‘When I die I want to come back in my next life as me’: Confessions of hockey’s happiest grinder, Kenny McCudden
By Tom Reed Sep 1, 2018
CHATEAUGUAY, Quebec — Kenny McCudden never has a case of the Mondays. Not even when he starts his workweek paying $70 for a cab ride to an old arena in suburban Montreal.
The 57-year-old skills coach of the Blue Jackets is here to instruct Columbus center Pierre-Luc Dubois and a handful of other players from the region who have hired him for three days of tutelage in preparation for the upcoming season.
Like an electron bouncing off the shell of an atom, McCudden is perpetual motion, buzzing around the auxiliary rink at Leo Crepin Arena with pucks scattered across the ice. He runs drills in rapid succession. He fires crisp passes to players. He peppers commands with, “come on, boys, come on.”
Over the course of five one-hour sessions, McCudden will funnel through nearly 100 drills — never repeating the same one twice. Everything is done with pace and a smile.
McCudden doesn’t need up-tempo music to get his weekdays moving. He’s…
