The San Jose Sharks Hire Ryan Warsofsky As Their Head Coach, Why It’s The Right Hire

The San Jose Sharks Hire Ryan Warsofsky As Their Head Coach, Why It’s The Right Hire

the S sharks announced the hiring of Ryan wowski the 11th coach in franchise history you’re locked on sharks your daily podcast on the San Jose Sharks part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hello welcome to locked on sharks the premere hockey podcast covering your favorite team in the bay areaa my name is JD young caretaker at The Reef also uh the co-host of western conference Tuesday on the lockdown NHL channel want to thank you for making lockdown sharks your first listen probably part of the lockdown n we cover it your team every day if you want to be an everyday all you have to do is just follow wherever you get Podcast or you can watch this on YouTube as well and these sharks the last team without a coach they finally make their decision hireing Ryan wowski the assistant head coach um for the past two seasons with the sharks um so we’re going to discuss my thoughts on it why I love love this hire what they’re getting and what I think are some of War’s biggest challenges uh so before we get into all that do want to let you guys know that today’s episode is brought to you by ultimate hockey GM ever dream becoming an NHL GM and managing your hockey franchise well now you can with the ultimate hockey GM is completely free and locked on listeners get 100% free boost to the franchise when using promoe locked on NHL in the game store download the game just visit hockey gm. apppp or look it up in the App Stores ultimate hockey GM start your Dynasty today for Game of Throne fans your Dynasty um so Ryan wowski um we’ll get into like what they’re getting and stuff with him but I just want to kind of give my thoughts on on this and um I even from the beginning as soon as they you know kind of moved on from David Quinn I kind of pegged warski to be the guy because I think he is exactly what the Sharks need right now um and that is a guy who knows how to work with younger players knows how to develop and knows how to blend um older and younger players um and I think talking to wowski Super sharp dude um very personal with play with people I think wowski is going to be a great hire for the Sharks and we’ll see how he builds a staff he’s going to have his introductory press conference on Monday the the 17th so we’ll have more on that uh next week and kind of you know the sound bites and everything that you can kind of take away from it but um I know it was a lot of fans were hoping for for Marco Sturm maybe they were looking for a fresh voice whatever it is is um and there’s some fans like why are you hiring a guy who is in charge of the defense that was one of the worst defenses we’ve ever seen and I’m just going to say look at the roster right um trying to make chicken salad out a chicken poop um last year this team tanked right like we we’re all adults here we know this team tanked uh they tanked hard and they got rewarded for it so um I think though with with warski getting a guy who can you know he’s going to have his lumps becoming an NHL head coach for the first time um and that’s fine right he’s been a head coach in other places and uh we’ll go through his resume here in a second but I I love this hire I think he’s going to grow he’s a perfect guy to grow with with these guys right you’re gonna have Will Smith you’re gonna mcin celebrini you have Henry thrun you know like Ty erson ch Muk M and there’s a ton of guys here who are going to be either playing their first or second season in NHL and all these guys I think can kind of grow together but I feel like warski when the Sharks hired him as their assistant remember he he interviewed for the head coaching job two years ago um and they liked him so much they hired him as the assistant coach I think he’s just spent the last two years preparing for this job here right um David Quinn was kind of basically holding the seat down for for him until they felt warski was ready and I know you know there’s some people like why don’t you just hire him right away good for my Greer and Company to spread a widenet just see what’s out there right um go and actually you know make sure you’re getting the right guy because this hire is super important especially with the talent coming in um so I think for all parties I think everybody did did right by this right um you took your time making sure you got the right guy we’re still we’re seeing coaching staffs getting kind of filled up right now but there’s still plenty of of valuable coaches out there and I’m I’m sure Roski is going to be able to put together we we’ll talk about that here in a little bit later but um there’s still plenty of guys out there it’s not like they’re all the all the you know there’s Empty Chairs here um when it comes to putting together a staff but again a guy who has developed he’s won basically everywhere he’s gone um and I think his ability to blend young players with veteran players and connect to those players I think is going to be huge so um just really quickly kind of going through through War’s um resume here so grew up playing defense um what play defense at at C Cur College um played a little bit of uh professionals over in the Netherlands anyway after he was done was uh Warren a when he was at school then uh was an assistant coach for his Alma moer at Curry College then he uh got hired at with the South Carolina Stingray in the ECHL and he was there from 2013 to 2018 so he’s there for five SE or five years where he grew from the assistant coach to the head coach UMD director of hockey operations um during his time there took them to the Kelly cup wasn’t able to win it but took a team deep on a deep deep playoff front from there he went over uh made the jump to the AHL uh with the Charlotte Checkers who if I recall correctly were part of at that time I think they were part of the Carolina Hurricanes organization uh assistant coach for one year and then took the head coaching job um and then got moved to the Chicago Wolves I believe that’s when they moved if I recall correctly that’s when um Chicago became the AHL affiliate for for Carolina and became the head coach there um was and won uh he won so as an assistant coach uh he won the cter cup which is the uh AHL