The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Rocky Thompson, Head Coach of the Bridgeport Islanders

Episode Date: June 27, 2025

Jeff welcomes Rocky Thompson, the newly named head coach of the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders. Thompson reflects on his coaching journey so far, shares what excites him about this next chapter in Bridgeport, and lays out his vision for the team.Shout out to our sponsors!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼Ninja Kitchen Canada: https://www.ninjakitchen.ca/products/ninja-crispi-4-in-1-portable-glass-air-fryer-cooking-system-zidFN101CGY?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=olv&utm_campaign=25Q2-Crispi&utm_content=en👍🏼Budweiser: https://www.budweiser.ca/ca_enReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Flames_Nation🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of The Sheet is sponsored by the OCS Summer Pre-Roll Sale. Sometimes when you roll your own joint, things can turn out a little differently than what you expected. Maybe it's a little too loose, maybe it's a little too flimsy. There's a million ways to roll a joint wrong, but there's one roll that's always perfect. The Pre-Roll. Shop the Summer Pre-Roll infused pre-roll sale today at OCS.ca and participating retailers. First of all, congratulations. You know how the coaching fraternity feels about

you and you know how a lot of media people feel about you as well. When things went sideways for the Philadelphia Flyers, I don't think anyone looked at Rocky Thompson, said, oh, he's going to have a hard time. But did you think that? Always nervous. There's no doubt. And, but I kind of was viewing it as a potential opportunity. I, it's been five years since I was a head coach.

And quite honestly, I really missed it. When you're an assistant coach, you assist in the culture of a team that your head coach wants to institute. When you're an assistant coach, you assist in the culture of a team that your head coach wants to institute. So you do your best to support that. Sometimes it aligns,

but really you're not in control of that culture. And so as a head coach, it's one of the most important things I just feel like, and it's always been a big strength of mine in the past. And so I'm really, really excited about that opportunity to do that again, to do it here in Bridgeport where they've started something new from the top down to us there. So I can't wait to get started. It's an interesting time for the Islanders too.

And Bridgeport is going to be a huge part of this. And, you know, we were just talking to Pierre Maguire before you came on about, you know, drafting is one thing and then we tend to ignore the development side of things. And Rock, I'm sure you've seen plenty of players that, you know, when they're identified and they're drafted, they look like can't miss, but then that secondary piece isn't there. And so when they get to the NHL, you say, ah, the Scouts didn't do their job, but that's not true. It was the second part that didn't happen. Do you have a thought on that?

Sometimes guys come in and they're just not ready yet, you know, and they need a little bit of time in the American League. And I think in the right environment with the right opportunity and the right supporting cast that you can develop players. I had a number of players with the Chicago Wolves that people felt like these are not going to be NHL players. Nicholas Haag, Zach Whitecloud, Dylan Conglin, Keegan Colisar. These were all players that people thought they weren't first round draft picks. They weren't of the high pedigree. Some of them were just free agents out of college, but I give them so much credit that they worked so hard. They were so receptive. They wanted to be better and they wanted to get to the next level.

And, and those are examples of guys who, who were able to do that. They did it in a winning environment there with the wolves. We ended up not winning the Calder cup, but we got a couple of wins from it. And they took that experience and went to the national league. And a couple of years later, um, they were important parts in a salary cap era where they were low cost guys that were really able to help assist Vegas in their Stanley Cup wins. So I take a lot of pride in that because that's our job down there, is to develop these players, to create a winning culture,

and then ultimately have them move on to the next level and have success and help those NHL teams. You know, this is an interesting time for the Islanders because it seems like it is a transition from the top on down. Lou Larmorolo has moved on. This is now Matthew Darsh's team. And whether it's, you know, Isaiah George,

who's, you know, knocking on the door to being a full-timer in the NHL, he's probably there now. The team is poised to draft Matthew Schaeffer, and maybe even they get someone else in the top 10, and maybe even bring in someone like James Hagans. Cole Iserman is gonna be a huge piece of the future here. And you're starting to see like, okay, whose timeline are they gonna do this on?

