There probably won’t be anyone associated with the Newfoundland Growlers this season with more experience in the ECHL than John Snowden.
Snowden, the 36-year-old assistant to Growlers’ head coach Ryane Clowe, spent five seasons — almost half his 11-year pro playing career — in the league, appearing in over 300 games and twice leading his team in scoring (Texas, 2004-05 and Greenville, 2005-06). After retiring as a player, he moved into coaching, putting in three seasons as an assistant with the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears.
So he knows the league. He understand how it works. He appreciates the standard of play.
But with the expansion Growlers, the new ECHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Snowden figures he’s going to be in for something different.
“The way (Maple Leafs general manager) Kyle Dubas and (Toronto team president) Brendan Shanahan are projecting how they want their minor-league system, I think they are away of ahead of everyone else,” said Snowden. “They’re actually determined to use (the ECHL) as a developmental league more than anyone has ever done before.
“When I played in league, you might get — in my personal opinion — one or two guys who might have been at the tail end of entry-level deals and weren’t really in plans of the NHL team.
“That’s changed … it’s still changing, but with the Maple Leafs, it seems like they’re taking it to another level.
“They see it as a starting point for developing players. They want to get them up to the (AHL’s Toronto) Marlies and from there, they want to see players eventually progress onto the National Hockey League.”
And as far as Snowden can see, they have the same plan for their ECHL coaches.
It’s the reason he doesn’t see his move to Newfoundland as a case of career status quo, even though he held the same job in Orlando, which had been the Maple Leafs’ ECHL partner since 2013.
In Orlando, he was employed by the Solar Bears. With the Growlers, he’s directly employed by the Maple Leafs and as such, in their stream.
“They want to develop good coaches and see if they can move them along. So, for me, it’s a no-brainer,” said Snowden, who was born in Anchorage, Alaska, but spent most of his adolescent years in suburban Seattle.
“It’s an opportunity to be part of all of that … and to learn under Ryane Clowe. He’s been a player in the NHL and an assistant coach in the NHL. It’s a great chance to grow my knowledge base.
“So it’s a career move, a chance to test myself and challenge myself in different areas.
“I wouldn’t say there is an end game. Nothing has been promised. But there is a direction. It’s not where you’re trying to figure out where you can go from here — sideways, up, down, left or right. The direction has been pointed out and it will come down to whether I can take advantage, to get better as a coach, to help produce players who move up the line.
“I’ve been told that (this is a lateral move). I’ve been asked about that. But for me, it’s definitely not.
“It’s progression.”
But it’s a big change, too, not only for Snowden, but for his wife, Janelle, and their two young sons, Aiden and Keegan.
“Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing but good things to say about Orlando. For us, it was a great three years and I got to learn under an amazing coach in (former St. John’s Maple Leafs and NHL defenceman) Drake Berehowsky.
“But I think both sides were looking to go in a different direction.”
Snowden had hoped his career compass would re-orient towards Newfoundland, but for a while, it didn’t look like things would turn out as he planned.
Because he never applied to be the Growlers’ assistant. He had actually gone after the head coaching job, and while reports are that he interviewed extremely well, the position went to Clowe.
“I’m not an ill-will kind of person, and I accepted what had happened,” said Snowden. “But I thought that was it. I thought it was all or nothing.
“I had other options to pursue. I was looking at perhaps trying to get into coaching in the junior ranks, because it seems lately it’s become a bit of a fast-track to the American league.
“But yes, I was disappointed, mainly because I thought (the Growlers) would be an opportunity to be part of something special.”
And then Clowe reached out to Snowden — who he’d never met — asking if he would be interested in coming on as his assistant.
“I was ecstatic. Like I said, here was a chance to work with Ryane Clowe. I knew what he brought to the game as a player and I knew he’d bring that same work ethic as a coach.
“And again, I couldn’t believe in the Maple Leafs’ (minor-league) process any more than I did. I think it’s genius … ahead of its time.
“There are other organizations that are doing some of the same sort of thing. You look at Pittsburgh and the way the use Wilkes-Barre (the Penguins’ AHL farm team) and Wheeling (Nailers, the team’s ECHL affiliate). And Toronto put a lot of stock into Orlando. They’d have anywhere from 10 to 13 players there.
“But I think it’s going to be even moreso here. I can’t tell you the numbers, but there will be a lot of players (from the Leafs/Marlies), players they have plans for.
“Let’s put it this way. They’re fully invested in Newfoundland.
“And so am I.”
brendan.mccarthy@thetelegram.com
