The Cleveland Monsters have four coaches behind the bench this season. Head Coach John Madden and Assistant Coach Steve McCarthy will share the bulk of the responsibilities. While development coaches, Chris Clark and Gregory Campbell, will take turns behind the bench.
All four coaches have played in the NHL. Each one taking a slightly different path than the other.
John Madden
Head Coach John Madden may have gone undrafted in the 1993 Entry Draft but it didn’t stop him from being a monstrous presence on the ice in the NHL.
In 1993, Madden headed to the University of Michigan to play hockey. Little did he know attending Michigan would set him up for a long and fruitful career in the NHL. While at Michigan, he set a NCAA record by scoring 23 shorthanded goals and was named to both the CCHA First All-Star and NCAA West First All-American squads. In 160 career NCAA games, Madden scored 180 points in the form of 80 goals and 100 assists.
Michigan closed out the 1995-96 season on a high note winning the NCAA National Championship.
Not bad for a guy who flew under the NHL’s radar in the 1993 draft, eh?
Speaking of the 1993 draft, the New Jersey Devils drafted Brendan Morrison in the second round. Instead of going directly into the NHL Morrison headed to college.
“Where?”, you ask.
The University of Michigan.
That’s right, John Madden and Brendan Morrison would be college teammates for the next four years.
While keeping tabs on his second-round draft pick, Devils’ GM Lou Lamoriello was able to watch Madden progress into an incredibly talented forward.
The Devils would sign John Madden on June 26th, 1997 and would play in his first NHL game on January 6, 1999.
Steve McCarthy
Of the four coaches, Assistant Coach Steve McCarthy had the quickest route to the NHL. The Chicago Blackhawks drafted him in the first round of the 1999 entry draft. They put him to work at the start of the 1999-00 season. McCarthy would stay with the Blackhawks until the summer of 2005 when he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks.
Chris Clark
The Calgary Flames drafted Chris Clark in the third round of the 1994 entry draft. Instead of heading straight to the NHL, Clark would spend four years as a staple of the Clarkson University Golden Knights hockey team. He would tally 63 goals, 65 assists, and 392 penalty minutes over 142 games with Clarkson.
In 1998, Clark’s collegiate career came to a close and his professional career began to take form. He would spend a full season with the Saint John Flames before getting to see NHL ice time with the Calgary Flames in 99-00 season.
Gregory Campbell
Gregory Campbell was drafted by the Florida Panthers in 2002 while playing for the Plymouth Whalers (OHL). After being drafted, the Whalers would trade Campbell to the Kitchener Rangers where he would play the 2002-03 season.
Campbell would spend most of the 2003-04 season playing for the Panthers’ farm team, the San Antonio Rampage. However, he would get a shot at NHL ice time twice during that season.