Regardless of who's that is, there's gonna be like this infusion of youth that comes along with the New York Islanders. As a coach, how do you approach that? Knowing that, okay, this is going to be a team that's transitioning a little bit here. There's going to be more kids and there's going to be a lot more young faces in Bridgeport. What does Rocky Thompson do with that? faces in Bridgeport. What does Rocky Thompson do with that? So excited about it. Those players that you just named, they have things that I can't teach them. But what comes with youth is sometimes an experience and certain things that are very

teachable that helps them translate and things that you can teach in a short period of time when it comes to play without the puck. So that's always excited me. And in Chicago, we never really had those first rounders we did with Eric Branstrom and Cody Glass, but they were kind of moved on a little bit quicker. And so creating a foundation of play without the puck so that when they do get called up, their skill sets that they already have,

like Cole Iserman for an example, like it's an elite goal scorer. You can see when to score that many goals as a true freshman in college, it's absolutely incredible. Having Richie from the OHL, who's a big body player, very skillful. I can't wait if I do get the opportunity to work with those players to help their development

at an expedited pace so that they can get up to the national league and do what they need to do to put the New York Islanders over the top and help compliment the older players and the good players that they currently have on their roster. I'm glad you mentioned Calvert-Tijoux. That's a name that I probably should have included in there. And who knows? Like every player needs more games, less games.

I don't know if you have a sort of like rule of thumb, like defensemen need more games in the American league than forwards do. It's kind of like a general rule that I've always felt. Do you have rules like that? Like you know what, if you're a defender, you're going to play a little bit longer in the American hockey league than a forward would. Like, is there an easier transition depending on the position? I think it's less rules, more of a process.

Like defense is a very tough position. I would say center is another tough position because there's so much more responsibility without the puck that can get exposed if your checking ability isn't where it needs to be, or even just processing information without the puck can be somewhat of a learning curve. And so it's different for everybody but sometimes defensemen that's why you never want to give up on defensemen too quickly. You want to see progress but things don't always happen

overnight. Incremental progress is important when they have a good skill package and a foundation underneath them coming in, that our job is to do it as quickly as possible, but we do have to exhibit patience because sometimes it takes a little bit of time for other people or certain positions and yeah, and you don't want to ever miss out on a guy because you're a little bit impatient. Did you know socks are one of the most requested clothing items by organizations addressing homelessness? Bombas also makes incredibly comfy underwear and t-shirts, which by no coincidence are also some of the most requested clothing items by homeless shelters.

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happiness team for easy returns, exchanges or replacements. So to feel good and do good, go to bombas.ca slash the sheet and use the sheet for 20% off your first purchase. That's bombas.ca slash the sheet and use the sheet at checkout. I want to get to one of my favorite stories of you and that's the 2015 Fort Lauderdale draft story and the presentation that changed your life. I want to get there in a second but first one of the things that I've always admired about you as a coach whether it was as an assistant in Edmondson, as a head coach in Windsor with the Chicago Wolves, with the Philadelphia Flyers, et cetera.

You seem to have like a real natural curiosity about things. And the one thing I remember, anytime anyone asks me like, what's Rocky Thompson like as a coach? I always say he's curious, but he treats information not as if it's a final destination as much as it is a temporary staging post. Like he's willing to say, this is what I believe this to be right now,

but I'm open to change my mind. Not a lot of coaches like changing their mind, Rocky, but I've never felt that you are someone that made up his mind about really anything. Like you have like beliefs, you have a certain way about you, but there are there are elements in the game that if have a certain way about you, but there are, there are elements in the game that if you're not curious about them, they'll go right by you and you'll find yourself left in the dust. And I've always felt that one of the reasons why you endure is you have a natural curiosity about things. Has it always been like that with you? Like you said, there's core things that won't change with me without a doubt, but I always

want a competitive advantage. And so that's why I read so many articles. I like to get different opinions from whether you're a numbers person, an analytics person to Bobby Clark when he came into our room and I could sit down with him in the room and just talk for an hour before we go out on the ice. And so just how they would use to do things. How did you take face-offs? Just anything and everything

in order to get a competitive advantage. And like you said, sometimes old things work and then sometimes new things work. And it's our job as coaches to absorb that information and try and translate it into to apply it. And I think if you're evolving as a coach without changing the core principles that are important to you, that you're going to continue to have success as this game evolves. And you can see how the game changes and how styles of play change. And sometimes they change back to how things used

to be, but it's just trying to stay ahead of that curve, I think is so important. And the more you talk to people, the more information you get, the better you're gonna be. Okay, let me ask you though, because when you're with the Philadelphia Flyers, the alumni is a prominent part of the Philadelphia Flyers. So you're around and like to your point,

there's Bobby Clark and there's Paul Holmgren and there's Bill Barber. Like what are the needs? Like I'm curious, like give us a little idea of like what those conversations are like. Oh, they're different every time. Sometimes we're just socializing and then sometimes it gets into hockey because I'm curious. And here's the thing. I mean, I was a fan, right? And the way I played, I never got to watch them play because this was before my time. But I always got to see them on videos