championship and then turned around wanted again as the head coach in the 2020 2021 uh sorry 2021 2022 season excuse me um where he yeah he won the championship there and then was hired on as the Sharks assistant coach where he spent the last two seasons um did also was part of David Quinn’s staff that coached uh the World Championships a couple years ago and this is the guy who’s been a coach you know for for a long time now I mean I know it’s not as much um NHL but he’s he’s been a coach for 12 Seasons this year in some form of another and he’s continued to grow and develop people um win which is important right uh and I think I love this hire I think it is I think it is the perfect hire for the Sharks to be honest I I’m I’m I’m super ecstatic about hiring Ryan wowski because I just I I think what he brings to the table is going to be perfect for what the Sharks need right now um so yeah he’s this again a lot of questions we’ll look at what some of his big challenges and you know what type of staff I think he needs to maybe try to put together here um but I I think though for the Sharks getting a new voice in there um getting a guy who I think can relate to a a younger Rost right we know how young this roster is um I think is is going to be a huge part of kind of building up this next great team and again I know last year numbers stick out with how bad how bad this team was but like again that this roster was horri it was set up to fail and set up to fail on purpose but going back right wasn’t that long ago that Ryan wowski was the assistant coach of the defense when Eric car put up 101 points and won the Norris Trophy I mean he gets credit for that right like he did do that so not that I’m saying I think any of the players on the shks are Eric Carlson but with actual talent on the team I think he has uh there is a runway for this team to uh to get better with more talent and fuse in it so um if we’re going to Peg um wowski with the problems from last year you also have to look at what happened when he had more talent and the Sharks defense two years ago was okayish they they scored a bunch of points of course with uh Eric Carlson leading the way um and the power or the penalty kill was really good two years ago when that he led um they were eighth best unit two years ago so I’m not going to try to you know hold too much of last year against them because this team was set up um to try to go get the first pick in the draft which they did and now we have M celebrini so do you want M celebrini or do you want um a power or a penalty kill unit that was like maybe a little bit better so uh I kind of want M celebrating so we’re gonna talk about more what they’re getting um kind of what he’s really known for we got a clip from uh two years ago that I’m going to be playing here in just a minute so uh yeah we’ll get at here in just one [Music] minute hey lock on sharks fans I want to take a moment to bring in one of our partners the mobile game ultimate hockey GM ever dreams of becoming an NHL GM and managing your hockey franchise do you think you can run the Sharks better than my career well your dream can come true this game is most definitely for you manage every strategic aspect of your team play through the seasons lead it to Glory higher the rate coaches and staff trade players or draft picks navigate through free agency in the draft all in a challenging and realistic game world as a sharks fan you know there’s no off season jams are constantly making moves at every point of the year to improve their team’s chances that’s why I think you’re going to love this game ultimate hockey gamm is completely free and playable offline so you can play on the go as you want and when you want to and right now lockedown Network listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using using the promo code locked on NHL in the game store so make sure to check it out to download the game just visit hockey gm. apppp or look it up in the App Store ultimate hockey GM start your Dynasty or Dynasty today all right um so two years ago when almost two years ago uh when the Sharks hired Ryan wowski I had Sarah aado uh who was then the locked on Kings host um she lives in Chicago she covers the Chicago Wolves she was covering it for the ESP Nation uh hurricanes site at the time she’s spoken to Ryan wosi but Jo like she she you know um knows them pretty well for for a uh you know kind of a beat writer um so have a clip um that from what we record what we talked about two years ago and I asked her how do you how does he blend you know how does he work with these young guys how does he blend with them so uh let’s get to that here right now wowski you know we I think a lot of times with HL especially with the Barracuda where it’s like we think young guys right and especially with the Barracuda where it’s just been a bunch of young guys but like you look at the Wolves roster and like you have like Stephen n you know forever shark Stephen A and you had you know like you had a lot of guys who have played NHL games and kind of been older so how does he work with you know of course really young guys and then with these veteran guys as well you know it it really seemed like he and this group just jelled really well um and you know I never felt like it was you know young guys certainly got their chances to prove themselves and you know there were a couple of younger players who came over at the end of the season um after their you know Europe seasons in Europe ended um and he just threw them right in there and you know within games uh a couple of these young guys never played in North America before are playing on special teams they’re getting big minutes um so he you know he hasn’t been afraid to just let guys go out there see what they have you know I haven’t you know obviously any coach in tight situations is going to shorten their bench you’re not going to see lot of your your your Grinders in the last five minutes of a tight game but you know I I H I didn’t really see much of that like oh you made a mistake and then you don’t see the ice the rest of the game kind of thing um you know it and you know he definitely buys into the philosophy of the HL as a developmental league so they’re not going to learn if they’re sitting on the bench you know not getting a chance to to prove that they learn from their