Just how much Newfoundland will there be in the Newfoundland Growlers?
Going by the first hire and first signings by the brand new ECHL team, you might think the answer will be, “a lot.”
After all, the team’s head coach, Ryane Clowe of Fermeuse, and its first two directly-contracted players, forward Marcus Power of St. John’s and defenceman James Melindy of Goulds, are from this province.
But according to Clowe, a Newfoundland and Labrador birth certificate won’t — and shouldn’t — give a player a skate up with the Growlers.
“I’ll look at players the same way as I hope the (Toronto) Maple Leafs looked at me when I was interviewed for this job,” said Clowe. “That I was a best choice. The fact I’m a Newfoundlander, that’s fine, but it shouldn’t be the reason behind the hiring.
“At least I didn’t want it to be, and I don’t think it was.
“I look at it the same way with players. It’s all about having the right ingredients. If they can bring that, I don’t care where they’re from.”
Clowe acknowledges the Growlers have had a lot of Newfoundland players reach out to the first-year ECHL team.
“And there’s no doubt we’ve had interest in some of those guys for here or maybe even for the (AHL’s Toronto) Marlies, but that interest is for what they can bring as players, not because of where they’re from,” he said.
“We’re not bringing in every Newfoundlander who has reached out to us. Let’s put it this way, I don’t think there will be six to eight Newfoundlanders on this team.”
With Power and Melindy inked to ECHL deals, there will at least be a couple. And there is a decent chance the Growlers could see at least a little bit of forward Zach O’Brien of St. John’s, one of 18 players already signed to American Hockey League contracts by the Marlies.
Defenceman Adam Holwell of St. John’s, who graduated from the major junior ranks this spring after helping the Acadie-Bathurst Titan to a Memorial Cup championship, was at the Maple Leafs’ summer development camp (which Clowe also attended). But that hasn’t yet translated into a signing.
It’s worth noting Holwell is on record as saying that he is aiming for at least an American Hockey League deal. But the fact Melindy, who operated on AHL contracts the last two seasons, is on a straight ECHL pact with the Growlers may be some indication that the Maple Leafs — the Growlers affiliate — aren’t yet prepared to sign off on anything more than that for Holwell.
It appears Toronto could be providing nearly two-thirds of the Newfoundland roster, leaving the local part of the operation to find another half dozen or so players who will be directly contracted by the Growlers.
“On the Growlers’ side, when it comes to the players we have to sign, I’ll be involved a lot,” said Clowe. “I’ll be right in there finding guys, guys that I want, doing my homework, doing my research.”
He’ll be looking for players who can immediately contribute to what he believes needs to be a highly competitive team.
“We’re going to have to get off to a good start and create excitement,” he said. “I know there’s been excitement created already, but that has to carry over to what we present on the ice as a team.
“You can’t just go down there (to Mile One Centre) and have a team that just mucks around. I’ve been away from it for a bit, but I do know the people will expect you to play hard to win.
“We’re going to need players who can do that.”
Clowe, a husband and father of two, maintained a full-time home in Florida the last number of years, but the entire family will be relocating to St. John’s next month as he prepares for his first head coaching gig after a couple of seasons as an assistant coach with the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils, the team with which he ended a 10-year big-league playing career.
“A lot of people ask, ‘Why did you leave the NHL? Was it to come to Newfoundland?’” stated Clowe.
“I tell them I’m not coming home to retire as a coach (with the Growlers). Hopefully, this is just my start-up as a head coach.
“I look at it the same as players, including any Newfoundlanders we sign, should be looking at it. I’m here to develop.
“I know the team has to do well, I have to do my job, but hopefully this is the start of my coaching career, that I will be going further up the ladder.
“No doubt about it, the fact that it is happening here is a big bonus. But a much bigger thing is that the Maple Leafs are involved and that they have put so much stock into having a three-tiered (development) system.”
Another huge selling point, said Clowe, was the man who will be in charge of running the Growlers.
“Everyone in hockey I’ve spoken to speaks so highly about Glenn Stanford and what he’s done here over the years with the (AHL’s St. John’s) Maple Leafs and the IceCaps. They rave about his organizations.
“So it’s much more than coning home. It’s coming to somewhere that you know is going to be a first-class organization, a premiere ECHL franchise that just happens to be at home.”
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