Sheahan Ready to Mold Wolves into Hurricanes

After the Chicago Wolves defeated the Springfield Thunderbirds for the 2022 Calder Cup Championship on June 25, it seemed only a matter of time that NHL teams came knocking for the services of head coach Ryan Warsofsky. Reports became public in late July that he’d accepted an assistant position with the San Jose Sharks, but it wasn’t until August 11 that the Sharks made it official. Warsofsky was gone, but it only took Chicago a couple weeks to make a formal announcement of its own.

On August 23, the Wolves filled their head coach vacancy with Brock Sheahan. For the past four seasons, Sheahan has been coaching the local USHL team, the Chicago Steel, helping them win the Clark Cup in 2021.

When the opportunity to join the Wolves coaching staff rolled around, Sheahan wasn’t looking for a new job. In fact, there were other possible opportunities for him to leave the Steel this upcoming season, but none of them felt right.

“We really liked where we were at as a family,” explained Sheahan. “And the organization with the Chicago Steel is amazing. They’re set up for success with the way Larry Robbins runs things from an ownership standpoint.”

Not long before the Steel’s season began to kick into full gear, Sheahan received a call from Carolina Hurricanes Assistant General Manager Darren Yorke. From there, he went through the interview process with Hurricanes General Manager Don Waddell and Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour. After multiple meetings with members of the Hurricanes staff, management, and ownership, Sheahan felt like becoming the Wolves coach was the right fit.

“I really like the direction of the organization and the idea of being a part of the Wolves, which is such a good organization since their inception,” said Sheahan.

But it wasn’t an easy decision to make.

Over the years, the Steel had become an extension of his family.

“You feel like you’re letting people down. Especially the players we recruited, some of the kids that I’ve coached for two or three years in Chicago,” said Sheahan on accepting the offer with the Wolves. He also made sure to note that the Steel players were “very happy for myself and my family” when they found out about Sheahan’s new position with the Wolves.

Accepting the Wolves’ head coaching position doesn’t mean Sheahan will be leaving behind the family he created at the Steel. “I have a great relationship with the staff. I feel like the Steel are like family. I don’t see that changing,”

Since the Sheahan family didn’t have to move, he was able to be in attendance for the Steel’s first scrimmage this season. To continue staying connected to the team, Sheahan has plans of catching some of the Steel’s afternoon practices on days he gets home early enough from Hoffman Estates.

Another plus for Sheahan joining the Wolves is having a familiar face coaching against him in the Central Division — Grand Rapids Griffins Head Coach Ben Simon. “I know Ben really well,” said Sheahan. Both played hockey at the University of Notre Dame, but they didn’t meet until after Simon graduated. They linked up while Sheahan was attending Notre Dame and Simon was living and training in the South Bend area.

So, it’s no surprise Sheahan reached out to Simon after accepting the job offer from Chicago. “I actually talked to him for about an hour after I got the job with the Wolves and he’s been awesome.”

For Sheahan, it’s quite exciting to have the opportunity to coach against another Notre Dame alumni.

“Most guys when they’re done playing that went to Notre Dame, they usually get into the business world or they have other avenues,” said Sheahan. “So, there’s not many guys who stay in coaching. But there are a few of us out there, and it’s pretty cool.”

Meeting Simon wasn’t the only positive Sheahan took away from his time at Notre Dame. “I think my experience there helped form me as a person, as a husband, as a friend, as a coach, as a father,” Sheahan said while fondly reminiscing. “From a hockey perspective, just like the detail and the way that they go about their business is something that has for sure been ingrained in the way I do things.”

Sheahan continued to pick up lessons when he moved on to coach at College of the Holy Cross.

Holy Cross is a Jesuit College in Worchester, Massachusetts with a little over 3,100 undergraduate students. As you can imagine, there isn’t an abundance of money being thrown at the ice hockey program. So while Sheahan was coaching the Crusaders, he had to wear many hats. “The amount of experience I got doing everything was really good,” said Sheahan. This experience also helped shape his perspective into a positive one as he moved up in the coaching ranks. “As you move up in levels, it shows you how grateful to be when you have a little bit more support,” explained Sheahan.

