coupal as New Video Coach
By Sammi Silber
The Edmonton Oilers have hired Jeremy Coupal as their new video coach, General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced Thursday.
Coupal spent his last three seasons as a video coordinator for the Nashville Predators. The 27-year-old will take over his new position in the fall. He will replace Myles Fee, who had been Edmonton’s Video Coach since 2009.
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According to the Oilers’ Twitter feed, Fee has decided to leave the organization in order to “pursue other interests.”
Contrary to the belief of some, video coaches are some of the most important coaches in the game, especially when it comes to NHL hockey being played. In fact, the “Boston Globe” wrote about the significance of video coaches in September 2014, even citing Coupal in their article. Here’s an excerpt explaining the position in full.
"“Video is a coaching staff’s most important asset. Before games, between periods, on postgame flights and at home, coaches consume clips of players, systems and situations. Pregame special-teams meetings require video. It’s the primary teaching tool for players. When a coach, for example, wants to see every four-on-four offensive-zone faceoff from his second line on the road in the second night of back-to-back games that resulted in a chance, those clips are clicks away.Video would not be maximized without the coaches who keep things humming… – Fluto Shinzawa, Boston Globe"
Clearly, their role is to show footage that will help the team learn by watching and reviewing video and seeing how they can improve upon and take advantage of what they have watched. A lot of how the players learn is seen through what the video coaches provide.
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Given the Predators success in recent years, I think Coupal is a great pickup in a role that is not known all too well, but is incredibly significant.