OverDrive - Warsofsky on the Sharks' emerging foundation, the trajectory of the team and winning gold at the Men's Worlds

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

San Jose Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky joined OverDrive to discuss the outlook of the Sharks, the progression of the talent, the foundation of the roster, the analogy of pulling a goalie in a game, the importance of adding players, winning the gold medal with the United States at the IIHF World Hockey Championship and more.

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Celebrate North by Northeast in true VIP style. Enter daily at iHeartRadio.ca. And his name is Ryan Worsofsky, won gold with team USA at the World Hockey Championships the youngest head coach in the National Hockey League with San Jose and he's back on overdrive Ryan going on good hey guys how's it going we're good man good yeah how much time did Mike Greer allow you before you guys started grinding away at the 2025 offseason? It's funny you say that.

I was just in there this morning and Mike and I met for a couple hours talking a little bit of everything and just catching up. It was a long tournament overseas, but yeah, now we've started building towards 25, 26 and freeing seed to draft, the trade, so all the makings of improving our team. So it was good. It was good, but we're right back at it, that's for sure. Well congrats on getting it done over there. How challenging is it in a short-term tournament like this to kind of get everybody to gel

and everybody on the same page. I know you're dealing with a lot of talented players, but how quickly is it or how tough is it to get them to buy in immediately so that you can have success? Yeah, I think that's the challenge of the tournament for really the US and Canada. Most of those teams have kind of already, you know, the Germans had started April 7th I think the Swiss started April 1st, so they built you know through a kind of a month-long training camp where you know we get out there May 1st and have a four-day training camp and you put your systems in place and the identity of that you want to play with and then like you said you get guys into

roles and You know start working on special teams so you got to try to cover a lot in a short period of time so there's some challenges that go with that and you really got to decide what you think is most important to the group to have success and obviously us as the US we haven't had a lot of success over there so you know one thing we did talk about was it had been since 1933 since we won the gold medal and if we were going to do this and everyone was going to be bought into it, you had to buy into roles that

may be different than your role is in the National Hockey League and you got to do its best for the team and what's best ultimately for up to win a gold medal and I got to give a larger group a lot of credit because a lot of guys, you know really bought into that and had an understanding of how we needed to play And what roles that either play for us to be successful Yeah, that's an amazing stat right and the fact that the USA had not won World Championship gold since 1933 92 years, I mean that's was that actually a motivating factor for these guys like none of these guys are responsible for the fact that you guys have it what almost a century but

how did you use that yeah we we kind of talk about the open the room and then we addressed it you know i think uh... you know i i think that was important you know we had a meeting may first and do for door Germany uh, before we got started and just said, hey, it's been 1932, it's been 92 years since the US has won a gold medal. And it's almost, I mean, it is, it's embarrassing. And we, I know that's a tough word to use, but that's the reality of it.

We're not going to hide from it. That's what it's been since we won the tournament. So why don't we be a team that kind of makes history and can be the team that kind of cracks the curse and we kind of rode with it so I think the best message message that we use is we addressed it we didn't let it linger until the quarterfinals or the semifinals we addressed it right from right from the get-go and again our leadership group our group did a really good job of

uh... you know really taking that the heart which i thought was really important ryan worse off ski our guess he's the head coach of the san jose sharks was a coach of team u s a at the world hockey championships winning gold in sweden so you mention i a m at with your g m mike rearing and curious about noodles you've went through all these meetings postseason talking to the GM trying to theorize what the offseason could look like.

