When the 2018-19 hockey season began, John Snowden had no way of believing the campaign would end with him as head coach of the ECHL Kelly Cup champions.
Because at that time, he wasn't a head coach.
But that is indeed the way things turned out, and as a result, the Toronto Maple Leafs have rewarded Snowden with a two-year extension of his contract as bench boss of the Newfoundland Growlers, their ECHL affiliate.
The 37-year-old Snowden was originally hired as an assistant to Ryane Clowe, the Growlers’ first-ever head coach, but took over the top job mid-season when health issues forced Clowe to step down.
Snowden had filled in for an ailing Clowe at times during the first half of the season, but took over permanently on Jan. 24, guiding the Growlers to a 16-10-6 record through the rest of the season. They then went 16-7 in marching through four Kelly Cup playoff rounds, culminating in a 4-2 series win over the Toledo Walleye in the league final.
Snowden, who is from Snoshomish, Wash., had never worked as a head coach before assuming the reins of the Growlers. After retiring as a player, he spent three years as an assistant coach with the Orlando Solar Bears, the Maple Leafs’ former ECHL affiliate.
While the extension can be seen as recognition of Snowden’s work in extraordinary circumstances, he had already received plaudits of a sort.
Despite being head coach for less than half the season, Snowden finished fourth in voting for the John Brophy Award as ECHL coach of the year. It’s an honour bestowed as the result of voting by the league’s 27 head coaches.
