New Toronto Marlies head coach Steve Sullivan joined TSN Overdrive to discuss the process behind landing the Marlies job, his experience running the Leafs’ power play last season, working with John Chayka and team management, and the famous clip of the fan interaction in Colorado during his playing days.
Take us through how it all happened. You were helping the Leafs as an assistant under Craig Berube. Now, you’re running the Marlies, who just won the Calder Cup. What was the process behind all of it?
Sullivan: It was a long process. As soon as the season ended — or even before the season ended, with Brad Treliving being let go — we knew some changes would be coming down the path. John Chayka is hired, and Craig is relieved of his duties. We were kind of in limbo waiting to see what happened.
John Chayka was really good. I was able to interview for the head coaching position with the Leafs. That kind of just sparked a little bit of a different perspective for me. You are not just looking at one area of the game; you are looking at the power play and offensive game, but also doing a deep dive of the entire team and what we were all about, trying to present that to John, Mats, and Ryan Hardy.
I wasn’t offered the job or moved to the next round, but it made me realize this was exciting for me. It progressed from there.
John and I have a history together back in Arizona, me being his assistant GM for four or five years. We have a relationship, so we just talked about staying in the organization. If it was not with the new coach — who ended up being Jim Hiller, whom I interviewed with — then maybe the spot with the Marlies would be the next progression for it.
I was excited about it. If you look at the NHL and the coaches that are there, out of 32 of them, only five had zero head-coaching experience before getting that job. For me, if you want to be the best in your profession — and that is being a head coach in the NHL — this was the path I was going to have to take anyway. Why not now?
When you joined the Leafs, the power play was in despair. You came in to try to revive it, and in your time with the team, they were top-five. What did you see there when you first got on board? What changed? The team’s season didn’t turn around, but the power play certainly did.
Sullivan: To be honest, Marc Savard is a smart hockey man and a really, really good power-play guy, but it just felt like they were a little discombobulated. They were just not sure. They didn’t have any success early on, and they were just trying to go in a bunch of different ways.
For me, it was just to simplify it. I gave them a voice. Obviously, they are the best players in the world. On the Leafs, there are Matthews, Nylander, and Tavares. There is some really, really elite talent there.
For me, it was just about giving them a voice, collaborating with them, and seeing how they feel. Put a game plan in place that they will follow, and everyone will be on the same page. As long as we are on the same page, no matter what we are doing or the tricks or set plays we’re going to do, we have an extra man. We’re trying to create 2-on-1s all over the ice.
I see it when I am watching the video. They feel it when they’re on the ice. They would give me feedback regarding what works and what doesn’t work. There was some buy-in from them. Having early success, as we did, made the process a lot easier, and they just ran with it.
John Chayka has talked a lot about organizational alignment. After the Marlies won the Calder Cup last year, what kind of conversations have you had with Leafs management about how you’re going to approach the Marlies as a pipeline for the Maple Leafs?
Sullivan: I don’t think it is going to change. Every single organization you talk to wants vertical alignment from top to bottom. We want to make sure we continue with that.
We know why the AHL exists: to help the big club and the NHL team win a Stanley Cup. Sometimes, everybody’s path to becoming a difference-maker in the NHL is different. Some can just step in — and hopefully, a Gavin McKenna can just step in with his talent and be a difference-maker for the Maple Leafs — and there might be some players who will be late bloomers that need some time to continue their development. That is why the league exists.
That development is on the ice, off the ice, and in the human being. All of those are factors for them to become difference-makers in the NHL. We understand that, and it is on us to put them in the best possible position to continue their growth.
You are going from being an assistant with a specialty to being in charge of an entire operation, with the scheduling, the practices, and the rest of it. How does it change your life?
Sullivan: It is very different. You have to have a 10,000-foot view of the organization and team that you are involved with.
As soon as I got announced today, I started making some phone calls to the staff regarding how we can get better. What changes would you make if you were in charge and had carte blanche in your department? What changes would you like to make, and where do you think there is some opportunity for growth?
Managing the people will be just as important as managing the actual systems on the ice. I am not going to micro-manage. I give John Gruden a ton of credit; when I came in, I was green and didn’t know very much about coaching at the time. He gave me carte blanche with the power play to grow and learn, and I made it my own. He stayed out of the way. I truly believe that is the path.
Mark Giordano is an elite hockey mind who will get a great opportunity to run the D and the PK. We will work together on finding someone who will run the power play.
It is about allowing them the opportunity to be in charge of their departments and letting them grow with it. That is the coaches, the equipment managers, our strength and conditioning, the medical — all of those areas. It’s about managing that, so we are giving the players exactly what they need to continue their development.
You must be aware of the clip of you that always makes the rounds, of the fan who was mocking you in Chicago getting hit in the face with a puck. You went over to him and chirped him. It is one of the great hockey clips. What are your memories of how that all played out?
Sullivan: I thought I had a pretty good career, but that is what I am most remembered for — that one clip.
Hey, listen, I love it. For us hockey players, a lot of the time, we have to take a lot of heat from the fans, and rightfully so. They pay for tickets and come for the entertainment value.
The odds were so against it ever happening, with the positioning of where he was, further down the blue line. I give Colorado’s TV credit for catching it all on film. That sure blew up.
It was pretty funny. For sure, I get reminded of it. Probably every two or three months, it starts making a recycle of itself. That is good. I enjoy it.
