Night Bring in Ex-D Hunt as New Coach

Ask owner Marvin Kingman about the New York Night’s goal for this season, and he’ll tell you in no uncertain terms. “The same goal we have every season: win the Vandy,” said Kingman. “That’s been our goal every season, and that will never change.”

Heading into their ninth SHL season, in spite of star-studded rosters and huge payrolls, the Night have yet to reach their stated goal. They have yet to even make the playoffs, the only Eastern team other than the one-season-old Baltimore Longshoremen in that ignominious category. During that time, they’ve cycled through four different coaches: Preston Rivers, Nick Foster, Biff Lombardi (on an interim basis after Foster’s firing), and Flim Dahlgren. Now, New York will hope that a popular ex-player can turn their fortunes around, hiring Tony Hunt to lead them to the Vandy they’ve long sought.

“We need a coach that understands New York, someone with that ‘hey, I’m walkin’ here!’ kind of attitude,” said Night GM Jay McKay. “Tony Hunt has got that attitude, and he’s got the drive to succeed that we look for in a coach.”

Hunt becomes the second former SHL player to become a head coach, joining Jeffrey Marsh, who the Saskatchewan Shockers hired a couple weeks ago. Hunt was a defenseman who played for the Night from 2015 to 2017, becoming a fan favorite for his scrappy personality and his sharp passing touch. After leaving the Big Apple, Hunt spent two seasons with the Kansas City Smoke before retiring. In his five SHL seasons, Hunt recorded 16 goals and 120 points.

After his retirement as a player, Hunt transitioned quickly into coaching. In 2021, he was named the head coach of the Indianapolis Redline, CHL affiliate of the Milwaukee Growlers. In his first season, he guided the Redline to the Howard Trophy; in his second season, he led them to the division finals, where they lost to eventual champions Spokane. He compiled a record of 69-46-13 during his time in Indy.

“Tony has proved himself to be a natural behind the bench,” said McKay. “He’s got the kind of positive personality that players naturally gravitate toward, but he’s also shown that he’s no pushover and that he can be a leader when it’s time for discipline.”

Hunt takes over a team that looks strong on paper. McKay made a number of aggressive moves to acquire talent at last year’s trade deadline, likely saving his own job in the process. Although New York failed to make the postseason, they have a roster that should (at least in theory) allow them to hang with the contenders in a crowded East.

That said, the Night have long struggled with chemistry problems, as their stars’ egos often seem too big to fit in the same locker room. A number of said stars were Hunt’s former teammates, and he’ll have to show that he can transition from being their buddy to being their coach.

“I’m definitely up for that challenge,” said Hunt of the prospect of leading his ex-teammates. “We’ve always got along well before, but if they try to cross me or defy my authority, I’ll show them who’s the boss pretty quick.”

Hunt will also need to deal with the spotlight of the New York media. Last season, Hunt sparked controversy thanks to a press-conference joke which implies that unemployed people were lazy and should be beaten with belts to get them back to work. His remarks sparked a one-day strike by stadium workers, and Hunt ultimately apologized. In Indianapolis, the story was over within a couple days; in the Big Apple, such controversial comments might spark a weeks-long cycle of bad press.

Hunt said he’d learned from that experience. “In our society the way it is today, any joke that might come off as political in any way is the third rail,” said the coach. “I understand that now, and I’m definitely going to stay away from political statements in front of the press. I want to be judged based on my results on the ice, and that’s’ where my focus will be.”

Delivering results – and meeting Kingman’s expectations – seems like a tall enough order. Hunt said that he expects the Night to make the playoffs in the coming season, and contend for a title in the following one. “That’s what I love about this city!” said the new coach. “It’s a sink-or-swim kind of place. You claw your way to the top, or you’re out on your behind. That’s the kind of pressure I like. Bring it on!”

Blizzard Seek Restart with New Coach Dahlgren

The Utah Blizzard are headed into their second season of existence, but in some ways, it’s more like they’re taking a second shot at their debut. Having parted with first-time head coach Mark Morganhurst early in the offseason, the Blizzard will start over with Flim Dahglren, with a coach who’s no stranger to difficult situations.

