In the world of hockey media — although not everyone will admit it — you meet a good amount of people who know more about the game than you do. Players, coaches, even general managers!

What you meet fewer of are people who know more about the game than you, and are also eager to thoroughly explain their processes and beliefs with you. New Vancouver Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra is one of those people.

Malhotra eats, sleeps, and breathes hockey. And while that may sound like a widely-used cliche — I’m pretty sure you can find a shirt that says something along those lines at your local Walmart — it truly does apply to the Canucks’ new bench boss.

Malhotra left a lasting impression on me when he joined Harman Dayal and I for a 20-minute interview on our podcast Canucks Conversation (live Monday-Friday at 2 PM PT on the CanucksArmy YouTube channel) back in February 2025. As we get ready to talk to Manny for the first time as Canucks head coach today, I thought it would be interesting to look back on these answers from two seasons ago, months before Abbotsford would go on to win the Calder Cup Championship.

Manny Malhotra on Elias Pettersson, the defenceman

The first question we asked Manny in this interview was about the progression of Elias Pettersson, AKA DPetey. Pettersson looked a bit out of place at his first NHL training camp, but after just a few months working with Malhotra in Abbotsford, DPetey earned an NHL call-up and looked promising down the stretch of the 2024-25 season.

“I think the thing that stands out for me most [was] the way he started the season. You don’t know what to expect from a 20-year-old beginning his pro career, but from day one, he was very poised with the puck. He knew exactly who he was as a player. He didn’t come in trying to be something that he wasn’t, and he stuck to that game plan. Jordan Smith, the D coach here, has done a really good job working with him, kind of going through video and, and cleaning up some of the aspects of his game. But for the most part, he sticks to what he does best. He’s physical, he kills plays, and he advances pucks on the breakout. The way he has started and kind of continued that process throughout the season so far has been a very pleasant surprise for us… He didn’t come in trying to run a power play. He didn’t come in trying to skate pucks all the way up the ice. He knows exactly what he needs to do, and he has followed that formula to a tee. And obviously it’s paid off for him to get a couple NHL games under his belt and continuing to play with that confidence is a credit to him understanding what it takes for him to be a pro at the next level.”

The reason I find this answer from Malhotra interesting is of course because the 2025-26 season was a disappointing one for DPetey (like it was for most Canucks defencemen under Adam Foote). Can Malhotra help the young defenceman get back on the right track, simplify his game, and get back to doing the things that made him successful before?

A relevant answer and a reminder of how Abby grew into a championship-calibre group

The 2024-25 Abbotsford Canucks will always be remembered as champions. But what you might not remember is the growth the team went through over the course of the season.

My question: “This Abbotsford team has been in a bit of a rut recently, but even more recently, really kind of turned it around. I was there a couple of weeks ago and I asked you just about your team’s response… I think it was the San Jose Barracuda you guys were playing, and there was a bad bounce off the stanchion to make it 4-3 early in the third. You talked about your team’s response to that and how you’re not sure if they would have responded the same way a month ago. What kind of growth have you seen from your team as a whole this year?”

“I think that the biggest growth for us is belief in ourselves. Number one, trusting the structure and trusting the system that we’re trying to play. Once they bought into that, and then playing it to the best of their ability… It’s one thing to know the system, but within that, it’s the individual efforts of guys, how hard they are on pucks, how willing they are to forecheck pucks back, defensively for our D-men to kill plays and, and get on top of pucks with numbers. Once you have that level of buy-in, but also the guys’ willingness to compete and push one another, that’s what has kind of been the biggest growing point for me, and it’s, it’s a credit to them understanding what it takes to be successful and what it takes to win on a nightly basis. You look at some of the teams in the league, and they just, they don’t surprise you with anything. You know exactly what their game plan is going to be, you know exactly what they’re going to do, how they’re going to try to score, but they basically execute it and say, ‘try to stop us’. So we’re trying to get to that level where we play one way and execute it to the best of our ability, and in doing so, the last few weeks, it’s obviously paid off for us.”

Malhotra’s answer to this question also has some relevance for a current Canucks team that looked lost most of last season. The systems didn’t work for this team, and the players knew it. The Sedins and Ryan Johnson have spoken plenty already about how Malhotra won’t be judged on wins and losses but instead judged on how he can help this young team grow and implement some good habits.

“I want him to implement what I know he does well, and that’s structure within a game in three zones, absolute certainty from players what’s expected of them and the structure they’re going to play in,” Johnson said in the wake of Malhotra’s hiring.

Malhotra’s coaching influences

Question: “Based off your playing experience, how did that shape the way you try and coach? And who are some of your most significant coaching influences?”

“I kind of who I am as a coach as kind of a collection of all the things I’d seen over the years as a player. I know as a player you distinctly remember things that you like a coach does, things that you don’t like, the way a message is delivered, certain drills that are run in practice, the way things are taught. So for me, it’s a constant kind of record-keeping of the things that clicked with me and that worked with me. And then on the flip side, things that I absolutely hated as a player. I don’t want those to show up in the way I coach. And as far as influences… I had the opportunity to play for Ken Hitchcock in Columbus. Obviously a very intelligent coach, understood the game really, really well. And the way he taught it wasn’t ideal for me, but we had a great rapport, and eventually I understood how to take the message, not the tone, and he was a good teacher of the game. And then going from there to Todd McClellan, who I found was an incredible communicator. There were no gray areas with him. You knew exactly where you stood. You knew exactly what was expected of you. And it was not only the tone, but the way he said things. And he never minced words. Like I said, you always knew where you stood with him.
“So for me, I try to be as communicative as possible with my players. I try to make sure that there are no gray areas, and they understand what’s expected within the system. What’s acceptable, what is not, and then more so, what my expectations are of them as a player within the system. So I think those things for today’s athlete are really important, that they understand the why, and they want to know all the information.”

Malhotra also spoke about Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Aatu Räty, and more, and you can watch the full interview with Malhotra below!