Scout's Honour

On the road with LA Kings scout Mark Osborne

*LA Kings scout Mark Osborne in Dallas ahead of the 2018 NHL Draft (Courtesy: LA Kings)

Authors Note:  This story was written and completed during the tail end of the 2017-18 NHL regular season. 

A showman’s life is a smoky bar

And the fevered chase of a tiny star

It’s a hotel room and a lonely wife

From what I’ve seen of a showman’s life…

                                                         ****************

The highway is clear.  Only a few hours ago commuter traffic congested all six lanes, as it does most weekdays in the GTA with people muscling their way to work.

In a few more, it will look just the same.  The 9-to-5 complete, vehicles bumper-to-bumper, drivers inching toward home.

For now, approaching noon on a Thursday in late March, it is open roadway for kilometers, industrial and office buildings line either side of Hwy. 401.

Heading westward out of Mississauga, Ont., concrete and glass steadily pass by the car windows and fade away in the rearview mirror, the path ahead has parted like the Red Sea.

A biblical reference, that would not be lost on the driver had I voiced my thought aloud.

“When you are driving to a rink, you leave mid-day to avoid the rush,” says the brawny man behind the wheel.

In his third season with the LA Kings, Mark Osborne is increasingly well versed regarding tricks of the trade as an NHL scout.

This drive to Detroit, MI., from his home base in Toronto is one he has done about half-a-dozen times this season alone. Over the next 36 hours, he will put nearly a 1000 km’s on a red Chevy Equinox, driving to the Motor City, then Buffalo, NY., before returning.

During his first two seasons, Kings’ scouts were required to report on the minor leagues in addition to the NHL, this season things have been streamlined - one pro scout assigned to each of the four NHL divisions. Osborne’s beat is the Atlantic, comprised of eight teams of which he will see three during this trip.

“There’s a learning curve in what to look for, and how to look for it,” he says of his role evaluating players. “You can’t speed up the process, you can watch a guy one night and love him – he’s had an awesome game, or he has had a terrible game and you don’t like him.  You have to remember it is a body of work, it’s not just a couple of games.  To get a true picture of a who that player is, you have to watch him a lot of times.” 

Focusing solely on NHL clubs has led to increased direct air travel this season and therefore he has been able to accomplish more by working on flights, such as pre-scouting the players he will be assessing at game-time using video, filing reports and submitting monthly positional skater rankings via team software.

Our destination is where he began his NHL career nearly 40 years ago.

Osborne, also affectionately known as Ozzie or Oz, played for four teams from 1981-1995, starting out with the Detroit Red Wings.  He also skated for the New York Rangers, Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs.

*Mark Osborne played in 919 NHL games from 1981-1995 (Courtesy: Graig Abel Photography)

At fourteen, he became a devout Christian and while faith permeates his entire existence, it tends to leave him in traffic.

“Flippin’ trucks!”, is a common utterance, when in his view, a transport trespasses against him.

The curse word altered, the rage just the same.

Structure is everything for the 56-year-old, a remnant from his playing days, it has stayed with him ever since, routine is imperative.

A typical day begins around 7 a.m. Over two coffees, he will look at the box scores from the previous night, to keep tabs on his entire Atlantic Division portfolio.

“Statistics are just statistics, but it also gives you a picture of where guys are playing, how they are being used,” he says. “Even though I am only doing one game, there are seven other teams I am responsible for.”

The next step is prioritizing his day.

“It seems like there is always work to be done,” he says. “With the reports from the night before or where I am going next, who I’m going to see next.”

However, as we travel to Motown, Osborne will not have the luxury of getting any advanced tasks completed as he is driving and therefore the workload will have to be pushed to when he gets to the Detroit Marriott at the GM Renaissance Center.

When we arrive, Ozzie checks in, prepares for a workout and then makes a call to Dave Torrie, the former coach and GM of the Sault. St. Marie Greyhounds who scouts the Metropolitan Division for LA.  He has made the short trip from his home in Chatham, Ont., to watch the Washington Capitals.

The two arrange a meeting for dinner in Greektown.  There they will hatch a plan for an end of season golf trip at Tobacco Road Golf Club, in Sanford, NC., which coincides with their trip to see the Kings visit the Carolina Hurricanes.

From the restaurant, they’ll walk to the rink located in Detroit’s increasingly gentrified downtown core. 

While Ozzie, made his bones playing the game, Torrie grew up in coaching and management, for nearly a decade, his family owned the Chatham Maroons, a Jr. B hockey club.