or the Rock'em Sock'em Don Cherry videos or things I grew up with that I kind of resonated with me being a physical player. And now I'm sitting there talking to them, you know what I mean? And I'll tell you what, they're just, they're such great people, all three of them. And they really treated me so good. Um, and so I could

go on and on. Like there sometimes it's just stories about when they were playing and what Philly was like back then during the seventies. And, um, sometimes it gets more hockey related with what we're doing and you know, their opinions on what they see with us. And that's why I think it's just so great to get different opinions, whether you're new school or old school. I think they're all valuable and those guys, they're winners and they were winners for a reason and they've been in this game forever outside of their playing career. So the experience they have with players and managing and the types of players that they had over the course of their ten years as managers or coaches. I mean it's just it's so invaluable. Did you ever

hear the the Fred Shearer bacon and egg story? You told me that one. Okay so I'm trying to remember like did I tell Rocky that story? I guess the chicken made a contribution but the pig made a commitment. I wish, I remember, like, did I tell Rocky that story? Like it's the chicken made a contribution, but the pig made a commitment. I wish, I wish, and he's no longer with us, of course, but I wish I had a chance to talk to Fred Schiro. Like I wish I had a chance to talk to Anatoly Tarasov. So, you know, the larger than life figures

and some of the great coaching minds of the game. Who are the guys that did it for you? Like who are the coaches that even just now you look at and you go like, Oh man, I could learn so much from this guy. In my coaching career, I was with the Edmonton Oilers organization. I kind of worked my way up there, but Billy Moore's was there and Billy Moore's was a Claire Drake, um, protege, if you will, and worked with him for years at the, um, yeah, university of Alberta. So outside of Canada, I think people in Canada that are a little bit older knew who Claire Drake was and Claire Drake

was way ahead of his time. Oh, and Sue was Billy. Yeah. Yeah. As you know, I mean, he's, I think, I think he is in the hockey hall of fame now. Yes. And justifiably. So it probably should have been a lot longer ago that he should have gone in. But, um, just like I said, and Mike Gabonet is a really close friend of mine. And so we're kind of like hockey nerds. So Mike and I, who is Clared Drake's grandson, who coaches at the university of Omaha, Nebraska. So we get together and Mike all has his grandpa's old

books and we'll talk about systems. And then he brings up these one, one, three left-wing locks. And it's like, well, that was old, you know, that was things they used to do back in the day. And then it was so old, it's new again, you know, but so, so whether you're like Mike and I talk about it, and then we talk about his grandpa and Gino Briaco, I got to get to know when I was in the roots. Legendary Penguin. Oh yeah. Absolutely. Yep. And, and Gene just loves hockey, detailed again, was another guy who was way ahead of his time and how he viewed the game at that time in the eighties and the early nineties. So, but Billy Moore's was really instrumental in, in myself in the developments and the early 90s. So, but Billy Mors was really instrumental in myself

in the development of players, the arts and the sciences he calls of coaching, where there's a blend of the two is obviously, we know the science of coaching is the X's and O's and to dumb it down, the art of coaching is the Jimmy and Joe's, your culture, your relationships. And I believe with the science of coaching, you could be the best knowledgeable coach in the world. If your players can't listen to what it is you're saying, you're never going to

get them to perform it. But you can have the art of coaching down and even get rid of the science of coaching. And your team can still have success because those guys will compete so hard. They'll play hard for each other. Now when you can blend them both, now you got something special. And so I was able to learn that at a young age and continue to learn along the way. You know, it's funny listening to you talk about, you know, the, the old days and where the trap came from. I would hear stories from old timers talk about half day was doing this when he coached in the thirties and all of a sudden like the devil's discovered as like,

they were doing this in the thirties. Come on. Like get over it. By the way, you saying it really wouldn't say that, And all of a sudden, like the devil's discovered us. Like they were doing this in the thirties. Come on, like get over it. By the way- Really saying it. Really wouldn't say that. By the way, Clare Drake went in in 2017.

So he's been like that was, and you're right, like Clare Drake could have got in much sooner and that's how influential. And if you talk to anyone who had any passing with Clare Drake, everybody sings from the same hymn book about how great a coach, great a man, everything Clare Drake was. Now, let me close on this one.

