I remember sitting with Jim Craig five years ago when the Pittsburgh Penguins took on the Tampa Bay Lightning when he told me: “You will never make it as a coach in hockey, let alone a general manager. Jobs in professional hockey are one big boys club and if you’ve never played at NHL level you’re fucked from the beginning.”
Jim Craig was team USA’s goalie from the Miracle on Ice Olympic gold medal team. Ironically enough, he now spends his time as a motivational speaker. And I sat next to him and let him shit on my younger self’s dream.
I thank him for being so blunt with me.
I was just a 15-year-old obsessed with hockey and I wanted to stay around it my whole life. I thought being part of a team staff was my only shot staying around the sport I had loved as long as I could remember, and before meeting Jim Craig I was dead set on it. Jim Craig told me I was wrong. He told me if I wanted to stay around hockey for my livelihood I had two choices: become an agent and go to law school or become a journalist. I chose the latter.
The odds that a USA Olympic legend would change the course of my life is still crazy to me, but I have always wondered if maybe he was wrong. What could have been if I stuck to my initial goal of being on a team staff?
That’s what brought me to today, where I stand inside Germain arena, holding a notepad and a pen, eager to see what it’s like to be a professional hockey coach.
When I arrived at the arena I was taken straight to Florida Everblades’ Head Coach Brad Ralph’s office and in the background, I could hear Jason Aldean’s “She’s Country” blaring from the locker room to which the players were singing along to.
Brad Ralph is the coach of the of the ECHL’s Florida Everblades, who currently hold the best record in the league(41–12–2–4) and have already clinched a playoff berth. Ralph has been around hockey his entire life, just like myself, but the difference is that Ralph played professional hockey. Ralph was drafted 53rd overall in the 1999 NHL entry draft by the Phoenix Coyotes. Even though he played in just one NHL game, it’s more than I’ll ever even get within arm’s reach of.
Coach Ralph’s path has followed to the letter of what Jim Craig told me that day in Tampa. He played nine years of professional hockey, 419 games to be exact spread among the NHL, AHL, ECHL, Italy, and Denmark leagues. Initially Ralph planned to transition into real estate so he could focus more on his family, but this was right before the market crashed.
“I decided to follow my heart, I sent my résumé to a hockey team, and that was it. When it’s all over you got to follow your heart and do something you’re passionate about. It’s my eighth year coaching and I haven’t felt like I have worked a day in eight years,” Ralph said.
I thought this was going to be a short meeting before the practice; it lasted about an hour and a half on its own. Coach Ralph introduced me to his coaching staff, associate head coach Tad O’Had, and goaltending and video coach Josh Robinson, before he gave me a rundown of the day that he had planned for the team.
The players’ schedule on paper was simple enough: a private team meeting, a quick workout to get the blood pumping at game speed, before hopping on the ice for an hours’ worth of practice.
Coach Ralph made it clear that the team meeting had to be private as he informed me it was going to be an emotional meeting as he had just traded a player.
During the team meeting Coach Ralph had me stay in his office and upon looking around as I sat on the locker room style seat in the corner (but made sure to never leave my seat as Ralph and his staff were trusting me in their office by myself) I noticed a few things. His desk was incredibly organized for someone who is constantly at work and laid out there were only four things: a folder, a weekly agenda sheet, and two books. When he came back into the office I asked him what the two books were and he told me they were Phil Jackson’s “Eleven Rings,” a book that he has read four times, and “Behind the Bench” by Craig Custance.
The quote behind his desk written on a large whiteboard read “A pessimist complains about the wind. An optimist expects it to change. A leader adjusts the sails.”
When the team meeting ended, Coach Ralph was able to answer a few questions about being a coach, and to my surprise Jim Craig’s words seemed to be for the most part true.
“There’s got to be connecting threads that help you get a job in hockey, whether it be a trainer, a player or coach. My former coach and trainer both played a big role in me getting my first job,” Ralph said.
“You either have to win, or you have to know someone,” Ralph said.
He said there have been guys who became successful coaches without any playing of professional hockey to their name.
“If you look at guys like Ken Hitchcock (the current coach of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, with 22 years of NHL coaching experience) who never really played hockey, but just had a great mind for the game and he proved he could win,” Ralph said.
Coach Ralph did agree with Jim Craig’s statement, partially, when it comes to how difficult it is to get a job coaching today without having professional hockey in your résumé.
“It’s harder now to be a coach today without playing experience because everyone is so much more informed on people and accessible than they were 20 years ago,” Ralph said.
During the interview the Everblades’ General Manager Craig Brush came in to talk with Coach Ralph and his staff about the college teams they could potentially acquire players from that had seasons that were ending, while also trying to figure out who they were going to acquire due to injured defensemen. In doing so they were looking to gear up for playoffs while getting a look at guys to sign for next season, specifically with the college players.
Before practice Coach Ralph and goaltending coach Josh Robinson got in a quick game of ping-pong before practice. Ralph’s competitiveness showed in his ping-pong performance despite his loss, as he was able to comeback late on and almost pull off the comeback before eventually taking the 20–17 loss.
“You have to find a way to make this job fun,” Ralph said.
Coach Ralph informed me that today’s practice might be altered a bit due to injuries. The team found themselves with just ten forwards, five defensemen, and two goalies; six fewer players than they are used to having.
I walked onto the ice and I got myself an up close and personal look from behind the benches, right where a coach would be. Coach Ralph blew his whistle to start the practice as the players huddled along the boards and looked on waiting for Ralph to draw up the first drill.
Coach Ralph talked about keeping a fast pace, whether it be off ice workouts or how he goes about his day. Each drill was primarily focused on speed, whether the players were practicing offense or defense.
As soon as the whistle sounded on the first drill, Coach Ralph yelled to his players to take a quick lap, and to my surprise he joined his team in the lap.
Players were vocal between drills with the yelling of “hiyeeeeeeeeeeee” to pick up pace, with the occasional chirp of “You’re killing me smalls,” in reference to the movie “The Sandlot.”
The drill that most impressed me was when the players sped up and down the ice three times and rotated players. Beforehand, Coach Ralph asked the players what they thought was a good goal to set for goals to get past the defenders and goalies. Forward Brett Bulmer was quick to get in what was a joke initially as he yelled out “69! 69! 69!”, but Coach Ralph decided to cave and set the goal at six goals in nine minutes. The drill started with a 2 on 0 play on the goalie that transitioned to skating the opposite direction 3 on 2, before finally a breakaway on the goalie. One thing that remained constant through all nine minutes was the pace. I never once noticed a player slow down or stop hustling.
Coach Ralph snuck a joke in here and there. Goalie Callum Booth argued a goal against late in the drill, and Coach Ralph was quick to chirp him.
“We can’t review that goal, we don’t have video replay,” Ralph said.
When the practice finally came to an end, Coach Ralph announced to the players that those who were on the power play needed to stay despite the ice being torn up. What surprised me was every player stayed on the ice, not just the guys on the power play. That spoke to the kind of coach he is to his guys.
What I thought was going to just be a day on the ice seeing how a coach does his job showed to be much more impactful in how he goes about his business off the ice, and how his players show up every day for him and give the effort and keep pace despite being short handed. These players completely buy into his system and that’s the most important factor in being a great coach.
Jim Craig told me I’d never stand a chance without playing professionally prior, and I think now that he was wrong. It has nothing to do with your playing experience, it has to do with how you present yourself as a leader. Regardless of your connections in the hockey world you need to have a will to win.
