THE NHL’S BACKROOM HEROES

In a sport that is so physically and mentally challenging, there is a need for each team of the NHL to possess a backroom staff that can cope with the rigors of a long and exhausting season.

Scroll down to see how much the backroom staff gets paid, whether it's possible to buy your way out of injuries, and just how many millions of dollars injuries are costing NHL teams.

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WHAT DOES A TYPICAL BACKROOM TEAM LOOK LIKE?

Based on an average of the current NHL teams' backroom staff numbers, a typical backroom squad is made up of 22 people. Half of the backroom staff is made up of strength and conditioning coaches, which is unsurprising when you look at the number of injuries caused by the sport.

NBA
NBA
  • Head Coach

    Average salary: $2.4 million 1

  • Assistant Coach

    Average salary: $200,000 3

  • offensive Coaches

    Average salary: n/a 4

  • Defensive Coaches

    Average salary: n/a 0

  • Special Teams Coaches

    Average salary: n/a 0

  • Strength & Conditioning

    Average salary: $100,000 11

  • Support Staff/Analysts

    Average salary: $98,000 3

INJURIES VS COACH NUMBERS

  • dallas stars

    Dallas Stars

    0 14 s&c coaches
    6 injuries
  • Anaheim

    Anaheim Ducks

    0 16 s&c coaches
    6 injuries
  • ArizonaC

    Arizona Coyotes

    0 13 s&c coaches
    6 injuries
  • la-kings

    Los Angeles Kings

    0 13 s&c coaches
    5 injuries
  • Boston Bruins

    Boston Bruins

    0 9 s&c coaches
    5 injuries
  • Vancouver Canucks

    Vancouver Canucks

    0 11 s&c coaches
    5 injuries
  • Philadelphia Flyers

    Philadelphia Flyers

    0 9 s&c coaches
    5 injuries
  • Detroit Red Wings

    Detroit Red Wings

    0 11 s&c coaches
    4 injuries
  • Tampa Bay Lightning

    Tampa Bay Lightning

    0 13 s&c coaches
    4 injuries
  • Montreal Canadiens

    Montreal Canadiens

    0 12 s&c coaches
    4 injuries
  • Ottawa Senators

    Ottawa Senators

    0 9 s&c coaches
    4 injuries
  • Pittsburgh Penguins

    Pittsburgh Penguins

    0 9 s&c coaches
    3 injuries
  • Florida Panthers

    Florida Panthers

    0 7 s&c coaches
    3 injuries
  • Edmonton Oilers

    Edmonton Oilers

    0 7 s&c coaches
    3 injuries
  • St. Louis Blues

    St. Louis Blues

    0 17 s&c coaches
    3 injuries
  • Buffalo Sabres

    Buffalo Sabres

    0 16 s&c coaches
    3 injuries
  • Vegas Golden Knights

    Vegas Golden Knights

    0 8 s&c coaches
    3 injuries
  • Nashville Predators

    Nashville Predators

    0 16 s&c coaches
    3 injuries
  • New York Islanders

    New York Islanders

    0 13 s&c coaches
    3 injuries
  • Winnipeg Jets

    Winnipeg Jets

    0 12 s&c coaches
    2 injuries
  • Calgary Flames

    Calgary Flames

    0 14 s&c coaches
    2 injuries
  • New York Rangers

    New York Rangers

    0 15 s&c coaches
    2 injuries
  • Washington Capitals

    Washington Capitals

    0 12 s&c coaches
    2 injuries
  • Chicago Blackhawks

    Chicago Blackhawks

    0 18 s&c coaches
    2 injuries
  • New Jersey Devils

    New Jersey Devils

    0 7 s&c coaches
    2 injuries
  • Toronto Maple Leafs

    Toronto Maple Leafs

    0 9 s&c coaches
    1 injuries
  • Colorado Avalanche

    Colorado Avalanche

    0 5 s&c coaches
    1 injuries
  • Carolina Hurricanes

    Carolina Hurricanes

    0 6 s&c coaches
    1 injuries
  • San Jose Sharks

    San Jose Sharks

    0 10 s&c coaches
    0 injuries
  • Minnesota Wild

    Minnesota Wild

    0 10 s&c coaches
    0 injuries
  • Columbus Blue Jackets

    Columbus Blue Jackets

    0 6 s&c coaches
    0 injuries
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Injuries
S&C Coaches

The long NHL season is up there with sport’s greatest endurances challenges. If a team goes all the way to lifting the Stanley Cup then they face the possibility of playing 110 games in a whole season over the course of just nine months. That would roughly work out at one game every 2.4 days.

