(How much of an impediment is it to not have a head coach on hand, if not to coach the kids at least to observe? Is it a stumbling block?)

"No. And I don't say that because of my situation, in terms of not having one. So let me back up. Either way, even if it were a stumbling block, it's like I said all along. Between the draft, having to move some payroll, having to deal with free agency, there was no way I thought we could do justice to the process. It was like, we're gonna focus on this and do it right.

"I wouldn't change it even if it was, because I've got to go through the process the right way.

"But, particularly with this group, this isn't a system-orientated thing. It's hockey skills that every player should know regardless of what system they play. And most of these kids are not gonna be at the NHL level. It's like baseball: Joe Torre is not running their development program. He eventually sets some of the philosophy, if it's system-orientated. But that is a full-time job. (Assistants) Jamie Kompon and Nelson Emerson ... I've pushed them and pushed them, and at first they weren't sure where I was going, but they've taken it and grabbed it. That is a full-time job, to prepare a curriculum.

"If you think about it, it's like a teacher once told me, when we were in law school: It's not the work of standing up and teaching that class. You have no idea how much time goes into preparing to teach that class. It's like the hours are 10-to-1, a teacher once told me. And I've seen this already.

"So that's a full-time job that a head coach couldn't do. Now, philosophically, there might be a rub, like, let's say, how you tie up a guy in front of the net. Now, yes, the head coach might have a different view, of whether you front him, back-end him, box out the ice ... there's a little rub there. So that's what you might have where it's not in sync, because that coach believes that's not the right technique. So that could happen.

"But in terms of his evaluating these kids or whatever, no. But also the purpose of this camp is really not evaluation, if you think about it."

(It's instruction.)

"Yeah, and there's a big difference ... Sure, there's an evaluation to see where a kid is at. But at this stage, number one is: here's what you've got, make him better. I'm not interested in you telling me how good he is right now. Yeah, when we've got to decide how to pick the team, whether a guy goes to the minors, back to junior, whether he plays here right away, yeah, that's an evaluation. But right now, make them as good as you can. It's a very different mindset from saying, 'You know what, the kid's got to show you what he's got.' "

(But is there an evaluation in terms of seeing how a kid picks up instruction?)

"Bingo. That's what I told 'em last night. We are looking to see how quickly they adapt. Do you pay attention? Do you do the drill right? You can tell the guy whose mind is wandering. Show us you want to get better, because if you don't want to be the best you can you're just wasting our time, because you're not gonna play. I don't care who you are.

"But you hit it right on the head with that one."

(Now you pointed out that you don't want to throw everybody in together. The early part of the camp is mostly the drafted kids. The later part of the camp, if I read it correctly, is mostly the guys who have already been in the organization.)

"Most of them have a year of pro under their belt, a little older. So this group ... 90 percent of them are first year pros, and this is their first camp."

(So how will the teaching be different with the older group?)

"It gets a little more higher level. You see this group doing basic retrievals. Maybe show 'em another escape move. So there's stages. Get this down, now we give you (something else). It's no different from the analogy from arithmetic to algebra to chemistry. The curriculum changes. But you gotta pass this course before you get to the next course."

More to come ...