Bulldogs bring Burlington coach home
The news conference to introduce the Hamilton Bulldogs’ new associate head coach was moving along nicely. Then as president and general manager Steve Staios wrapped up his comments and went to present the guest of honour with a ceremonial team hockey sweater … Um, where’d the new guy go? “He’s elusive,” Staios quipped after Dave Matsos had safely been found. “He’s already working, I think.”
He’s only partly joking about that.
Matsos had been head coach in Sudbury until he and the Wolves “mutually agreed” to go their separate ways a few weeks ago. When Staios reached out to see if the 43year-old was interested in coming to Hamilton, the free agent said he already had 60 video clips prepared on the Bulldogs.
“I said, ‘Let’s slow this down a bit,’” Staios says, laughing.
If the relationship between the two sounds familiar and friendly, that’s because it is. The two have known each other forever. They never played on the same hockey team as boys — Staios is from Hamilton and Matsos is from Burlington — but in the summers they powerskated together. And once they got their driver’s licences, they hung out all the time.
As a result, when Matsos became available to essentially fill the role left open by the midseason departure of then-associate head coach Troy Smith, bringing him on board was an easy decision. Especially since he’s well regarded in hockey circles.
Coming here was an easy decision for Matsos, too.
Though he says six teams contacted him with job offers, the Bulldogs were the clear favourite, partially because he didn’t want to leave the OHL, partially because he hasn’t really had the chance to live in his hometown since he moved away as a young man, and mostly because he says this team is heading in the correct direction and he believes it’s ready to do something special.
“For me, the excitement comes with the possibility to be able to win again,” he says.
In his past three years in Sudbury, the Wolves finished dead last, second last and 14th in the 20team league. That can wear on a guy.
On top of everything else is the fact that Matsos has history here beyond his childhood. In the 199899 season, he played 63 games for the AHL Bulldogs. In fact, he says he still has a team sweater in his basement. Mix it all together, and this move makes sense.
Of course, introducing a new staffer isn’t exactly novel for
Staios. In each of his three seasons as boss, there has been movement in the coaching ranks. He’s now had two head coaches, two associate head coaches, two goalie coaches and a few assistant coaches.
He says some GMs and coaches like this unsettled feel because they want the players to hear different voices each year and not get too comfortable. Though in his case, he says it’s not strategic. Certain people that he feels are great have simply become available and the opportunities to get them must be taken.
He may not be done, either. The status of longtime assistant Ron Wilson — who was on the bench for the AHL Bulldogs when they won the Calder Cup in 2007 — is up in the air right now.
“We’d love to have Ron involved or on board,” he says. “We’re just not sure what the role will be.”
If there’s an area that Matsos might be able to make a significant difference with the Bulldogs, it’s on the penalty kill. Hamilton had the third-worst PK in the league last season which hurt on many, many nights. Sudbury, meanwhile, got better in that area in each of his three years as bench boss, and finished with the sixth best mark in the OHL last season.
If that alone becomes his contribution, it’ll be worth it.
As for Wednesday’s news conference, where did he disappear to, anyway?
“Little bathroom break,” he says, chuckling. “I didn’t realize things were moving that quickly. Everything’s been so casual since I got here.”
Hey, it happens.
sradley@thespec.com 905-526-2440 | @radleyatthespec Spectator columnist Scott Radley hosts The Scott Radley Show weeknights from 7-9 on 900CHML