Five of the most common injuries in hockey include concussion, shoulder separations, groin strains, high ankles sprains, and medial collateral ligament (MCL) injuries. The odds of them occurring can also be drastically reduced with the correct medical and coaching methods.

WHAT DOES A STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACH DO?

In short: the S&C coaches are responsible for building and rebuilding hockey players' bodies. They work on things like strength, speed, agility, nutrition and post-match recovery to ensure the NHL's most valuable assets stay valuable.

Strength and conditioning coaches help players to discipline and understand their bodies so that they can cope with the strains of excess play. From monitoring weight and hydration levels to analyzing heart rates, their role is highly varied.

CAN INVESTMENT IN STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING PREVENT INJURIES?

You might think that if a team invests in a greater number of strength and conditioning coaches, players are less likely to get injured. This could ring true for the Chicago Blackhawks, who have 18 strength and conditioning coaches and have only had two injuries this season.

Then again, the Anaheim Ducks only have two fewer coaches but they've had six injuries. Injuries are so common in hockey and no matter how much you prepare players physically and mentally, there is only so much prevention a coach can do.

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INJURIES VS cost

This graphic shows how much in total NHL teams are currently spending on injuries. The Dallas Stars' injuries work out as just under $145,500 each, and $867,139 in total. Ouch!

  • Dallas Stars

    0 6 injuries
    $867,139
  • Anaheim Ducks

    Anaheim Ducks

    0 6 injuries
    $823,124
  • Los Angeles Kings

    Los Angeles Kings

    0 5 injuries
    $760,530
  • Boston Bruins

    Boston Bruins

    0 6 injuries
    $722,151
  • Vancouver Canucks

    Vancouver Canucks

    0 5 injuries
    $718,927
  • Philadelphia Flyers

    Philadelphia Flyers

    0 5 injuries
    $642,575
  • Detroit Red Wings

    Detroit Red Wings

    0 4 injuries
    $613,369
  • Tampa Bay Lightning

    Tampa Bay Lightning

    0 4 injuries
    $531,333
  • Montreal Canadiens

    Montreal Canadiens

    0 4 injuries
    $527,454
  • Ottawa Senators

    Ottawa Senators

    0 4 injuries
    $506,703
  • Pittsburgh Penguins

    Pittsburgh Penguins

    0 3 injuries
    $447,186
  • Florida Panthers

    Florida Panthers

    0 3 injuries
    $443,408
  • Edmonton Oilers

    Edmonton Oilers

    0 3 injuries
    $425,370
  • St. Louis Blues

    St. Louis Blues

    0 3 injuries
    $425,029
  • Buffalo Sabres

    Buffalo Sabres

    0 3 injuries
    $411,166
  • Vegas Golden Knights

    Vegas Golden Knights

    0 3 injuries
    $410,719
  • Nashville Predators

    Nashville Predators

    0 3 injuries
    $403,595
  • New York Islanders

    New York Islanders

    0 3 injuries
    $383,706
  • Winnipeg Jets

    Winnipeg Jets

    0 2 injuries
    $309,663
  • Calgary Flames

    Calgary Flames

    0 2 injuries
    $291,396
  • New York Rangers

    New York Rangers

    0 2 injuries
    $277,877
  • Washington Capitals

    Washington Capitals

    0 2 injuries
    $270,765
  • Chicago Blackhawks

    Chicago Blackhawks

    0 2 injuries
    $259,375
  • New Jersey Devils

    New Jersey Devils

    0 2 injuries
    $231,525
  • Toronto Maple Leafs

    Toronto Maple Leafs

    0 1 injuries
    $127,525
  • Colorado Avalanche

    Colorado Avalanche

    0 1 injuries
    $119,786
  • Carolina Hurricanes

    Carolina Hurricanes

    0 1 injuries
    $115,885
  • San Jose Sharks

    San Jose Sharks

    0 0 injuries
  • Minnesota Wild

    Minnesota Wild

    0 0 injuries
  • Columbus Blue Jackets

    Columbus Blue Jackets

    0 0 injuries

Methodology

For this project, we created a typical backroom team from an average of the current NHL's backroom staff numbers. To calculate how much teams are currently spending on injuries, we took the average salary per player per team, divided to monthly salary and multiplied by injuries.