mistake uh so you know the NHL may be a little bit different but you know I I think in terms of kind of navigating that younger player older player um Spectrum I think that he he did really well at kind of playing to each guy’s strengths and so you know he didn’t Tinker too much once l worked once defense pairings worked that was it um they juggle things if things started to get a little stale or if one guy was cold but uh they had the you know anable problem in the playoffs of having too many defensemen um you know the or the franchise both hurricanes and wolves had gone out and gotten a couple of kind of Veteran guys to play on the blue line and they ended up not playing at all because they you know they liked the six that they had everyone did good and he’s like I can’t justify one of these guys out just to put in someone because he’s there you know uh and so I think that he definitely is a guy who will give young players the chance to to step up and to show themselves and to show what they’ve got um and I think that he is pretty smart about knowing what his veteran strengths are and kind of putting them in situations that that will play to that so that’s exactly what you want in a coach that’s going with a rebuilding team right you want your young guys to earn get get an opportunity earn their opportunity uh and then like don’t feel that you have to play veterans just because they’re veterans right um and yes I know the N Sarah mentioned it AHL much more of a de developmental League compared to the NHL but we all know what this team is right this sharks team it’s about setting a foundation um and if you do that well the winning is going to come later um and that that’s for basically all the players right um especially with how young this roster is projected to be again you’re going probably going have two plays who are under the age of 19 uh Happy Birthday mckin celebrating you’re gonna have you know William ecklin who’s played a full season uh he’ll be 22 at the start of the year um you have Henry who’s you know 22 23 uh like this roster is going to be littered with young players and having a coach who isn’t afraid to let these guys make mistakes is exactly what you want right now um because if they make these mistakes now and they learn from it when you start playing more meaningful games in the next couple Seasons they’re going to have iron hopefully hopefully ironed out those issues right and if a guy’s constantly making the same mistakes and stuff then yes like that that’s he’s going to do like kind of pull those guys and I assume try to you know kind of correct those and hold guys accountable but like I don’t think we’re going to see you know oh man he he you know um the whatever def Henry thr maybe you know pinched at the wrong time screwed up a play there um we’re going to go like we we’ll see you next game basically type of thing I think wowski and the sharks they all know what this is right this is a building this is a teaching year for these young guys um trying to develop some of these these habits that are going to lead to winning hockey down the road and I think wowski who again College played in college work coached in college right played uh or coach in the ECHL coaching the AHL and now is coaching the NHL and is he’s going to have prior relationships with you know all the guys on the lock or in the the locker room I know he’s a defensive coach but so he’s going to have relationships with all these guys here and he’s going to I think he’s going to know how to utilize these guys to their best of the strengths because he already knows what their strengths and weaknesses are um and now he’s going to be able to put that into effect so um this is why I’m super excited about warski is because of his background his coaching his the way he treats people and I think I really really think we’re going to see some young players really start to kind of form these winning habits and yes I don’t expect the Sharks to win a lot of games this year they’re probably going to be one of the five worst teams again next year maybe the worst team again next year but I think you’re going to see more winning habits out of them and I I think you’re going to start to see that light at the end of the tunnel right we keep hearing the the Futures teal the Futures teal I think with wowski at the the helm that’s why you’re going to see the you’re going to see that futurist teal continue to just get bigger and brighter with with the shark so is wosi the guy to lead them to a cup who knows that’s a question for a different day um right now we’re trying to raise the Titanic and I think rosi is the guy to help try to raise the Titanic um at least from behind the bench right that with a crap ton of awesome talent coming in but right now we’re trying to raise the Titanic um off the ocean floor and we’ll worry about winning playoff games and stuff when we get to that that phase of of uh the Sharks rebuild but I think warski is going to really instill confidence in these young guys um they’re not going to be scared to make a mistake because of losing their spot in the lineup or losing you know their jobs or losing ice time um because they know like you need to get these mistakes out now um and learn through him that’s going to make you a better player in the future so uh we’ll talk about Wow’s biggest challenges this this season and uh I got two two of them what he’s gonna have to kind of work through so we’ll get to that here in just one second passionate drive and patience the formula for winning championships this also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay is everything you need to maintain your vehicle and leveled up to Peak Performance superchargers roof R exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has got you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one Rider die you’ll always find exactly what you’re looking for with the eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because with eBay boners you’re burning rubber not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it’s easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins keep your ride or die alive at eBay ms.com ult items only exclusions apply eBay guarantee fit only available to us customers all right um two big challenges for Ryan rovski right one again we’re raising the