NHL head coaches are recycled from other teams, hired from the AHL and junior ranks or assistant coaches are promoted. Maybe, in the near future, an NHL club will look to Europe to hire a head coach.
There was, of course, Alpo Suhonen. The former Finnish national team coach was an assistant coach with the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs prior to becoming the head coach of the 2000-01 Chicago Blackhawks. But how about a European-based bench boss jumping straight to the NHL?
Sean Simpson is the candidate I have in mind. He certainly caught the hockey world by surprise this week when he steered ZSC Zurich Lions to an upset 2-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in the Victoria Cup on Tuesday.
“It obviously was an honour and a thrill for us just to play against a NHL team, and to actually win the game, well it was a great feeling,” Simpson said via an e-mail.
“The boys had the right attitude, they had respect for the Hawks, but still went out and played there hearts out. It was a special night for Swiss hockey and Swiss sport.”
The 49-year-old Simpson hails from Brampton, Ont. A forward, he played three seasons the Ottawa 67’s, for Canada at the 1980 world junior championship and he actually was drafted in the seventh round by the Blackhawks in 1980.
Simpson helped the New Brunswick Hawks win the 1981-82 Calder Cup (AHL championship) and then finished his playing career in Holland, Switzerland and Italy. He has been coaching in Europe for the past decade with stops in Munich, Hamburg and Zug before taking over the Lions two years ago.
Simpson also was the head coach of the gold-medal winning Canadian team at the 2007 Spengler Cup and was runner-up at the same tournament in 2008. He also led the Lions to the Champions Hockey League title last year and he won a German league title with Hamburg. He will be an assistant for Craig MacTavish’s Canadian entry for the Spengler Cup this Christmas.