Before he was hired by the Kings, the 51-year-old was an amateur scout for the Buffalo Sabres.

*Dave Torrie (right) when he was General Manager of the Soo Greyhounds (Credit: sootoday.com)

“Having played the game definitely helps in this role,” Osborne says.  “It enhances who you are as a scout, there are lots of good scouts that have never played, their learning curve would have been different.

“There are different ways to skin the cat, you have to be true to who you are, every report is different. although you may key in on some of the same specifics, it should reflect who you are and how you articulate things.”

After settling into his room, he parks himself at the desk and examines video to reacquaint himself with who he will be watching this evening.  The computer program he uses compiles game footage from the entire season, it is broken down by each shift a player has had to date.  At this juncture, with just a handful of games left, he has a large body of work from which he can evaluate.

“I know the players but when you are dealing with hundreds, it’s good to be reminded that a player is who he is, or what you have seen for a number of years,” he says.  “Are they trending upwards? Have they hit a peak? Or are going the opposite direction and regressed in their progression?”

The beginning of spring and daylight-saving time coincides with the stretch run for the Kings and a few other teams in a dog fight for the playoffs.  It is also the dog days for teams that have no hope of reaching the postseason. 

While Osborne will keep a close eye on his club, his mandate has changed from the beginning of the season.

Whereas several months ago he may have been scouting players for potential acquisition at the recently passed trade deadline, he will now be looking at how those that have been dealt are fitting in with their new teams, potential UFA’s, and rookies with increased playing time.

This road trip is likely to be more of the latter as the three teams he is scouting, The Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Sabres are not in the playoff picture.

For the Kings, less is more, they prefer their scouts to go with a meat on bones approach as opposed to a wide swath of information being syphoned back to the front office.

By concentrating on a smaller pool, Osborne feels he can provide a more accurate picture of a players’ tendencies.

Leaning forward in his chair, he hunches over his computer and begins to isolate the four players he will report on.

So, what catches his eye?  Well, quite a bit. 

For example, in the case of a defenseman, it can be retrievals in their own zone, passing options once they gain control of the puck, the way they cover the gaps between themselves and an opposing player, skate position, defending against the rush, their hockey sense in reading a play to how easily they give up the blueline.

“There’s some main things for me to now take in the game tonight,” he says.  “I’m going to be watching for what I just saw on video.”

Little Caesars Arena is the Cadillac of NHL stadiums, it is the leagues’ newest venue having opened at the start of the 2017-18 season. It has an open concept press box which places writers and scouts above the broadcasters and there is no back wall that closes it off from fans, so you feel at one with the play.

Osborne has been to every NHL rink except four, as we make our way past security on street level and take the elevator to the press box, he explains that the sightlines are some of the best in the game.

Arriving at a high back chair, Ozzie plunks down his bag and cellphone before removing stationery and pens.

Rather than input his report directly into the software, he chooses to write by hand in a Studio Media 140-page notebook and enter his findings from there after the game.  His sheet is divided by three red lines with a player number just above it.

Late in the first, a young Detroit winger draws a penalty on the opposition, with the stoppage in play, Osborne temporarily shifts his attention from the ice to the paper and begins to jot down bullet points on his sheet.

Early in the second the same player blocks a shot and clears the puck, he begins to write again, careful not to miss the ongoing play transpiring before him.

This goes on throughout the game. Intermissions are spent with his back to me, facing Torrie. I presume they are talking shop, their words inaudible, drowned out by the merging sounds of the PA system and fan noise.

Between periods it is common for scouts to become cloistered in a section near press row, tonight there are five scouts in attendance along with Osborne and Torrie, the following night there will be more than double that amount in Buffalo.

The conversation is comprised of classic small-talk, “How’s your family?”, “What time did you land?”, “Where are you off to next?”

Osborne compares it to what takes place on the ice between players.

“They might be friends, they might respect each other but it’s competition and you and there to beat the other guy,” he says.  “You are talking in generalities, you are never talking specifics about players, that would be foolish. What I think, what I see, is nobody else’s business but the team I am working for.”

It is evident from the conviction in his voice that the drive which fueled him over 919 games as an NHL player and his short time coaching and managing major jr. hockey with the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors, has never really left him.

Moreover, it was a major reason he accepted a scouting role after a decade working as a broadcast analyst with Leafs TV, The Score, TSN, NHL Network and Sportsnet 590 - The Fan.

“The competitive fire has always been in me,” he says. “There is something about that drive to succeed, win and compete, you don’t have that when you are in media following a team.  There is part of you wanting the team that you cover to do well but not like this, not like when you are working for an organization.”

