Saylor Preston

Lawyer. Director of Hockey Strategy - Kamloops Blazers.

[Greg Wyshynski @wyshynski]

The coach is a 35-year NHL lifer named "Rod The Bod." The GM is a nanotech scientist who owns 27 U.S. patents. Together, they created a champion.

The Jock, the Nerd and the Stanley Cup. My story on the @Canes and hockey's oddest couple. Enjoy!

https://t.co/u6utzAgZIF

[Steve Werier @stevewerier]

What’s neat is that when he eventually became a GM, Eric Tulsky, the outsider’s outsider, surrounded himself in a front office with women and men just like him. Bloggers, lawyers, computer people even.

And it worked.

[Western Hockey League @TheWHL]

OH MY JOSH!

@blazerhockey | #NHLDraft

[Western Hockey League @TheWHL]

One year in the National League and Emmitt Finnie is already proving himself to be an #NHLDraft Gem!

@DetroitRedWings | @blazerhockey

[Western Hockey League @TheWHL]

J.P. 'The Human Highlight Reel' Hurlbert.

@blazerhockey | #NHLDraft

[Western Hockey League @TheWHL]

The @Canes have a gem in Logan Stankoven!

@blazerhockey | #WHLAlumni | #StanleyCup

[Kyle MacLennan @MacLennan28]

100%.

People always want to point to… they need to grind, commit, “want it,” “love it,” be tougher, the player is too soft.

For sure, there are degrees of accuracy to some of that, but what are coaches, adults, and organizations doing to support that that culture/environment and most importantly the individual?

The fastest way to change behaviour is environment/ Creating conditions where people feel safe to express their personality and abilities, valued, and inspired to a bigger picture. It is about THEM, not you.

Kids don’t commit to a team, motto, slogan, or organization just because. They commit to a feeling.

If your environment makes them feel like they belong, they’ll want to show up and work their butts off to contribute to the purpose. They will align themselves to that feeling. They will bring their unique personalities to the team, and both will thrive.

If the environment strips that feeling and joy away — and yes, you can still work hard and compete to win games with joy as a value — they’ll only show up because they have to.

Kids have the most fun AND perform their best in an environment they WANT to be in vs. HAVE to be in.

Lead with JOY. Create a feeling they want to commit to.

That does not mean standards have to drop. You can still be firm. In fact, I’d argue they rise naturally when the environment is right

[Saylor Preston @SaylorPreston]

Lead by example

[Queen of the Puck @rbarkleyhockey]

"The way I look at leadership is just, people, they're watching how you act"
Before Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, ESPN showed a feature on Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour from @emilymkaplan
#SoundTheSiren #ForgedInGold #NHL #StanleyCup

[Saylor Preston @SaylorPreston]

I like that an analytical based organization drafted someone with this profile. Goes to show there’s so many considerations in making these decisions and it’s not just spreadsheets. The true data people understand it’s just a piece of the puzzle.

[Patrick Bacon @TopDownHockey]

The updated model would have ranked Jackson Blake a few spots above where he went (109th).

The previous model infamously ranked him in the 300s. This was big inspiration for model update.

The new model looks better. But make no mistake, by every measure, Blake was a longshot.

[PuckPedia @PuckPedia]

The Vancouver Canucks made changes at the top of their Hockey Operations group.

@stevewerier has some interesting thoughts on the how the team culture should be improved this season and beyond.

[Saylor Preston @SaylorPreston]

No reason why we can’t do more colour vs colour jersey match ups in hockey

[Western Hockey League @TheWHL]

WHAT A SEQUENCE! 👀👏

@Kelowna_Rockets and @WHLsilvertips each with great chances early in the first!

#MemorialCup

[Jon Keen @JonKeenNLSports]

Blazers takeaway from D-Camp?
“Really impressed. Initial thoughts are man, that’s a couple of really good drafts. Great job by Aaron (Keller) and the scouts. Really competitive, lots of skill and energy. Great camp.” - Shaun Clouston.

[Jeff Marek @JeffMarek]

I like this

[Kamloops Blazers @blazerhockey]

Built different in Kamloops 🔨🔥

[Saylor Preston @SaylorPreston]

The importance of stacking good shift after good shift is so noticeable in the playoffs

[Topher Scott @HockeyThinkTank]

Kids: when the Colorado Avalanche won a Stanley Cup a few years ago they had a motto:

TRACK OR DIE.

They’re on their way to win another one with this mentality. Watch how hard they get back on the backcheck.

UNREAL.

It takes away the Wild scoring opportunity and then they transition the other way fast to score the OT winner.

Amazing hockey. Track or die.

[Saylor Preston @SaylorPreston]

Lots of respect for someone who provides their honest opinion and doesn’t just go with the crowd.

[Corey Pronman @coreypronman]

New @TheAthleticNHL: My top 112 prospects for the 2026 NHL Draft

https://t.co/8kAbZSKp05

[Steve Werier @stevewerier]

After running a NHL team in Florida, @thatcamlawrence & I led a deep tech venture fund in Brooklyn as CEO & GC where we did a lot of work optimizing cutting edge AI models.

Talked here w @ethan_sears about how some of that thinking could help NHL teams leverage AI tools 🏒💻

[Shayna @shaynagoldman_]

Hall-Stankoven-Blake up 12-2 in scoring with a ~72% xG rate at 5v5 so far this postseason 🥵
(@NatStatTrick)

[Derek Popke @derek_popke]

Minor hockey kids who think they’re “working hard” need to watch this. Different level of compete.