There’s still no word on whether coach Ryane Clowe will be back behind the Newfoundland Growlers bench tonight or Wednesday.
The Growlers finished off their eight-game, 18-day road trip Saturday night minus their skipper. It was the third straight game Clowe missed.
As the Newfoundland team wrapped things up with back-to-back games in Manchester, N.H. and Worcester, Mass., Clowe was back home in St. John’s.
All the Toronto Maple Leafs — Clowe’s employer — will say is, “Ryane’s absence is due to medical reasons, but we can confirm that we’re hopeful he’s to return at some point this week.”
The Growlers and Railers meet 7 o’clock tonight and Wednesday night at Mile One Centre.
Clowe, who just turned 36 in February, suffered a series of concussions which led to the premature end of his playing career.
Prior to his official retirement in September, 2015, Clowe missed virtually the entire 2014-15 NHL season with a concussion, at least the fourth of his 10-year NHL career.
And they all came within a two- or three-year period.
Every bit of medical advice told him he was risking his chances at a healthy future — that it was likely he would suffer another concussion — if he continued in the NHL.
Prior to joining the Growlers for their expansion season in the ECHL, Clowe spent two seasons working as an assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils, reportedly without any issues.
In Clowe’s absence, assistant coach John Snowden ran the Growlers’ bench. Before Snowden signed on the Growlers’ assistant, he was an assistant coach for three seasons with the Orlando Solar Bears.