Nearly seven minutes into the third period, the Red Wings lose possession in the offensive zone which leads to a rare 2-on-0 rush, Jacob Vrana gains control just inside Detroit’s blueline and feeds Brett Connolly who shoots high, smoothly picking the far corner, it turns out to be the lone scoring play of the game – the final horn sounds, the Capitals defeat the home side 1-0.

After the game, Osborne and Torrie are in search of an establishment which will carry the Kings game, they are playing in Colorado tonight. Surprisingly, in Hockeytown, this endeavour is much harder than it seems.

Several fruitless searches transpire before they settle at Buffalo Wild Wings where after about 20 minutes of back-and-forth with the waitress, NHL Network appears on one of a dozen or so televisions. The rest are showing NCAA March Madness.

The live look-ins bring good news, Ozzie is elated to see his team lighting it up in the Mile High City, the Kings pour it on, their captain Anze Kopitar becomes the first player to score four goals in a game for the Kings in 25 years as they cruise to a 7-1 victory.

A victory propels LA into third place in the Pacific Division and quells the severe disappointment Osborne has in his order of chicken wings.

*Little Caesars Arena has excellent sightlines from the press box (Source: Kevin McGran / Toronto Star / Twitter)

Osborne has had a late start to his day, it began at 8:30 a.m., an hour-and-a-half after his normal wake-up time.

A creature of habit, he has already repeated yesterday’s pattern of visiting the gym and identifying the players he will focus on this evening when we head to Buffalo.

By noon, the valet brings the car around and he is soon negotiating traffic along E. Jefferson Ave., heading toward Mexican Town where we stop off to get takeout for the four-hour drive ahead.

We will go through Canada using the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel as we did yesterday, a decision made after checking traffic on the Ambassador Bridge, “Too many trucks,” Ozzie snarks. “It would take us forever.”

Earlier in the season when the tunnel was closed, Blair Mackasey, director of player personnel with the Minnesota Wild, told him about an alternative route home which goes north through Sarnia, Ont.

In the tight-lipped scouting fraternity, apparently there are no secrets to conceal when it comes to travel shortcuts.

“There for sure is a mutual understanding of what life means to be a scout,” Osborne says. “All the things that are required – to organize your schedule and to travel and all that it means over the entire body of a season, it’s hard work.”

With the tunnel since reopened, in short time we are traversing back over the border, passing the windmills of Chatham.

If Ozzie is on a road trip rather than flying, he will often use the time to call colleagues, friends and most importantly his wife Madolyn, they will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary in July.

I pull out his meal and hand it to him while he drives. With one hand on the wheel he starts to scarf down tortilla chips, guacamole, chicken, rice and beans. I begin probing more into his gravitation back to the shadowland that is scouting.

While competitive fire may have been the driver, the role came to him at the right time in his family life, 14 to 21 days a month away from home is now manageable with his oldest daughter working and his youngest in university.

“Doing what I am doing in the game at this time with all the travel has been a decision I made based on where my kids are at,” he says. “Some guys have younger families, and they still make it work, it is sacrifice, they can justify it by less travel come summer time.”

We continue to head east on the Hwy. 401 and Hwy. 403 before veering south on the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW), in between our conversations and phone calls he whiles away the time adjusting the radio between talk stations, country and classic rock, eventually the mist of Niagara Falls is within site and our destination is at hand.

Border crossings with Osborne are always interesting, usually he breezes by with Nexus but since I am with him, no such convenience will be afforded, which he gladly reminds me.

Many times, the agent on duty will ask him about the game he just saw, or is going to, sometimes they will have a few questions about their team. Today the woman is cheerfully inquiring about his plates, Oz is driving his wife’s car instead of his as he is nearing the limit on its’ lease with the Kings.

We clear customs swiftly and are rolling down I-90, the domed roof of KeyBank Center is within site, a few minutes later we park in a lot approximately a five-minute walk from the Sabres’ arena.

*The HSBC Arena is now known as the KeyBank Center, it’s pictured in the background with The Buffalo Sabres first home - The Buffalo Memorial Auditorium (The Aud) in the foreground. (Credit: By Jamie - Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3190023)

Ozzie, a man who is incessantly hungry, seeks the media room located in the bowels of the stadium searching for a quick meal prior to taking the elevator to the Ted Darling Memorial Press Box. He is seated next to Jason Fitzsimmons, a 46-year-old scout for the Washington Capitals.