Do you go to Mike and say, hey, there's a free agent here that I might like in my line of play next to Celebrini or maybe this guy could fit in on our second pair? Is it collaborative like that in San Jose? Yeah, for sure. We talked a lot about guys that are free, coming up here on July 1st. And we've had a lot of conversations even from where the trade deadline on and where we want to head with, you know, what our team to look like in the future here to the end of the season into, you know, the summer. So there's a lot of conversations

that happen between Mike, myself and the staff of whether that's players or, you know, the summer. So there's a lot of conversations that happen between Mike, myself, and the staff of whether that's players or, you know, what we want to look like identity-wise. So there's a lot of conversations that go on. And, you know, one thing I would say is going to the, you know, World Champions, you see a lot of different players, you know, on other teams that, you know, you get a real appreciation for and you never know. You never know, you know, down the line if someone becomes available you have that relationship you know what that player is kind of all about from being over there World Championship so but there's a lot of conversations that happen kind of daily on on building the team and what we want it to look like for sure.

So you've got some young talent obviously some extremely impressive young talent obviously Celebrini, I think Smith is a player, Eklund. We'll call it the spine of the team, a young spine of the team, because I like Asgaroff, the goaltender too. He's going to be a special one, but it's just about getting experience. So what's the challenge to, or maybe the fine line between allowing them to learn on the job, but also

maybe trying to drop the hammer a little bit to say hey you know this is how we how you need to play every day in the National Hockey League to get to that next level and and be everyday you know superstars or guys that you know be even be a playoff team type of thing. Yeah I think you know the big the big thing is for me is playing with winning habits and the habits and the foundational habits that we need to play with to win this league and you look at the teams that are there at the end from Florida to Edmonton and so I know Carolina Dells just lost but the

habits that they play with how to protect the lead how to play with the lead how to play within your shift how to play with the lead, how to play within your shift, how to manage your game and not give away so many pocks and how important face-offs are, the details of the game. So a lot of it is, you know, teaching these young players, you know, how the really how the game is won at the end of the day and the NHL is the hard league to win in. It's extremely hard, it's, you know, it's a fine line between winning and losing. We're trying to teach those habits and have an understanding of how you need to play each and every night.

It doesn't happen overnight. It takes time. But by no means are we letting them just run the roof here. We want to put some really good foundational habits in place because we know the future is extremely bright. We have some young players. If we want to put some really good foundational habits in place because we know the future is extremely bright. We have some young players and if we want to start winning we've got to start putting those habits in place right away. We've really chipped away at that this year. The wins and losses are the wins and losses. We understand that but we think we made some good headway of being more competitive.

The next step for sure is for us to start winning those one goal games in the third period were up a call i think we no set a record for giving away you know what the goal we believe we lose a loser hockey game so uh... those of the improvement that we can make and continue to talk about a younger players ryan there was a lot of debate last night into today about peter boran the way he decided to operate with regards to the goalie poll of jake ottinger bringing into smith after it was to nothing in

we've been talking about it all show the art of the goalie pollon what it means and how you execute a properly to my son not asking you to critique peter borr but in your own experiences the goalie poll how effective is it in kind of writing the ship for a hockey club that might need be a little bit of a wake up call? Yeah, I think it's a little circumstantial a little bit, like who your goalie is, where

you are in the game and where you are in the series, where the, you know, the momentum, you know, the momentum shifts in games. So it's really hard to really pinpoint, like, if it was a right or wrong move. Now Casey Smith goes in there and stands on his head and now Pete DeBoer looks like a complete hero. So it's easy for us to sit here as a Monday morning quarterback and critique it. We're not in there, I'm not in the locker room. I think Pete's a fantastic coach and is one of the harder coaches to coach against, just

never mind watching from the outside. So it's a tough decision. um... you know it is one of the hard coaches to coach against, just nevermind watching from the outside. So it's a tough decision. You're trying to probably spark your club a little bit and um... and get some energy back in the building so you kind of see both sides of it um... so it's hard to... I think it's very circumstantial as far as that goalie pool and we have a lot of conversations with the Sharks throughout the year and whether that's time or not the time, there's probably moments where you wish