So one of my favorite stories and favorite moments, this was pivotal in your life, a presentation you gave at the Coach's Clinic, Fort Lauderdale draft, the McGavid draft, 2015. And Warren Reichl and Bob Bougner, I believe, were there. And right away it was like, can you please come to Windsor to interview for the Spitfires coaching gig? Can you share that story with our viewers slash listeners? So I had a year left on my contract in Edmonton, but the whole staff had been let go and I didn't know my fate at the time. So

I reached out to George Kingston and I was like, I was concerned I was going to lose my job. And so I knew the perception of me as a player because of the way I played the game. To me, it was all psychology. I really wanted to intimidate the opposition because I wanted to have my team have the most success possible. So I had the long hair, I had the braids. So I was like, I got to change the conversation of myself because I mean,

that, that worked back then, but people, people thought I was crazy. And really I'm not, I was just good at those, those types of things. Right. And so I changing that perception of me was difficult outside of the people that have worked with me. So the Edmonton Oilers, I'd only been in their organization, So they valued that, but a new coaching staff was coming in. And so it's like anything you don't know, you don't know the guy. So I thought I got to get myself out there. I'm going to do this presentation. I'm going to do it offensive concepts, essentially is what it

was. It was a skill principles and adjustments. So offensive play is really what it was there. So I started the thing out, I go right behind Scotty Bowman, who kind of does the introduction to the whole thing. And I'm like the keynote speaker at the beginning. And so I mean, I'm sweating, obviously, right? Scotty's right there and stuff. So the first thing I said is I'm like, I have a picture of me, I think I had knocked down Oli while when my arms are in the air and my hairs all over the place. And I said, I said, now I know what you guys are thinking.

You're thinking how, what in the round world is this guy going to teach me about offense? And, and I said, I said, this was my first shift in the NHL and it was quite an offensive shift and it was me throwing, you know, drawing the hands with, uh, with Christa. But at the end of the day, um, the feedback that I got from it and there was a, every coach was there. Even to this day when I was interviewing with some jobs at the national league level as an assistant, that some of the guys brought up seeing that presentation back then and that it, it really started to change the conversation on myself from how I was as a player to what I've developed into and was developing into as a coach. And so Boogie saw that right away. He came up to me and he said, he goes, how would you like to be a coach of the Windsor

Spitfires? And I was like, well, you're the coach of the Windsor Spitfires. He goes, I got a job with Pete DeBoer. I'm leaving. I'm going to San Jose, but I really want you to meet Warren Reichel Bundy. And so met Warren, obviously we hit it off. And then they brought me to meet the ownership group and the rest was history.

And we ended up winning a championship there a couple of years later. You know like how much, because like the moment after it's over, the story of that draft is of course, Connor Mcgavid, he goes drafted first overall, et cetera. But like the buzz around like the hockey people is like did you see Rocky Thompson's presentation? Like you were aware alone right? What they were expecting. We were expecting that guy that when he dropped

his gloves his eyes rolled back and rang no sale. He was a shark out there just saw the whites of his eyes. No but like it was like it was one of those moments. Cause I honestly, Rock, I've been to plenty of those. And what happens is a lot of guys are just sort of there to be seen sometimes. And coaches start talking and then it's like, Oh, wake up, wake up, wake up. Another cup of coffee, please. But like with you, it's like everybody straightened their back and started listening. And you know what it's like, like that's rare, especially with that group. Like that was a real,

that was a real big moment for that annual event. Huge. So it was fortunate. Yeah. And you got to put yourself out there. Sometimes I was talking with a coach, just today and he asked me that and I brought that up. He goes, what can I do to help myself advance to the next level? And I said, put yourself out there. So that, um, cause I had to put myself out there. That's not easy thing to do. It's hard getting up in front of 1500, 2000 coaches that are here that are Haku Hall of Famers. Yes. And you're like, what am I going to say to them that they don't already know? You know, like that could have value. And, um, but sometimes you gotta take a chance and it

can be rewarding in the end. And so, yeah, I was fortunate. It was great. Uh, listen, this has been great too. Congratulations on the Bridgeport gig. You're going to do great. Uh, you're going to get some really cool young players to work with as well. Uh, looking forward to seeing what the Bridgeport Islanders have in store next season, uh, with you at the helm. Thanks for doing this rock and good luck, pal. Thanks, man. ["Dark Man"] I went to the dark man, he tried to give me a little medicine I'm like, nah man, that's fine I'm not against those methods, but I knew It's me, myself and Alice gonna be fixing my mind I turned on the record

I turned on the music I turned on the record do it on the music It's enough that I don't get you sometimes losing Helping on the days that went wrong