Hockey History
Clowe on Why He Returned to Sharks, Expectations for Team
Ryane Clowe will have his fingers in many pies.
“He’s a really bright guy, sees the game, can break down the game really, really well. So it’s another different perspective for me and our staff to have,” San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier said of his new assistant GM. “He’ll probably be more involved in the day-to-day hockey stuff. He’s got a good eye. Good eye for talent. He’s got some really good ideas and thoughts about player development, in scouting and things like that.”
Besides scouting and player development, it sounds like Clowe will also be a sounding board for both the San Jose Sharks and Barracuda coaching staff.
One thing he won’t be doing?
The 2001 San Jose sixth-round pick, good in his heyday for 20 goals and 100 PIMs, joked: “My sister, my mom, my wife tell me just some of their online stuff, social media, that Sharks fans seem to be excited. I don’t know if they expect me to fight anymore, seems like that was one of their favorite parts [about my career]. I’ll be a little more tame in this position.”
Clowe spoke on Thursday, sharing why he left a team consultant role with the New York Rangers and what he expects out of the team next season, among other topics.
Clowe, on his relationship with Grier:
We played together for three years, kind of my formative years in the league. Mike was, at that time, a veteran.
Not only for the team, but for myself, a really good mentor.
He’s an emotional player and I was emotional player. Mike really helped me kind of control my emotions at times and really helped steer me in the right direction.
Clowe, on three reasons why he took the San Jose Sharks’ assistant GM job:
It was an opportunity that I couldn’t turn down.
The people that I was gonna get an opportunity to work with was too hard to pass that up.
Not only that, the opportunity that Mike was gonna give me to come in and make an impact on the organization. Work with him daily and be out there daily, be boots on the ground.
When I was working for the Rangers, I would travel back and forth. I was living in Florida, and now, being able to get out to San Jose on a day-to-day basis is something I’m really looking forward to.
A lot of things that I was able to do in New York, I’ll be able to do here, but I’ll be able to be day to day, like I said, boots on the ground. Sometimes, when you’re not there everyday, there’s things you miss.
The other part was, it was exciting, you’re building from the ground up in the last couple of years, the job that the Sharks have done and Mike’s done. You get to come in, foundation starting to be laid and you can put your fingerprints on it a little bit.
Clowe, on his expectations for the San Jose Sharks next year:
When you’re going through this, you want to continue to get younger and you want to keep continuing to get better.
I don’t think you want to put a win count or a place in the standings on it. But you just want to be a team that’s a little bit more competitive on a night-to-night basis. I look at Arizona, last couple of years when they’re kind of going through it, they were always competitive team. They had off nights, and sometimes, you play teams that are on a different level because they’re on a different part of the trajectory, but you’re always a competitive team. That’s the kind of the process you want to get to.
I think the coaches will have a really tight structure, a really detailed structure in place. So everyone’s kind of pulling in the same direction and you’re able to be a tough out.
A little bit more of a disciplined team, a little bit more of a harder team to play against, and a little bit more of a team that plays a little more tight, a little more structure. You want to be a little faster too.
Clowe, on all the San Jose Sharks who have stayed around San Jose and the organization:
[Mike Ricci, Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Evgeni Nabokov, Scott Hannan], those guys all stayed in San Jose and they love the Sharks.
Those guys love the Sharks, they love the city.
Having those guys around that are connected to the past, I think is vital.
Most of them still work for the organization. They don’t just come in and go home, they come in and they put the work in. and they’re like I said are passionate about it.
That was great to see when I was out there.
I told Reech, you’ve been standing here [in development camp], talking to these young guys just like 20-something years ago when I came in, and he was doing it.
Watch the full Clowe interview here
