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Dan D’Astoli travels 240 kilometres a day to coach his midget espoir team in Île Bizard. (JOHN KENNEY/The Gazette)
With the Coach: Dan D'Astroli
Coach opted to be a student of the game
John Meagher
The Gazette
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Dan D’Astoli travels 240 kilometres a day to coach his midget espoir team in Île Bizard. (JOHN KENNEY/The Gazette)
With the Coach is a weekly series featuring a conversation with a local coach.
Coach: Dan D’Astoli, 43-year-old resident of Carling Lake, Que.
Team: Lac St. Louis midget espoir Tigers
Years coached: 17
Playing experience: None
Best coaching tip: Have fun.
Dan D’Astoli never played hockey as a kid, which seems odd for someone who grew up in Montreal.
He took an atom B team nearly two decades ago and gradually made his way up the coaching ladder.
How did someone with no playing experience start coaching hockey?
D’Astoli: It was in the early ’90s and I just sold some retail businesses that I had. And my wife found I was taking up too much room around the house and she wanted to get rid of me. (Laughs.) That’s really how I started. I had no coaching experience, nor had I played any team sports growing up.
No sports at all?
D’Astoli: Well, besides a little high school basketball and floor hockey. I was more into individual sports, like martial arts, skiing and tennis. But when my brothers and sisters started having kids, my coaching instincts kicked in. I started coaching them from the stands, so my wife said, “Hey, get involved.” So I applied to be an assistant coach with Lakeshore Hockey. They gave me an atom B head coach position. I was in my glory. That year we won three tournaments, so it was hook, line and sinker for me.
Where did you grow up?
D’Astoli: I grew up in Montreal and moved to St. Léonard when I was 12. My wife and I moved to Dollard when I was 22. Now I live up north (near Carling Lake), and I drive for 90 minutes a day to coach the Tigers.
How many kilometres a week do you put on your car coaching hockey?
D’Astoli: It’s 120 kilometres from my home up north to the arena in Île Bizard. So 240 a day, about 1,200 a week.
What kind of car do you drive?
D’Astoli: A gus-guzzling SUV. Living up north, I have no choice. Besides, (Tigers GM) Chris Sides twisted my arm to return to my old stomping grounds to coach and I couldn’t say no. We have a dream team coaching staff with Igor Kravchuk, a former NHLer, and Greg Orsini. We do good work on the ice.
Describe Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Louis Leblanc, whom you coached in minor hockey?
D’Astoli: I remember telling a player agent when Marc was 13 years old that this kid was the real deal, that he’s invisible on the ice. I felt Marc had something different: Anxiety control. And he was always in the right place at the right time.
What do you mean by anxiety control?
D’Astoli: Some players are nervous before a game. He was always calm, cool and collected. I never saw any nerves in him and that’s the way he still plays.
And what about Louis Leblanc?
D’Astoli: Louis had the eye of the Tiger. You dropped the puck and the game was his. One of the best competitors I had the pleasure of working with.
How did you become technically sound as a coach?
D’Astoli: I put my ego in my back pocket and went and talked to the best instructors. I became a student of the game. I attended every coaching seminar and got my certifications. I jumped in with both feet.