After loading up on veterans during the expansion draft and openly proclaiming their goal to qualify for the playoffs, the Blizzard wound up staggering out of the gate and winning just six games in a dismal first half. They wound up flipping many of their veterans for prospects at the deadline, and managed to avoid the worst record in the league by just five points.

For their sophomore season, Utah will look much more like a traditional expansion team, with a roster loaded with young prospects. In a bid for stability, Blizzard GM Clint Hoxie chose Dahlgren to steer the ship. Although the coach’s career record of 121-174-25 doesn’t look impressive, he is well-regarded around the league for his unflappability under pressure.

Dahlgren’s first head coaching job was a three-season stint with the Dakota Jackalopes from 2018 to 2020. The small-market Jackalopes bled talent year after year, and the team’s financial struggles were a constant concern. In spite of the constant losses and the ever-swirling rumors that the Jackalopes were on the verge of moving (which they ultimately did in 2021, to Milwaukee) or folding, Dahlgren kept his players’ morale up and kept them focused on the game.

His next stop, with the New York Night, was the polar opposite situation of Dakota: owner Marvin Kingman has spent freely in his never-ending pursuit of a championship. But in addition to the Vandy-or-bust pressure, Dahlgren inherited a locker room full of big salaries and fragile egos. He managed two largely controversy-free seasons, but was dismissed at the end of the season for failing to deliver the title Kingman so desperately wanted.

“Ask around the league about Flim Dahlgren, and you keep hearing the same words: dignity, professionalism, respect,” said Hoxie while introducing his new coach. “Those are exactly the values that [owner Hirum] Matthews believes in, and they’re the values that our team is built around. I’m confident that this is the beginning of a long and happy relationship with Coach Dahlgren as we work together to build a championship organization the right way.”

Dahlgren admitted that he had planned to take the season off after his firing from the Night, but that the opportunity with the Blizzard was too good to pass up. “When Clint first called me about this opening, my initial inclination was to say, ‘Sorry, you have the wrong number’ and hang up,” said the coach. “But I heard him out, and over time and a series of meetings with him and Mr. Matthews, I became more and more intrigued by the opportunity.”

Dahlgren couldn’t resist throwing in a poke at his former employers. “This organization has the money to support a major-league payroll and they’re committed to building a winner in a reasonable and cogent fashion, so it’s already the best job I’ve ever had,” he said.

Hoxie admitted that the organization’s thinking represented a pivot from their original strategy. “I admit that when I looked at the available players in the expansion draft, I thought I saw a chance for us to put together a winning team much sooner than your typical expansion team,” said the GM. “I misjudged that, and that was my mistake. I – and we – have learned our lesson. What we’re doing now is, you could say, Utah Blizzard 2.0. No more skipping steps, no more rash boasting about competing right now. Instead, we’re trying to do this the right way, piece by piece.”

Regarding his expectations for the coming season, Hoxie said, “Whether the coming season is a success won’t be measured in wins and losses, although of course we’re trying to win. Rather, it’s: are we making progress toward building an organization that can produce sustained success? That’s what we did in Anchorage” – where Hoxie served as assistant GM before landing his job with Utah – “and that’s what we plan to do here. Building a winning organization is a marathon, not a sprint.”

Shockers Hire GM McCormick, Coach Marsh to Oversee Rebuild

The Saskatchewan Shockers are headed into a year of transition. The last several seasons, they tried to build a playoff contender out of their core of young, homegrown stars. Year after year, however, they came up just short of the postseason. Now, facing financial troubles, the Shockers are heading toward a rebuild and counting on their ability to identify and develop young prospects. To guide that rebuild, they’ll turn to a couple of familiar faces, hiring Royce McCormick as their new general manager and Jeffrey Marsh as their new head coach.

“Behold!” crowed Shockers owner Heinz Doofenshmirtz. “The front office and coaching staff that will help us rule the entire SHL!”

For McCormick, the job represents a homecoming of sorts, as he is a Saskatchewan native. “Growing up as a young hockey nut, I never thought I’d have a chance to run a team in my home province,” said McCormick. “Nine-year-old me would be losing his mind right about now.”

McCormick has prior experience as an SHL GM, albeit in a very different market: he served with the New York Night from 2015 to 2019. During that time, he executed a number of big deals, but was never able to get the Night into the postseason. In the Big Apple, McCormick frequently traded away his top draft picks in order to add stars; with the Shockers, he’ll be hoarding as many picks as he can and trying to target top prospects.

