Wayne Fleming was hockey’s Norm, the guy who walks into the bar in Cheers every day and everybody says hello.
Everybody knew Wayne Fleming, everybody loved him, everybody was glad to see him, give him a hearty handshake, and talk hockey. Hockey’s everyman, who served as an Edmonton Oilers assistant coach to 2009-10 bench boss Pat Quinn, died of brain cancer Monday at his home in Calgary at age 62, fighting the good fight for just short of two years after he was diagnosed while working for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Fleming coached Nashville Predators boss Barry Trotz when Trotz was a tough-nosed defenceman with Fleming’s University of Manitoba Bisons. It was Fleming who got Trotz into coaching when he was hurt and needed something to do.
Flemming was fast friends with St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, working together in Philadelphia when Hitch was head man there and together as assistants on Quinn’s Canada 2002 Olympic squad.He was always somebody to bounce ideas off for Hitch.
Fleming was a good buddy of Mike Babcock in Detroit. He was on Quinn’s Oilers’ coaching staff for one year before going to Tampa Bay, when 2010 Olympic team GM Steve Yzerman took over the Lightning and knew he needed a mentor for young, high-strung Guy Boucher.
Fleming also served as an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames, the Phoenix Coyotes and the New York Islanders.
Never a head coach in the NHL, but he was in Europe. In fact, he once coached former New York Rangers first-round draft Alexei Cherepanov and was there the October 2008 day Cherepanonv passed away of an undetected heart problem, slumping on the bench while talking to teammate Jaromir Jagr during a game. It shook Fleming to the core.
He forgot more about hockey than most people know in his 62 years. Hitchcock first met him in 1982, 31 years ago, at a hockey clinic at the University of Alberta, where he was on the ice with Clare Drake and Dave King and George Kingston — three legends of Canadian college coaching who would later have NHL tours of duty, just as Fleming did.
Hitchcock was barely into his coaching time then, soaking up every scrap of information. And Fleming had lots of it and friends everywhere seeking him out. There was not a better man in hockey or away from it.
“Every city we went to in the NHL when we were coaching together, Wayne always had people who wanted his time, either from the other organization through Wayne’s relationship with Hockey Canada or they just wanted to visit with Wayne,” Hitchcock said. “He was always out to dinner with folks from the other team. I really admired that.
“They would be waiting at the hotel for Wayne or they’d want to have a coffee with Wayne. I don’t know if people realize how internationally acclaimed Wayne was (he also was a head coach in Sweden and Germany and was GM of Canada’s ’92 Olympic team).
“He was a lot like Dave King, where every person from every ice hockey federation wanted to seek his advice and knowledge. We’d go into Toronto and the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation would want to meet with him or the Germans or the Russians. They all wanted his advice and knowledge.”
“He knew the game at every level … I don’t know how long he coached at U of Manitoba (nine years) but those players would travel far and wide to visit with Wayne. Players who never had a career, never made it to the NHL, but man, were they happy to get time to see Wayne. They were doctors and lawyers, business people and corporate CEOs. I met more owners of companies who wanted to visit with Wayne from his Canadian college days.”
I know when he was in Edmonton for just the one winter, Fleming was a somebody I looked forward to seeing every day. If you were working on a story, he had an anecdote. Didn’t hurt that we were both from Winnipeg so we had something else to talk about. But if you were going off on a tangent about something with the team, he’d pull you aside and say ‘I don’t know if I’d go there. You could be wrong.’ Deep background. I valued him greatly. Like I said, he knew everybody and everything and was glad to share it.
Trotz went to see Fleming for close to two hours at his home when the Predators were in Calgary a short time ago. Fleming was in tough shape, but Trotz told lots of old Manitoba Bisons stories with Fleming’s wife Carolyn and also talked about Wayne’s days with the Lightning.
In his heart of hearts, Trotz probably knew it might be the last time he saw Fleming.
Fleming was heavily sedated and not really responsive, but his wife Carolyn said he knew when friends had come to visit.
Trotz, as he said, talked of the Bisons — Fleming brought him on board as an aide when he was injured, and through time, Trotz got the coaching bug and today is the longest-serving NHL coach.
Trotz knows how valuable Fleming was in Tampa Bay when Yzerman hired him. “
They really needed Wayne there for some balance for their coaching group, because they were so one-sided the way they played offensively,” Trotz said.
“He gave them some structure. He was able to balance the emotions (of that staff). He knew everything about Xs and Os, but what he really knew was how to handle people under pressure. When we were talking about Tampa, it was the only time he had any response. Carolyn said he knew we were there, he said Wayne could hear. He never opened his eyes but he made a little crying face.”
“His will and his stubborness kept him going this long,” said Hitchcock. “When I saw him last, in Calgary, before we played there (last weekend), I knew we were in trouble. Coaching that game in Calgary (against the Flames) was tough.
“You have loyal friends and then you have loyal coaches. Wayne was able to walk the line very well. At he was unbelieveeable at supporting his head coaches. He had this insatiable quest for knowledge and if he felt he could learn from a coach, he had no issue being the assistant.”
“He saw quite a life.”
I was glad to know him. The Oilers should be glad they had him in their midst for that one season.
Fleming is survived by his wife Carolyn and four children.
