An extremely strong Wolf Pack coaching tradition started with the leadership of E.J. McGuire. A former assistant coach to Mike Keenan with the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers, and head coach of the AHL's Maine Mariners and the Ontario Hockey League's Guelph Storm, McGuire guided the Wolf Pack for their first two seasons of existence, 1997-98 and 1998-99. After John Paddock took over as Head Coach of the Pack for the 1999-2000 season, McGuire spent one season as a pro scout for the Ranger organization. He then returned to the Flyer organization for two more years as an assistant coach, and now works for the National Hockey League as Director of Central Scouting.“The scouting laid the groundwork a little bit, although it was pro scouting with the New York Rangers, for what I'm doing now with the National Hockey League offices in general, as Director of Central Scouting,” McGuire said during a recent conversation. “What it did was take me to a different realm of the game. I'm not sure that I'm done coaching yet, but I think the resume was broadened by that. I joke, and my wife says, that at 50-plus years old, how broad does your resume have to get? But the return to the Philadelphia area, where my wife was born and raised, was a neat experience. It was my second tour of duty as Assistant Coach with the Flyers, with Hall of Famer Bill Barber, who was an active player who never played a game, before he retired, with us, Mike Keenan and myself, as coaches in the first tour of duty. Billy brought me back on staff when he was hired, and it was a fun second tour of duty with the Philadelphia Flyers.” That tour ended with the completion of the 2001-02 season, but it wasn't long before the opportunity with the NHL presented itself. “What happened goes back to my Hartford days,” McGuire said, “and the way the hockey connection and fraternity is, that the head coach of the New York Rangers at the time I was in Hartford was Colie (Colin) Campbell (now the NHL's Executive Vice-President and Director of Hockey Operations). And Colie, after we (McGuire and Barber) were unceremoniously dumped, and it's a crowded bus in Philadelphia that I was on twice, called me and said, 'You know, there's a lockout coming and it might be a real bad one, it might last a couple months,' and he jokingly said, in neat, friendly terms, 'you had all the answers, why don't you come up here and solve some problems?' “Well, it's been three-and-a-half years, I haven't solved one problem yet, but we did go through an extended lockout, and I was fortunate to be fully employed, full-time status. And that's where some of my involvement branched into Junior hockey, and the title I currently hold is Director of Central Scouting. That's the arm of the NHL that produces recommendation lists. Not only recommendations for the draft, but in this early season we recommend the good prospects that are out there, early enough that the NHL teams can have a basic framework to work from. In other words, we'd recommend that, if you're coming to the Toronto area, see the (OHL's) Barrie Colts and the Oshawa Generals, but as far as draft-eligible players, maybe the Kitchener Rangers and the Guelph Storm don't have anyone. If you're a New York Ranger scout, you go to the Guelph Storm to see prospect Ryan Callahan, who was eligible two years earlier on, perhaps, a recommendation by Central Scouting. “That's a long-winded way of saying that we're sort of an advance-warning system for the NHL for the upcoming draft. We have 12 full-time scouts in North America and an equal number of part-time scouts, and then a whole branch over in Europe. We stay mutually-exclusive, our North American scouts don't travel to Europe, they don't travel to North America, and we produce, as such, two lists, which each team's challenge is to meld together. “And another one of my roles up here is to be a part-and-parcel of the technology that's emerging in all sports. We do the video review up here in what's called an NHL War Room in Toronto. All the NHL games are piped in here and recorded, and split-second decisions are made on things like goals and goal reviews, in conjunction with the video room in each individual rink. The fans should know that when the referee picks up the phone, it's a two-way conversation, between Toronto and the room upstairs in the NHL city. “We do those immediate reviews, but we're also taking notes on the game for the Officiating Department, to say, 'here's some good examples of this or that being called', to establish a video library for instructions for the officials. And lastly, on a less-immediate decision-making basis but somewhat immediate, is any blatant violations get cut and taped and sent to Colie Campbell, who often is watching one of the games, maybe not the game where the incident happened, and he has to rule on a possible fine or suspension for a player.” When asked what he remembers most about Hartford, McGuire had this to say, “What really stands out is the fact that the fans were so receptive, under rather trying circumstances. A decade has passed, so many, many people still remember the Whalers, but the next season after the Whalers departed town, the toughest sell, not for me as a coach but for the front office and the publicity department, was that we were an exciting brand of hockey, albeit American Hockey League and not the Hartford Whalers, and we weren't trying to be. And I think that those who came to the games were pleasantly surprised that it's an enthusiastic brand of hockey. Probably at the time, if you think of the old NHL as it was sort of slipping into more of a clutch-and-grab situation, the American League was more wide-open, if unpredictable. The systems that coaches still tried to put in varied in effectiveness by the youth and the callups and send-downs and everything else. So I think the fans were treated to more wide-open hockey than perhaps they were used to in the NHL.” McGuire's two Wolf Pack squad enjoyed good success, particularly the inaugural 1997-98 club, which amassed 99 points and went all the way to the Conference Finals. All told, McGuire compiled an excellent .581 winning percentage in his two years behind the bench. “Two really good teams,” recalled McGuire, “and fans will remember the return of Dan Cloutier for our playoff run (in 1997-98), and some people out there who have gone on to other success. Christian Dube is playing over in Europe and is wildly successful. “There were a number of good runs, and I remember the rivalries, with Worcester and with the Providence Bruins, who knocked us out one of the two years. And I think the precedent was set, and when John Paddock came in and won the Calder Cup the next year, I think that the foundation that these kids laid in those two years was part-and-parcel of why the Calder Cup came to Hartford in the third year of their existence.” In addition to being marked by some excellent professional accomplishment, McGuire's stay in Hartford was an exciting time for him personally as well. He and wife Terry had just recently begun their married life, and before they left Connecticut that had added two daughters, Jacqueline (now seven) and Erin (now six), to their family. “Very newly-married, both daughters born in Hartford Hospital, and fond memories of the Hartford area,” McGuire remembered. “And I know that there have been some changes to the old Mall area that used to be, but I'm a runner, and some of my running routes around the Capital in its developmental stages, not that any city is ever done, were fun. I enjoyed my time in Connecticut, and a quick ride down to the parent team in New York City was an added bonus. I know some of the NHL teams that have farm teams, in the case of, say, a Los Angeles to Manchester, across the country, that isn't possible. Really enjoyed New England and my time there.” |
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