Ryane Clowe has little idea of what kind of players he will be getting, but the first-ever head coach of the Newfoundland Growlers knows what kind of team he’d like to have when it begins play in the ECHL this fall.
One that plays “an aggressive, attacking style, which is kind of how most coaches will tell you how they want to play nowadays,” Clowe told reporters at the Toronto Maple Leafs’ summer development camp Thursday in Toronto.
That also might describe the sort of teams Clowe, a 35-year-old Fermeuse native who grew up in Mount Pearl, once watched at Memorial Stadium.
“I was a massive St. John’s Maple Leafs fan in the early to mid-90s and I didn’t miss too many games,” he said, before drawing a laugh with his answer to the question about who was his favourite American Hockey League Leaf.
“D.J. Smith,” he said, picking the former St. John’s defenceman who is now a Toronto assistant coach. “Back then, you liked the tough guys and in those days, guys like D.J. and Shawn Thornton were fun to watch.”
Clowe was fun to watch in nearly 500 games over 10 NHL seasons as gritty, physical left-winger with the San Jose Sharks, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils before being forced to end his playing career because of concussions.
“I really had a good thing going in New Jersey and it wasn’t an easy thing to leave, but I felt that for an opportunity to start my head coaching career, there was no better way.”
Ryane Clowe
For the last two years, he was an assistant on John Hynes’s coaching staff in New Jersey.
Clowe said he hadn’t been actively targeting a head coaching position and that the Growlers job “all came together in the last month or so. “
While he was happy in Jersey and appreciative that the Devils gave him the chance to remain in hockey, he said the draw of being able to coach his own team in his home province and within the Leafs’ organization proved too much of a pull.
“I really had a good thing going in New Jersey and it wasn’t an easy thing to leave, but I felt that for an opportunity to start my head coaching career, there was no better way.
“And a big part of it was being part of the Leafs’ organization. (There are) a lot of smart people here
“It worked out that it was at home, but a big part of it was being involved with Toronto,” reiterated Clowe. “I talked about (it being) no different than a player … the ability for me to grow as a coach.”
The development camp is allowing Clowe to assimilate himself into the Maple Leaf way and to learn more about the systems used by the Leafs and their AHL farm team, the Toronto Marlies.
“I’m sure we’ll try to align it. No different than (it is) with the Marlies to the Leafs. I’ll probably talk to Sheldon (Marlies’ head coach Sheldon Keefe) quite a bit,” he said.
This week also gives him a chance to look at some prospective Growlers. More than half-a-dozen players at the Toronto camp are already signed to minor-league deals, meaning that if they’re not assigned to the Marlies, they’ll be with the Growlers. And there are others who are looking to get contracts and turn pro, including defenceman and St. John’s native Adam Holwell.
“(I have) no real idea yet about a roster, but there are some guys you keep an eye on because they might be possibilities,” said Clowe.
If those would-be Growlers want to know what kind of coach they’d be getting in Clowe, they might want to pay attention to his answers when questioned about his NHL coaches.
“I really loved all my coaches. I have nothing but respect for them,” said Clowe, who played for Todd McLellan in San Jose, John Tortorella with the Rangers and Peter DeBoer in New Jersey.
“I don’t know if I can pick one (as a favourite, but) I picked a little bit from all of them.”
As for whether he ever got mad at his coaches, Clowe supplied some insight into what he’ll expect from his charges on the Growlers.
“At times, you’d be ticked off at them,” he admitted, “no different (in that) I’m sure there were times they weren’t happy with me.
“But there was always mutual respect. That comes with a lot of communication and a lot of trust.
“Trust is a big thing for me.”
When announcing Clowe as the Growlers’ head coach earlier this month, the Maple Leafs said he would not be made available to the media until after development camp, but obviously changed their minds in Toronto this week.
He is expected to be formally introduced at a press conference in St. John’s in early July, at which time he’ll get to experience more of the “jolt of energy” he said came with the announcement that pro hockey was returning to Newfoundland in the form of the Growlers.
[email protected]
Twitter: @telybrendan
