Joaquin Villanova

Joaquin Villanova (born February 21, Yr14) is an ice hockey coach, notable for coaching the London Knights, the Erie Otters and Team Canada. He is currently the coach for Team Great Britain in Division 2 of the World Hockey Championships.

Villanova is considered one of the most successful coaches in OHL history, having won over 500 games as a head coach, and making the OHL Championship Finals five times during his ten years at London, winning the championship three times. He has represented Canada during the Yr62 World Hockey Championships, earning a Silver medal. After his firing as head coach shortly after the tournament, he represented Great Britain in Division 3 of the World Hockey Championships, earning promotion in their first tournament.

Throughout his career, Villanova is known for his ability to teach fundamentals and strategy to his players, and for bringing most of his players in troublesome situations. Many players have quoted that Villanova has created the most NHL-ready players. Villanova is also infamously eccentric in front of the media, as he has provided many quotes which are seen by some as either "hilarious" and "funny."

Coaching Career

Early Career

Villanova started working as an assistant in Yr38 with the Peterborough Petes. He worked as a goaltending coach for the team, as the team placed in the top five in Goal Against Average in the season. Despite the success with the goaltenders, Peterborough failed to make the playoffs as the team placed last in scoring, and the team also allowed the most shots in the league. He remained with the team for another season, maintaining their consistent goalkeeping and making the playoffs as the eighth seed, but was swept in the first round.

Villanova joined the Sarnia Sting in Yr40, staying on for four seasons. The Sting made the playoffs during that time, but never advanced past the first round. Villanova then joined the Ottawa 67s in Yr44, but only stayed there for a year, commonly clashing with the ownership at the club. He rejoined the Sting in Yr45, but moved on again to the Erie Otters in Yr46.

Erie Otters

In Yr48, Head Coach Jean Van Hanssen was fired midway through the Yr48-49 season, and Villanova was brought in to replace him. Initially, the hiring was meant to last to the end of the season only, but after the team rose from last in the Western Conference to fifth, easily making the playoffs, Villanova was given a long-term extension. Although the team was knocked out by the Guelph Storm in the first round of the Yr49 OHL playoffs, Villanova improved on his record by placing third in the Western Conference for the Yr49-50 season. The team swept the Windsor Spitfires in the first round in the Yr50 playoffs, but lost to underdog Sarnia in the second round. After half the team was lost due to the following NHL draft, the team struggled to compete, though they still managed to hang in sixth place when Villanova was unexpectedly fired on January 6, Yr51. He was quoted by saying "It doesn't make any sense, I gave all my effort for the team. But there will be other teams to be on. And we will move on."

London Knights

Villanova was hired by the London Knights for the Yr51-52 season, replacing the longtime coach Dale Hunter. The team had gone through a downturn in the last three seasons, but expectations were still high going into the season. The team did not do as well as expected, placing sixth in the Western Conference and being bounced in the first round by the Plymouth Whalers.

The Yr52-53 season started out much the same way, with the team seventh at the midway point in the season. When Captain and star Rick Pearson missed practice consistently within a two week period and also missed curfew before a match, Villanova infamously benched Pearson, stripped him of his captaincy, and placed him on the suspended list indefinitely, waiting for Pearson to apologize for his behaviour and to return to playing hockey. Pearson did not contact the London Knights, and after a week, Pearson was released from the Knights. Facing criticism for the move, Villanova said, "Why am I always the bad guy around here? I'm just doing what I need to do to win games." The team won 20 of the next 22 games in the Regular season, and went on to beat Owen Sound (4-1), Erie (4-0), Sault Ste. Marie (4-2) and Oshawa (4-2) en route to his first OHL title. The team then went undefeated in all games to win his first Memorial Cup, beating Rimouski Oceanic, Vancouver Giants, and Quebec Remparts.

The Yr53-54 and Yr54-55 seasons had high expectations as well, but resulted in losses to the Kitchener Rangers in both years. Yr55-56 was a far more different matter, as the team broke the record for the best winning percentage in a season, going .897 with 61 wins, 5 losses, and 2 overtime losses. The team beat Sarnia, Plymouth, Kitchener (facing them in the Conference finals for the third time in a row) and Mississauga to win the second OHL title during Villanova's reign. The Knights then went on to win the Memorial Cup as well, beating the Kelowna Rockets, Drummondville Voltiguers and Windsor Spitfires. During the three-year stretch, Villanova helped develop talents such as Mike Fisher, Ben Bishop (who went #1 overall in the Yr56 NHL draft), Craig Yonser, Yannick Anderson, Bill O'Brien, Max Stager, Robbie Roberts and Johnny Morris.

