Mike Grier grew to become the primary Black common supervisor of an NHL workforce Tuesday when the Sharks formally introduced him as their new front-office chief.
The previous Sharks participant can be tasked with turning round a franchise that has fallen on arduous occasions during the last three seasons after almost 20 years of playoff rivalry. Grier steps into the position vacated by Doug Wilson, who stepped down this spring following an prolonged health-related absence.
Wilson directed the Sharks for 19 seasons, making Grier’s new job one centered on forging a brand new path forward for San Jose.
Grier performed 221 video games for the Sharks, tallying 78 factors (35 targets) over three years starting with the 2006-07 season. The Sharks made the playoffs in every of his three years within the Bay, however by no means superior previous the convention semifinals. In complete, he performed 14 seasons within the NHL and greater than 1,000 video games between Edmonton, Buffalo, San Jose and Washington.
Listed here are 5 issues to find out about Grier past the stats:
1. He’s a nationwide champion: Grier was named a first-team All-American for his standout sophomore season at Boston College and he had two assists within the nationwide title recreation, a 6-2 win over Maine. His Terriers workforce was simply the second in class historical past to win Boston’s Beanpot event, the convention event and the nationwide title in the identical season, in accordance to the Washington Submit.
2. He comes from a soccer household: Grier’s dad spent a ton of time within the NFL entrance workplace, together with the Patriots for a lot of Mike’s childhood. His uncle, Rosie, is a former Professional Bowl defensive lineman and his brother Chris is now the GM of the Dolphins. Mike is the odd fowl of the household, sports-wise.
3. He was an elite penalty killer: Grier helped the Sharks lead the league in penalty kill proportion for the 2007-2008 season. He completed his profession with 20 short-handed targets, good for a spot within the prime 80 in NHL historical past. The Sharks’ penalty kill was a vibrant spot final season, as San Jose ranked second within the NHL at 85.2%.
4. He’s crammed out his hockey resume since retirement: Grier has served as a professional scout (with Chicago), an assistant coach (with New Jersey) and a hockey operations advisor (with the Rangers) since hanging up his skates. That position with the Rangers concerned some hockey-related choices in addition to participant growth.
5. He performed with a present Shark. Grier’s three years in teal overlapped with the primary three years of Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s profession. Grier was 32 years previous within the 2006-07 season, when Vlasic was a 19-year-old rookie. The brand new GM’s first roster determination for the Sharks could come all the way down to him deciding the destiny of his former teammate. San Jose owes Vlasic $27 million over the following 4 years, per CapFriendly, and the 35-year-old defenseman noticed a lot of his time on the third defensive pairing final season.