Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Options Author
Jason Spezza realized to play the professional sport within the AHL. Now he’s studying the administration sport there as properly.
Earlier than Spezza solidified himself as a top-line NHL scorer who went on to play 1,248 video games and ring up 995 factors, he was a second-overall draft decide creating his sport within the Ottawa Senators group. Spezza made his professional debut with the Grand Rapids Griffins throughout the 2002 Calder Cup Playoffs, then divided the 2002-03 season between Ottawa and the Binghamton Senators.
AHL Corridor of Famer John Paddock mentored Spezza, then 19, as Binghamton’s head coach and offered the robust steering that Spezza now says that he wanted then.
Spezza returned to Binghamton throughout the NHL lockout season of 2004-05, amassed a league-leading 117 factors and was named the AHL’s most respected participant.
The Mississauga, Ont., native retired in 2022, after his third season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was there that Spezza first actually related with common supervisor Kyle Dubas, who had introduced Spezza to Toronto to assist the Leafs pursue a Stanley Cup.
As he began to wind down his taking part in profession, Spezza’s consideration turned towards what is likely to be subsequent. Administration felt like a superb doable match, and he had somebody like Dubas there for recommendation.
“I can’t think about my life with out hockey in it,” Spezza stated.
So after retiring, Spezza went instantly into administration as a particular assistant to Dubas. The mandate was to begin studying the administration enterprise. And when Dubas departed for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2023, Spezza got here with him as an assistant common supervisor.
This summer time Spezza added one other function to his portfolio: common supervisor of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Now that Dubas is in his second season with the Pittsburgh group, lots is new with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Spezza performed a heavy function in hiring new head coach Kirk MacDonald. Pittsburgh additionally acted aggressively this previous summer time to show over its AHL veteran group with a number of free-agent signings. With the NHL group’s core now properly into the 30-and-up age bracket, Pittsburgh shall be counting closely on its pipeline to crank out younger expertise to take eventual roles on the NHL roster, and expertise is required in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to help in that course of.
Once more, the mandate is to be taught. Spezza will stay based mostly in Pittsburgh, however he shall be dealing with all of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s day-to-day affairs and shall be on the town frequently. When Dubas was in Toronto, be it with the Leafs or the Marlies, the AHL affiliate all the time obtained appreciable consideration. Toronto administration acted aggressively to signal prime free brokers for the Marlies, which paid off with a Calder Cup championship in 2018. The group by no means lacked for expertise, a top-notch coaching facility, or some other sources wanted to each develop prospects in addition to to win hockey video games.
That very same system has now made its method to Pennsylvania, stretching throughout the state from Pittsburgh to Wilkes-Barre. The AHL Penguins reached the Calder Cup Finals 3 times of their first 9 seasons, however have only one sequence win since 2016, leaving native followers hungry for a playoff run. And Pittsburgh administration is hungry to see success for its AHL affiliate, with Dubas understanding properly what it meant for Leafs prospects when the Marlies performed deep into the postseason.
Naturally shifting into this function has taken Spezza again to his personal days as a prime prospect attempting to determine himself with Binghamton. It was the place a younger future Ottawa core started to take form. Antoine Vermette, Chris Kelly, Brian McGrattan and the late Ray Emery had been a few of his Binghamton teammates as a rookie who went on to affix him as Ottawa mainstays taking part in for Paddock, who finally moved on to the NHL membership as properly.
“It’s a really, very totally different panorama,” Spezza stated of in the present day’s sport. “It was undoubtedly the tough-love period. The AHL was good for me. It actually helped form who I used to be as a participant and made me extra resilient.”
Now he’s following the identical path that Dubas took a decade in the past, when he moved as much as Toronto from Sault Ste. Marie of the Ontario Hockey League.
“He’s an ideal chief,” Spezza stated of Dubas. “He’s an ideal communicator. I feel his demeanor is one thing that I actually respect. He’s properly thought-out. He has glorious course of. He’s in all probability displaying me why having good course of is so necessary…should you do all of your preparation forward of time, you’re by no means actually shocked by any state of affairs that may come up. Coming from a participant to a supervisor now, one factor you understand is every day how a lot stuff comes up behind the scenes.
“After which the best way that he treats folks. I feel he is usually a agency boss. He may be any person that could be very demanding when it comes to his normal, however he’s an ideal individual. I take into account him an ideal buddy and actually glad to be working for him.”
Hiring MacDonald was one among Spezza’s first main duties. Dubas let Spezza take management of that course of. Because the teaching resumes arrived and accrued, Spezza sifted via them, started to pare down his checklist, after which entered into the interview course of. After which he needed to decide and went with MacDonald.
“It was an ideal course of to undergo,” Spezza stated. “I had by no means accomplished something like that. I assumed I realized lots from it.”
With MacDonald in place to teach a strong roster, Spezza is worked up to see what all of it can imply for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton followers. He remembers coming into Mohegan Area as a participant for intense conferences between the 2 rivals.
“I really like the small-town really feel,” Spezza stated. “I feel that it’s an ideal hockey metropolis. We’ve put collectively some younger, thrilling prospects that may ignite the fan base. We all know that it’s a deep fan base, a fan base that loves hockey.
“To me, that’s thrilling when it comes to taking on the group as a result of I’ve seen it at its greatest.”
On the American Hockey League beat for twenty years, TheAHL.com options author Patrick Williams additionally presently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a daily contributor on SiriusXM NHL Community Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent protection of the league in 2016.
