Gear: Time to expand the scope of ‘hockey people’ moniker in front offices

Chris Gear
Jan 25, 2022, 15:55 ESTUpdated: Jan 25, 2022, 17:28 EST
Gear: Time to expand the scope of ‘hockey people’ moniker in front offices

It’s no secret that when NHL teams populate their front offices, they tend to put an emphasis on finding “hockey people.” Historically, that has often meant people who have played and had success in the NHL or otherwise at a high level. 

However, as the world embraces greater diversity in the workplace, it’s time to change the definition of what front offices view as “hockey people.”

Consider this: of the 32 men currently serving as GM (either officially or on an interim basis), seven were at one-time NHL team captains. Three of those (Seattle’s Ron Francis, Detroit’s Steve Yzerman and Colorado’s Joe Sakic) are Hockey Hall of Fame legends who all rank in the top 10 in league history in scoring. Another 13 of those positions are held by individuals who played professionally, in one or more of the NHL, AHL, IHL or ECHL.

The presence of so many former players makes perfect sense. 

There is a natural transition from player to executive, not just in hockey but in any sport. Ex-players have a keen and sometimes superior understanding of the game that leads to success in both arenas.  In addition, successful athletes usually have many of the attributes that lead to success in business and management – a strong work ethic, self-confidence (swagger even), leadership skills, tenacity, perseverance, an understanding of team dynamics, media savvy and being comfortable with fan pressures and public scrutiny. 

It is therefore no surprise that leaders on the ice often have the ability to make those skills transferable to find success in NHL boardrooms. 

There is also the allure to owners of an ex-player’s name recognition, together with the fan affinity they bring with them. If an ex-player is a smart, strong leader whose presence can also help an organization sell tickets and open corporate doors, you can see the appeal of the hire. The team may see hiring someone who was a successful leader on the ice as an easy way to inspire confidence in the fan base that the person will do the same in the boardroom.  Two birds, one stone.

That said, as much as former professional players will always be integral to the NHL front office landscape, it does appear that the tide may be turning towards the notion of hockey people drawn from a little further afield. 

More and more, women and members of BIPOC communities are being discussed as potential front office candidates, something that is long overdue.  Emilie Castonguay’s appointment as Assistant GM in Vancouver is a great hire that surely will be the catalyst to a flurry of deserving candidates joining front offices and finally getting their dues as hockey people. 

There are also more subtle forms of diversity edging into NHL boardrooms, in terms of professional background and work experience.   

The hiring of Kent Hughes as the new GM of the Montreal Canadiens was surprising to some people, but should it have been?

Despite Hughes’ background in the business, in the press conference that introduced Hughes as GM, Canadiens president Jeff Gorton made a point of saying “I think of him as a hockey person first.”  It’s as if Gorton felt compelled to justify that Hughes was as qualified for the role as a former player. 

Hughes was a very talented college hockey player, inducted into his school’s Hall of Fame, who then went on to a successful career as a well-known and trusted player agent.  It’s hard to think of a group of people more closely plugged in to NHL front offices than player representatives.

You needn’t look far for other examples. 

Julien BriseBois of the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning did not play hockey at any high level. He started his career as an associate at a Montreal law firm prior to joining the Canadiens and working in a variety of front office roles with the Habs before moving on to Tampa Bay. 

As he shines his two Stanley Cup rings, would anyone dare say that he is not a hockey guy? 

Other recent Stanley Cup winning GMs with no prior professional playing experience include Doug Armstrong in St. Louis, Stan Bowman in Chicago and Dean Lombardi in Los Angeles. 

How about Kyle Dubas? He has one of the highest-pressure jobs in the league as GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Dubas’ last playing days were as a teenager. But after working his way up the ranks with the Sault Ste. Greyhounds and then Toronto Marlies, no one would suggest that he hasn’t earned the right to be called a “hockey person.”

It’s possible that given the success of the above GMs, the hiring of non-former players like Hughes is part of an emerging trend. 

When Bob Murray (1,008 career NHL games) stepped down in Anaheim, the Ducks turned to Jeff Solomon, who has zero professional games to his credit. Solomon started his long hockey career as an agent before spending almost 15 years in the Los Angeles Kings’ front office, where he was instrumental in helping to lead the Kings to two Stanley Cups. 

Similarly, when Bowman resigned in Chicago amidst the cover-up of the sexual abuse suffered by player Kyle Beach in 2010, the Wirtz family needed someone to grab the steering wheel and restore public confidence in the organization. They opted to place their trust in Kyle Davidson, a long-time Blackhawks executive through their Cup-winning years, who has no playing resumé.

It will be interesting to see if Solomon and Davidson, who both currently have interim tags attached to their GM roles, will be entrenched by their teams at some point or whether either or both will be supplanted by someone with a HockeyDB page who fits the more traditional definition of “hockey person.”

Hockey operations departments are complex businesses, with large contingents of coaches, scouts, medical and training staff, analytics staff and other support personnel, as well as budgets that rival those of major corporations. Managing all of the people and expenses involved, and living in pressure-cooker environments of fan and media scrutiny, are not easy tasks. It takes a village.

We can expect hockey front offices of the future be made up of men, women, people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds and both on-ice captains and captains of industry. A strong front office is about the sum of its parts more than any one person. 

A front office needs people that have played professionally and those that haven’t, people with different strengths and areas of focus and people who complement each other’s skill sets. Most of all, each of them needs an environment where they can proudly call themselves a “hockey person.”

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Chris Gear joined Daily Faceoff in Jan. 2022 after a 12-year run with the Vancouver Canucks, most recently as the club’s Assistant General Manager and Chief Legal Officer. Before migrating over to the hockey operations department, where his responsibilities included contract negotiations, CBA compliance, assisting with roster and salary cap management and governance for the AHL franchise, Gear was the Canucks’ vice president and general counsel.

Click here to read Gear’s other Daily Faceoff stories.

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