Not sure how this slipped under my radar, but I wanted to get this in on the site. Back on June 20, the Newfoundland Growlers, an expansion team in the ECHL that will serve as an affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs, annouced Ryane Clowe as their first head coach.
Clowe is a Newfoundland native and spent the last two seasons coaching with the Devils on John Hynes’ staff. He retired from NHL competition back in 2016 following battles with concussions.
He was looking to get deeper into coaching and this is a great opportunity for him as a head coach. The Maple Leafs said in a press release on June 20 that he would be attending “the Maple Leafs development camp next week as well as training camp with the Maple Leafs and Marlies in September.”
Both Clowe and new Leafs GM Kyle Dubas thanked Devils GM Ray Shero and Hynes as well as the Devils organization for allowing Clowe to pursue this opportunity with the Growlers, who will play out of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Clowe was grateful for the Devils giving him an opportunity to get his feet wet as a coach in the NHL.
Clowe’s connection to the area (he “was recently inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador Hockey Hall of Fame” according to the press release) and the aptitude that he has shown for coaching in his short time behind the bench for the Devils made him a natural fit as he begins his climb up the ladder to try to land a National Hockey League coaching gig.
Clowe, 35, is the second assistant coach to move on from the Devils in about a month. Assistant Geoff Ward joined Bill Peters’ staff in Calgary back in May.
Congratulations to Ryane Clowe as he begins this next chapter of his professional career.