you did it and there's probably moments where you wish you probably didn't. It's a tough decision but I completely understand where Pete was coming from. Hey Ryan, when you look at the way you build teams, there's been many ways to do it when you've got a lot of really good young talent. I know you've got some veteran guys around there but i mean are you guys looking to add you know somebody from the free agent pool of uh... potential star players that are out there to to to bring these guys along or how do you look at that aspect of team building

yeah i think you have you tried build your team in every way possible so trades through free agency through the draft especially You know, maybe it's a my league for agent. Maybe it's a waiver pickup like a Gustav for his link so I think you know Mike and his staff does a really good job of peeling that onion back and finding the Other ways we can start adding to our group I know that's probably the next step, you know in our you know, our build is can start adding to our group. I know that's probably the next step in our build is to start adding. We added to Foley last year. We brought in Barclay-Goudreau for some leadership and to stabilize our bottom six. I think Mike has a really good plan of how

he wants to tack the off season and the free agency and the draft and everything in between. We will let that plan and run that course, let us run its course. And we're all excited for the future. In preparing for this interview, Ryan, I was looking through your hockey DB page. And before you were a coach, you were a player. And you played in the Belgian Hockey League.

You played for Rio Grande, the Valley Killer Bees, the Cape Cod Bluefin's. Can you take us through some of those experiences? Yeah, I wasn't a very good player. Um, you know, played division three hockey and then, you know, I always knew, I mean, I wanted to get into coaching and, um, it was kind of a passion of mine, you know, growing up in the, in the Boston area, being close with Mike Sullivan and being around him.

We were coaching the Bruins. So I got in, got playing, went to Division III college, at Curry College. After I wanted to play, I wanted to experience kind of what it was like overseas. So didn't break the bank playing over there, but had a lot of fun, met a lot of good people. You got to experience a different part of the world and travel and then came back and played. I remember sitting in my hotel in Rio Grande and I could see the Mexican border and I was shaking my head thinking like, man, what am I doing? But those are lessons that I still take with me today and coaches that I played for and

you try to, I ask our players to get better, I have to get better as well. So you try to continue to develop as a coach and at that moment I kind of knew I was going to get into coaching so I'm trying to pick up and grasp you know whether that's drills or a way to you know systems or a way to communicate. So all those experiences I think have kind of tied into who I am today and why I am where I am. So going through the league a few times now and coaching against, as you coined it, some great coaches and some guys that you respect throughout the league, as you gain more experience are you picking up stuff from them and maybe learning little tricks of the trade that have

helped your coaching style to get to that next level? Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. I think there's a reason why these guys have won Stanley Cups to John Cooper's, Mike Sullivan, Paul Marie. I mean, the list goes on. The amount of good coaches that are in this league and the way they tinker with things that are throughout their system, how they get certain matchups is one thing

I've kind of really started to learn and I've watched and Travis Green in Ottawa was really good at it and John Cooper obviously. So there's obviously some really good coaches and I think that's what I'll do about a lot of that this summer is kind of really select back and look back and watch other teams and try to pick up some things and talk to the coaches uh... sometimes you know maybe it's not a national hockey coach you know

included dive into some other sports again just try to get better and improving uh... you know i'm still you know i don't have all the answers so uh... but you definitely learn as you get the as you go through the league and you go up against these uh... semi-cup winning you know coaches that have been around for a long time Well congrats on the World Hockey Championship incredible moment seeing Johnny Gajros jersey up there the way you guys honored him I thought was tremendous. You did an amazing job with that and I'm certain you'll do a great job with the San Jose Sharks going forward

Thank you for the time. Best of luck this summer and hopefully we can chat again soon Sounds great. Thank you guys. I appreciate and thanks for having me on. Thank you for the time. Best of luck this summer and hopefully we can chat again soon. Sounds great. Thanks guys. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on. Thank you. That is Ryan Worsofsky. Made in Canada delivers 100% homegrown hits all day, every day. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca or the free iHeart Radio app. Proudly powered by all your friends' vests, June 28th and 29th. Featuring Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan and more.