Titanic right now I think the the first thing is what type of coaching staff are you able to build because um we know warski and his work with the defense and I think he’s going to continue to have his hands on there but um when you become a head coach it’s more of not as maybe not as much handson you need to kind of rely on your assistance and such so does he go with maybe a younger you know staff maybe guys who are out of the out of the CHL or maybe guys who are out the AHL um or does he go with maybe more of an experienced staff uh guys who maybe were former head coaches in the NHL uh someone that he can lean on here so I’m really interested to see what his staff looks like here um I assume this is good news for as Thomas Spears fans uh the shark’s goalie coach if W morosi’s here they’re probably going to keep the same goalie coach because uh what he has done with his goalie uh with his goalie group in such a short amount time is somewhat close to miraculous so I assume Spears is gonna continue to stay here but his assistance right what does he do there and I think that’s going to be whatever he I’m assume he has a plan that’s probably part of the interview process is you know this is what I would kind of do maybe he does a little bit of both maybe he gets um a more experienced guy and a younger guy to be his part of his staff here and you know having a younger guy who uh maybe he’s been either in the AHL or he’s been you know in the WHL or o or wherever he’s been from having a guy who’s worked with young players like a lot of the sharks are going to be um where it’s you know he’s used to kind of working with those type of players but then also having an experienced NHL coach at your side where when you’ve lost four of you know four games in a row and it’s the middle of January and teams the team’s just kind of like looking forward to the all-star break or whatever someone you can kind of talk to and like bounce some ideas off of and okay how do I rally the troops here you know what kind of you know just an ear to to to kind of be there um so that’s I think the big challenge is what type of of of staff can Ryan wowski put together um and I think the second challenge of course is uh how do you fix fix the defense again minus 150 goal differential last year um and yes getting some more Talent on there we know the sharks are interested in adding a veteran Puck moving defenseman on the roster and we saw you know what happened when when the Sharks had Eric Carlson on the roster um but do you install a system your system right um we don’t know how much of the Sharks defense was David Quinn system how much of it was Ryan wowski system how much of it was a blend but how do you install a system that works for one uh players like Henry thrun uh Ty emberson who you know Shakir Muk Mullan right you’re gonna probably have three potentially three defensemen who are have played combined one and a half seasons in the NHL between those three guys um with Henry thrund being you know the and yes they’re gonna have Yan Ruda and Kyle burough and you hope Matt benning’s able to come back and blassic and all these other guys right um but how do you install a system that helps these young players play up to their strengths um and not putting goalies out to dry so often or not leaving guys wide open on the weak side and and and that I think that’s going to be the big thing is again we’re trying to raise the Titanic here it’s not going to happen all at once but um do we see steady Improvement that’s that’s going to be I think a big theme for this season is steady Improvement in different areas and I think fixing the defense and by fixing the defense right not leaving guys so wide open um not having the the breakdowns that lead to guys just kind of going into you know forward just kind of being left in front of in front of the goalie wide open um and just not playing in your zone so often so I think that that’s gonna be the one of the biggest challenge for for warski this year is uh you’re again you’re trying to raise the Titanic yes celebrini and Will Smith and you know there there’s plenty of exciting young players here but this the change isn’t going to happen overnight and how do you how do you start to raise the Titanic um for for Ryan wowski so again I’m super excited about this I think wasowski is the right guy for the Sharks right now because of I think what he brings to the table um when it comes to just his ability to connect develop and Coach players he’s very personable um you know he’s already got a relationship with a lot of these guys and I think you’re going to see a lot lot of these young players take a big step forward this year so um I’m super excited about warski I think he’s going to do a great job so um that’s GNA be it for me we’ll be back later Friday about lunchtime uh with another episode so the long awaited uh draft profiles that have been it’s been a week um anyway so we’ll have one of those this week we got two more planned for next week as well so you get six episodes this week uh to enjoy um so we got Ben Jordan on we’re gonna be talking all OHL guys um so plenty of fun stuff there our good friend will scouch who’s recovering from covid he was supposed to be on this week we got him we’ll get him booked next week he’ll be so uh we got a couple more guys so plenty of of good stuff coming um yeah we’re we’re plus we’re two weeks from the drafts guys two weeks two weeks from the draft so make sure you’re following wherever you get Podcast and of course you can watch on YouTube as well follow show on Twitter Facebook and Instagram at lock on sharks follow me on Twitter at my fry hole until lunchtime Pacific time bye friends [Music]

The San Jose Sharks officially make Ryan Warsofsky the 11th head coach in franchise history. Start by examining why this is the right hire for the Sharks now, why we can’t hold the Sharks’ defensive woes against him, and a look at Warsofsky’s resume. Then, revisit a clip with Sarah Avampato from when Warsofsky was first hired as an assistant coach in 2022 and what to expect with Warsofsky as the bench boss. Finally, look at two of the biggest challenges Warsofsky will face, including what type of staff he will put together and how he can create a better defensive system this season.

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