Fitzsimmons was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in 1991 and played his career in the minors.  He is now based out of Charleston, SC., where he was head coach of the South Carolina Stingrays from 2002-2007.  The ECHL team is a long-time Capitals’ affiliate and after his tenure behind the bench he was hired by Washington as a pro scout.

The former goalie doesn’t have Osborne’s benefit of a central hub as a home base and is often away from his wife Chantel and 12-year-old son Bergen.

In the ten years he has been a scout, Fitzsimmons estimates he has spent just under five of them in a Marriott hotel.

“My wife calls me winter Jason and summer Jason,” he says. “In the winter it is hockey, hockey, hockey, you are gone and then in the summer it is the opposite, you are around all the time.  You are a full-time dad and full-time husband. My wife is an absolute saint, you don’t get to have this job without a great supporting cast, the old cliché, behind every good man is a great woman, that’s so true.

“This is a hard lifestyle and it’s gotta’ be the right person to be married to, because there are trying times for sure.”

It is apparent that both men love their job, but as I study their faces, it is clear that the grind is ever present.

“It’s like that song, A Showman’s Life,” says Fitzsimmons, his gaze locked on the ice. “Look it up.”

A boy will dream, as children do

Of a great white way, ‘til the dream comes true…

*The grind paid off for Jason Fitzsimmons when the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup on June 7, 2018. He is pictured above during the on-ice celebrations after their Game 5 victory in Las Vegas. (Courtesy: Jason Fitzsimmons)

In professional sports, there are eyes on everything, someone is always watching.

Who plays with meaning when the game is meaningless? Osborne is going to find out as a strong contingent of Canadiens fans have made the trip to Buffalo to watch two teams with not much to play for.  Buffalo will finish last in the NHL standings with Montreal not far behind.

Osborne alternates between red and black ink to delineate notes by period on his pages.

As play begins, observations such as, failed to check his shoulder, wall ready and first to puck are committed to paper.

With two minutes left in the second, he yawns, two days of watching bad hockey at the tail of the regular season appears to be catching up with him.

“I’ve seen some uninspired efforts from players that should be competing and working for next year,” he says. “I am quite surprised actually.”

Just as the day before in Detroit, a lone goal is holding as the difference in the game, the Canadiens score two empty net goals to seal a 3-0 victory as Osborne, Fitzsimmons and I are walking swiftly out of the arena, and then I learn why we didn’t park closer.

Over time working as a scout, you develop a quick escape route in each city.  The closer you park to the stadium, there is a higher potential to be boxed in once the game is done.  Sometimes leaving with a few minutes left on the clock will also help.

Osborne has parked in a lot on Scott St.

Fitzsimmons’ rental is parked a little further away near Coca-Cola field where the AAA Buffalo Bisons play baseball, we part ways as he heads back to the Toronto Airport Marriott. Tomorrow he will take in the Red Wings and Maple Leafs game.

“It’s really important to manage your time and be as efficient as possible,” Osborne says as we exit the lot. “You know where to park, how to get out so you avoid traffic. It might involve a little bit of a walk after the game but at least you can get into your car and make sure that you are not stuck in traffic as a result.”

Just then, in a flash of divine comedic providence, a bus impedes what was supposed to be a hasty exit out of the Harbor Center district.

“We are behind this flippin’ bus!” he yells.” And I am wondering what the flip!”

His Christian virtue has once again not held over to his driving.

I find this to be the opportune time to needle him, “Is this job sort of like planes, trains and automobiles?” I ask.

“I feel like I’m Steve Martin and you’re flippin’ John Candy,” he retorts.

The moment passes, and we begin zipping through the narrow streets under the Buffalo Skyway with ease, like speeder bikes on the planet Endor. 

“The thing about this job is, there is always something to do,” says Osborne as we pass the site of the now demolished Buffalo Auditorium where played as a visitor.  “A report, something with your schedule, communicating with someone.”

There is always something.

Outside the cold chill of a long winter has already started to give way to a spring thaw, somewhere in the distance, rest is in sight.

For now, there are more reports to be filled, more games to watch and more ground to cross.

The midnight oil burns. Ozzie will ease the car into his driveway, open his front door slowly, and quietly find his way to the guest bedroom so as not to wake Madolyn in the middle of the night. 

Tomorrow it might be a different town, another route, and maybe an alternate mode of travel, but the cycle continues just the same.

No mention of all the wear and tear

On an old honkey- tonker’s heart.

Well I might have known it

But nobody ever told me about this part.

(A Showman’s Life – Jesse Winchester)