The next few years were still successful, but trophies were hard to come by. The Knights still went #1 in the Western conference in the Yr56-57 season, but only did so by tiebreaker to the Owen Sound Attack. The Knights then went on to be eliminated in the second round of the playoffs to the Sarnia Sting. The Yr57-58 season was no better, as the Knights went third in the Western Conference and again lost in the second round to Guelph Storm. The Yr58-59 season saw little better, with the Knights placing third again in the Western Conference, but the Knights managed to get to the conference finals by a double-overtime winning goal by Mikhail Anderssen over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The Knights were then swept by the Owen Sound Attack. Although he remained popular with the staff and the fans, Villanova was criticized for recruiting more foreign players than Canadian players. Villanova responded by saying the Owen Sound Attack "has Russian players. So I fight fire with fire, and I put Russians on my team. Because nobody wants to play with Canadians anymore."

The Yr59-60 season saw a much better improvement, however, thanks to an improved performance from new recruit Alexander Salak, who led the league Goals Against Average. The Knights once again led the Western Conference, but they were eliminated in the conference finals by the Guelph Storm in a Game 7 heartbreaker in overtime. The Yr60-61 season was much more successful, with London placing second in the conference and easily bypassing Sarnia and Sault Ste. Marie in the first two rounds. The Knights faced Guelph again in the conference finals, winning in six games. The Knights faced off against the Ottawa 67s in the OHL finals, winning in seven games, three of which went into overtime. The narrow victory gave Villanova his third OHL title. In the Memorial Cup, the Knights easily beat the Mississauga Steelheads and the Saint John Sea Dogs, but lost twice to the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Group Stage and in the Memorial Cup final. The margin of victory for Brandon was significant, with the Group Stage game ending 6-2 and the final ending 8-3, with Brandon up 7-1 at one point in the match. Despite the abrupt end to the season, Villanova was still highly praised for his work in the season, winning against all the odds.

International Career

Villanova was hired immediately by Team Canada after his resignation from London, on June 3, Yr61. His introductory press conference was memorable in that Villanova was quoted, "I'm not one of... of the bottle. I think I am a special one." He coached Team Canada for the Yr62 World Hockey Championships, drawing in Group B with Switzerland, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Despite losing to Belarus and drawing to Switzerland, Canada still advanced to the knockout stage. Villanova admitted that the "superstar factor" was affecting morale and chemistry on the team, but said that they were on their way back to a great performance. Canada beat Finland 6-0 but lost to Sweden in the second round, forcing a playoff game with the United States in the double elimination bracket. Canada won 4-2 and advanced to the final round, another double elimination bracket. Canada drew Sweden again, and won in overtime 3-2. Canada beat the Czech Republic in the second round via shootout to advance directly to the Gold Medal final, again against Sweden. Canada lost the game 5-3, giving Villanova and Team Canada a silver medal. Villanova was fired not long after the tournament, with the organization citing differences in strategy and Villanova's lack of confidence with the media and the players. Although the majority of the team threatened to abstain from training in the light of the firing, the players backed down and Villanova left the job.

After his firing, Villanova was hired by Team Great Britain for their upcoming World Championships (in Division 3) in Yr65. Villanova coached the team to a Top 2 finish with Serbia, earning promotion to Division 2 in Yr68. In the interim between the World Championships, Villanova served as an assistant with the Belfast Giants in the Elite Ice Hockey League in Great Britain, and also serves as a scout for upcoming talent in the country as well.

Honours

OHL Champions: Yr52-53, Yr55-56, Yr60-61
Memorial Cup Champions: Yr52-53, Yr55-56
Matt Layden Trophy (OHL Coach of the Year): Yr52-53, Yr55-56, Yr56-57, Yr59-60, Yr60-61
World Hockey Championships: Silver Medal, Yr62 Canada
Division 3 Promotion: Yr65 (Great Britain)

Personal Life

Villanova is married to Maria da Silva, also of Portuguese descent, in Yr47, having known each other for many years before their relationship started. They have four children, three daughters born in Yr51, Yr53 and Yr57 (names unknown), and a son, Tito, born in Yr55. None of his children are currently involved in hockey in any way.

