Pistons’ video coach man of many talents
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This article was published 11/12/2020 (1939 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
In all the immense success the Steinbach Pistons have had in the past decade, there has been one common denominator working quietly behind the scenes, and that has been video coach Graham Pollock.
Well, perhaps quietly is not really the appropriate word. Truth is he’s not always quiet as he has become an integral part of the Pistons’ organization, including to the players, and quite frankly the community in general, through his involvement with the Pistons and the arts in Steinbach.
Although this is a sports story, and of course appearing in the sports pages, any attempt to explain just what makes Graham Pollock tick must also include his lifelong passion for the arts. Not to mention his dogs. “I don’t think he ever has less than three dogs,” said Pistons head coach Paul Dyck.
Prior to his coaching stint with the Pistons over the last decade, he also spent more than 10 years as an assistant coach and head coach of the Eastman Selects of the Manitoba ‘AAA’ Hockey League while they were based in Steinbach.
Pollock first moved to Steinbach in 1984 with his wife Linda and three kids in a posting with the RCMP. And they never left.
He hails from the Toronto area, which explains his lifelong passion for the Toronto Maple Leafs, which has also been a subject of a lot of ribbing from the Pistons players over the years. Although he has been known to dish it out as well.
Growing up, he played a little hockey, like many others, eventually advancing to the Junior ‘B’ level as a defenceman with the North York Rangers. “I wasn’t one of the faster skaters, in fact the coach told me at one point that it looked like I was skating in sand.”
Coming from a musical family, he also played the piano and after high school enrolled at the University of Toronto studying music.
He subsequently applied to join the RCMP and was accepted, which began an entirely new journey. He graduated from the RCMP training program in Regina in 1973, and because of his musical background immediately joined the touring RCMP Centennial Revue, which toured across the country for six months celebrating the 100th anniversary of the RCMP.
After that he spent a year playing piano and keyboards for the RCMP band. “We toured everywhere,” said Pollock. “In October, 1973, the band was in Acapulco for two weeks and then from there we went to the Northwest Territories, which was a shock to the system.”
With all the travelling and frivolity now over, it was time for real police work. His first posting was Swan River, where he spent four years, from 1974 to 1978. It was where he met his life Linda, a nurse. From there it was the obligatory northern stops in Flin Flon and Norway House, before arriving in Steinbach.
In all of these places, including when he was stationed in Ottawa while with the RCMP band, he was involved in some form of hockey coaching. “I helped out with a novice team in Ottawa, watched how the coach connected with the players, you are always learning as a coach, drawing on your experiences.”
When he moved to Steinbach he got involved with Steinbach Minor Hockey, with his son Chris now taking up the game. Chris, as it were, a forward, developed into an outstanding player, and was evidently a better skater than the old man as he spent three years with the Winkler Flyers, culminating with a 41-goal campaign in the 1997-98 season. Chris is now a police officer for the City of Calgary.
With the Eastman Selects Pollock coached with the likes of George Stevenson and Rich Gosselin, among others, spending several years as head coach, up until the 2004 season, when he left the program.
As far as the arts are concerned, Pollock says, “We have always had a piano in our house where ever we have lived, and I have always played. Not that he hasn’t been busy enough, he also spent several years with the Steinbach Arts Council, including a recent stint as board chair, working with all aspects of the arts council, including the annual gala and Summer in the City.
In 1993, Pollock went to the work in the GIS (General Investigative Section) for the RCMP at ‘D’ Division headquarters in Winnipeg, and remained there until he retired from the force in 2010 after heading up the Winnipeg Major Crime unit for the RCMP.
With the arrival of the Pistons in Steinbach in 2009, Pollock joined the club as video coach, first for head coach Rich Gosselin and now for the last 10 years with Paul Dyck and company.
“Graham is a personality,” says Dyck, “there are many layers to Graham Pollock, we joke that he is the world’s most interesting man. Graham brings an element of humour to the club and brings a lot of wisdom, experience and is a student of the game. The players love him.”
With the game constantly evolving, the video aspect of coaching becomes more important all the time, especially with the improvements in technology. He videos all the games, both at home and on the road, marking situations along the way, highlighting plays in between periods for the staff and dissects and analyzes games for the coaching staff and players.
“What he provides for us invaluable,” said Dyck.
Graham Pollock’s coaching style as head coach was a little different than the style of Paul Dyck. A little more flamboyant, perhaps a little more yelling to get his point across would have been the modus operandi of Graham Pollock, who coached the Selects to a couple of championships.
“When I first started coaching with Paul, and the team was having a bad game, he would quietly talk to them in between periods, it drove me nuts, it wasn’t my style, I might have raised my voice a little in that situation.”
“But I have learned a lot from Paul Dyck and how the players relate to him. We are so fortunate to have Paul as the coach here. As we have travelled to a couple of national championships and elsewhere, I see how well he is respected across the country. I don’t think there is a coach in the entire CJHL that garners more respect than Paul Dyck.”
As for this year’s hockey team, Pollock says, “we are off to a good start, we have a good team, a little inconsistent in some of the games, it has been such a different year, I think this team will be fine if we get the chance to return to the ice.”
Of course, like everyone else that is the waiting game right now as the MJHL plots a possible return to play, hopefully sometime in January.