Scotty Bowman was getting his car repaired Friday morning, second-guessing his decision to return home to Buffalo, N.Y., after spending the winter in Florida.
"It's been raining like hell here," he said. "I probably should have stayed another week."
Rain or not, it's never a bad day to dial up the greatest coach in NHL history, winner of nine Stanley Cup titles (14 including his work in front offices), because you get little gems like his opinion on the current version of Sidney Crosby.
"He's always been a great offensive player, but, right now, you analyze his faceoffs, his defensive work, he makes so many plays," Bowman said. "You don't just judge him on points. I think Sidney is playing the best two-way game of anybody I've seen of late."
Now 83, Bowman remains as sharp as a freshly fired skate blade, and this seemed like the perfect time to check in, given what had transpired hours earlier at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins' double-overtime win against the Ottawa Senators left them four wins shy of becoming the first team since Bowman's 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings to repeat as Cup champs.
Just know this about any conversation with the Great Scotty: He's going to take you down roads you don't expect and lend hockey insight nobody else could. Your job is to listen, like Mike Sullivan did when he called Bowman last summer, seeking advice on how to ready a team to play an entire season with a Stanley Cup-sized bull's-eye on its back.
"He just asked me what we'd done with Detroit and also in Montreal (where Bowman twice won back-to-back Cup titles)," Bowman said. "I told him you have to move on. It's tougher now, because before, you didn't get the Cup to celebrate like they do today. Every player and staff member gets the Cup in the summer. Once you get your name on the Cup, you gotta work on the next one right away."
Bowman knew Sullivan from the year Sully spent in the Chicago Blackhawks organization (2014-15). Bowman's son, Stan (full name: Stanley, named after the Cup) is Chicago's general manager, and Scotty remains the club's senior adviser to hockey operations.
Sullivan worked with prospects and pre-scouted playoff opponents, helping the Blackhawks win their third Cup in six years.
"I knew he knew what he was doing," Bowman said. "He's done a great job, and he has good people around him.
"Jacques Martin is an underrated guy. My god, he's been coaching since what, the mid-'80s? He's been a good addition, and (Rick) Tocchet was always a smart player. They're a well-coached team."
At that point, I figured I would prompt Bowman with a few more questions and get out of the way ...
_Did Evgeni Malkin belong among the NHL's Top 100 players? Bowman was among the 58 voters, and though he says he was "sworn to secrecy," it certainly sounds as if he voted for Malkin and firmly believes he is a player who belonged.
"Oh, yes. He has all the credentials," Bowman said. "They missed guys. It was good and bad. They missed Pierre Pilote. He won three Norris trophies in the 1960s _ go ahead and check that out.
"Those ballots, to me, I don't put a lot of stock in them."
_Which other Penguins have caught his eye? I asked because I'll never forget Bowman telling me Kris Letang would be a star way before Letang was a star.
"Olli Maatta's a really good young player, under the radar. He doesn't shoot the puck in a lot, and that's a key (in the final). Nashville forced Chicago to shoot the puck in _ Chicago's puck-possession game was not good _ and they weren't prepared for that."
_What might be other keys against the Predators?
First, Bowman said he believes the battered Penguins will benefit from the extra day off each time the series switches venues.
Then, he whipped out the figurative eraser board for a lesson ...
"(Goaltender) Pekka Rinne likes to play the puck; he's good at it. I noticed if you shoot the puck in, you better shoot in a way Rinne can't set it up. If you look at the last game (of the Western Conference final), Anaheim just started to lug the puck. They had a helluva push. They got Nashville back on their heels.
"But Nashville has four D-men _ (Roman) Josi, (Ryan) Ellis, (Mattias) Ekholm and (P.K.) Subban _ who can carry the puck. They hurt Chicago. (Coach Peter) Laviolette and (assistants) Phil Housley and Kevin McCarthy, they like to push the offense, but I'm not sure how they'll play. Against Chicago, they clogged the middle like Ottawa did. Against other teams, like St. Louis, they really started to carry the puck.
"Laviolette, I don't know what he'll do with Pittsburgh: Is he going to clog up the middle or forecheck?"
I could have listened all day. But Bowman suddenly had to run. "Have to get my car fixed," he said.
