HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Coaches are usually the ones who utilize years of experience to teach players – in some cases much younger than they are – how to play the game.
When the Huntsville Havoc hired Eric Soltys as the franchise’s second bench boss, the team got more than a teacher. They also got a true student of the game.
“I think that if you ever think that you’ve learned as much as you’re going to learn, I think your career is going to be very short,” Soltys said. “I’ve tried to have very big ears and big eyes everywhere I went.”
Soltys’ journey to knowledge began simply enough. A goalie by choice, he played prep hockey at St. Sebastian’s in the Boston area and then he headed to the junior program at Notre Dame in Saskatchewan. By the fall of 1996, he had found his way back to New England, earning a spot on the roster at the University of New Hampshire. After appearing in one game there, he turned pro when he signed a contract with the New
Photo courtesy of Huntsville Havoc/New Mexico Scorpions
“I was a good goaltender. I was never an elite goaltender so I think even before then (the injury) I always worked summer hockey schools for Puck Stoppers in Boston which is strictly goaltending,” Soltys said. “Just starting to coach goaltenders in the summertime for about five years got me really thinking about the ability I had to teach kids and that led into exploring it more from the total aspect rather than just the goaltending aspect.”
The first stop for the Needham, Mass. native was Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Minnesota, one of the preeminent prep schools in North America. It was there that Soltys would work with Tom Ward, the man who Soltys credits as the single biggest influence in his coaching life.
“I couldn’t have had a better boss than Tom Ward,” he said. “Being a first year coach under Tom Ward, he really took the time to guide me through the right way to go about things – systems, how to manage such elite players, how to make sure that everyone was happy and content and had the ice time that they needed – and at the same time keeping everybody level headed.”
During his four years at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, Soltys was fortunate enough to work with a who’s-who of future stars including Sidney Crosby, Zach Parise, Jeff Johnson, Ryan Duncan and Matt Smaby among others.
“I don’t know if it was so much that I was coaching them or I just had the best seat in the building. They are very special players. Obviously they are naturally gifted players,” he said. “Their passion for the game was so strong that you knew even back when they were 15, 16, 17 years old that these guys were going to be top notch players in the NHL.”
Following his stay in Minnesota, Soltys landed at Gilmour Academy in Ohio for a year before heading northeast to the University of Maine at Orono, known in hockey circles as one of the best NCAA Division One programs in the country. From there, Soltys headed to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League where spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
By this point, Soltys was feeling the itch to try coaching at the pro level. He contacted New Mexico Scorpions head coach Randy Murphy who invited him to head down to Rio Rancho as an assistant. The combination behind the bench worked well as the Scorpions finished second in the CHL’s Southwest Division with a 34-24-6 record. It was also Soltys’ connection to Huntsville as New Mexico added Havoc player (and one of Soltys’ former players at Shattuck-St. Mary’s) Bill McCreary to its roster late in the season.
As with his first job at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, Soltys made a point of watching, listening and learning something every place he went that he could take with him.
“The biggest thing I took out of Gilmour Academy was my ability to make sure the guys weren’t just going through the motions, that they were learning the right teachings that we were trying to teach them at the time. I think the biggest thing I took away from the University of Maine was learning that it‘s not always the best hockey player that you‘re looking for. It‘s the best player who is going to fit into the role that you‘re looking to fill,” he said. “I think the biggest thing I took from Andre Tourigny who was the head coach in Rouyn-Noranda was the attention to detail and dealing with the skilled players and making them have to commit to a defensive system also. It was also where I learned how to construct a team. This past season with Murph in New Mexico, he gave me a lot of responsibility as far as helping him. It was a co-coaching situation so I guess that’s where I got my passion to be a head coach again. Murph gave me the confidence to know that I could be a head coach and that I could be a head coach at this level and for that I will always be grateful to him.”
When McCreary heard that Huntsville was not going to renew the contract of then coach John Gibson, he suggested that Soltys apply for the job. With the complete blessings of Murphy and New Mexico owner Dave Ellett, Soltys sent his resume and soon after he was offered the job.
So how does Soltys the “student” of the game plan to make his new team a success? With his accrued knowledge, it’s as simple as standing in front of a blackboard with a piece of chalk.
“My owner (Keith Jeffries) is a great guy and he was looking for a guy who is a teacher,” he said. “As far as my coaching style in the SPHL, my goal is going to be judged by how many players I can help move on to the next level. I don’t think that a coach in our league here can just be measured on wins and losses. I think it is important to be recognized on how many guys he can help move up the food chain. Needless to say I want to win a championship but at the same time I’d love to be able to help a few guys along the way to get to the next level.”
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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