New Sharks Assistant Coaches Houda & Ulmer Share Philosophies, Stories

Meet the San Jose Sharks’ new assistant coaches!

Doug Houda — who most recently spent two seasons with Lane Lambert, Patrick Roy, and the New York Islanders — brings 18 years of NHL assistant coaching experience to the Sharks’ coaching staff. He won the Stanley Cup behind the Boston Bruins bench in 2011. This season, he will lead San Jose’s defense and penalty killing efforts.

Jeff Ulmer has 19 years of professional playing experience, spanning 13 countries in the NHL, AHL, KHL, among other leagues. The last three seasons, Ulmer has been an assistant coach for the Abbotsford Canucks.

In their introductory media availability last week, Ulmer discussed what his role on the coaching staff will look like, and how he can prepare Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and other youngsters for the NHL. Houda talked about improving the San Jose Sharks’ team defense and shared a fun Patrice Bergeron story.

Houda, on the New York Islanders’ last-ranked penalty kill last season:

In penalty kill, you have to get off to a good start. And we got off to a very poor start. First couple weeks were good, and then after that we hit a stretch where we just couldn’t keep it out of the net. It sort of snowballed, and I’m not throwing anybody under the bus, but we all just didn’t do our jobs good enough. Myself, the players, we just didn’t get the job done.

I think sometimes penalty killing comes from breaks. I can remember the year before, when we were 10th… we were getting, seemed crazy, but our goaltender was making the saves. Sometimes you get the save, sometimes you don’t. And again, it’s not all on the goaltender. It’s on myself, it’s on our players. It’s the direction, in the meetings, that I’m giving them. But I just think it was one of those years where everything we did sort of went in our net. I can’t make excuses. Like I said, the job just didn’t get done.

Houda, on how the San Jose Sharks will improve their defense next season:

It’s always [about] team defense, and your five guys on the ice working together. But you’ve got some new defensemen that are coming in that are going to add something. You got experience, you’ve got some speed, you got guys that have been in the league that are going to help other guys. And I really believe that. Jake Walman is a great player and [Cody] Ceci is too…Jake can skate, he has a lot to offer, his competitiveness, he’s strong, he’s a big guy. I’m very excited to have him. He’s a really good person.

The one thing I’ll say about the defensemen I talked to: I can’t believe how excited everybody is. They just want to get going and forget about last year and move on… We’re trying to get better every day. And it’s about body positions. having good sticks, and a compete level that they need to bring every day to turn things around.

Houda, on comparing Macklin Celebrini to Patrice Bergeron:

Well, I’ll tell a quick story about Patrice.

One day, when we first got there, we just kept harping on his stick all the time. “Stick, stick, stick.” And I don’t know, it might have been his second or third year, because it took time. It wasn’t right off the bat. He was on the bike after a game, and I think he had three or four points. And as I walked by, I said, “Great game.” And he goes, “Doug, how about my stick tonight?” And to me, that was the message sent. It wasn’t that he got three or four points, got a hat trick, whatever — it was that he had a great stick defending.

So, he was awesome in both ends of the rink, and a pleasure to be around all the time.

Houda, on how long it takes to implement new defensive systems:

I don’t think it takes terribly long. The NHL is funny because there’s not a lot of practice time. So, there’ll be video sessions that’ll be covering it. It’ll have to be worked on in pregame skates and on game days. They’re smart players. They’ll get it. And, we’ll just keep hammering the certain points that we want. Pick and choose what the important parts are, to get across what we want. But, it doesn’t take long, just a few practices to have an idea what you want. And then you show video and keep going back at it. Show game video.

Ulmer, on his role for the upcoming season:

I think we’re still kind of going over that, but I’m definitely going to help with a lot of development. I think this year is big… some of the names that that we’re going to see [are] big parts of the organization, and I think that’s going to be a daily focus for me.

Also, face-offs are going to be a big focus of mine, neutral zone, and then assisting with what the other coaches need me for. So, I think that’s kind of a moving target here. We’re going to talk about that in the next coming weeks, but [I’m] ready to assist with whatever.

Ulmer, on how his well-traveled playing career will inform his coaching:

I think development-wise, it helped because I was an older player. I played past 40. My last few years, having so much experience over there and playing with younger players, I think you just naturally take that role where you want to help the young guys move along, I think. Playing at 39, 40, 41 you’re not necessarily going to be in the top leagues anymore. So, I wasn’t in the KHL — I was in the Alps League, the Danish League, and the British League. And in these leagues, they don’t have the type of coaching that you might see in the KHL. So, I took it upon myself to bring the younger guys along after practice. Have them out on the ice and do some things that I may have seen due to my experience playing over here, whether it was NHL or AHL or the [other] top leagues. I took pride in that. I like doing that.

That’s the development bug that I have. It also helps — the differences in the ice surface and the playing styles that all contributes to offensively, you had a little bit more room to do things over there. Based on that, you get some ideas in your head, and you try it out over here. Transitioning from playing in Europe to coaching in the American League, I really enjoyed running a power play unit and helping out the forwards at the American League level, because you can get away with trying different things. Whereas in the NHL, it’s a business, you’re not going to just go out there and try something on the face off. In the AHL, you’re able to try some things, maybe some face-off plays, or something on the power play that’s a little bit unconventional. That all contributed; the experience in Europe and having more space and coming over here and using that in my ideas and my coaching.

Ulmer, on preparing young players for the NHL:

Speaking for myself, I like designing drills. I did the skill stuff, and I enjoyed it. I like the development side, and I always like to fit and mold my drills more game-like, whether it’s starting from taking a high flip and using your glove, or starting against the wall, facing the wall, or something that they’re going to see in the game — where it’s not a controlled environment… It’s more of a “How can we create chaos and get these guys more of what they’re going to face at the NHL level?” Where, maybe there’s a stick on you, or maybe you’re getting pushed into the wall, and now you start the drill. Things like that. I’ve always tried to incorporate more realistic drills. I get that some people like the power edge, pro stuff and the skill stuff, around cones. Whereas I like to do a lot from the wall and along the boards, where most of the game is actually played. So, I think the more we can do that in practice and get them comfortable where there’s a little bit of chaos and unpredictability; I think that’s going to be to their benefit.