Zeev Buium explains why he's a huge fan of Vancouver Canucks coach Adam Foote
Adam Foote hasn’t been showered with love during his first stint as an NHL head coach.
He’s been dealt a tough situation with a rash of injuries to Vancouver Canucks players, a poorly constructed forward group, and a blockbuster trade that saw Quinn Hughes get shipped to the Minnesota Wild.
However, the newest defenceman on his team is unequivocally a big fan Foote, and has been for a long time.
“I actually got to work with him when I was really young,” Zeev Buium said in an interview with the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. “I was like 13 and he just taught me so many little things that have stuck with me up until this point. I actually worked with him again before my freshman year with Denver, so I’ve known him for quite some time now.”
“It’s really cool to be able to be coached by him.”
Foote worked with Buium at summer development camps back when the young blueliner was in his early teens.
“I know him well, as a person and as a player, I’ve seen him play a lot of hockey,” Foote said one day after the trade. “He’s gonna be a really good hockey player, and he’ll be fun to work with.”
There’s an argument that Foote’s demeanour has been overly positive, especially when he talks up his team after losses. But Buium appreciates the positivity.
“His demeanour and how he goes about things… he wants whats best for the team but also what’s best for you,” Buium said. “He wants to teach you and help you understand the game.”
Buium even went out of his way to talk about how he’s noticed that the coaching in Vancouver is more detailed than what he experienced in Minnesota.
“With Vancouver, we’re such a young team,” he said. “There’s so many little things that we go over as a team and as a group of young guys. We weren’t doing those things in Minnesota.”
“For me, that’s perfect because I dont want to just be an offensive guy or one-way defenceman. You want to be out there, not just last minute offensively but defensively. I think he will help me a ton with that and get me there.”
So, what are those little details that Foote has helped instill in the 20-year-old defenceman?
“When I was 13 he used to tell me, ‘you need to be like a cat out there.’ You always gotta be on your toes and in position, ready to pounce on anything.”
“He’s big on stunts. Like, when a guy goes past you, give him a shot. Doesn’t matter where you are, especially in the D zone, if a guy makes a pass, get in front of him, give him a shot, let him know youre there early.”
Although Buium was full of praise for Foote, it’s clear that the Canucks bench boss hasn’t had the same success as head coach, compared to when he was in charge of running the defence.
“Since he was a defenceman, there’s so many little things you can learn from him in that sense, where, he might not be able to teach the forwards the same thing he teaches the D.”
In fairness, the Canucks’ defensive game has improved in the month of December, so perhaps the team is turning a corner.
Hopefully for the Canucks, Buium can benefit from Foote’s knowledge on the defensive side of the puck.