While coaching with the Steel, Sheahan learned how to focus on developing the individual player in tandem with developing the team. “That’s why I think we had success. We never talked about winning there at all. We talked about the individual development of the player and them getting better every day,” explained Sheahan. “And as a result, the team is going to get better.”

Sheahan went on to note that he plans on using this style of development at the Wolves, but also acknowledges that they want to win. “The expectations for the Wolves are to be highly competitive and win championships. I think that comes as a result of the process that we have as a staff and the players.”

In professional sports, especially the minor leagues, the process of reaching your goals can be mentally tasking. Sheahan is up to the challenge of balancing the business aspect of the sport with the human aspect of the player. At the end of the day, it’s going to come down to their daily actions and how everyone communicates with one another.

“People talk about the culture of programs or organizations. A lot of people have slogans or sayings. I think it’s actually just built by day-to-day actions,” said Sheahan. “So, how we act as a staff, how I act as a coach, how the players are acting towards one another, how connected we are, [and] how we’re able to communicate is huge.” His hope is that by laying this foundation it will be easier to be open and honest with players during the hard discussions within the business of hockey.

Having to deal with tough conversations surrounding a player’s future isn’t new to Sheahan. A lot of the pressure Wolves players deal with are similar to what Steel players had to deal with, as well. “You would think of the junior level as different. It’s not,” explained Sheahan. “These guys are dealing with the draft, especially the high-end guys we’ve had. They want to go number one overall, or they don’t want to drop out of the first round. This stuff affects them.”

While with the Steel, Sheahan was able to have healthy discussion with his staff and players about the hard and unexpected things that happen during an average season. He was always open to talk to and listen to the players as different things arose. The plan is to continue having healthy relationships and conversations with the Wolves. “I don’t plan on changing that approach and I hope that facilitates conversations that need to happen.”

Thanks to his experience playing with a few ECHL teams, Sheahan has a few tools in his toolbox for dealing with players who are sent down to the minors or feel they are stuck in the minors. “I’ve been through it playing in the East Coast League, wanting to play in the American League. [and] being on contract & not getting a chance. It’s really hard.”

The goal heading into the season is to get the players to understand that they can only control what they can control. “The only thing they can control is their action every day and their approach. If you can get them to buy into that, I think they can feel good about themselves no matter what.” At the end of the night, Sheahan wants his players to be able to “feel good about the work” they put in. “If it doesn’t work out, at least you know you did your best.”

Sheahan feels like being surrounded by staff such as Pat Dwyer and Bob Nardella is going to beneficial to the players. “They’ve gone through these things and seem like amazing people in my interactions with them so far. I think we’re gonna really help our players with the ups and downs of playing in the American League and the NHL.”

One of the ways Sheahan plans to prepare the Wolves for being brought up to the NHL is by helping them become, what he calls a complete player. “I think it’s our job to make sure the player becomes a complete player, so that they’re not just one-dimensional players. We’re trying to round them out as a player so they can do more.” By creating these types of players, he thinks it will give them a better chance at making it to the NHL level, even if it’s in a different role than they are typically used to playing.

However, it takes a village to make that happen.

“It’s on the player to buy into that, but it’s on us to convince the player that if you want to get to that level you need to do more,” said Sheahan.

Once the player buys in, they’ll hopefully have a smooth transition to the NHL level, and eventually be able to use their skillsets to find a way into the role they initially wanted. But, you have to first get into the NHL. “In order to get in, you can’t wait for that first-line center role,” said Sheahan.

Brock Sheahan expects that the Wolves and Carolina Hurricanes will have a similar style of play, which will make it easier for Sheahan to mold Wolves players into Hurricanes players. It’s a recipe that has proved beneficial in the past. Now, it’s Sheahan’s turn to put his stamp behind the bench of the defending Calder Cup Champions.