Sometimes coaches deserve call-ups, too
AHL rivals’ NHL potential backdrop to playoff clash between Marlies and Crunch
There probably isn’t a day that goes by that Sheldon Keefe is not answering questions about the future of young players who one day may play in the NHL.
But while he’s grading players himself, and for his bosses with the Maple Leafs, or the media, there are eyes on him too, wondering: Is the coach of the Toronto Marlies ready for the NHL?
“I try to think about that as little as possible,” said Keefe. “I have my own career, certainly. That’s off-season type stuff for me, to think about what’s coming, or where I’m going, or how I’m developing. I try to keep my head down and work. It’s all about the players and our team.”
Such is life for a coach in the minors. Deal with the kids, help them make the most of their chances. Deal with the big team, help it instill its values and systems in the kids. Be the man in the middle, all while trying to reach for the top.
“I’m a guy that asks a lot of the players, expects a lot of the players,” said Keefe. “But at the same time, (I) try to focus on my role and focus on the individual player, and recognize my role in development. Sometimes the two can counteract one another and you have to keep things in perspective.
“Sometimes it’s a little more individual than team philosophy and I try to find that balance, but ultimately you want to respect your guys and at the same time give them the freedom and ability to be themselves and let their skill come out and try to help them find their way.”
The situation is the same on the other bench in the Marlies’ secondround Calder Cup playoff series, which they trail three games to two heading into Monday night’s Game 6 at Ricoh Coliseum.
Syracuse Crunch coach Benoit Groulx has an impressive resume, built largely in a career coaching in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
“I try to put players in the best situations possible to succeed,” said Groulx. “Don’t try to complicate things. I think they’ve got to feel they can go out there and express themselves and can be themselves and you’ve got to keep them accountable. Especially defensively.”
Just like players who go through major junior, U.S. colleges or Europe, there is no right or wrong way for a coach to make it to the NHL. The league is filled with coaches plucked from the American Hockey League, or the assistant’s ranks, or junior and college. Usually, the pedigree is mixed.
Groulx was last in the national spotlight as head coach of Canada’s most recent gold medal winner at the world junior championship — in 2015 in Toronto. He is fully committed to the pro ranks after a short dalliance in the AHL eight years ago.
“I was done with junior,” said Groulx, finishing his first season with Syracuse, the top farm team of the Tampa Bay Lightning. “When Tampa called me, it couldn’t happen have happened at a better time — not only for my career, but my life. My son is older, playing for Halifax. He’s not at home. The timing was great for me.
“Hockey-wise, after 12 years in junior, winning the world junior, I was ready for another challenge. When Tampa Bay offered me the job, the timing was great.”
It’s only a matter of time before Keefe’s and Groulx’s names come up in the rumour mill for NHL coaching opportunities. It’s not that they need more time to build an AHL resume; it’s more about creating the connections that play a large part in coach movement.
Neither have a great deal of experience — read rapport — with executives outside their parent club. But if Maple Leafs assistant GM Kyle Dubas, for example, should leave for another NHL team, Keefe could become a coaching candidate with that club because of the connection going back to their days together with the Ontario Hockey League’s Soo Greyhounds.
Keefe has been at the helm of the Marlies for two full seasons, two of the more memorable ones since the club moved into Ricoh Coliseum. Last year, he had a team of eager rookies that finished first overall, then failed to go the distance in the playoffs. Five from that team became NHL regulars in 2016-17.
This year, a less talented, more experienced yet no less hungry squad is in the second round of the playoffs. The former NHLer says he’s come a long way since he went down the coaching path, first with the Junior A Pembroke Lumber Kings, then with the Greyhounds.
“I feel like I get better every day. When you’re coaching at this level, you can’t help but learn something every day. You’re coaching against high-level coaches. The resources we have with the Maple Leafs and the relationship we have with Mike Babcock and his staff, I’ve learned a ton.
“I didn’t recognize myself, from my time in the OHL to when I coached in Junior A. It’s similar here. I feel like I’m growing a lot every day.”