AHL / BRUCE BERLET
Ryan McGill and John Stevens have more in common than being former hard-nosed defensemen, two of the top young coaches in the AHL and leading prospects to the next level.
Unfortunately for each, misguided pucks ended their playing career.
McGill, who has the Wolf Pack challenging for another Atlantic Division title, had to quit playing hockey while with Edmonton when a deflected puck in Anaheim, Calif., April 5, 1995, left him legally blind in the left eye. Stevens had a 12-year pro career, which included six years with the Whalers organization, derailed by a slap shot to the right eye in an AHL game against Kentucky on Dec. 13, 1998.
McGill and Stevens soon took jobs they considered for years.
After his mishap, McGill spent two weeks in a hospital and 10 days in California because he couldn't fly. He got married that summer and enjoyed traveling with wife Karen, then skated a few times in hopes of getting in shape and restarting his career.
The idea quickly vanished.
"I just didn't feel comfortable on the ice because I couldn't see things coming at me," McGill said. "I had no depth perception - still don't - so I didn't feel comfortable with my position."
McGill's career ended at 26, and when the Oilers opened camp, he relaxed in Montana for 10 days.
"I got my mind away from the game, and that really helped," he said.
The couple spent about a year in Edmonton before McGill was offered a job as an assistant with an expansion team in the Western Hockey League that was moving to Edmonton.
"I felt my career had been cut short a little, and coaching intrigued me," McGill said. "At the time, I wasn't willing to uproot everything and go somewhere. It was perfect timing, and I went to the owner and said I had some experience playing but absolutely zero dealing with kids and coaching. But I told him I was willing to work hard and learn, that I wasn't coming in thinking I knew everything because I played in the NHL. I think they liked that."
McGill was an assistant the first season, then got a promotion when the coach was fired 10 games into the second season. The team moved to Kootenay, where McGill coached four seasons, winning the Memorial Cup in 2002, before being hired by the Rangers on June 27, 2002.
"While I was inexperienced and probably not ready for the job, it was good that they knew they weren't going to be making the playoffs and just building for the future," McGill said. "So they were willing to live with mistakes, and I probably made a lot of them, but at least I got to grow with the team and learn from my mistakes. ... There's no way I could have started at any higher level."
Stevens took a more direct route to the AHL after sustaining severe vision damage and being bedridden for two weeks because his optic nerve was swollen. He worked out for two months in the hope of making a comeback, but when he learned his retina had become detached, he knew his playing career was over at 32.
"Structurally the eye was easy to fix, but it never really healed, and I still don't see very well," Stevens said. "I have a lot of peripheral vision, but straight on I can see colors and figures but things are really blurry. I can't read the [big] E on the eye chart with my right eye."
Stevens began coaching three months after his mishap, which occurred just after he celebrated a third AHL title and first with the Philadelphia Phantoms. He was an assistant to Phantoms coach Bill Barber for 18 months until Barber was named Flyers coach and then took over the AHL team.
"Coaching is something I'd had a passion to do, and they kind of steered me in that direction," Stevens said.
Stevens' fifth season as Phantoms coach has included an AHL-record 17-game winning streak. Stevens would like to coach the Flyers, who drafted him and have a long tradition.
"The injury kind of cut my playing days short, but I'd had a pretty satisfying career and winning the Calder Cup was pretty special," Stevens said. "I'd love to coach in the NHL some day, but the AHL is a great league."
Worthwhile Sledding
The celebrity sled hockey game before the Pack-Portland game Saturday raised $1,743.50 for the Chariots of Hope sled hockey team's trip to Ottawa.
The group reached its goal of $6,600, raising $6,612, including a $2,000 sponsorship from the Gaylord Hospital & Sports Association and a $1,604 donation from Pack rookie Ryan Hollweg. ... Jed Ortmeyer and Craig Weller will be Bob Crawford's guests on the season finale of "Pack Talk" Tuesday (7-8 p.m., WPOP-1410) at Little Mark's Big Barbecue in Avon. ... The 2006 AHL All-Star Classic will be Jan. 31-Feb. 1 in Winnipeg.