“I’m excited to have a chance to build a team up the right way,” said the GM. “In New York, we were always trying to put the roster together from the top down. Here, we’re putting it together from the bottom up, the way it should be.”

Marsh has been a member of the Saskatchewan organization since the SHL’s beginning. In 2015, he was the Shockers’ backup goaltender, going 0-11-0 with a 5.45 GAA. He retired as a player after that season, but the Shockers kept him on as a scout.

When the SHL added a minor league circuit in 2017, Marsh became the coach of Saskatchewan’s affiliate, the Virginia Rhinos. (In 2021, the Shockers switched affiliates, picking up the Idaho Spuds as their new farm team.) Marsh quickly earned a reputation as a quality developer of young talent. The Rhinos/Spuds made the playoff during every year of his tenure, including four straight CHL Finals appearances and a Howard Trophy win in 2018. More importantly, Marsh’s teams produced a steady flow of prospects up to the big club, like Ds Rennie Cox and Blake Blacklett, RW Colton Jabril, C Cyril Perignon, and LW Zane Skandalakis. Last year, Marsh was promoted to become an assistant coach with the Shockers

“Jeffrey has really helped get the most out of prospects over the years,” said McCormick. “He’s shown an ability to connect with and motivate a wide range of players and personalities. Given that our ability to return to contention hinges on our ability to do exactly that, I couldn’t think of a better man for the job.”

In addition to his reputation for working with young players, Marsh also earned attention for his offbeat sense of humor. During the early part of his coaching tenure, he famously gave a couple of goofy postgame press conferences: one in which he quoted nonsensical song lyrics and gave meaningless answers, and another in which he read the poem “Howl” by Allen Ginsburg in lieu of taking questions. Stunts such as this led reporters to question Marsh’s sanity and/or sobriety on occasion.

In recent years, the coach toned down some of his more outlandish antics, but he continued to show flashes of wackiness on occasion, such as the time he celebrated the Spuds’ 2021 “Potato Day” promotion by peppering his postgame remarks with tater-themed puns.

For a Shockers team that has had more than its share of embarrassing incidents over the years, bringing on a coach with a noted silly streak might seem risky. But after four seasons of the serious-minded Morris Thompson behind the bench, perhaps a lighter-hearted approach will be just the ticket, particularly if the team is struggling for wins in the near term.

Marsh acknowledged that he has matured and tried to balance his inherent impishness with a more professional approach in recent seasons. “As a first-time coach, I didn’t have a ton of patience for the cliched coach-speak you hear so much,” he said. “I felt like I was sort of above that. So when I gave a bunch of nonsense answers or quoted poetry instead of answering questions, it was me being too cool for school. But as I got more experienced, I grew to understand that there’s a difference between being funny and being an unprofessional jerk, and I was crossing that line too often. I figured out a way where I could still be funny without disrespecting reporters who were just trying to do their jobs.”

McCormick’s first order of business will be a change from his New York days: finding ways to pare payroll. Saskatchewan is one of the league’s smallest markets, and owner Heinz Doofenshmirtz’s cashflow has been a matter of concern over the last year or so. Several of the Shockers’ more expensive veterans – LW Troy Chamberlain, C Lars Karlsson, RW Nori Takoyaki, and backup G Riley Lattimore – are free agents this offseason, and the team is not expected to re-sign any of them. It is unclear whether the Shockers will look to move any of their other higher-salaried players like D Wyatt Barnes, starting G Zeke Zagurski, or C Elliott Rafferty.

McCormick declined to discuss the fate of any specific players, saying: “There’s a whole series of conversations coming between me and ownership about our payroll targets and our approach to meeting those. We all know that next season is going to be a rebuilding year, but we’re definitely looking to return to contending sooner rather than later. As for the details, wait and see.”

While the exact composition of next year’s Shockers roster is yet to be determined, it is almost certain to be younger and cheaper than the previous one. It will be Marsh’s job to take that youthful group and begin molding them into the next contending squad on the prairie. The coach is up for the challenge.

“I know a lot of these guys already, because they’ve been with me before,” said Marsh. “So we’ll basically be running it back, on a bigger stage this time. Once more onto the beach, boys!”