SHEFFIELD, UK – It can never be an easy decision for a professional sportsman to call time on their career, particularly one who clearly has the ability to continue playing the game he dearly loves for a few more years.
While Ben Simon falls into that ‘able-to’ category, it was, after a lot of soul-searching, that he decided it was time to hang up his skates this summer and commit to coaching full-time. The 33-year-old American had gone halfway there at around this time last year when he made the surprise move to take up a player-coach role with the Sheffield Steelers in the UK’s Elite League.
Returning after just one year but with a regular season league title under his belt, Simon now finds himself on the bench as an assistant working alongside head coach Ted Dent helping to prepare the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs for their opening night against the Grand Rapids Griffins this weekend.
“I have to admit it was an emotional time when I left Sheffield because I think I knew, in the back of my mind, that I was done playing,“ said Simon.
“It wasn’t an easy decision – giving up something that has been your life and which you have loved doing for so long. So it took me a few more weeks to definitely reach that point where I knew I was done.
“But, I came to terms with that I’m certainly ready for this next stage – it‘s a fantastic opportunity for me.
“With moving Ted (Dent) up to the head coach role, I knew there was an assistant’s vacancy. I’d been calling people all summer to see what was available so I called Mark Bernard (IceHogs GM) and it kind of went from there.
“I already knew the Blackhawks were a first-class organisation, and just speaking with them in my interview confirmed that.
“The fact that it was in the mid-west and I’m from Cleveland, Ohio, and we live about three hours drive away – everything seemed to fit just right.
“I left the interview thinking I had done well, but I obviously didn’t know how well – it turned out to be very well!
“When it comes deciding when not to play anymore it’s not just a physical thing, it also becomes a family-based decision. I’ve got two young daughters so living closer to family becomes more important – just for simple things like Christmas and Thanksgiving.”
Back in 2000 when his playing career turned pro with the IHL’s Orlando Solar Bears, family wasn’t so much of a concern. Simon went on to ‘perform’ in 81 games of ‘The Show’ that is the NHL, though spent the majority of his time in the AHL – clocking up 200 points, including 81 goals, in almost 550 games.
His time in North America’s second tier blossomed quite early, winning a Calder Cup in 2002 with the Chicago Wolves before going on to become a trusted and valued centre at the likes of the Syracuse Crunch and the Springfield Falcons.
It was after one year in Massachussets that Simon first experienced European hockey, spending a season in the German DEL before a return to North America saw him finish the 2009-10 season with the Toronto Marlies. Coaching was something Simon had kept at the back of his mind and his hand was partly forced last summer when the then owner of the Steelers, Bob Phillips, came calling.
Once a deal was agreed, Simon was in South Yorkshire within a few days and found himself thrown in at the deep end as he set about preparing a team whose season began in less than three weeks’ time. The Steelers were a club in turmoil following the summer resignation of the management team, unhappy with the way owner Phillips was running the team. Simon found himself arranging flights and pick-ups for players as well as, in some cases, accommodation for new arrivals.
Once on the ice, however, it all clicked into place pretty quickly with Simon acknowledging he had been left a classy team by the now-departed coach Dave Matsos, albeit one that under-performed the previous year with a disappointing fifth-place finish being followed by a first-round exit in the play-offs.
Still, for a rookie coach to clinch a regular season league title in his first year, it was a significant achievement and, no doubt, helped him get his foot in the door with Rockford. What excites Simon most about his new role is that he will get to pass all the wide and varied experiences he has enjoyed over the last 10 years as a pro to those youngsters coming through the system at the Harris Bank Centre.
“Years ago I was the young guy making my way through the system and I can pass my experiences on to some of these young guys that we have in a similar situation here,” he added.
“It will hopefully help them as they make their progress. If it’s not you that’s making the next big step (to the NHL etc) there’s nothing better than helping somebody else accomplish their dreams.”
The last few weeks has seen the usual shunting backwards and forwards of players to and from Rockford’s NHL affiliate the Chicago Blackhawks. And while that process is disruptive on the one hand to Dent and his coaching team, it is, as Simon explains, just part and parcel of the way affiliated teams work with each other.
“It does make things tough to prepare sometimes,” said Simon. “The excessive number of players does, however, create competition for jobs and makes guys compete on a daily basis in practice.
“We train every player the same way here, and have to prepare them as if they are going to play on our team, be it now or in the future.
“Some of these players will end up going to play in the ECHL, but if we have injuries or call-ups or if they develop there and warrant a call up to our team, they are then prepared to join our team and it is a smooth transition.
“This way, everyone is on the same page and the player is put in the best situation to succeed should that call to go the other way come up.”
Phil Harrison (Yorkshire Post)
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