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Getting to know Steve Spott

Way back in May, the Neutral discussed Steve Spott as a potential candidate for an assistant coaching spot once Peter DeBoer was hired. Now that we know Spott has joined the Sharks, we can take a look into what that will mean for team teal.

It’s difficult to asses what kind of impact he’ll have at the NHL level. His one season with the Toronto Maple Leafs should probably be thrown out the window, primarily because the Leafs spent a lot of time throwing good players out of windows last season.

Spott has a year of experience as the head coach of the Marlies (Toronto’s AHL affiliate). While he was the head coach, the Marlies finished 14th in goal scoring and ninth in goals allowed and helped lead the team to the Western Conference Finals. Toronto finished tied for the fourth-most power play minutes in the AHL and were ninth with a 19.9 percent success rate on the man-advantage.

Prior to joining the Leafs organization he spent most of his career as a coach in the Ontario Hockey League, both with the Kitchener Rangers and Plymouth Whalers.

He joined the DeBoer-led Whalers in 1997 and the two coaches stayed there until 2001 before moving on to Kitchener where they would both coach until DeBoer got his first NHL gig with the Panthers in 2008. Spott led the Rangers as head coach from 2008-2013, accumulating a record of 187-121-32 in that span before being hired by the Marlies.

There are no former Rangers or Whalers on the Sharks roster, meaning the only player (as far as I can tell) that Spott has previous experience with is the Sharks’ newest signing. Right.

With Spott handling the power play, Bob Boughner taking care of the penalty kill and Johan Hedberg focusing on goaltending, the Sharks coaching staff may be just about filled out. Sharks fans won’t have Jay Woodcroft’s bright and shining face to kick around any longer, so the next time San Jose goes a game without scoring on the power play, you know which face to print out for dart practice.

Welcome to San Jose, Spott! Check out, uh, the Tech Museum and uh…San Jose State. Stay a while.

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