Villanova was given a honourary degree from London's Western University in Yr55. During the ceremony, Villanova told the graduates to "stay sharp, stay focused, and never forget to have a bit of excitement every once in a while. And don't ever be afraid to take risks."

Quotes

"It's terrible, he got taught to death."

- Villanova on Rick Pearson's suspension in Yr53

"I was raised in a different world than those in America. I've been to Alabama once and you see everywhere, it's all college football. They all go nuts for them. They don't have any pros and the only thing they have is their college team. And they like it that way."

- Villanova in Yr54

"When you have braces for six years, you don't go outside very often because you look like a geek. Maybe that's why I took up hockey."

- Villanova on why he went into hockey, Yr55

"You don't get the highly touted guy, because he's got the parents that paid their whole salary to put this kid in all the leagues, and he acts like he can literally get what he wants with money. That's what his parents teach him, and that's how he plans to play hockey. The trouble with posh kids is that they don't know how to play hockey."

- Villanova in Yr56

"I think he's a star player, I think he's a very good player. But if he goes number one, I'll probably faint!"

- Villanova on Ben Bishop, who would end up going #1 in the Yr56 draft

When asked on his opinion of there being no Canadian teams in the NHL playoffs: "There are 18 Canadian teams in the OHL and 16 playoff spots to fill them in, so I doubt your theory on the doom and gloom here."
"People don't watch hockey because it looks stupid. People chasing after a brick for two hours with a stick. Why not use their feet?"

- Villanova joking around after being questioned on why there were low ratings in hockey in Yr56

"Before I came in, they thought that watching film meant going to the theatre down the street. Now, they know how to play. And that's more important than winning. Because the NHL is filled with purists that go out and win at all costs, and they forget the fundamentals of hockey - passing, passing, more passing, and shooting - not the stuff that Bobby Orr would do on a good night, but smart shooting - the stuff that gets people goals. And not just deflected stuff either - any old sod can do that."

- Villanova in Yr57

"They expected to lose, so they lost the game as a result. They played like the team was winners and as such they didn't play like winners themselves."

- Villanova after a series loss in Yr57

"You think I come here to make loud comments on other people? I only came here because he paid me to go here. And you only come here for two or so sentences, but I say a lot more than that."

- Villanova during a losing streak in Yr58

"Did you look at the games? Then you don't need an answer."

- Villanova on being asked why his team was on the aforementioned losing streak

"Being able to do your job that you've been told always helps. When you get a job, you get told to make decisions, take action, and so on. That's fine. Then you do something and the GM object, then something else and the owner objects, and so you reach a decision by consensus that nobody really likes but they do it to do something, but the fans don't like the idea. The teams, they don't give the coaches enough time. And it's sad, The coaches they hire, they have good experience, good competence, good relations with the players, but they just need time. The Canadian teams, they don't give coaches time. Take Nashville. They have their coach for what, 13 years? And they don't make the playoffs for the first eight. But they give him time. And they're now one of the better teams in the league. So to answer your question, why wasn't he successful, he didn't have enough time."

- Villanova commenting on his former assistant, Paul Pierce, being fired in Yr59

"I'm just worried about the swine flu going around. You laugh, but I'm serious! I'm more worried about the swine than the hockey right now!"

- Villanova on a upcoming match in Yr59

"Why do people want to be like Bobby Orr? Sure, he was effective back in the day, and I understand, people want to be like him, strong like him, physical like him, confident like him, determined like him, injured like him, martyred like him, lonely like him - the point is, don't sacrifice your body to win the game. Let your opponent do that. Then you'll win the next three."

- Villanova in Yr60

"If I wanted your advice I would have read your lineups in the Toronto Star. And I'll tell you that it won't work!" - Villanova after a loss with Team Canada in Yr61
"Why I am always the bad guy around here?"

- Villanova in response to a loaded question with Team Canada in Yr61

"I've lost more times than they all have, so I'm more used to it. It's part of the game."

- Villanova in Yr65

"They say that I'm not a good rebuilder. Well I went and built my wife's walk in closet the other day, and it turned out nice! She liked it. And we both agree that I'm a better handyman than most people think!"

- Villanova in Yr66, after being questioned on his track record when losing