Exclusive: John Madden Speaks on the Art of Penalty Killing

The National Hockey League has seen the game of hockey change over time. One area that has changed is the penalty kill. More and more teams are starting to put their skilled forwards on their penalty-kill units. But if you look at where that started, it all began with the New Jersey Devils when John Madden was called up during his rookie season in 2000.

Madden had a knack for killing penalties. During the Devils’ runs to the Stanley Cup Final from 2000 to 2003, when they won two Stanley Cups, the team had average or above penalty-killing units. The Devils finished the 2000 season with an 87.5 percent kill rate, which increased to 92.5 percent in the playoffs. The team killed off 62 penalties. Madden alone had seven shorthanded goals in the regular season and playoffs. His shorthanded goal in the playoffs came in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.

In a Full Press Hockey exclusive, Utah Hockey Club assistant coach and former member of the New Jersey Devils and three-time Stanley Cup Champion John Madden with Jim Biringer on the art of the penalty kill and how Madden and Jay Pandolfo changed the way teams kill penalties.

Jim Biringer: So yourself as a player, you and Jay Pandolfo made up a great penalty kill here in New Jersey. I just want to ask how much of that as a player, you brought that into your ability to be a coach, and what are you looking for in guys for the penalty kill?

John Madden: “To be honest with you, we (Utah) have (Ian) Cole this year. He loves killing penalties, and it’s kind of like that’s how he evaluates himself. And I was the same way. Pando was the same way, if we had a good night on penalty kill. We felt success. I think that’s the mindset you’ll want to have as a penalty killer is as soon as the refs arm goes in the air, you got one leg over the board. Let’s go we are getting this done. You have that mindset. I think overall, you’ll just be better off for it.”

New Jersey Devils: Seamus Casey is Showing He is No Rookie Out There

Utah Hockey Club: John Madden: “Resiliency Is the Best Quality of the Utah Hockey Club”

New Jersey Devils: Martin Brodeur and His Salary Still Looms Over the New Jersey Devils

JB FPH: We’ve seen the art of the penalty kill change. Do you feel that you and Jay were the catalyst to what we’re seeing with like this power kill?

Madden: “I’m not really sure about that. There was a lot of other guys, Bergeron and Marchand, kind of were the next guys up and did it. But what you’re seeing now is you’re seeing a lot of skill guys kill penalties. Like the game so fast, and you got to think the game. It is not just your fourth line guys. It’s your superstars. 

And I think the pressure part of it where the mindset changes, where it’s not just stand there and eat pucks all night and getting shooting lanes. You got to put people in bad positions, put them in the gray area. Understand when they’re vulnerable and attack. So I think we had a little bit to do with that. That was our mindset.

We both could skate really well, and we had good sticks. So I’m not standing around watching this guy pick me apart. I’d rather go at him and if he can do it at a high pace, you know, good for him, but to let guys like Backstrom stand on a half wall and find Ovi (Alex Ovechkin) on the weak side, or (John) Carlson or (T.J.) Oshie in the slot, I was like, Oh, I’m gonna put pressure on him. So that was where I think it started, but I’m not sure. The other teams, I’m sure, had the same idea and the same mindset as well.”

JB FPH: It always seemed that when you guys were out there, it always was like, (Scott) Stevens, (Ken) Daneyko, you, and Pandolfo. Do you guys just have that mindset? You talk about it, just going out there and killing penalties? Did you guys just want to be in that situation?

Madden: “We enjoyed it. It was ours. We do the same thing in practice and try to frustrate the power play, and they used to get mad at us and like, well, we know what you’re doing. First of all, second of all, it’s easier in practice than it is in the game. The pace changes. But yeah, I really enjoyed just being on the ice in those situations.

Obviously, I wasn’t hoping for us to get a penalty here. But you know it happens, and I think when you can kill a penalty at the right time, people get caught up in the numbers a little bit. But the other night, for example, against the Islanders, okay, we gave up one to them, and then we killed a four-minute. And if we don’t, the outcome of the game changes; I think that’s the key, is knowing, hey, all right, we gave one up, but if we give another one, we’re probably done, so it’s fun, and I miss it.”

Jim Biringer continues to cover the New Jersey Devils and the National Hockey League for Full Press Hockey.